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Re: (erielack) Montville Station
Ed,
I think you hit the nail on the head. When the Lackawanna built the
Boonton Branch--actually it was built in two stages--it was for the purpose
of bypassing the Morristown Line for freight...commuter traffic was an
afterthought and the relatively small size of the stations reflect that As
a result, the route that was laid out east of Boonton (west of Boonton was
the original "branch") provided the best grade profile rather than access
to what little population was there. (The NJ Cut-Off followed the same
rationale 35 years later.) Now, 130+ years after the completion of the
Boonton Branch, we are stuck with what was built. Even so, consider that
while the Boonton and Montville stations are only a mile apart that some of
the stations on the Morristown Line are even closer together.
Anyway, I foresee the day--not immediately, of course--that passenger
traffic will warrant adding a second track on the Boonton Line. Consider
the fact that there are presently 38 eastbound weekday trains via the
Boonton Line, but only eight of these originate west of Great Notch. With
that few trains from Montville , which tend to be bunched together rather
spread evenly over the morning rush, it's amazing to me that as many people
ride the train on the western part of the Boonton Line as they do.
Nevertheless, once the rest of the Boonton Line is electrified...and it
will probably be electrified to Netcong, as was the original plan (if only
to provide access to Port Morris yard to supplement the inadequate yard in
Dover), I think the Boonton Line will finally realize its potential as a
major commuter route.
Chuck
"Montgomery,
Edward T"
<Edward.Montgomer To
y_@_fcps.edu> <erielack@lists.elhts.org>
Sent by: cc
erielack-owner_@_li
sts.elhts.org Subject
(erielack) Montville Station
10/24/2006 10:14
PM
Please respond to
"Montgomery,
Edward T"
<Edward.Montgomer
y_@_fcps.edu>
After reading all of the comments about the Montville station I began
wondering why it was there. Could it be that it was created for workers to
get to the Pennick factory or its predecessors? Transportation was
difficult before the 1930's so taking the train to work might have been the
thing to do. The station is only about a mile from Boonton.
I always thought of Montville as the low rent district between Towaco and
Boonton. It's hard to believe how things have changed. Montville has some
things that never seem to change like Van Riper Real Estate on the corner.
There was a junk yard up the hill going to Boonton with a bar in front of
it. On the Main Road to Towaco just past Van Riper was a feed store. I
think it's now condos. The railroad was tucked away from the central part
of the town.
Ed Montgomery
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