Eastern Railroad Discussion > D&DR RR's RP-1 passes beneath Route 57 in Port Colden

The bridge, located in Port Colden (NJ) and on the Morris Canal right-of-way, carries Route 57 over a single track of D&DR RR's Washington Secondary. This line was developed by the Morris and Essex Railroad around 1865, and was taken over by the Delaware Lackawanna & Western RR on January 1, 1869, providing them with access to Hoboken ports on the Hudson River. The bridge dimensions are thirty-four long,173 feet wide and a representative example of common pre-World War II construction technology. It was constructed in 1934. D&DR's RP-1 is seen here passing beneath the bridge on November 24th heading towards Washington and then on to Phillipsburg. 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/24/20 12:42 by Pattenburg.

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The story of the Morris & Essex is interesting to tell.  They were in a competition with the Warren Railroad to build a line to reach into Pennsylvania near the Delaware Water Gap.  The Warren Railroad was affiliated with the Lackawanna and was under the control of John I. Blair.  Blair had been born and raised in Belvidere, NJ and knew the territory like the back of his hand.  He was able to acquire the land north of Washington, NJ through Van Ness Gap which effectively shut out the Morris & Essex.  The M&E was then left with building along the Musconetcong River to Phillipsburg, effectively shutting it out of direct access to the anthracite coal.  The Warren Railroad was quickly leased to the Lackawanna and as mentioned above was able to lease and then buy the weaker Morris & Essex, give the Lackawanna its direct access to the Hudson River to deliver anthracite coal.

A very nice autumn scene,  The cogent narrative was very informative.
ALLEN

John I. Blair also built his home along the Lackawanna's Gladstone line.  Named it "BLAIRSDEN".  It was a featured property for the local hospital fund raiser a few years ago.

What is also classic New Jersey...150 years later, the M&E RR is still called the M&E RR, or the NJT M&E line.

Bet I've driven over that bridge at least 1000 times.

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
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> John I. Blair also built his home along the
> Lackawanna's Gladstone line.  Named it
> "BLAIRSDEN".  It was a featured property for the
> local hospital fund raiser a few years ago.

No, this was his son's house.  John I. Blair lived in his namesake town of Blairstown.

njmidland Wrote:
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> Lackawanna484 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > John I. Blair also built his home along the
> > Lackawanna's Gladstone line.  Named it
> > "BLAIRSDEN".  It was a featured property for
> the
> > local hospital fund raiser a few years ago.
>
> No, this was his son's house.  John I. Blair
> lived in his namesake town of Blairstown.

Thanks. It's a gorgeous, castle like home on the crest of a mountain.

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