New Jersey West Line Railroad - The Proposed Railroad

The Proposed Railroad

The earliest charter was granted by the New Jersey Legislature in March 1865, for the Passaic Valley and Peapack Railroad which was to run from "some point in the county of Union or the county of Essex" via Springfield Township (Union), New Providence, and Basking Ridge to Peapack. That is, it would run between the Morris and Essex Railroad (M&E) to the north and the Central Railroad of New Jersey to the south.

The charter was amended in 1867 to continue the road west to the Delaware River at any point between Milford and Frenchtown. In 1868, a further amendment allowed the company to vary the route up to three miles from the points stated. In 1869, the railroad was authorized to build a bridge to Pennsylvania near Milford. This was not obviously useful since there was no railroad on the Pennsylvania side near Milford. It looked as if the Passaic Valley and Peapack was being manipulated as part of some larger plan. But money for the road had been raised by the usual procedure of selling bonds to investors in the towns along the line, so ostensibly it was under local control.

The company's name was changed in February 1870 to the New Jersey West Line Railroad. By this date, the route of the first segment had been determined. From Bernardsville to Summit it followed the present-day Gladstone Branch. It then crossed to the north of the Morris and Essex Railroad to pass through the northwestern part of Summit, and crossed the M&E again east of Millburn. From there it would run through Union and enter Newark from the south.

Construction began in 1870. The bondholders began arguing with management in June 1870, slowing progress. In the later part of 1871 the bondholders welcomed in Asa Packer and others involved with the Lehigh Valley Railroad, a Pennsylvania coal carrier that wanted to secure its own route from Easton, Pennsylvania to tidewater. As part of the plan Packer began buying shorefront land in Perth Amboy for a coal port that he said would be reached by a branch line.

A test train was operated between Summit and Bernardsville in December 1871 and newspapers reported that a switch would be laid to allow NJWL trains to run to the M&E station in Summit. Passenger service on this segment, now part of the Gladstone Branch, began on January 29, 1872, and freight service began the next month.

In February 1872 the company under Asa Packer's control obtained authorization to continue east into Hudson County to the Hudson River, and to build a branch west to Phillipsburg (opposite Easton). However later the same year the Lehigh Valley Railroad obtained a charter for the Easton and Amboy Railroad which was immediately put under construction, opening in 1875. Its route south of the Central of New Jersey was clearly superior with easier grades and curves. In June 1872, the contentious bondholders of the NJWL voted Packer out.

The future of the NJWL now appeared to be that of a rural branch line dependent on the Morris and Essex connection at Summit as its only connection to the national rail network. However the partially built line to Newark was not yet abandoned. Advertising for a residential development called Wyoming, between Millburn and Maplewood in September 1872 mentioned not only the Morris and Essex station but also a station on the New Jersey West Line, "now rapidly completing". Whether this was wishful thinking is uncertain, but the Panic in September 1873 must have killed any last hopes.