Colby Cut
Colby Cut (also known as Roseville Cut) is one of a number of cuts on the Lackawanna Cut-Off railroad line in northwest New Jersey. Located between approximately mileposts 51.8 and 52.3 in Byram Township, the fill was constructed between 1908 and 1911 by contractor Walter H. Gahagan. The cut, which was created by removing fill material obtained by blasting with dynamite or other methods, is 0.53 miles (0.64 km) long, has an average depth of 45 feet (14 m), and a maximum depth of 110 feet (34 m). The cut was the result of the removal of 462,342 cubic yards of fill material within this section.
Colby Cut is located on a tangent (straight) section of right-of-way, permitting 70 mph (113 km/hr), and is just east of the Pequest Fill and just west of Roseville Tunnel.[1] This section is scheduled to receive a single track as part of the reactivation of the line, which was abandoned in 1983. NJ Transit rail service is projected to begin in 2016.
Colby Cut is named for F.G. Colby, from whom much of the land comprising the cut was acquired.[2]