New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway Timeline

This is a timeline of the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway and its direct predecessors. It also contains foundational American railroad history dates, important historical events which impacted the railroad (e.g. financial panics), and other nearby railroads' major events affecting the NYS&W.

Timeline

19th Century

• 1815
  The first railroad charter in the United States is granted to the New Jersey Rail Road Company to link Trenton on the Delaware to New Brunswick on the Raritan, crossing the state's midsection.
• 1826
  The Quincy Granite Railway is the first commercial railroad in the United States, though still using horses.
• 1828
  John Langdon Sullivan surveys the first route across northern New Jersey with the intent of transporting Pennsylvania coal by rail to Paterson, New Jersey. NJ has iron but needs PA coal to smelt it.
• 1829
  August 8: Trial run of Stourbridge Lion at Honesdale, Pennsylvania for the Delaware and Hudson Gravity Railroad. It is the first locomotive to run in the United States.
• 1830
  August: Tom Thumb is test run between Baltimore and Relay, Maryland for the B&O. The first American-built steam locomotive to operate on a common-carrier railroad
• 1831
  The Morris Canal opens to transport coal across North Jersey
  December: A convention is held in Owego, New York which eventually leads to the formation of what will become the Erie Railroad the following Spring. The Erie will control the NYS&W from 1898 to 1940.
• 1832
  March 8: The state of New Jersey charters a railroad, its fifth, based on Sullivan's 1828 survey route across the state: The New Jersey, Hudson, and Delaware (NJH&D)
  April 24: The Erie Railroad is chartered in New York state.
• 1837
  Panic of 1837; The NJH&D charter languishes and no work is done
• 1854
  The Sussex Railroad opens, built by Abram Hewitt from Waterloo to Newton, to bring iron ore from Andover mines to Trenton for smelting, and service to Newton. It is the rebuilt Sussex Mine Railroad.
• 1857
  Panic of 1857; NJH&D can't get together enough money and sells its charter to the Pennsylvania Coal Company.
• 1866
  DeWitt Clinton Littlejohn forms the New York and Oswego Midland Railway 400 miles to the west of New York City to connect Oswego, New York with the port of New York
  Hoboken Ridgefield & Paterson chartered on March 15
• 1867
  NJH&D grades in Butler and Bloomingdale to preserve its charter by doing some work
  New Jersey Western Railway chartered to build west from Paterson
  Sussex Valley Railroad chartered to build south from the New Jersey/New York state line south to the Delaware Water Gap
• 1868
  NYOM begins work eastward in New York state; it has no charter to build in New Jersey
• 1869
  April 1: Hudson Connecting Railroad chartered
  May 10: First transcontinental railroad completed
  NJW begins building both east and west from a junction with the Erie Railroad in the Spring from Hawthorne, just across the Passaic River from Paterson. Cornelius Wortendyke is in charge.
• 1870
  The New Jersey Western Railway becomes the New Jersey Midland Railway. This consolidates NJH&D, NJW, SVRR, Hoboken Ridgefield & Paterson, Hudson Connecting Railway.
  December 20: the first locomotive runs on the NJM: 'Passaic' built by Rogers in Paterson
• 1871
  NJM completes west to Butler, first train April 27
  July 1: NJM begins 99-year lease of Middletown, Unionville & Water Gap Railroad, to connect with NYOM
• 1872
  Combined NYOM/NJM line opens from Middletown, New York, to Jersey City; first train May 1
• 1873
  July 9: First train runs across the railroads from Oswego, New York, to Jersey City via NJM
  September 4: NYOM lease of NJM begins
  October: Panic of 1873; NYOM goes into receivership on Sept. 19, Abram S. Hewitt appointed Receiver
  November 17: NJM assumes control of the NYOM line from Jersey City to Middletown
• 1875
  NJM falls into receivership with James McCulloh and Garret Hobart as receivers
• 1880
  New Jersey Midland Railway reorganized out of receivership as the New Jersey Midland Railroad. Wortendyke and Littlejohn are out, Garrett Hobart is in as president.
  The New York and Oswego Midland Railroad is reorganized out of bankruptcy as the New York, Ontario and Western Railway
• 1881
  Each new extension of the railroad is another company: Paterson Extension Railroad, Midland Connecting Railway, New York and Scranton Construction Company in New Jersey, Pennsylvania Midland Railway in Pennsylvania
  June 10 - July 1: NJM, Paterson Extension Railroad, Midland Connecting Railway, North Jersey Railroad, Water Gap Railroad, Pennsylvania Midland Railway all reorganize together as the first corporate incarnation of the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railroad.
  Sussex Railroad taken over by the DL&W
  NYSW builds at least from Beaver Lake to Branchville Junction/Warbasse/Hyper Humus
  Frederic A. Potts is the first NYSW president
• 1882
  First trains to Lackawanna interchange at Gravel Place, Pennsylvania run in the Fall
  May 1: Paterson Extension Railroad opens
  September: Lodi Branch Railroad bought, it would last until 1896 when the shorter Hackensack and Lodi Railroad was built.
• 1883
  Blairstown Railway bought; the companies reorganize as the second corporate incarnation of the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railroad
• 1884
  The Panic of 1884
• 1885
  July 13: Passaic and New York Railroad (The Passaic branch) chartered; begins operating in 1886 and would last until 2020
• 1887
  The railroad is double-tracked from Paterson to Jersey City
• 1889
  Charles Mercer Heald replaces Frederic A. Potts as NYSW President
• 1890
  Simon Borg replaces Charles Mercer Heald as NYSW President
• 1891
  The shops at Wortendyke are destroyed by fire; they are rebuilt in 1892
• 1892
  The Edgewater Branch is chartered; the terminal there opens in 1894
  March 31: Hudson River Railroad and Terminal Co. organized to build at Edgewater; NYSW wants its own coal dock away from DL&W
  Wilkes-Barre & Eastern Railroad chartered to build from Stroudsburg to the Wyoming Valley; begins operating in 1893
• 1893
  The Panic of 1893: NYSW reorganizes its subsidiaries into the parent company, keeping the NYSW Railroad name; the third corporate incarnation of the railroad.
• 1894
  The western end of the NYSW is cut back from Gravel Place to Stroudsburg
• 1895
  Amos Lawrence Hopkins replaces Simon Borg as NYSW President
  April 2: L&NE formed; its route includes trackage rights over 18 miles of NYSW from Hainesburg Jct north to Swartswood Jct, It lasts just over 66 years, through October 1961
• 1896
  The Susquehanna Connecting Railroad is chartered to build from a WB&E connection at Suscon north to Minooka, Pennsylvania; it opens in 1897
  Hackensack and Lodi Railroad built to connect to Lodi station. Original Lodi Branch Railroad abandoned in favor of this route. Fully merged into NYSW in 1953. It lasts until 2020 as the NYSW Lodi Branch.
• 1897
  November 25: The Susquehanna Connecting Railroad is completed
• 1898
  In January, J.P. Morgan's co. begins buying NYSW stock for the Erie Railroad. In February, Erie Leases the NYSW. In July it begins control until 1940.
  Eben B. Thomas replaces Amos Lawrence Hopkins as NYSW president

20th Century

• 1901
  Panic of 1901
  Frederick Underwood replaces Eben B. Thomas as NYSW president
• 1902
  A fire in NYSW main office destroys corporate records
• 1911
  NYSW moves from Pennsylvania Railroad terminal in Jersey City to the Erie terminal, with freight switching from Marion (PRR) to Croxton (ERIE) yards
• 1912
  May 23: L&NE coal trains begin running from Hainesburg Jct. to Little Ferry, over NYSW; previously trains only ran north to Swartswood Jct.
• 1913
  Lease of MUWGRR given up
• 1917
  December 28: Due to World War I the United States Railroad Administration takes control of NYSW until February 29, 1920
• 1920
  The two-year Depression of 1920-1921
  In the next decade the Erie spends money on the NYSW, including scrapping old locomotives
  In the next decade the decapods arrive
• 1923
  Recovering from USRA WWI operations, NYSW posts $5.5M gross earnings, the most it had ever done, but expenses pile up
• 1926
  John J. Bernet replaces Frederick Underwood as NYSW president
  September 2: Kingston, Pennsylvania, western terminal of WB&E; terminal building sold due to lack of traffic
• 1929
  May 27: Charles E. Denney replaces John J. Bernet as NYSW president
  October: The great stock market crash begins The Great Depression
• 1936
  Major areal storms and flooding
• 1937
  Bonds due
  First NYSW bankruptcy filing. Eventual sole trustee appointed is Walter Kidde
  WB&E files for abandonment
• 1939
  March 25: the last Wilkes Barre & Eastern train runs. The line is abandoned that year.
• 1940
  March: Erie control of NYSW ends
  NYSW opens a joint office with NYOM in Manhattan
  Walter Kidde buys the ACF Streamliners for the NYSW, and service between Paterson and New York City begins
• 1941
  The western end of the NYSW is cut back again; to Hainesburg from Stroudsburg
  NYSW gets its first diesels, an order of ALCO RS-1s and ALCO S2s
• 1943
  Walter Kidde dies, Henry K. Norton is installed to replace him as the new trustee
• 1947
  Last NYSW steam locomotive operations on the railroad until the No. 142 is purchased in 1991 (though the Morris County Central would operate on a segment of the NYSW from 1974-1980)
• 1948
  November: Last NYSW steam engines scrapped: decapods 2435 & 2492
• 1950
  NYSW buys Budd RDCs
• 1951
  NYSW buys stainless passenger coaches
• 1953
  The courts declare the NYSW reorganized, now-former-trustee Henry K. Norton becomes railroad president
  Lodi Branch fully merged into NYSW
• 1955
  Henry K. Norton retires; is replaced as NYSW president by James M. Baths
  July: The Ford Motor Company Edgewater Assembly Plant closes and the NYSW loses an important customer
• 1956
  James. M. Baths is replaced as NYSW president by Ralph E. Sease
  June: NYSW files with the New Jersey Board of Public Utility Commissioners to eliminate all passenger train service
• 1957
  The entire New York, Ontario and Western Railway is abandoned due to the recession starting this year
  The New York Central and the Pennsylvania Railroad begin merger talks; they would merge in 1968.
• 1958
  NYSW financial difficulties; Stainless coaches bought just a few years before are sold off and fewer trains run overall
  NYS&W abandons the Hanford Branch
  1959
  June 21: the last Sunday passenger train runs
  1960
  The Paterson City branch is sold to the City of Paterson
  June: Interchange partner L&NE files for abandonment
  October 17: Erie and DL&W merge to form Erie Lackawanna. Passenger service eastern terminus moves from Jersey City to Susquehanna Transfer after the merger
  1961
  October 31: The last Lehigh and New England freight train over the NYSW; L&NE is shortly abandoned and NYSW loses its westernmost connection and customer.
  1962
  Real estate developer Irving W. Maidman buys control of NYS&W and replaces Ralph E. Sease as railroad president
  Three EMD GP18s are ordered with a government loan; NYSW takes delivery in August. They have a new "yellowjacket" paint scheme which the railroad would use from then on for its freight operations
  August 30: the last train runs west of Sparta Junction; operations now confined between Butler and Little Ferry
  1963
  February: A 9-to-0 US Supreme Court ruling keeps passenger service going on the NYSW
  September 1: John C. Clark is elected Railroad president
  1965
  Delaware Otsego Railroad formed in New York State; will eventually purchase NYSW in 1980 as the Delaware Otsego Corporation
  October: Herbert J. Draney is elected railroad president, replacing John C. Clark.
  1966
  June 30: The last NYSW commuter train runs with one day's notice to customers. Railroad president Irving Maidman previously offered passengers $1000 each to stop riding. 95 years of passenger service ends.
  Irving Maidman petitions to have NYSW included in the Penn Central merger
  1968
  February 1: Completing a process begun in 1957, the New York Central and the Pennsylvania Railroad merge to form Penn Central, without the NYSW
  February 29: Railroad president Herbert J. Draney retires and is replaced by William A. Logan by late March.
  NYSW embargoed between Sparta Junction and Oak Ridge
  1970
  June 21: Penn Central files for bankruptcy
  1971
  Tropical Storm Doria hits New Jersey exceptionally hard, causing a washout near the Smoke Rise entrance grade crossing. This severs the NYSW interchange with CNJ at Green Pond Junction, which the CNJ subsequently abandons
  1972
  June: The Erie Lackawanna Railroad goes bankrupt, in part due to the effects of Hurricane Agnes
  1973
  1973 oil crisis; global oil prices rise
  1974
  May: Poughkeepsie Bridge burns, changing how trains would be routed in the area
  The Morris County Central (MCC) railroad begins running tourist trains over the 1971-washout-isolated section of NYSW track, basing operations at Newfoundland, running until 1980.
  1976
  April 1: Conrail begins operations (see also: List of companies transferred to Conrail)
  April 1: Delaware Otsego begins operating The Stourbridge Line as the Lackawaxen and Stourbridge Railroad until 1989, eventually using some NYSW power
  NYSW's second bankruptcy filing, due to defaulting on New Jersey taxes.
  Walter G. Scott is appointed trustee, replacing Irving Maidman
  1978
  NJDOT enters into agreement with NYSW to rehab the railroad
  MCC stores steam locomotive no. 385 at Newfoundland, where it will sit until 1989
  1979
  1979 oil crisis
  NYSW court-ordered abandonment and selloff
  1980
  DO is asked by federal and state officials to bid on the NYSW. Their offer of $5 Million is accepted by the court in June.
  September 2: Delaware Otsego Corporation takes over NYSW operations on the 27-mile main line and four NJ branches under a one-year lease agreement. The branches are to Croxton, Edgewater, Passaic, and Lodi. The Suscon and Winton branches in PA are also included. Winton branch later torn up and rail reused on the Fonda, Johnstown and Gloversville Railroad. With Walter Rich as president, the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railroad becomes NYS&W Railway Corporation, the fourth corporate incarnation of the railroad. Full transfer of all assets is scheduled for 1981, but will not happen until 1982. DO keeps existing NYSW management and 25 operations and mechanical employees.
  DO creates a real estate unit tasked with finding sources of income from existing NYSW-owned properties, as well as new shippers — it is to become Susquehanna Properties, Inc. by 1983. It is this unit which negotiates the Sea Land sale in 1985.
  October 31: A "Rededication Train" runs, with the mayor of Hawthorne even rechristening the railroad
  NYSW has 70 shippers and DO-run NYSW runs 8000 carloads in their first year of operations
  MCC ends its tourist operations on the NYSW
  1981
  Conrail signifies it intends to abandon certain lines in accordance with the Staggers Rail Act, including what will become the Syracuse and Utica branches
  DO contacts shippers along these lines and begins negotiations to purchase them and have NYSW operate over them.
  1982
  DO purchases the Syracuse and Utica branches from Conrail, 157 miles total, combined in a package deal with 15 miles of former L&HR from Warwick NY to Franklin NJ, 5.6 miles of former Erie-nee-New York and Greenwood Lake trackage at Pompton Junction (the new Pompton Industrial), and a trackage rights/haulage rate agreement over 200 miles of Conrail to connect the new Northern Division to NJ. Closing on the properties is April 16, with the cost totaling $4.2 Million, and the first train running the next day.
  Used ALCO C420s 2000, 2002, and RS3 104 bought for locomotive power on the new Northern Division. GP18 1804 sent north as well
  Passenger excursions begin on the Northern Division; they would run for two years
  NYSW buys five ALCO C430s from Conrail - 3000-3008 (evens) - ex New York Central
  1983
  A year-long project begins to bring Utica line up to 40 MPH standards
  July 16: The first haulage train between Passaic Junction and Binghamton over the Southern Tier operates
  1984
  DO begins negotiating with Sea-Land to run a segment of transcontinental double-stack trains. Sea-Land later signs a 20-year lease on 22 acres in Little Ferry, selecting C&O, D&H, NYSW to run trains from Chicago to Little Ferry on a five-year contract
  1985
  DO buys 8 to 9 mi of Conrail-abandoned L&HR from Franklin to Lime Crest, and the Ogdensburg branch. 28 miles of L&HR south from Lime Crest to Belvidere are scrapped
  March: NYSW operations begin along Sparta Junction to Warwick section after DO reopens abandoned track from Franklin to Warwick
  DO assumes operation of SIRY as an NYSW subsidiary, 16.5 miles from Cranford to St. George, reporting ten customers in 1988
  August 4: First NYSW Sea-Land intermodal train from Binghamton to Little Ferry as part of two sets: one between Little Ferry and Tacoma, and one between Little Ferry and Long Beach
  1986
  January: The first four used EMD SD45s are bought for container train service, 6360, 6362, 6364, 6366
  March: DO begins operating the Rahway Valley RR under contract after RV finds it is unable to obtain its own operating insurance
  NYSW begins to reopen the original main line in the Spring
  Conrail signals its intent to raise haulage rates which triggers a trackage rights clause in the 1982 purchase agreement, DO rehabs the NYSW main instead of paying more to them 
  April 1: Conrail cancels its 1982 contract and enables DO to have the NYS&W rebuild its idle former main line across New Jersey in just six months, costing $8 Million
  A new connection is built at Sparta Junction between the NYSW and former L&HR. A new simpler connection at Maybrook is planned to simplify movements there
  October 15: The first train using the new rehabbed main runs.
  October-November: Four more ex-BN SD45s and two EMD F45s are delivered.
  1987
  January: Five more ex-BN SD45s are delivered, one renumbered to 6361, the rest run with BN numbering.
  Conrail rehabs the former L&HR line from Warwick north
  By late 1987 the only ALCO left in operation on NSYW is C430 3000
  1988
  The GE Dash 8-40Bs begin to arrive, numbers starting 4002. Leased with CSX-backed financing, they are the first new locomotives since 1962's GP18s. The railroad will eventually have twenty-four of them at peak to assist with the new container traffic.
  The NYSW is named operator of the Delaware and Hudson Railway after the D&H goes bankrupt
  1989
  May 27: MCC steam locomotive no. 385 is moved from Newfoundland, where it sat since 1978, to Little Ferry. It will eventually end up at the Whippany Railway Museum.
  June 30: Delaware Otsego stops operating the LASB after thirteen years
  1999
  June 1: Conrail is officially broken up between NS and CSX
  21st Century
  2007
  Walter Rich dies and is succeeded as railroad president by Nathan Fenno
  2020
  NYSW formally files for abandonment of the Lodi and Passaic branches
  2024
  Nathan Fenno is succeeded by James Bonner as railroad president

Railroad name abbreviations

See Also: