Tram in Bergen County
The mainly urban district of Bergen County in the US state of New Jersey , which is mainly urban in the south, had a standard-gauge tram network of around 80 kilometers in maximum expansion from 1891 to 1938 . There was also an interurban route that ran from East Paterson to Suffern in New York State and was around 15 miles long. The routes of the operation mainly served the district capital Hackensack and the second largest city Fort Lee , but also numerous other communities in the district and led across the district boundaries to Paterson and Newark , where there was connection to neighboring tram companies. Outside the county, the Bergen trams used existing lines of the connecting companies. The Bergen County trams lost their independence in 1911 when the Newark-based Public Service Railway , which also operated the local network, took over the routes and incorporated them into its network as the Bergen Division . The streetcar operations of Newark , Paterson and Jersey City in turn had lines to Bergen County, but only the Palisades line from Jersey City and the Main Street line from Paterson had a regular track connection and partially shared service with the tram network in Bergen County .
In 2006 the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail opened a light rail line to North Bergen . An extension of this line to Bergen County is planned.
history
Initially, two independent companies built electric tram routes in Bergen County, namely the Bergen County Traction Company and the Union Traction Company . It was not until 1904 that they were united by the New Jersey and Hudson River Railroad and Ferry , which in turn was taken over by the Public Service Railway in 1911. The Interurban line to Suffern was operated under its own administration until 1926, when it was also integrated into the network of the Public Service Railway.
Early planning
The first efforts to establish a tram service in Bergen County were made as early as the 1830s. The first railway company to receive a concession for such a project was the Paterson and Fort Lee Railroad Company , founded on March 8, 1832 . A horse-drawn tram was supposed to connect the two eponymous places via Hackensack and lead to the Hudson River, where a likewise licensed ferry connection to New York City would be established. However, the project was not implemented.
Further planning for horse railways in Bergen County did not begin until 1860. The Westfield and Hackensack Horse Railroad Company received the concession on March 22 of that year to build a horse railroad from Fort Lee station on the recently opened route of the Northern Railroad of New Jersey to Hackensack. The company was renamed the Cherry Hill Railroad Company in 1867 , expanded the proposed route and now wanted to build a steam-powered railroad north to New York State, but this project also came to nothing, as did that of Paterson, founded on March 21, 1866 and Rochdale Horse Railroad Company , which wanted to build from Paterson in northeastern Rochdale in Bergen County.
On April 6, 1866, the Englewood Horse Railway Company was founded, which wanted to build horse-drawn railway lines from Hackensack and Fort Lee to Englewood and Tenafly. The Hackensack and Englewood Horse Railway Company , founded on March 26, 1872, had a similar project, which wanted to build from Hackensack via Teaneck to Englewood. However, the concessions were not redeemed either and it would be two decades before the first tram rolled through the county.
Rutherford horse tram
The first and only horse-drawn tram in Bergen County was built in the town of Rutherford . It was built by the Rutherford Railway Company , founded on February 11, 1891, and opened on September 7 or October 21, 1891. The route was about a mile long and began at Carlton Hill Station on the main line of the Erie Railroad and ran through Jackson Avenue, Francisco Avenue and Santiago Avenue to Passaic Avenue. The entire rolling stock of the railway amounted to a single two-axle horse-drawn carriage. The company was taken over on December 1, 1894 by the Union Traction Company and shut down after an accident in 1896 and dismantled the following year. The horse-drawn cart was destroyed in the accident when teenagers let the cart parked on the track roll down the hill on Francisco Avenue at night. Even later, the route was not served by an electric tram.
Bergen County Traction
The Fort Lee Railway Company was founded on March 14, 1892, and wanted an electric streetcar along Main Street in Fort Lee from Linwood Avenue to the east end of Main Street and on across River Road to the ferry terminal on Orchard Street in Edgewater to build. Construction began on May 15, 1893, but had to cease in July when the company could no longer pay the workers' wages. She had to file for bankruptcy on December 8, 1893. At the time there were only tracks in Main Street.
The Bergen County Traction Company , founded on December 15, 1894, took over the facilities and completed the line on April 20, 1896, but not to Orchard Street, but instead via Palisade Avenue and through Grantwood to the ferry terminal on Dempsey Avenue in Edgewater. It was to become the core of an extensive tram network. The route began in Fort Lee on Main Street on the city limits of Leonia and ran through this street. On Palisade Avenue she turned into a separate track parallel to that street. Further along the then still unpopulated Palisade Avenue she reached Columbia Avenue in the district of Grantwood, where the route turned off to the southeast. The route that followed now led through today's Kensington Drive (not available at the time) and continued steeply downhill into the deeply cut valley of the Hudson River to Edgewater . On the way to the valley floor had a two-pronged hairpin with cross-platform changes are incorporated. This hairpin was located south of Columbia Avenue on the slope below the current high-rise buildings of the Palisadium. In the valley floor, the route initially ran around Parker's Pond, which no longer exists today, in a 180 ° curve, then to the east parallel to Undercliffe Avenue and into Dempsey Avenue. The railway depot was here. The valley end was then reached on the eastern edge of the River Road. At the terminus was the Edgewater ferry dock, where the tram operated its own passenger ferry across the Hudson River to New York City . The dock was in Harlem at the intersection of 130th Street and 125th Street. The destination lettering for the trams was initially 130th Street and was changed to 125th Street in the 1930s.
The company planned to extend the route to Englewood . On July 11, 1896, the Englewood Line was completed. It led from the city limits to Leonia through Central Avenue (now Fort Lee Road) and Broad Avenue, then turned left onto Central Avenue in Englewood (now Van Nostrand Avenue) and reached its end on Dean Street at the Dean intersection Street / Englewood Avenue. The entire route from Edgewater to Englewood was initially single-track with a swerve. The route was extended in 1897 by a short distance to the intersection of Dean Street and Palisades Avenue. In 1898 a turning loop was built in Edgewater. For this purpose, the track was extended from the terminus in River Road on its own track, which can still be made out south of Hudson Avenue, to Parker's Pond, where it merged with the existing track. The loop was driven counter-clockwise.
On February 27, 1899, another line was opened. She started in Leonia and chained at the Riley Avenue (now Hillside Avenue) from the existing route from, led by Riley Avenue and on a railway-owned Stahljochbrücke on the main route of the Northern Railroad of New Jersey , crossed the Overpeck Creek on a bascule bridge to which was joined by wooden yoke bridges on both sides , which spanned the marshland along the river, and continued on its own railroad track to DeGraw Avenue in Teaneck . The railway continued on this road to Bogota , where it passed through Maple Street (now Main Street). In the course of Main Street, the main line of the West Shore Railroad was also crossed on a steel yoke bridge. The provisional end of the route was on West Main Street, level with a certain Menzo Davis's shop. From the terminal to Hackensack, cabs were initially used, which followed the trams.
| line | Line route |
|---|---|
| Englewood | Edgewater (Ferry Terminal) - Grantwood - Fort Lee - Leonia - Englewood, Palisade Avenue |
| Hoe sack | Leonia Junction (Riley Avenue) - Teaneck - Bogota, West Main Street |
On February 27, 1900, the New Jersey and Hudson River Railroad and Ferry Company (NJ & HRR & F) took over the railway.
Union Traction and Successor
Other railway companies also tried to build electric tram routes in Bergen County. The Union Traction Company , officially founded on December 15, 1894, intended to build a line through the densely populated south of the county from Hackensack to Newark. It first bought the Rutherford horse-drawn tram, which opened in 1891, but shut it down after an accident in 1896 and dismantled it in July 1897. On May 13, 1897, the first electrically operated section from the railroad depot in East Rutherford to North Arlington went into operation. The route began in Hackensack Street in East Rutherford and initially passed under the main line of the Erie Railroad . Immediately after that, she turned onto Erie Avenue and soon after she reached Rutherford Station . Before this she turned into Park Avenue, which she followed through Rutherford . On the Lyndhurst city limits , it turned onto Stuyvesant Avenue and ran south through Lyndhurst. Lyndhurst Station on the main Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad was also on this street . Shortly after passing under this railway line, the streetcar route turned left into Valley Brook Road (now Valley Brook Avenue). It then led south through Ridge Road out of Lyndhurst to North Arlington. The train then continued through the Belleville Turnpike and Elm Street to Arlington Station on the Erie Railroad, where there was a transfer to the Newark tram . On July 4, 1897, it was extended north to Carlstadt . The new tracks were on Hackensack Street, Division Avenue, and Monroe Street. The terminus was on Fritsch Avenue.
The Union Traction Company filed for bankruptcy on January 4, 1898 and was taken over on January 27, 1899 by the Newark and Hackensack Traction Company (N&HT), founded four days earlier . On May 12, 1900, the line was extended further north to Hackensack. The new section led from Monroe Street to 4th Street to Wood-Ridge . The railway crossed this place on or further north next to Valley Boulevard and initially ended at the northern city limits (Lincoln Avenue). The extension to Hackensack was completed on October 3, 1900. It ran along the boulevard through Hasbrouck Heights . There she turned into Lodi Street (now Williams Avenue) and then continued on its own track next to Terrace Avenue and across South Newman Street to Essex Street in Hackensack. The section to Passaic Avenue, June 9th to Kipp Avenue, and July 3rd to Central Avenue had already been opened beforehand. There was initially no connection to the tram route of the NJ & HRR & F. Initially, the journey from Arlington to Hackensack had to be changed twice because two property owners in Hasbrouck Heights refused to give their property to the railway. The first gap at the corner of Boulevard and Lodi Street was closed on March 26, 1901, but it was not until August 25, 1901 that the railways from Arlington to Hackensack went through.
On November 22, 1902, the Hudson River Traction Company (HRT) took over management of the railway. However, Newark & Hackensack Traction had to file for bankruptcy on January 20, 1903 and was then completely bought up by HRT on September 1, 1903. The lack of connection to the rest of the tram network in Hackensack was unsatisfactory and so the railway company decided to give up its previous terminal on Essex Street and build a new line to the Hudson River line. On December 7, 1903, the new line went into operation. It branched off the previous route in Hasbrouck Heights at the intersection of Boulevard / Lodi Street and initially ran through the boulevard. At the city limits it turned off the boulevard and led over its own rail track and through Summit Avenue in Hackensack. In front of the railroad, she turned right onto a separate track and reached the level of First Street, the route of the NJ & HRR & F, on which the Hudson River line ran. The N&HT agreed a right of use for the route from this junction to the center of Hackensack, where the trains now ended at Mill Street (now Main Street). The route from Lodi Street to the old terminus in Essex Street was briefly used by a shuttle car, but closed on January 1, 1904. The HRT was leased from April 15, 1904 by NJ & HRR & F, which immediately took over the management.
New Jersey and Hudson River Railroad and Ferry
The tram route to Hackensack was not completed until June 23, 1900. The main reason for the delay was the crossing of the Hackensack River . A bascule bridge was built here that was wide enough for two tracks. However, the line was initially single-track. On its own railway track, which is now part of Main Street in Bogota, the route now crossed the river and reached the district capital Hackensack. Midtown Bridge Street is located on the railway track. The line then turned left onto River Street, where it ended at the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railroad station.
From April 1900 the hairpin on the steep stretch was replaced by a hairpin. The construction work was carried out with ongoing operations mainly at night, so that the converted line could not be opened until February 19, 1901. At the same time, the line from Edgewater to Grantwood was double-tracked. This had become necessary due to the increasing volume of transport. The previous Hackensack Line was now called the Hudson River Line and extended to Edgewater. In November 1900, the Edgewater depot was expanded to include a second hall for 16 cars. As early as 1898, plans were made to build a route to Cliffside Park, which would branch off the existing route on Palisade Avenue and lead south. However, the application was withdrawn in 1899 for reasons of cost. The plans were discussed again in 1900 and on December 3, 1900 the company received the concession. However, the construction was not carried out and it would take until 1911 before you could drive from Edgewater to Cliffside Park without having to change trains. The line was relocated in Leonia at the end of 1901. It left Central Avenue at Highland Street and headed north on its own railroad to Broad Avenue. The tight curve at the intersection of Broad Avenue and Central Avenue could thus be defused. There is now a parking lot on the route.
In 1901, the Park on the Palisades was opened in Grantwood , an amusement park owned by the tram company. In 1908 it was expanded and was then called Palisades Amusement Park . It existed until 1972 and was then built over with the palisadium high-rise buildings. On some days, the number of passengers going to the park justified the use of additional cars that were labeled with Park Only .
Also in 1901 the NJ & HRR & F extended the Hudson River Line via Hackensack to Maywood . It led from Hackensack station through River and Mercer Street in Hackensack, initially on its own track parallel to the railroad and then turned into First Street. It then continued along this street, through Passaic Street, Franklin Place and Hamilton Place into Pleasant Avenue, on which it ended in the center of Maywood on Maywood Avenue. The extension to Union Street had already been opened on October 25, the corner of Hamilton Place and Summit Avenue was reached on November 9, and finally the terminus in Maywood on December 26. Emergency vehicles from Maywood drove to Hackensack station in early business traffic. From November 28, 1902, the railways ran in Maywood to Spring Valley Road.
Another extension to Paterson took place on April 1, 1903. The new route led in the extension of Pleasant Avenue out of Maywood on a separate track, which today partially carries the Plaza Way. She then first crossed the Saddle River and turned left onto Broadway, which she followed to the bridge over the Passaic River . This bridge not only represents the district boundary, but also the administrative boundary of the tram operation, which was connected to the Paterson tramway here . The tram did not use the road bridge, but its own single-track yoke bridge was built north of the road bridge. The Hudson River Line used the tracks of the Paterson Tram to the center of the city. Initially they made a U-turn via Broadway, Main Street, Park Avenue, East 33rd Street in a large loop, but soon drove in both directions through Broadway to the Broadway Terminal (Broadway / Main Street). The recently opened bridge over the Passaic River was washed away by floods on October 10, 1903, as was the Broadway road bridge. On December 8, a makeshift temporary bridge went into operation, and on January 17, 1904, the new, still single-track, Joch bridge.
On March 1, 1904, a short extension through Dean Street to Chestnut Street went into operation in Englewood. At the same time, express trips were introduced in the morning rush hour, which stopped at all stations from Englewood to Leonia Junction and drove from there to Edgewater without stopping. The planned further extension to Tenafly was initially not built.
From April 15, 1904, the NJ & HRR & F leased the HRT, whose route ran from Hackensack to Arlington. It was not until February 25, 1910 that the NJ & HRR & F finally bought the HRT. In 1904 a rail link was built in Kearny to the Newark tram, and from August 9, 1904, the Hackensack Line ran from North Arlington (Belleville Turnpike) through Kearny Avenue, 4th Street (now Frank E. Rodgers Boulevard), Central Avenue, Clay Street and Broad Street to the center of Newark, where they initially ended in a loop over Lafayette Street, Mulberry Street and Green Street. The section from North Arlington to Arlington Station was now served by a shuttle line, the Arlington Depot Line . A single railcar was sufficient for this, which initially only ran in connection with arriving trains on the Erie Railroad, and later at regular intervals following the wagons on the Hackensack Line. After just a few weeks, the line in Newark was extended through Broad Street to South Street, with a loop over Thomas Street and McCarter Highway. As of January 1, 1905, it ended in the Bank Street Loop in downtown Newark, which ran across Central Avenue, Washington Street, and Bank Street.
In Hackensack on Main Street / Mill Street, the Lodi Line , which belonged to and was also administered by the tram company based in Passaic County, ended on May 16, 1904 . The stretch of this line belonged to the HRT until Lodi station. The newly built section branched off from the existing route next to the boulevard at St. Joseph Boulevard and led on its own railway body along this street and over Shanley Place (Massey Street). The line continued via Passaic to Paterson. With the takeover of the Bergen County's trams by the Public Service Railway (PSRY) on May 1, 1911, the Lodi line was added to the Bergen Division, but on December 11, 1919, this line merged with Passaic line 60. The line through Lodi was closed on August 31, 1924.
From May 27, 1905, the Englewood Line drove a new line through Fort Lee, Morsemere (Palisades Park) and Leonia. This branched off from the existing route at Columbia Avenue / Palisade Avenue and led on its own track in the median of Columbia Avenue, on a separate route, on which State Road 5 runs today, to Harriett Avenue. The new route then reached the existing network again through this and Broad Avenue.
The Hackensack line was extended on Sundays and public holidays from July 2, 1905, and daily from July 11, 1905 via Hackensack via Fort Lee to Edgewater, after the double-track expansion of the line from Leonia to Hackensack had been completed the day before. There was now continuous traffic from Edgewater to Newark with a line length of 36.74 kilometers. At the end of July, however, the traffic to Newark had to be stopped because the bridge in the course of Clay Street in Newark could not carry the heavy vehicles of the Hackensack Line. The trams initially ended at the Belleville Turnpike in North Arlington, and from August 2nd at the bridge, where the Newark tram had to be transferred to vehicles. It was not until May 25, 1907, that the cars returned to Bank Street in Newark, but no longer on Clay Street, but from 4th Street via Harrison Avenue and Bridge Street to Broad Street.
Another service improvement in the Bergen network resulted from August 4, 1905. A new connecting curve from Main Street in Fort Lee to the crossing of the Palisades line of the tramway operations in Jersey City now allowed the establishment of one with Jersey City jointly operated line from Englewood via Fort Lee and the Palisades Line to the ferry terminal in Weehawken , the Englewood – Weehawken Joint Line . However, on October 14, 1905, this line was discontinued due to a lack of customers. To strengthen the Englewood line, a shuttle car drove from Leonia Junction to Englewood (Palisade Avenue) from November 9, 1905, following carriages on the Hudson River Line. From June 11, 1906, the Hudson River and Hackensack Line ran via Palisades Park. The route through the center of Fort Lee was operated by a new Fort Lee Line from this point in time . It also led to Englewood, but every second car ended in Leonia Junction on Riley Avenue, where the routes to Hackensack / Paterson and Englewood branched out. The shuttle to Englewood was discontinued at the same time. The Englewood line now ran all day as an express line from Leonia Junction via Palisades Park to Edgewater. The cars continued to stop at all stations between Englewood and Leonia Junction. From July 2, 1906, express trips were also offered on the Hudson River Line in rush hour traffic in the afternoon, which drove from Edgewater to Maywood.
In two steps, the Englewood line was finally extended to Tenafly , which had been planned since 1900. First, on June 25, 1910, the section along Dean Street to Highwood Station went into operation. On July 1, 1910, however, the Public Service Railway (PSRY) bought the NJ & HRR & F. NJ & HRR & F initially managed the Bergen network itself until May 1, 1911. However, the vehicles had already been repainted in the yellow of the PSRY and given the PSRY logos.
| Line name | Line route |
|---|---|
| Hudson River | Edgewater Terminal - Grantwood - Palisades Park - Leonia - Teaneck - Bogota - Hackensack - Maywood - East Paterson - Paterson, Broadway Terminal |
| Englewood | Edgewater Terminal - Grantwood - Palisades Park - Leonia - Englewood - Highwood Train Station (Express between Edgewater and Leonia Junction) |
| Fort Lee | Edgewater Terminal - Grantwood - Fort Lee - Leonia Junction (Broad Avenue / Riley Avenue) (- Englewood - Highwood Station (only about every 2nd car)) |
| Hoe sack | Edgewater Terminal - Grantwood - Palisades Park - Leonia - Teaneck - Bogota - Hackensack - Hasbrouck Heights - Wood Ridge - Carlstadt - East Rutherford - Rutherford - Lyndhurst - North Arlington - Kearny - Harrison - Newark, Bank St |
| Lodi | Hackensack, Mill Street - Hasbrouck Heights - Lodi - Garfield - Passaic - Clifton (Main Avenue) - Paterson, Broadway Terminal (operated by the Paterson Tram) |
| Arlington Depot | North Arlington, Belleville Turnpike - Arlington, train station |
The Interurban route to Suffern
The North Jersey Rapid Transit Company , founded on September 1, 1908, built in 1910 a largely railway line that began in East Paterson (now Elmwood Park), on the bridge of Broadway over the Passaic River, and led northwards on its own railway body. Today the River Drive is on this route. In Fair Lawn the train turned into Fair Lawn Avenue, next to which it ran on its own track, and shortly afterwards reached the Fair Lawn station. After crossing the railway, she turned onto a track next to the railway. Within sight of the railway, the route ran north through Glen Rock , Ridgewood to Ho-Ho-Kus , where the terminus was initially. The line went into operation on June 25, 1910. The depot and the administration of the railway were at the terminus in Ho-Ho-Kus.
A serious accident occurred on the Interurban route on July 21, 1911, when lightning struck a signaling system and a work vehicle driving to the location of the damage collided head-on with an oncoming train. Three railway employees died and around twenty passengers were injured. The railway company then had to file for bankruptcy. The extension parallel to the railway via Waldwick , Allendale , Ramsey and Mahwah Township to Suffern was opened on September 5, 1911. In Suffern the tracks lay a few hundred meters in the pavement of Orange Avenue and ended in front of the train station. The total route had a length of 24.5 kilometers. Planned extensions from East Paterson to Hoboken, from Ho-Ho-Kus to Spring Valley and from Suffern to Greenwood Lake were not built due to the company's economic situation.
Continuous traffic to Paterson on the Passaic Division's public service tracks began on February 28, 1926, and on November 17 of that year the Public Service Corporation took over the Interurban route. She received the line number 5 of the Passaic Division. However, the Interurban route was administered by the Bergen Division.
Public Service Railway
The management of NJ & HRR & F ended on May 1, 1911, when the Public Service Railway (PSRY) took over and integrated the network as the Bergen Division into their already extensive route network; the purchase had already taken place on July 1, 1910. The PSRY now assigned in-house line numbers from 89 to 94 for the lines of the NJ & HRR & F and for the Lodi line, which had been partially operated by PSRY since 1907 and was now assigned to the Bergen Division. The numbers were not used on the vehicles. On November 21, 1910, the extension to Tenafly, which had already been started by the NJ & HRR & F, was completed. The new route began in Dean Street and ran through it, as well as on its own railroad track in the extension of Dean Street, where Dean Drive is today, to Tenafly. Here it led through Front Street (now also Dean Drive), Clinton Avenue and Railroad Avenue to Tenafly station, in front of whose reception building the terminal was located. The Fort Lee line (91) has now also been extended to Tenafly. Every second journey on this line continued to end in Leonia.
An improvement in the operational process took effect in the entire Bergen network as early as February 1911. The PSRY had ordered that all stops in the direction of travel were relocated in front of the corresponding road intersection instead of behind it, so that the stopping vehicle does not obstruct the crossing over the intersection. On March 14, 1911, the junction of the Palisades Line of the PSRY network from Jersey City with the main route of the Bergen network at what is now Columbia Avenue and Abbott Boulevard in Grantwood was equipped with double-track connecting curves, so that vehicles now switch between the networks more easily could. A single-track track connection had already existed on Main Street in Fort Lee, where the Palisades line also crossed the Bergen network. This Palisades line now ran every second trip from Grantwood via Bergen Railroad to Edgewater. The connection from Edgewater to the south of Bergen County to Cliffside Park, which had been planned since 1898, had now become a reality.
The Lodi line ended in July 1911 in Hackensack on the corner of State Street and Trinity Place, where a triangle was built. From August 11, 1913, the trains on this line drove back to the station and ended in Mercer Street south of Mill Street, as before 1911. From August 4, 1913, the new Harrison line (line 39) of the Newark tram strengthened the Hackensack line between Newark and North Arlington.
From October 26 to December 11, 1915, the Fort Lee Line was interrupted and ended from Edgewater on the Fort Lee city limits on Main Street. The section from there to Leonia had to be extensively renovated due to track and superstructure damage and was relocated from the edge of the road to the center of the road at the same time. After that it ended with all trips in Leonia. From May 1, 1916, the Hackensack Line in Newark drove to the new public service terminal next to Mulberry Street. She turned on the upper floor of the complex, where she left on platform 4.
| number | Line name | Line route | Wagon sequence | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 | Palisades | (operated by the Hudson Division ) Edgewater Terminal - Grantwood - // Coytesville - Fort Lee - Grantwood - Cliffside Park - North Bergen - West New York - Union Hill - Weehawken Terminal | HVZ every 3 minutes, otherwise every 7.5-10 minutes (alternately to Edgewater and Coytesville) | |
| 89 | Hudson River | Edgewater Terminal - Grantwood - Palisades Park - Leonia - Teaneck - Bogota - Hackensack - Maywood - East Paterson - Paterson, Broadway Terminal | day and evening 15 min., at night 30 min. | from 1925 in peak hours every 10 min. |
| 90 | Englewood | Edgewater Terminal - Grantwood - Palisades Park - Leonia - Englewood - Tenafly, train station (between Edgewater and Leonia Junction as an express line with a few stops) | day and evening 15 min., at night 30 min. | |
| 91 | Fort Lee | Edgewater Terminal - Grantwood - Fort Lee - Leonia Junction | day and evening 15 min., at night 30 min. | Traffic routing changed from 1918, see below |
| 92 | Hoe sack | Edgewater Terminal - Grantwood - Palisades Park - Leonia - Teaneck - Bogota - Hackensack - Hasbrouck Heights - Wood Ridge - Carlstadt - East Rutherford - Rutherford - Lyndhurst - North Arlington (and on via Newark Tram tracks: - Kearny - Harrison - Newark, Public Service terminal) | 20 minutes during the day, 30 minutes in the evening and at night | traffic routing changed from around 1917, see below; from 1923 every 15 minutes during the day |
| 93 | Lodi | Hackensack, Train Station - Hasbrouck Heights - Lodi - Garfield - Passaic - Clifton (Main Avenue) - Paterson, Broadway Terminal | 20 minutes during the day, 30 minutes in the evening and at night | 1919 to the Passaic Division (line 60) |
| 94 | Arlington Depot | North Arlington, Belleville Turnpike - Arlington, train station | during the day 20 min., in the evening 30 min. | Shut down in 1923 |
There was also the Interurban line to Suffern, which was taken over by PSRY in 1926 and incorporated into the line network as line 5. The trains from Suffern now drove over PSRY tracks to Paterson, where they ended like the Hudson River Line at the Broadway Terminal.
Fight for profitability
Line 92 to Edgewater ended Monday through Friday around 1916, and the Newark trains ended those days in Hackensack on Mercer Street / Mill Street (now Main Street). Line 91 (Fort Lee) was also subjected to several changes in the years after 1916 in order to be able to operate it economically. From July 15, 1918, all trains on the line ran to Englewood and ended at the end of the double-track section of the line in Dean Street. From August 26, 1918, the 91 finally drove all trips to Tenafly in order to take into account the higher traffic volume caused by the First World War . In 1917 a large troop deployment area had arisen north of Tenafly. After the end of the war, the volume sank rapidly and from April 28, 1919, line 91 ended in the evening and at night again in Leonia, and from October 29, 1919 also during the day.
The Lodi line was completely taken over by the Passaic Division on December 11, 1919, integrated into line 60 and finally shut down on August 31, 1924. On July 8, 1921, line 91 was extended again Monday to Friday in daytime traffic, but now parallel to line 89 to Hackensack, where the terminus was on First Street. From February 1, 1924, this extension was only used in rush hour traffic, at other times the line ended again in Leonia. From January 25, 1926, the line ended again in Leonia Junction during rush hour.
By 1923, the Hudson River line between Hackensack and East Paterson was expanded to two tracks. The wooden yoke bridge over the Saddle River was also replaced by a double-track steel girder bridge. The entire line was now double-tracked except for individual bridge structures. This was the greatest expansion of the Bergen network. On August 1, 1923, the tram workers went on strike. The work stoppage for better wages and shorter working hours lasted 51 days. The victim of the strike was line 94 to Arlington station, which was not operated again after the end of the strike. In some parts of the network, such as Wood-Ridge and Englewood, the tracks were over-tarred by the communities. After the end of the strike on September 21st, all lines except for line 94 ran again as before.
From June 15, 1925, a feeder car operated to increase the frequency on the Hudson River Line, commuting from the end of the Interurban line in East Paterson to Paterson (Broadway Terminal) and connecting to the Interurban railways. Since a bus line from Paterson to Suffern was opened in August 1925, a track connection to the tram was built in East Paterson and the Interurban trains ran to Paterson without changing trains from February 28, 1926. On November 17, 1926, the Public Service Corporation took over the New Jersey Rapid Transit Company and with it the Interurban route and placed them under the administration of the Bergen Division. However, she received the line number (5) from the Passaic Division, as she shared their route to Paterson.
On July 1, 1925, the railway opened a new line that turned from Columbia Avenue into Abbott Boulevard, where the Palisades line (line 23) of the Jersey City tram ran on its own track. The Coytesville line now drove from Edgewater on this route through Fort Lee to the district of Coytesville. Line 23 was withdrawn at the same time to Columbia Avenue in Grantwood and only drove in night traffic to Coytesville. However, the administration of the route to Coytesville remained with the Hudson Division. From February 6, 1927, the Palisades line drove back to Edgewater, but from May 6, 1927 only in rush hour traffic.
At the beginning of 1927 the lines of the Bergen Division were given new line numbers. As in the other divisions, uneven numbers from 1 onwards were used for tram lines and even numbers for bus routes. In the Bergen Division there was now line 1 (formerly 89) from Edgewater to Paterson, line 3 (formerly 91) from Edgewater via Fort Lee to Leonia or Hackensack, line 5 (formerly 90) from Edgewater via Palisades Park to Tenafly, line 7/37 (formerly 92) from Hackensack to Newark and line 9 to Coytesville. Line 7 was number 7 in the Bergen Division network and number 37 in the Essex Division network (Newark tram). However, unlike other divisions, the Bergen Division vehicles continued to have no line number plates.
The introduction of the Coytesville Line, which was particularly celebrated by the residents of Coytesville, was short-lived. The timetable change on July 10, 1927 brought some line changes. Line 9 now only ran during rush hour and with individual trips in late traffic, while buses went to Coytesville during the rest of the day. The 23 of the Hudson network ended in Grantwood at night. Line 5 now ran on the Coytesville route from Columbia Avenue to Main Street in Fort Lee and from there to Leonia, Englewood and Tenafly. Via Palisades Park only line 1 now ran. Line 3 was discontinued at the same time and the route next to Palisade Avenue was closed. This also ended the express traffic on the tram.
| number | Line name | Line route | Wagon sequence |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hudson River | Edgewater Terminal - Grantwood - Palisades Park - Leonia - Teaneck - Bogota - Hackensack - Maywood - East Paterson - Paterson, Broadway Terminal | 20 min. |
| 5 | Englewood | Edgewater Terminal - Grantwood - Fort Lee - Leonia - Englewood - Tenafly, train station | 20 min. |
| 7th | Hoe sack | Hackensack, Train Station - Summit Avenue - Hasbrouck Heights - Wood Ridge - Carlstadt - East Rutherford - Rutherford - Lyndhurst - North Arlington (and on as Line 37 - Kearny - Harrison - Newark, Public Service Terminal) | 15 minutes. |
| 9 | Coytesville | Edgewater Terminal - Grantwood - Fort Lee - Coytesville, Washington Avenue | 15 minutes. (only HVZ) |
| 5 | Paterson, Broadway Terminal - East Paterson - Fair Lawn - Glen Rock - Ridgewood - Ho-Ho-Kus - Waldwick - Allendale - Ramsey - Mahwah - Suffern, Railway Station | Mon – Fri 60 min., Sat / Sun 30 min. | |
| 23 | Palisades | (operated by the Hudson Division) (Edgewater Terminal - (HVZ only) ) Grantwood (Palisades Junction) - Cliffside Park - North Bergen - West New York - Union City - Weehawken Terminal | HVZ every 2.5 minutes, otherwise every 6 minutes |
Line number 5 was assigned twice because the Interurban line to Suffern had received its number from the Passaic Division (Tram Paterson), but was administered by the Bergen Division. From August 21, 1927, the Interurban line again only ran between East Paterson and Suffern.
Merger with bus operations and end of rail transport
By 1928, the bus service in the urban areas of New Jersey had developed independently. The Public Service Transportation Company operated these buses. On January 31, 1928, the Public Service Railway merged with the bus operation and the Public Service Coordinated Transport Company (PSCT) was created. The Palisades line of the Hudson network no longer drove to Edgewater from June 15, 1928, but ended all day in Grantwood.
The first change in the Bergen network under the new administration concerned the Hackensack line (7). It was shortened on September 16, 1928 to the section from Hackensack to East Rutherford, where it ended at the tram depot. The section from there to North Arlington was administratively handed over to the Essex Division (Newark tram), which extended its line 39 to East Rutherford. Just a week later, from 23 September, the section from North Arlington to East Rutherford could only be served by shuttle service due to road construction work, line 39 initially ended again in North Arlington. Passengers from Hackensack to Newark now had to change trains twice. On October 25, 1928, line 7 was extended to Lyndhurst (Valley Brook Avenue-Ridge Road) and only the intermediate section from Lyndhurst to North Arlington was operated by a shuttle car. This unsatisfactory change was changed four days later and the 7 drove through to North Arlington again. That too only lasted a few weeks, because on December 2, 1928, line 7 was replaced by buses and the route from Hackensack to East Rutherford was closed. On the section from East Rutherford to North Arlington there was rail replacement service with buses until December 16, before line 39 was extended again to East Rutherford.
The Interurban route from East Paterson to Suffern was also closed on January 1, 1929. Bus traffic had already existed on the route in parallel. The tracks of the Interurban line to Suffern were sold after the closure to the Soviet Union , where they were used in the expansion of the Trans-Siberian Railway . A high-voltage line was built on the route of the railway.
In early 1931 the road bridge over the Hackensack River was renewed in the course of Broadway in Paterson and now also provided with two tram tracks, so that the single-track tram bridge could be demolished. The former Bergen line from Lyndhurst to East Rutherford, operated by Newark Line 39, was switched to bus service on August 9, 1931. From July 1, 1933, there were only individual courses in school traffic on line 9, which were also discontinued in 1935. In late traffic, the Jersey City Line 23 was partially led back to Coytesville since October 6, 1930. The section from Main Street in Fort Lee to Coytesville was only used by a few trams a day. From 1937 the lines were gradually converted to bus or trolleybus operation. Specifically, this affected line 5 between Leonia Junction and Tenafly on March 21, 1937, and between Edgewater and Leonia on June 20, 1937, the rest of the former Bergen line from Lyndhurst to North Arlington on September 5, 1937 (replacement by trolleybus ) and finally line 1 on August 5, 1938. The last remaining tram in Bergen County was line 23 from Jersey City to Grantwood (Fort Lee), which made individual trips to Coytesville in late traffic and on September 5, 1938 was also shut down.
vehicles
Coloring
The tracks of the Bergen Traction and Union Traction were painted red on the sides below the windows, the window fronts were initially beige, and from around 1901 also red. The Interurban cars were painted green with a gray roof. With the takeover of the railway by the Public Service Railway, the vehicles were painted yellow. Around 1930 the vehicles were painted chestnut brown below the windows, the window fronts beige.
Bergen County Traction
At the time of its takeover by NJ & HRR & F, BCT owned 21 railcars and a work car used as a spray truck. The railcars 1 to 6 were built in St. Louis in 1895/96 and were two-axle closed cars. Cars 7 to 10 came from Jackson & Sharp in 1896 and were open summer cars. Another car, No. 11, was procured from Jackson & Sharp in 1897. This “convertible” car could be used both open and closed. Open four-axle cars were still being delivered by the American Car Company in 1900, cars 12 to 21. The other vehicles ordered by BCT were only delivered after the takeover.
Union Traction and Successor
Union Traction initially procured the four-axle closed railcars 1 to 5 and the open cars 14 and 15 from Jackson & Sharp in 1897. When Newark & Hackensack Traction took over in 1899, cars 14 and 15 were renamed 20 and 21 respectively. Cars 1 to 5 were sold in 1900 and instead acquired six used two-axle cars from the Brooklyn Heights Railroad in New York City, which were numbered 1 to 6. However, railcar 6 was soon converted into a work vehicle. In 1901 four more two-axle railcars were bought from Brooklyn, which were given the numbers 7 to 10. A snow plow (car number 100) was acquired by the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company in 1903.
Hudson River Traction took over cars 1 to 10 and the snow plow from N&H; cars 20 and 21 were sold to NJ & HRR & F in 1903. In 1903 four four-axle railcars (34 to 37) from the Brill company arrived, and six more (No. 38 to 43) followed in 1904.
New Jersey & Hudson River Railway & Ferry
The NJ & HRR & F took over three cars from the initial series, including No. 5 and 6, from the BCT and redesigned them as cars 17 to 19. The open cars 12 to 21 were given the numbers 57 to 66 and were also taken over. Five four-axle closed cars (22 to 26) arrived from the American Car Company in 1900, followed by three more (27 to 29) in 1901. In 1903 another four closed cars (No. 30 to 33) were acquired from the Stephenson company. Seven open wagons from Brill (No. 50 to 56) also added to the fleet from 1903. With the takeover of HRT, their vehicles came into the possession of NJ & HRR & F, which redesigned cars 20 and 21 as 67 and 68 respectively. The other vehicles kept their numbers. In addition, two open motor coaches (69 and 70) were acquired from the Jersey City, Hoboken and Paterson Railway, which operated the trams in Hudson County and Paterson.
In 1906 the railway company acquired eight railcars (No. 20, 21 and 44 to 49) from the Stephenson company. Several work vehicles, numbered from 1 to 9 and 14 to 17, were also in the inventory. The HRT snow plow No. 100 had been given the number 4 by the NJ & HRR & F. Railcar 68 was destroyed in a fire on August 17, 1906.
Public Service Railway
When NJ & HRR & F was taken over as the Bergen Division in 1907, all vehicles had to be repainted in the yellow used by this company. At the same time they received new numbers. The work vehicles then had numbers over 5500, the other vehicles also had four-digit numbers. The 20 remaining open cars were given the numbers 1053 to 1072, the others the numbers 1847 to 1876. A series of 100 open railcars built in 1904 by the companies Brill and Stephenson were procured with the numbers 1400 to 1499. 13 other such vehicles from the year of construction 1905 were added with the numbers 1286 to 1298. In 1907 the two-axle car 369 was bought from the North Jersey Street Railway, which served the Arlington pendulum line (line 94) from 1913 until it was closed in 1923.
Eight closed cars were taken over from Camden and were given the numbers 3500 to 3507. In 1912 the Public Service Railway built the twelve carriages 3510 to 3521 in its own workshops. In 1917 the Bergen Division took over 23 carriages from the Interurban Newark – Trenton route, which had the numbers 3522 to 3541, 3603, 3604 and 3607. From the Southern Division (Camden), the 3584 and 3588 cars came into the Bergen network in January 1934. In addition, wagons from other divisions were also in use on Bergen tracks. The Coytesville Line (9) was mainly used by vehicles from the Hudson Division (Jersey City). Vehicles from the Passaic Division were also used on the Hudson River Line, and vehicles from Newark on the Hackensack Line.
North Jersey Rapid Transit
The Interurban line to Suffern had vehicles that were only given even numbers. When it opened in 1910, the company had six four-axle, twin-engine railcars (numbers 10 to 20) that had been built in Jewett. Two more such vehicles (No. 22 and 24) were added in 1911. Work car 8 was built in 1910 by the McGuire company. These vehicles were in use until the line was closed.
Sources and further information
- literature
- Joseph F. Eid, Jr., Barker Gummere: Streetcars of New Jersey . Self-published by J. Eid, 2007, ISBN 978-0-9801026-2-8 .
- Edward Hamm, Jr .: The Public Service Trolley Lines in New Jersey . Transportation Trails, Polo, Illinois 1991, ISBN 0-933449-12-7 .
- BH Sennstrom, ET Francis: Public Service Railway. Bergen Division . Harold E. Cox, 1994.
- Individual evidence
- ↑ Hamm 1991, page 19.
- ↑ Hamm 1991, page 43.
- ↑ Mountain Power & Francis, 1994, page. 5
- ↑ a b Sennstrom & Francis 1994, page 6.
- ↑ Eid & Gummere 2007, the 392nd
- ↑ a b Sennstrom & Francis 1994, page 45.
- ↑ Eid & Gummere 2007, page 466.
- ↑ Eid & Gummere 2007, page 480.
- ↑ Eid & Gummere 2007, page 491.
- ↑ Eid & Gummere 2007, page 490.
- ↑ Hamm 1991, page 39.
- ↑ Eid & Gummere 2007, the 492nd