Bergen County Line

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The Main and Bergen County Lines
The Main and Bergen County Lines

The Bergen County Line is a commuter rail line and service owned and operated by New Jersey Transit in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The line loops off the Main Line between the Meadowlands and Glen Rock, with trains continuing in either direction along the Main Line. Like on the Main Line, the equipment used on this line is diesel equipment operated in a push-pull fashion; the cab is located at the north end of the train. Some trains of Metro-North Railroad's Port Jervis Line also operate over the line. NJ Transit trains are stored overnight in Suffern, New York; those of Metro-North are stored in Port Jervis.[citation needed]

The Norfolk Southern Railway provides freight service along the line via trackage rights.

Contents

[edit] History

From a point in Secaucus, just south of the Hackensack River bridge near the former Harmon Cove station, to a point in East Rutherford north of the Rutherford station, the Bergen County Line uses the former Erie Railroad Main Line. This portion was opened in 1833 by the Paterson and Hudson River Railroad[1] and leased by the New York and Erie Rail Road in 1852.[2] The rest of the line, from East Rutherford north to Glen Rock, opened in 1881 as the Bergen County Railroad, and was immediately leased to the Erie.[citation needed]

Until the mid-1950s, the Erie's Bergen County Cutoff was a minor spur offering commuter service. The Main Line between East Rutherford and Paterson fell into disuse after a bridge spanning the Passaic River was damaged. As a result, all Erie trains began to use the Bergen County Line. With the merger of the Erie with the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad in 1960, the old Lackawanna Main Line up to Paterson became the Erie-Lackawanna Railroad's Main Line, and the Bergen County Line was extended south along the old Erie Main Line to Secaucus.[citation needed]

Prior to the opening of Secaucus Junction in 2003, Bergen County Line trains used a longer stretch of old Erie Main Line in Secaucus, extending south to Croxton Yard and a merge with the Erie-Lackawanna Main Line. A curving track was built between the Hackensack River and the Main Line north of Secaucus Junction to allow Bergen County Line trains to use Secaucus Junction.

[edit] Route guide

Approaching Secaucus Junction, a westbound train headed for the Bergen County Line uses the more northerly pair of tracks, designated G and H at the transfer. West of the transfer, these tracks diverge from the Main Line over a new right-of-way opened in 2003, connecting the Main Line with the Bergen County Line. During this stretch, the Hackensack River is to the left, while industrial plants on Meadowlands Parkway are to the right.

Soon, the train joins the old Erie Main Line right-of-way and crosses the Hackensack over HX Bridge, a two-track bascule draw. For the next two miles, the train crosses the Meadowlands, under the New Jersey Turnpike western spur with the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford visible in the distance to the right and a new development beginning to take shape in Rutherford, to the left. Here, the track parallels Berrys Creek and eventually crosses it just before passing below Route 3.

Beyond Route 3, the landscape changes to industrial. Office buildings line the side of the track, some serviced by sidings. The Pascack Valley Line soon splits off to the right, and the train then crosses Route 17 and approaches the Rutherford station.

For the next half-mile, the train passes residences on either side, but it then swings to the right, abandoning the old Erie Main Line, and again passes through industrial areas. Soon, the tracks form the border of Carlstadt and Wallington. Presently the train passes Wood-Ridge and South Hackensack before crossing the Saddle River into Garfield and coming to a stop at the Garfield station.

The train continues northward through Garfield, passing homes, businesses, and Dahnerts Lake County Park before reaching the Plauderville station at Midland Avenue, which the train has paralleled since the Garfield station and now crosses. Shortly after passing beneath U.S. Highway 46, the track becomes the border of Saddle Brook and Elmwood Park, once again crossing Midland Avenue. Interstate 80 passes above the train, which then crosses the Garden State Parkway. The Broadway station is at a corner of Elmwood Park formed by the track and Route 4.

In Fair Lawn, the line is paralleled by Plaza Road, named for Radburn Plaza, the commercial area serving the Radburn development for which the borough's more northerly station is named. The line crosses below Route 208 before reaching Radburn. Beyond the station, the train passes housing to the right and industry to the left before it enters Glen Rock. The Borough Hall station, like its Main Line counterpart, is on Rock Road. The lines merge a short distance north of this point at Ridgewood Junction.

[edit] Station listing

New Jersey

Stations from Rutherford to Glen Rock are only served by Bergen County Line trains. All other stations are located along the Main Line.

New York

[edit] References

  1. ^ PRR Chronology, 1833PDF (61.1 KiB), June 2004 Edition
  2. ^ PRR Chronology, 1852PDF (83.5 KiB), March 2005 Edition
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New Jersey Transit Rail (system map) (website)
Hoboken Division Erie Lines: Bergen County Line – Main Line – Pascack Valley Line – Port Jervis Line
Morris & Essex Lines: Gladstone Branch– Morristown Line
Montclair-Boonton Line
Newark Division North Jersey Coast Line – Northeast Corridor Line – Princeton Branch – Raritan Valley Line – Atlantic City Line
Light Rail   Hudson-Bergen Light Rail – Newark Light Rail – River Line
Connections Aldene Connection – Hunter Connection – Kearny Connection – Montclair Connection – Secaucus Junction – Waterfront Connection
Other List of New Jersey Transit stations – Retired New Jersey Transit rail fleet
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New Jersey Transit Corporation (official website)
Bus Bus operations • Bus fleet • Routes: 1-99, 100-199, 300-399, 400-449, 450-499, 500-549, 550-599, 600-699, 700-799, 800-849, Wheels, Morris County Metro
Rail Hoboken Division: Main and Bergen County Lines, including the Port Jervis Line • Pascack Valley Line • Montclair-Boonton Line • Morris and Essex Lines (Morristown Line and Gladstone Branch)
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