Verona

History

Interest and construction (1885–1891)

An interest by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad and Erie Railroad in the late 1880s led to the demand for a branch to Caldwell Township. In 1885, a report came from the Baltimore and Ohio's headquarters in Chicago, Illinois that the railroad wanted to build a new line between New York City and Chicago. This new line would cut through Essex and Morris Counties, cutting through Verona, Caldwell, Hanover and other places without a competing railroad. Any construction would require going through Orange Mountain of the Watchung Mountains.

The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad first showed their interest in the winter of 1884–1885. Interested in a route to Mendham, New Jersey, they surveyed several routes to reach it, including a line that would go via Montclair, Caldwell and Morristown. Plans for this route would result in replacing the Boonton Branch as the primary route for long distance, freight and mail trains, as executives felt that it would save time reaching Hoboken compared to the existing branch. This also included a four-track bridge being built at Morristown. While executives did inspections of the proposed route via Mendham, officials from the Erie Railroad offered locals in Morristown incentives to choose them for the construction of a line to the city via Caldwell, using their New York and Greenwood Lake Railway line as a starting point for a new service.

By September 1888, the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western had its crews out working near Glen Ridge on a new double track line on the railroad's branch to Montclair, which would also facilitate the extension to Caldwell. However, construction stopped on any extension to Caldwell, resulting in local anger at the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western by January 1889. Locals felt that the Lackawanna was genuinely uninterested in the opinions of Caldwell and Verona residents, putting the ones of New York City ahead of the locals. On the other hand, the operators of the Erie Railroad and the Greenwood Lake Railroad had interest from the public, offering to purchase the right-of-way and pay for the rest of construction and operation of the new line. The expectation though was that the Greenwood Lake branch line would run via Cedar Grove Center and cross Bloomfield Avenue (County Route 506), then follow the continuation of their original surveys. The Lackawanna returned to do more surveying from Montclair to Caldwell on the line by the end of March 1889. At the same time, surveyors from the Pennsylvania Railroad also arrived to inspect their proposed route. This one would involve cutting off at Watchung Avenue station and going along the Watchung Mountains into Caldwell.

Erie ownership and first station fire (1892–1905)

The introduction of passenger and freight service on the Caldwell Railroad led to increased growth immediately for the railroad and the communities around it. Early growth was steady by December 1891. As part of the growth, the Erie Railroad acquired the Caldwell Railroad in January 1892, making changes to continue further growth along the line. By June 1892, the line averaged 15–20 passengers per operating day, along with increased freight service.

The original depot built at Verona burned to the ground on the afternoon of January 7, 1905. The station agent, Frank Fisher, spotted the fire when the chair he was sitting on was in the process of burning, along with the smell of burning odor of cloth in the building. After rushing out of his office, he went to alert authorities about the fire. Due to the lack of a fire department in Verona, nobody could save the wooden station depot, which burned in its entirety with all the documents and money inside. A detective estimated the damage of the depot at $10,000. However, the cause of the fire was considered suspicious. Fisher had told locals at the boarding house in which he lived that he had failed to make payroll for his staff at the station and spent multiple nights going over his books multiple times. The residents of the boarding house also stated that he had hired a couple locals to work on the account balance issues. Fisher also received a $150 from the American Bronze Company for services rendered and that it was also burned in the fire. After telling the officials about the loss, he stated that he was going to Nanuet, New York to be with friends rather than remain in the area.

With the destruction of the station, the railroad moved quick to replace the depot. With nearby Caldwell station having gained a new depot in 1904, the old station had become the freight house. Rather than continue to use the structure as a freight house, the railroad decided to move the structure with runners pulled by horseback. Taking advantage of a snow-covered day in February 1905, the railroad had 12 horses move the structure along Bloomfield Avenue to the station in Verona. This new depot for Verona was a Queen Anne-style building with slate roof and shingling on its siding. It contained an oak desk and a cast iron potbelly stove in the depot.

Pending an investigation, the railroad would move Fisher's assignment to Midvale station in Passaic County rather than fire him. Fisher, fresh off a wedding the week prior with a lady he met in Canada, was once again under investigation. The Erie Railroad had begun an investigation on his finances at the Midvale station. E. A. Wiggins, a traveling auditor for the railroad, visited Fisher at Midvale station on April 4, 1905 for classified reasons, stating that the problems at Verona had been a settled matter and that his visit was unrelated. After the interview, the railroad requested police come recover the missing money.

Second station fire and replacement fight (1961–1962)

In December 1961, the Erie-Lackawanna Railroad asked First Marketing Company of Newark to sell the station depot at Verona. As part of the sale, the station depot would be maintained and operated by the new owner. This would not change if the depot was replaced with a new structure. The railroad also offered to lease the station from whatever party chose to purchase the station, saving them money on taxes and maintenance. The company did not offer a starting price for a potential purchase, but the deal added that the railroad would maintain 200 square feet (19 m2) of the station with the platform and street access to continue rail service. By this point, the railroad had been operating two morning trains and three evening trains at Verona station.

The company offered the municipality the first chance to purchase the station depot, showing interest but not making any official deal. The railroad paid taxes to the municipality of $1,000 (1962 USD) but with no line item of which pays for the depot. The municipality made an official offer of $1 for the station, an option that the Erie-Lackawanna turned down. A representative of First Marketing stated that multiple offers were made after an article appeared in the Verona–Cedar Grove Times and that the railroad intended to get the full value of the structure. However, the Council noted in a previous meeting that the borough had no value to the municipality and that was why the offer was small. If negotiations failed with Verona, the building would be offered on the open market to anyone willing to pay the value.

No sale had been made before the station depot caught fire on the morning of April 1, 1962. Defective electrical wiring was to blame for the fire, which caused the interior to burn around 12:40 a.m. Police officials were in the area just minutes before and the railroad stated that nobody had been in the structure since the afternoon of March 30. Firefighters put out the blaze quickly and kept the fire from spreading to the wooden freight house next to the burning passenger depot. No railroad service was affected by the blaze. The fire caused destruction to the signal equipment and various pieces of electric equipment on the branch along with old records in the attic. At the time of the fire, the station agent had been dealing with the freight sales for Overbrook Hospital. All that remained of the depot was the charred walls.

The railroad made a quick decision to request the Board of Public Utility Commissioners to abandon the station at Verona. The Order of Railroad Telegraphers and its local union immediately went to protest this decision, requesting that the borough defend the retaining of a station structure and agent at Verona. The chair of the local union stated that abandoning the agent services at Verona would be a mistake due to inconveniencing riders and damage value of nearby property. They added that the first quarter of 1962 had shown an increase in revenue generated at Verona of 15% and that the total of revenu for 1961 was $214,057 between passenger and freight services. Passenger ridership in 1962 averaged about 50. Closure of the station would require people to drive to Caldwell station to get tickets or obtain them at Hoboken Terminal. Freight services would also have to be moved to Caldwell. The Borough Council tabled any action on May 1 at their meeting, but some commuters who showed to the meeting voiced their support for action. One local resident suggested that the borough eliminate all property taxes from a new structure to pressure the Erie-Lackawanna Railroad to build a new station.

End of passenger service (1965–1966)

Commuters in the West Essex area of the county, including Verona, offered in September 1965 to adjust declining ridership on the Caldwell Branch with reduction to pair of express trains that would only stop at Essex Fells, Caldwell, Verona, Cedar Grove and Great Notch before heading direct to Hoboken Terminal. The morning train would leave Essex Fells at 7:30 a.m. and the evening train would leave Hoboken Terminal at 5:30 p.m. These would be operated on self-propelled units. The New Jersey State Highway Commission proposed instead a rail bus to Montclair, eliminating service on the railroad branch, but making stops. A committee of commuters reached out to Dwight R.G. Palmer, the State Highway Commissioner about their support of the express trains over a bus to Montclair. A survey of 132 people was given to commuters and of the first 60 that resulted in a majority of demand for the express trains. They also added that a committee should be formed to push for their opinions on the subject. Over 80% of the first set of surveys also supported their idea of the express trains over the Montclair bus. Those surveyed were also invited to attend a meeting on October 1, 1965 in Caldwell to form a committee.

The new group, the West Essex Commuters Association, came into existence to help vocalize the interests of the commuters along the branch. By December 1965, talk of the proposed Montclair shuttle subsided and the organization pushed to commuters that they need to consider that the proposal would be worse than the express rail option. Using the previous experience of a rail bus that replaced the Erie's Orange Branch, they noted that the bus caused further decline of ridership in the area. The organization added that railroad issues affect all forms of transportation and not just the passenger train ridership. They also asked for details from the state of New Jersey about a demonstration project that would end service on the Caldwell Branch attached to a federal grant of $6 million. They announced a meeting for January 20, 1966 on the back of Governor Richard J. Hughes to help focus on opposing the rail bus to Montclair. An early estimate was that the service would take 16 months to implement.

Despite the pressure, The Board of Public Utility Commissioners approved the Erie Lackawanna Railroad's request to discontinue service on the Caldwell Branch effective June 1, 1966. This order would be part of a greater service cuts of trains on multiple lines of the Erie Lackawanna Railroad, affecting about 3,000 passengers on the system. The four trains on the Caldwell Branch were averaging 664 passengers per day. This would cut $2 million in operating costs, which had $159,087 in revenue in 1965. However, the Board of Public Utilities Commissioners reversed their decision in late May 1966 pending a decision to reform the entire network being discussed by the state of New Jersey. As a result of the announcement, the service on the Caldwell Branch (and all other lines) would be extended two more months and new timetables would be announced.

Track removal and freight station preservation (1975–2013)

Parts of the Caldwell Branch right-of-way suffered washouts in 1975 after flooding. In August 1976, the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) and the Morristown and Erie Railway made an agreement to have the latter take over the out-of-service railroad branch for use of freight services. With six freight customers the former Erie Lackawanna Railroad operated on the line, the new services would return a complete connection from Essex Fells to Great Notch. The branch would be rehabilitated to return to active service and reconstruction would have to be done on the line to eliminate damage caused by the washouts. NJDOT expected the line to reopen by March 1977, but the Morristown and Erie expected that the line would open sooner than that.

However, no progress on the project was made and by April 1978, the Sierra Club chapter in New Jersey asked the Essex County Park Commission to look at purchasing the railroad right-of-way for a new bicycle path. This would involve a 37-mile (60 km) long path from Newark to Millburn. In 1979, the mayor of Verona, Jerome Greco, and the mayor of Caldwell, David Dancy, worked on a plan to convert the right-of-way into a trail. Both requested funding from the county to purchase the right-of-way and develop it. In June 1979, the Southern Salvage Company began dismantling the right-of-way of all the tracks, which would sold as scrap iron. Erie County Executive Peter Shapiro and the Sierra Club toured the right-of-way and part of nearby powerlines for the Lenape Trail during a 10-mile (16 km) walk. The bike path would involve 10 acres (4.0 ha) in Verona and that all structures were good shape except for the former washout sites near Overbrook Hospital.

After several years of planning, negotiations began in June 1984 for a new trail. In September 1985, the Essex County Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs acquired 2.84 miles (4.57 km) of the right-of-way in Verona and Cedar Grove from the Erie Lackawanna Railroad for $380,000. The agreement included that the trail would be reduced in length from 5.2 miles (8.4 km) and the rest of the right-of-way and some easements would be requested to build the full length in the future. The new West Essex Bikeway would be built by the Essex County Department of Parks, the Sierra Club and the New Jersey Conservation Foundation.

In 1991, Arthur Smith and the Verona Historical Society looked at preserving the standing freight shed, a 9-foot (2.7 m) tall structure. The structure, standing on two different properties, would be restored and moved from its location at Depot Street and Personette Avenue and converted into a museum. William Kiefer, who owned part of the land the structure stands on and 700 feet (210 m) of the right-of-way, offered to donate the structure to the municipality for public use. However, the Verona Historical Society was unable to find a new location for the proposed museum. With no money to paint the structure or move it, they asked the Verona Board of Education to use a site near the athletic fields. The Board of Education rejected their proposed site and because of the inability to find a new location, the Verona Historical Society rejected the building and left it at Depot Street and Personette Avenue.