MP 67.4
After leaving PRR rails at Tower G (MP
72.0 old L&H Jct.), the L&HR
split into double-track that gently curved eastward and re-converged east of
their Mansfield
Street Station1 (MP
71.3) on the south side of Belvidere, NJ.
This parallel, 1.3-mile, section of track was the only separate east-west
mainline on the L&HR and formed the south leg of a wye connection to the
PRR. Each tracks was on a separate gradient and at different elevations.
East of Mansfield Street the end of the double-track, the mainline swung northward to
Oxford, NJ, on what was a ten-mile ascent out of the Delaware River valley,
which crested at Townsburg, NJ. In
Oxford (MP 69.6)
there was an 88-car passing siding and two storage tracks called
Oxford 1 and Oxford 2. The storage tracks had been constructed to
accommodate the PRR who, at one time, enjoyed trackage rights over the
L&HR to this point for the purpose of delivering coal drags bound for
Maybrook. Farther eastward at Buttzville, NJ, the L&HR crossed the Pequest
River underneath the DL&W's Old Road to Washington, NJ.
- southwest view, March 1988 - Robert F.
Fischer/Warren C. Gearrick
1The L&HR passenger station in Belvidere, NJ, was named "Mansfield Street Station" to distinguish it from the PRR's "Belvidere Station."
The L&HR ducked under the DL&W's old
mainline
in Buttzville at the precise location that the L&HR crossed over the Pequest
River in an uncommon double crossing! The L&HR bridge was an open deck,
through, steel girder and the overhead DL&W structure a three-arch concrete viaduct.
At the turn of the 20th century there was a junction a few hundred feet west of
this crossing. The two-mile long
Lehigh
& Oxford Railroad2, a spur to an iron mine and quarry,
connected with the L&HR. -
October 11, 2002 - Karl A. Geffchen
2Lehigh & Hudson River: In Color, Jim Boyd and Tracy Antz Morning Sun 2001, page 37.
MP 65.7
Pequest Siding was between Buttzville and
Pequest, NJ. It had a capacity of 112 cars. - April 7, 1963 - William T. Greenberg, Jr.
Several cars wrecked on the curve east of Pequest.
- April 18, 1963 - William T. Greenberg, Jr.
MP 60.6
Great Meadows, NJ, lay at the eastern foot of iron ore
rich Jenny Jump mountain. At one time a water station and small, helper, turning wye
were eastward of Great Meadows Station for use of locomotives assisting
trains up the grade between Mansfield Street and Great Meadows. In this view of
the Great Meadows station and freight house, the highway overpass in the
distance carries US Route 46 over the tracks.
- northeast view, November 12, 1960 - William T. Greenberg,
Jr.
Train Order Office MO was inside the station. In
this view the order signal is set at Clear. Trackside elevation Great
Meadows Station. - northeast view,
November 12, 1960 - William T. Greenberg, Jr.
Although there was no passing siding at Great Meadows,
the station track could hold 33 cars, the freight siding 10 cars, and the old
creamery siding another 7 cars. This, of course, changed over the years with an
increase in the average length of cars and track alterations. Street elevation
Great Meadows Station. - northwest view, November 12, 1960 -
William T. Greenberg, Jr.
MP 54.5
Prior to this photograph there had been a 73-car capacity
passing siding at Allamuchy, NJ, which had been purportedly utilized3
late in World War II to hold a presidential train while the president visited an
old female companion in Allamuchy. northeast view, June 22,
1963 - William T. Greenberg, Jr.
3The President Travels by Train, Bob Withers, TLC Publishing, Inc., 1996, pages 176-177.
When it had a siding, the [freight] station had a
capacity of 8 cars and an old creamery siding behind the freight house - another
5 cars. - northeast view, January 8, 1961 - William T.
Greenberg, Jr.
MP 52.9
A westbound local hauled by L&HR No. 72
passes an automatic block signal and cemetery south of Tranquility, NJ.
- January 1946 - Richard S. Loane
MP 50.5
The L&HR mainline pierced the towering fill of the DL&W Cut-Off
through a concrete tunnel at Huntsville, NJ. This westbound freight has Nos.
4 and 9 for motive power. - northeast view - John
Krause
It is obvious from this view that
the Route of Phoebe Snow engineered enough clearance to permit future
double tracking of the L&HR. Andover No. 1 passing siding began a little
north of the Cut-Off. That's an eastbound, double-headed, DL&W
coal drag up on the Cut-Off. - southwest view,
February 23, 1941 - Richard S. Loane
MP 48.6 Three L&HR Alco RS-3s
with an eastbound freight clatter over the diamond at Andover Jct. The signal to
the right of the locomotives is a searchlight train order board that the L&HR
installed during the mid 1940s. Each head-block faces in the opposite direction
and when lit indicates pick up train orders. The small shed, which
replaced the original station building, is Train Order Office AD.
- southwest view, November 28, 1964 - William T. Greenberg, Jr.
Back at the turn of the century Andover Jct. was
knows as Andover Crossing. DL&W No. 729, a 2-8-0, is on the L&HR
interchange connection. Visible in the distance are the US Route 206 grade
crossing, L&HR freight house (near left along mainline), Andover Jct.
passenger station (far left along mainline), and the DL&W freight
house (far right along mainline). - southwest view, May 30, 1946 - William T. Greenberg, Jr. collection
The L&HR connection to the DL&W and
L&HR freight house siding were on the east side of Andover Jct. diamond.
In this 1960s view, looking westward along the L&HR, semaphore head blocks have been
replaced by searchlight signal. - southwest view, October 26,
1961 - William T. Greenberg, Jr.
L&HR No. 80 with a westbound freight waits for a
green board through Andover Jct. The train is on the mainline. The switch
beneath the tender is the west end of Andover No. 2 passing siding and
the switch in front of No. 80 is the connection with the DL&W.
- northwest view, June 9, 1940 - Richard H. Young
L&HR Nos. 9 and 2 drilling cars at Andover Jct.
Yard. - September 3, 1961 - William
T. Greenberg, Jr.
Eastbound L&HR No. 71
has taken on water at the tank north of Andover
Jct. and is now resuming its run to Maybrook, NY. The train is on the main
track about midway along Andover No. 2 passing siding.
- southwest view, April 13, 1941 - Richard S.
Loane
An L&HR eastbound freight with No. 91 is
in the hole on Andover No. 2 passing siding awaiting the passing of another
train. A portion of the water tank has been painting white to furnish a
background to enable engineers to better see the semaphore blade of the
westbound automatic block signal. - southwest view, April 13,
1941 - Richard S. Loane
Westbound L&HR No. 90 with Train No. 31 -
Maybrook to Port Morris - passes an
eastbound freight on Andover No. 2 passing siding, a short distance north of
Andover Jct. water station. - northeast view, April 13,
1941 - Richard S. Loane
An eastbound double header with an unidentified CNJ
2-8-2 leading L&HR No. 80 smokes up the countryside near the east end
of Andover No. 2 passing siding. - southwest view,
November 1942, Richard S. Loane.
An L&HR local freight with a cut of empty
ore cars heads east with No. 71 near the "Y" camp lake (east of
Andover No. 2 passing siding). This area of NJ had once been speckled
with summer camps, and prior to World War II, even a German-American Bund camp
that catered to Americans sympathetic to the NAZI regime. - southwest view,
February 23, 1941 - Richard S. Loane
MP 42.3
The NYS&W crossed the L&HR on grade at
Sparta Jct.
(click for track diagram). There were two passing sidings at Sparta Jct. - Sparta 1
(westbound of the junction with a 101-car capacity) and Sparta 2
(eastbound of junction with a 59-car capacity). The connection to the NYS&W
(at left in photograph) could accommodate 9 cars. There was also a storage track
identified as Interchange (to right of mainline beyond NYS&W station). - northward view, November
12, 1961 - William T. Greenberg, Jr.
Although Sparta Jct. was operated by the
NYS&W, the interlocking favored the L&HR. All NYS&W trains had
to stop for clearance to proceed through the interlocking, at which time a tilt
board signal (at left of diamond in front of station in this view) would
be manually set to proceed (diagonal position) and the interlocked L&HR signals automatically
set to stop. When the train cleared the interlocking the procedure would be
reversed. - northeast view, July
17, 1966 - William T. Greenberg, Jr.
MP 35.7
Franklin, NJ. - northeast view, October 1, 1961 - William T.
Greenberg, Jr.
L&HR No. 12 heads a westbound freight past
Franklin Station. - northeast view, September 3, 1963 -
William T. Greenberg, Jr.
The Palmer Zinc Mill at Franklin, NJ. - northeast view,
circa 1910 -
Raymond E. Holland Collection
MP 34.7
A eastbound extra hauled by L&HR No. 81 steams out
of Franklin, NJ, past the automatic signals governing movement onto and off of
Franklin No. 2 Passing Siding. Franklin No. 2 was at
MP 34.7 north of town, while Franklin No. 1
was
southeast of town at MP
37.2.
- southward view, circa 1945 - William T. Greenberg, Jr. collection
MP 27.2
Vernon, NJ. - northward view, September 3, 1962 - William T.
Greenberg, Jr.
A decade later Vernon Station housed a private
business. - northward view, May 12, 1973 -William T.
Greenberg, Jr.
L&HR No. 71 has just come off the turntable
at the Warwick Engine Terminal and
is slowly chugging its way to the ready track. - northwest
view, June 18, 1950 - Howard E. Johnston
MP 19.5
The passenger station at Warwick looked postcard pretty in the snow. It housed
Train Order Office "Q" and was on the south side of the mainline by
timetable direction. - northward view, January 23, 1971 -
William T. Greenberg, Jr.