High Bridge station

High Bridge
High Bridge station in March 2017. The Central Railroad of New Jersey depot is on the right.
Location Central Avenue & Bridge Street,
High Bridge, NJ 08829
Coordinates 40°40′00″N 74°53′46″W / 40.6667°N 74.8960°W / 40.6667; -74.8960Coordinates: 40°40′00″N 74°53′46″W / 40.6667°N 74.8960°W / 40.6667; -74.8960
Owned by New Jersey Transit
Line(s)
  Raritan Valley Line
Platforms 1 side platform
Tracks 2
Other information
Fare zone 21
History
Opened 1856[1]
Rebuilt 1869; 1913[2]
Traffic
Passengers (2012) 72 (average weekday)[3]
Services
Preceding station   NJ Transit Rail   Following station
TerminusRaritan Valley Line
  Former services  
Preceding station   NJ Transit Rail   Following station
Glen Gardner
toward Phillipsburg
Raritan Valley Line
until January 1, 1984
Preceding station   Central Railroad of New Jersey   Following station
Glen Gardner
toward Scranton
Main Line
toward Communipaw
TerminusHigh Bridge Branch
Hoffmans
toward Hopatcong Junction

High Bridge is a railway station in High Bridge, Hunterdon County, New Jersey, United States. The station is the rush hour western terminus of the New Jersey Transit's Raritan Valley Line. All off-peak trains terminate at Raritan station in Somerset County. The next station eastward is Annandale. The parking lot for the station is located one block to the west. The station only uses the southern track for inbound and outbound trains. The former Central Railroad of New Jersey station house, constructed in 1913, is currently used for storage and there is a covered waiting area under the building canopy. This station has limited weekday service and no weekend service.

The railroad, and the moniker of High Bridge, was constructed in 1852 through the valley. Despite causing a boom to a local iron works, the railroad did not establish a station in the area until 1856. Until 1983, Raritan Valley service continued westward to Phillipsburg, New Jersey. Limited service and low ridership led NJ Transit to discontinue all service west of High Bridge. Since service ended, there have been repeated calls for resumption of daily service.

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.

P
Platform level
Bypass track Raritan Valley Line limited service toward Newark – Penn or New York (Annandale) →
Station track Raritan Valley Line limited service toward Newark – Penn or New York (Annandale) →
Side platform, access to both tracks
G Street level Station building and parking

History

Construction

The Central Railroad of New Jersey constructed an extension of the former Elizabeth and Somerville Railroad from Clinton (modern-day Annandale) in 1852. In order to complete the railroad, it required traversing the Raritan River valley. This was problematic for the planners, who finally decided that a high bridge was the route to go in constructing the line. The railroad constructed a new bridge that was 1,300 feet (400 m) long, 120 feet (37 m) high above the Raritan River. The bridge involved eight massive piers of 100 feet (30 m) stone. The construction of the bridge cost $200,000 (1852 USD).[4]

Construction of the railroad through the valley in 1852 did not involve a station at the current site. Despite no station, the railroad influenced a renaissance of industry in the area. The railroad construction caused the iron works in the area, run by Lewis Taylor, to gain new business. The iron works, which closed in 1783 due to lack of transportation and access, reopened in 1851. With the railroad, Taylor added new furnaces in 1852 and 1854, as well as new items in 1853 and 1856. With the 1856 expansion of the Taylor-Wharton Iron Works, the village in the area expanded, with a railroad station opened at the location. Taylor himself, opened a company store not far from the new station.[1]

However, the high bridge through the area did not last very long. In 1852, the railroad discovered that the bridge was not firm at all. The bridge swayed when trains would cross over the bridge. With the train on top, it would depress the track and make it rise as the equipment crossed the structure. When the railroad decided what to do about the unsafe bridge, they first considered an all-stone structure. That was turned down in favor of filling in the bridge. Construction on the new fill began in 1859. Progress began in 1860, with the large stone piers and the bridge being filled in by dirt. The cost of filling in the bridge cost $500,000 (1865 USD), covering about $60,000 worth of railroad. Filling in two of the bridge's arches cost $80,000 alone. Sidney Dillon, a local contractor, brought one of the first steam shovels in the region to the area to finish the job. The bridge was filled in by 1865.[4]

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 Snell 1881, pp. 528-529.
  2. ↑ Bernhart 2004, p. 69.
  3. ↑ "QUARTERLY RIDERSHIP TRENDS ANALYSIS" (PDF). New Jersey Transit. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 27, 2012. Retrieved December 31, 2012.
  4. 1 2 "Historical Sketch of High Bridge, N.J., and Views of Thriving Industry in That Town". The Plainfield Courier-News. August 30, 1913. p. 9. Retrieved March 27, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
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