A new Dawn over Lake Jefferson on the Sussex Railroad
October 30, 1999
Dear Fellow Ferroequestrians and Historians,
After many long months, we have finally obtained our filing and officially announce that we have resurrected the Sussex Railroad Company.
For those of you who are new to the Sussex Railroad, a short history is in order.
Andover Mine, in Andover New Jersey sat idle and in disrepair by 1847, the glory days of providing iron to the Continental Army a faded memory. However, local visionary and just a basic 19th century capitalist Abram S. Hewitt managed to round up $ 9,500 dollars and purchased the mine on the reputation of the exceptional ores it had produced - an ore capable of being drawn into wire of consistently high quality when smelted with anthracite coal.
While the mine was quite near the Morris Canal (by today's standards) the seven miles proved a substantial obstacle to the truckless 1840s. However, with that few miles conquered, the remaining 34 miles down the canal system to the iron factories of Phillipsburg, NJ were an easy trek.
March 9, 1848 Mr. Hewitt opened his mailbox and viewed the filed charter of the Sussex Mine Railroad, the ancestor of the many miles of rail to cover Sussex County over the next 120 years. Although mule and gravity powered, the Mine railroad started operation in 1851, laying claim to the first operating rail in the county.
An 1853 sale of bonds affirmed the public's desire to have rail service beyond Andover Mine, and also served to change the company name to Sussex Railroad Company. However, it was December 11, 1854 before the first steam locomotive entered the new Newton Station. It was met by the first omnibus in the county provided by Michael Cochran, proprietor of the Cochran House, a long time and well known hotel/restaurant in the county.
Tracking through more corporate mergers, acquisitions, and lease backs than are appropriate for this brief, by 1868 the Sussex Railroad, its connection to the rest of the world (the Morris and Essex RR and the Sussex and Warren (County) RR) all found themselves under the direct or indirect control of the Delaware Lackawanna and Western. The line was completed to its terminus in Branchville, NJ and to Franklin, NJ in 1869, and the DL&W purchased the line in 1881.
Dealing dairy products and passengers more than iron ore, the Sussex Branch of the DL&W operated for many years until, on July 10, 1966, this time behind an Erie Lackawanna locomotive, the last consist traveled down the main and into history. (The last train from Newton was July 13. Limited service from Andover continued until October 3.)
Today, the Kittatinny State Park has acquired just over 20 miles of the Branchville to Stanhope right of way and have it open as a pleasant and scenic hiking and horse trail. In addition, a like amount of the Susquehanna and Western right of way from Hainsburg to Sparta Junction has been preserved.
I felt a connection to Mr. Hewitt as I opened our new filed charter yesterday. It is our hope that the rebirth of the Sussex Railroad Company in 1999 as a non-profit educational, preservationist and research organization will rekindle some of the same public spirit exemplified by the founders of the original, and that through restoration and preservation of drawings, books, photos and the memories of the past, we will be able to support public education about this valuable portion of our county history.
Thanks for visiting, and please do return as we add exhibits to this site.
- Sincerely,
The Trustees and Board of Directors,- Sussex Railroad Company, Inc.
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