Passenger Trains > NJ - Radburn on the Bergen County Line

Radburn is a section of Fair Lawn township in NJ. The station is on the NJ Transit Bergen County line, a short cut built by the Erie railroad to link their western lines with the Jersey City yards while bypassing downtown Paterson and Passaic NJ. In the 1800s, street running was the norm in these large industrial towns, leading to much rancor when long, slow freights lumbered through town. Passaic had street running until the 1960s.

Radburn station is located a short distance from Radburn, the planned community. The community was initially developed as a garden centric residential property, with new fangled automobiles banished to the outskirts. Homes faced on a central greensward, with play areas, etc. Deliveries and driveways would be made to the outside facing side of each small building. Later construction included single family homes of the same brick materials sharing a large, common BACK yard. Post WWII homes were built in conventional Cape Cod and ranch house developments around the original property.

Picture 1 - the station, looking eastward. The tracks and platform shelter are behind it

Picture 2 - the eastbound (toward Hoboken) shelter. The station is to the right. There were quite a few people waiting for a train on a Saturday afternoon.

Picture 3 - the station, looking westward. The cut brownstone blocks are very common in this area. They appear prominently in the Mahwah station design and many bridge abutments

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Picture 4 - a Suffern-bound train pulls into Radburn. The Bergen County line, Main Line, and Pascack Valley lines use a mix of equipment. The recent preference has been PL42AC engines on the multilevel trains, and a choice of 41xx GP40P (former Jersey Central) engines and F40PH-2CAT equipment. The Boonton Line often sees GP40P units, but more often the 42xx GP40PH units.

This single level train had 4126 leading a few weeks ago. The train crossed the busy Fair Lawn Avenue intersection, came to a stop, and the gates went up. I think that may be a function of its short length, as I've noticed the gates stay down for certain longer trains while they are discharging passengers.

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More good stuff, thanks - I love that station but hate the additions from the last thirty years. Used to be a nice spot for photography... now it's too tight.

erielackawanna Wrote:
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> More good stuff, thanks - I love that station but
> hate the additions from the last thirty years.
> Used to be a nice spot for photography... now it's
> too tight.


NJ Transit must be one of the largest customers in the world for wrought iron fences. They're everywhere in new and remodeled stations. They certainly look better than chain link topped with barbed wire, but they obstruct a lot of pictures