Annandale station

Annandale
Annandale station facing eastward towards Lebanon in April 2011, several months after the station shelter was replaced.
Location Main Street & East Street,
Annandale, New Jersey 08801
Coordinates 40°38′42″N 74°52′44″W / 40.6451°N 74.8789°W / 40.6451; -74.8789Coordinates: 40°38′42″N 74°52′44″W / 40.6451°N 74.8789°W / 40.6451; -74.8789
Owned by New Jersey Transit
Line(s)
  Raritan Valley Line
Platforms 1 side platform[1]
Tracks 1[1]
Construction
Parking 77 spaces[1]
Other information
Fare zone 20[2]
History
Opened July 4, 1852[3]
Rebuilt 1900, November 1935[4]
Previous names Clinton (July 4, 1852–1873)[3]
Traffic
Passengers (2012) 82 (average weekday)[5]
Services
Preceding station   NJ Transit Rail   Following station
Terminus
Raritan Valley Line
  Former services  
Preceding station   Central Railroad of New Jersey   Following station
toward Scranton
Main Line
toward Communipaw

Annandale is the penultimate station heading westbound on New Jersey Transit's Raritan Valley Line, located in the Annandale section of Clinton Township in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, United States. The station is located just off interchange 18 of Interstate 78 at the junction of Main Street and East Street. The final stop before High Bridge, it has one low-level side platform, with a shelter, 77 parking spaces and bicycle racks.[1]

Train service through Annandale came in 1852, when the Central Railroad of New Jersey constructed tracks through Clinton Township. Known as Clinton, the railroad had four locals move westward from White House to help build the new village in the area. For a short time, Annandale was the terminus of the line. The station opened on July 4, 1852 with passenger service to Easton, Pennsylvania. The first depot was replaced in 1900, with a new structure that caught fire in September 1934.[6] The freight station at Annandale, constructed c. 1865, was razed in 1960.[7]

Service at the Annandale depot ended in October 1970, as the station agent there and at nearby Hampton were eliminated in favor of warming shelters for passengers, who were commuting as far as Allentown, Pennsylvania to use the station.[8] The station depot constructed in 1934 was razed in 1983.[9]

Station layout

The station has a single low-level asphalt side platform. There is an asphalt walkway over the station track providing access to the outer track.

Ground/
platform level
Bypass track ← Raritan Valley Line limited service toward High Bridge (Terminus)
Raritan Valley Line limited service toward Newark – Penn or New York (Lebanon) →
Station track ← Raritan Valley Line limited service toward High Bridge (Terminus)
Raritan Valley Line limited service toward Newark – Penn or New York (Lebanon) →
Side platform, access to both tracks
Street level Station shelter and parking

History

The Central Railroad of New Jersey, a conglomerate of the Somerville and Easton Railroad and the Elizabeth and Somerville Railroad, constructed tracks through Clinton Township in 1852.[10] The railroad constructed the railroad through here as a temporary terminus. As a result, they built a new turntable in town so they could turn trains around back to Jersey City.[3] The tracks through Clinton were completed on June 20, 1852. When the railroad was completed, the agent at White House station, George Frech, picked up and moved to Clinton Station. Along with merchant Jacob Young, N.N. Boeman, a local tavern keeper, and railroad employees James Kenna and Thomas Kinney, Frech helped move and settle the area around Clinton Station. The station depot was completed in 1852 while passenger service began on July 4, 1852 to Easton. Frech, serving as station agent, moved into the depot.[10] The station built at Annandale was of a wooden design, two stories with a long overhang roof. The structure also had 2 chimneys for warming the structure.[11]

When the railroad was completed, the village around Clinton Station began to expand. Boeman added a local tavern to the area on the first village lot, controlling it until 1879. Jacob Young constructed a local trading store around Clinton Station and soon added a grain house to the area. Kinney and Kenna became residents and began working for the railroad through town. In 1873, John T. Johnston, the president of the Central Railroad of New Jersey, requested the name of Clinton Station be changed to Annandale when prodded about the name. He chose the name based off his home town of Annandale in Scotland.[10]

Annandale during this time had an abundance of limestone and lime mines through the area that benefitted from the construction of the railroad. During the 1800s, the lime and limestones were mined through the railroad, along with nearby lumber yards that prospered due to their locations near the rail line.[11]

Bibliography

  • Bernhart, Benjamin L. (2004). Historic Journeys By Rail: Central Railroad of New Jersey Stations, Structures & Marine Equipment. Outer Station Project. ISBN 1891402072.
  • Snell, James P. (1881). History of Hunterdon and Somerset Counties, New Jersey: With Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers. Everts and Peck.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Station Park & Ride Guide - Annandale". Newark, New Jersey: New Jersey Transit. 2011. Retrieved December 19, 2011.
  2. ↑ "Raritan Valley Line Timetables" (PDF) (November 6, 2011 ed.). Newark, New Jersey: New Jersey Transit Rail Operations. November 6, 2011. Retrieved December 19, 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 Lance, Jr., Howard P. (July 9, 1952). "Quiet Annandale Looks back on Century of History". The Plainfield Courier-News. p. 1, 26. Retrieved March 25, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ Bernhart 2004, p. 69.
  5. ↑ "QUARTERLY RIDERSHIP TRENDS ANALYSIS" (PDF). New Jersey Transit. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 27, 2012. Retrieved December 31, 2012.
  6. ↑ "Fire Destroys CNJ Station at Annandale". The Plainfield Courier-News. September 4, 1934. p. 1. Retrieved March 28, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ "Freight House Nearly Razed". The Plainfield Courier-News. September 8, 1960. p. 5. Retrieved March 28, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ "2 Jersey Central Stations to Close in Hunterdon". The Courier-News. October 14, 1970. p. 9. Retrieved March 28, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ Leeds, Curtis (January 25, 2010). "NJ Transit promises improvements to Annandale train station". Hunterdon County Democrat. Retrieved December 19, 2011.
  10. 1 2 3 Snell 1881, pp. 538.
  11. 1 2 "Annandale: 1852-2002; The 150th Anniversary Tour" (PDF). Historic Beaver Brook Homestead. October 2, 2002. pp. 7, 27–28. Retrieved October 7, 2018.

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