| Author | Message | ||
     extuscan Citizen Username: Extuscan Post Number: 524 Registered: 6-2001 |
Add this to the list of things I never knew about Maplewood... there was a SECOND train line in Maplewood with a grade crossing on Rutgers St. It was called the Rahway Valley Railroad. I do recall seeing abandond tracks for it in Union, but I did not know it went clear into Maplewood! To see a little information: Go to print.google.com Search for "Maplewood Rahway Valley" There is an excerpt from a book about the Rahway Valley Railroad. Pictures of the Wooley Coal towers, etc. -John | ||
| ken (the other one) Citizen Username: Ken Post Number: 349 Registered: 5-2001  |
Here we go...  | ||
| ken (the other one) Citizen Username: Ken Post Number: 350 Registered: 5-2001 |
The line came into Maplewood and crossed Rutgers by Durkee Foods (see above). It continued north into where the Town Public Works is, and then branched off to Wooley Fuel. Here's another photo...  | ||
| extuscan Citizen Username: Extuscan Post Number: 525 Registered: 6-2001 |
Thank you Ken... Apparently the Maplewood branch was cut off by rt 78. How much of the right of way exists? How is this related to DeHart park? --John | ||
| ken (the other one) Citizen Username: Ken Post Number: 351 Registered: 5-2001 |
Sorry for the bad photo, I had to reduce it to fit. The road at the bottom that parallels the railroad is Newark Way, and on the left Rutgers St isn't paved yet from Field Rd. Dehart Park is the plot of land in the middle, where Taranto Ct sticks out on the left. I'll see if I can get a better photo. | ||
| bella Citizen Username: Bella Post Number: 531 Registered: 7-2001  |
The railroad tracks were on the Newark Way side of DeHart park. I know that there were still parts of them there in 1984, as I rode my bike next to them when I was a kid. | ||
| scrim Citizen Username: Scrim Post Number: 37 Registered: 5-2001 |
This road has been partially reactivated to include replacing bridges in Summit that tie it into the old Erie Lackawanna main line http://www.trainsarefun.com/RVRR/RVRR.HTM http://community.webshots.com/album/135037925CFMxGL | ||
| Bill232 Citizen Username: Bill232 Post Number: 124 Registered: 3-2003 |
I used to walk these abandoned tracks with my friends when we went to Dehart Park. Kind of exploring. Alot of times we would find old railroad spikes. Some of the RR ties were also still there. | ||
| Donald Maxton Citizen Username: Don_maxton Post Number: 1 Registered: 12-2005 |
Greetings, I grew up on Burnett Ave. in the Hilton section and remember seeing trains at the bottom of DeHart Park going in and out of Woolley Coal every afternoon. The last one ran in the mid-1970s, before Rt. 78 construction cut the line in Union. Since there were no customers left in Maplewood, the railroad abandoned that section. I authored the book on the Rahway Valley Railroad that extuscan mentions and I'm gathering material for a follow-up volume. If anyone has photos of the tracks in Maplewood, from any period (especially pictures of locomotives, freight cars and freight sidings), I would like to consider them for the book. Full credits provided, of course. I'm especially interested in obtaining a photo of the Rahway Valley bridge that once spanned Stanley Terrace in nearby Union. I have photos of every bridge except that one, which was removed sometime in the 1970s. This is a wonderful site. I lived in Maplewood until I was 19, but you never forget the town where you grew up, especially such a great one.  | ||
| Dennis J O'Neill Citizen Username: Plungy Post Number: 43 Registered: 6-2005 |
The industrial buildings on Newark way and Rutgers must have recieved thier shipments from the freight trains that ran through there. For example, New Jersey Plumbing supply was a coal yard at one time. | ||
| bella Citizen Username: Bella Post Number: 596 Registered: 7-2001 |
when I was a kid we had a big metal pail/bucket (more the width of a barrel but only as deep as a pail, with two handles) that came from the aforementioned coal yard | ||
| jezor Citizen Username: Jezor Post Number: 7 Registered: 3-2001 |
Donald Maxton wrote: "I'm especially interested in obtaining a photo of the Rahway Valley bridge that once spanned Stanley Terrace in nearby Union. I have photos of every bridge except that one, which was removed sometime in the 1970s." Donald, I tried a quick Google Image search and came up with http://images.google.com/images?svnum=100&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&c2coff=1&q=rahway+v alley+bridge&btnG=Search. Are any of those the one you're looking for? {Jonathan} | ||
| bill671 Citizen Username: Bill671 Post Number: 368 Registered: 6-2002 |
2 of RV's diesels are at the Whippany Railway Museum and a Rahway Valley Steam Locomotive is at Steamtown in Pennsylvania. http://www.whippanyrailwaymuseum.org/eq_rahway.htm | ||
| Bob K Supporter Username: Bobk Post Number: 11892 Registered: 5-2001 |
Luv the pics!! Most interesting are the two 1980 pictures showing an RV engine pulling a mixed passenger and freight train. There are two old fashion (1930s?) passenger cars and, incredibly, one of those dome observation cars used in the West, a box car and what appears to be another newish passenger car. Were they providing passenger service in 1980? Or was this some sort of railroad buff excursion? I rather suspect the latter. | ||
| Donald Maxton Citizen Username: Don_maxton Post Number: 4 Registered: 12-2005 |
The 1980 photos show the special that ran between Kenilworth and Springfield during the U.S. Open at Baltusrol. It wasn't a mixed train. The boxcars housed generating equipment for lights in the vintage passenger cars. The railroad even issued special tickets. When the Rahway Valley was a passenger line, there actually was a station at Baltusrol. This was for the convenience of the railroad's owner, Louis Keller, and his golfing friends. Keller was one of the founders of Baltusrol. There's another excellent web site at http://www.trainsarefun.com/rvrr/rvrr.htm My book may be available in the Maplewood Public Library. | ||
| Bob K Supporter Username: Bobk Post Number: 11898 Registered: 5-2001 |
They could have used the train when the Open was at Baltusrol again last year. The traffic in Springfield was horrendous.  It is sad that Mr. Clark and his crews were fighting a battle they had to lose. The local industrial base was closing or moving away. The only two businesses mentioned on the customer list that still seem to be doing well are Wooley and Jaeger Lumber. There may be others, but I am unfamilar with them. Thanks for the additional information. |
