NYSW Lines/Stations Question

I just saw the movie the Station Agent last weekend for the first time on DVD. The New Foundland Station shown in the movie is it a passenger or freight station? In the movie it looked rundown. Will it ever be restored alogn with a cabooses and passenger car parked next to it? also are there passenger stations like that or bigger in the towns of Butler, Sparta, Vernon and Hardyston where NJT will build the railyard (if service ever happens)

By bigger station I mean like the one Dover has o nthe M&E Line. Are the stations in these towns still standing and if so will NJT ever use them again as passenger station? Does anyone have pictures of these stations in their hey day? Also was the NYSW Line ever double tracked?

Thanks in advance.

There is a very interesting book titled: "The next station will be..." and it features specifically NYS&W stations. The layout is one station per page, with a large black & white photo of the station almost covering the page, with a 5-line or so description of each in small print. I came across the book at the Morris Museum in Morristown, NJ today, and I really wanted to buy one but didn't have any $$. (It was $19.05 at the museum store)

I almost have no background knowledge of NYS&W, so I don't know how many lines were represented (if there was more than 1 line), but I was very curious while thumbing through the pages.

NJTRailfan wrote:I just saw the movie the Station Agent last weekend for the first time on DVD. The New Foundland Station shown in the movie is it a passenger or freight station? In the movie it looked rundown. Will it ever be restored alogn with a cabooses and passenger car parked next to it? also are there passenger stations like that or bigger in the towns of Butler, Sparta, Vernon and Hardyston where NJT will build the railyard (if service ever happens)

By bigger station I mean like the one Dover has o nthe M&E Line. Are the stations in these towns still standing and if so will NJT ever use them again as passenger station? Does anyone have pictures of these stations in their hey day? Also was the NYSW Line ever double tracked?

I believe, at least at one time, the buildings at Newfoundland were owned by the Susquehanna's historical society. I'm not sure who the current owners are now, but it would be nice to see them restored.

Most of the stations along the NYS&W were smaller, if for no other reason than the towns they served were primarily small rural towns. The eastern end of the railroad had bigger stations than what was on the western end, but I don't think they had anything quite as big as the DL&W's Dover station. The biggest station I've seen so far is the one in Butler, NJ adjacent to the Butler Yard.

If commuter service is restored on the NYS&W, whether the service was run by NYS&W or NJT, I would think they would do like they've done in other locations.....erect a basic shelter with platforms. In some towns NJT has used the original stations but I don't think any of the Susie-Q's stations are in good enough shape to be used like that.

The Susquehanna was double-tracked at one time, again it was on the east end of the system. It also had what may have been the shortest length of CTC ever installed. It ran from Little Ferry....I'm not sure where it ended but it was only a few miles long.

You should look for the following books:

• Susquehanna by Krause & Crist
  
  Susquehanna-From Shortlines To Stackpacks by Ken Karlewicz
  
  and the cream of the crop:
  
  The New York Susquehanna & Western In Color by Paul Tupaczewski

These books offer a wealth of historical photos and history of the railroad from the post-war era right up to the present. The Krause/Crist book and the NYSW In Color books are still available but I haven't seen the Karlewicz book anywhere but on my bookshelf.

Newfoundland, the last time I saw it a year or so ago was in good condition and is privately owned. They probably made it look run down for the movie. Stations that still stand on the NYSW are Sparta, Newfoundland, Butler, Pompton Lakes, Wyckoff, Wortendyke, Hawthorne, Rochelle Park, Maywood, Bogota (greatly altered) and Ridgefield Park (Union Station building still stands but NYSW platforms and trainsheds gone). The NYSW was signaled and double tracked from Little Ferry to North Hawthorne. North Hawthorne west was always single track and dark territory. The NYSW shared its single track main with the Erie's Northern Branch from Granton Jct east to Jersey City. This portion (Little Ferry to Susquehanna Transfer)was equipped with CTC in 1961 when NYSW trains terminated at Suquehanna Transfer after the Erie ceased operations in Jersey City in favor of DL&W's Hoboken Terminal. The CTC and signals were taken out of service in 1966 after the NYSW stopped running passenger trains and the entire railroad was considered to be yard limits. The NYSW from North Hawthorne to Little Ferry was finally single tracked in the 1980's after the DO takeover.

There are actually two Railroadians books on the NYSW.

The series, as noted, is The Next Station Will Be...

One volume covers the Wilkes Barre & Eastern, the other covers the stations east of Hainesville, I believe. The pictures are drawn from the Erie valuation photographs of 1910-1911. The broader series of 12 books (I think) covers the Erie from the Hudson River to Lake Michigan, and the branches. Lots of branches, places like Dayton (OH and NY), the Pennsy branches, etc.

The New Jersey Midland Railroad Historical Society revised Volume 1 of this series covering the NYSW east of Middletown, NY. We've added more than a dozen photos, and updated much of the accompanying text.

The series covered most of the Erie and associated lines, plus one on the New York and Long Branch. Refer to the Books page of the NJ Midland website:

http://njmidland.railfan.net/books.htm

Seems to me that the station at Paterson, Broadway was a pretty good
size station. It was torn down sometime around the end of the passenger
trains.
There was also a short stretch of CTC between Riverside (just outside of
Paterson) and North Hawthorne. There was an interlocking machine in
the station at North Hawthorne which may have controlled this, I am not
sure about that.
Noel Weaver

The Newfoundland station got a coat of paint specifically for the movie. It took about a year before it got repainted, but it has always been maintained in good shape. It was never owned by the NYS&WTHS but it is / was owned by one of its members. It has been for sale on and off for a number of years and the passenger cars and 2 cabooses are part of the property. I do not know if it is for sale at this time.

Chris

Chris,

I was up there last night. Lots of garbage on the side of the road and there was nobody in the building....Maybe it just got sold again>??

Steve

jmp883 wrote:

NJTRailfan wrote:I just saw the movie the Station Agent last weekend for the first time on DVD. The New Foundland Station shown in the movie is it a passenger or freight station? In the movie it looked rundown. Will it ever be restored alogn with a cabooses and passenger car parked next to it? also are there passenger stations like that or bigger in the towns of Butler, Sparta, Vernon and Hardyston where NJT will build the railyard (if service ever happens)

By bigger station I mean like the one Dover has o nthe M&E Line. Are the stations in these towns still standing and if so will NJT ever use them again as passenger station? Does anyone have pictures of these stations in their hey day? Also was the NYSW Line ever double tracked?

I believe, at least at one time, the buildings at Newfoundland were owned by the Susquehanna's historical society. I'm not sure who the current owners are now, but it would be nice to see them restored.

Most of the stations along the NYS&W were smaller, if for no other reason than the towns they served were primarily small rural towns. The eastern end of the railroad had bigger stations than what was on the western end, but I don't think they had anything quite as big as the DL&W's Dover station. The biggest station I've seen so far is the one in Butler, NJ adjacent to the Butler Yard.

If commuter service is restored on the NYS&W, whether the service was run by NYS&W or NJT, I would think they would do like they've done in other locations.....erect a basic shelter with platforms. In some towns NJT has used the original stations but I don't think any of the Susie-Q's stations are in good enough shape to be used like that.

The Susquehanna was double-tracked at one time, again it was on the east end of the system. It also had what may have been the shortest length of CTC ever installed. It ran from Little Ferry....I'm not sure where it ended but it was only a few miles long.

You should look for the following books:

• Susquehanna by Krause & Crist
  
  Susquehanna-From Shortlines To Stackpacks by Ken Karlewicz
  
  and the cream of the crop:
  
  The New York Susquehanna & Western In Color by Paul Tupaczewski

These books offer a wealth of historical photos and history of the railroad from the post-war era right up to the present. The Krause/Crist book and the NYSW In Color books are still available but I haven't seen the Karlewicz book anywhere but on my bookshelf.

Here are a few I can recommend:

1) The New York, Susquehanna & Western Railroad
by Robert E. Mohowski. Available on Amazon.com

2) The history of the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railroad (Railroadians of America) by Walter Arndt Lucas