This page will cover the former Lackawanna Lines from the main passenger terminal in Hoboken, NJ out to the suburbs of western New Jersey.
The Lackawanna electrified their suburban service back in the 1930's and even Thomas Edison himself participated in the project.
The passenger M-U cars built for this service lasted into the 1980's when NJ Transit upgraded the system and made a voltage change.  Several
of the cars do remain in existence today on various tourist lines.

  Hoboken Terminal is the last of the Hudson River waterfront terminals still active.  The only other remaining railroad terminal is the former Jersey Central Terminal in Jersey City, but it is not an active railway station.  The Hoboken Terminal was opened in 1907 and remains a magnificent building to this date. 

  Although the original ferry boats are long gone, newer high speed boats currently operate out of an adjacent pier. 

  Some of the original cars still in service in 1982.

  A typical off peak four car train to Dover departs on a fall day in 1975.

    Three office cars for company officials parked alongside the terminal.  March 1974.

  Several old Erie Stillwell cars parked along the waterfront.  November 1974.

  A very old Erie Stillwell coach still in original paint.    Possibly the same car in Conrail blue. 10-3-1981.

    In 1982, the new NJ Transit held one of its highly successful Hoboken Terminal Days.  As you can see there is a lot of construction taking place.  A new terminal tower is under construction and the overhead wire is being replaced.  A local arrives from Dover with a set of old cars that will soon be retired.

    Numerous stored MU cars and the original tower in 1982.

  This rather interesting collection of equipment is parked along side the terminal.  Several of the old cars received a bright orange and cream paint scheme.  The car on the left was used on the overhead wire inspection train.  In the distance is a former CNJ GP7.

          Images from 1982 Hoboken Terminal Festival.

  NJT number 1 is the former CNJ Blue Comet car 1178, the " DiVico".

  A former New York Central RDC car used for the Port Jervis trains. 1987.    Ready for train 93.

  A few blocks west of the terminal the tracks start to narrow down to four.  1975.

    The newer Arrow cars have replaced the original M-U's by this date.  These are the twin tunnels under the
rock formation known as the Palisades.  The terminal area is visible on the right of the second image.

    A not-so-great pair of images at the west end of the tunnels.  Exiting the tunnels the Lackawanna crosses over the former Erie and then under Tonnelle Avenue. Under the highway is the West End Interlocking.  It is here that the trains off the former Erie lines joined the Lackawanna to reach Hoboken.  For those not familiar with this, in the very late 1950's the Erie closed their own waterfront depot in Jersey City and consolidated the terminals.  This was a prelude to the eventual merger of the Erie and Lackawanna in 1960.

  Viewed from the Tonnelle Ave. overpass on a snowy winter night in 1976.  The switch heaters are in full force.

    Another inbound train at the West End Jct. in 1977.

     In 1989, a set of NJT M-U's heads toward Hoboken.  The Hackensack River draw bridge is in the distance.

  West End tower is of the very typical Lackawanna concrete variety.  During the major upgrading of the railroad back in the 1920's,  many new towers, stations and bridges were built, most of concrete.  As a result, many of these structures remain today.

    A westbound train crosses the Hackensack River drawbridge on a gloomy day in 1980.

The former Lackawanna depot at Harrison.  This station is long gone.

  After crossing the swamps of Jersey and passing the site of the current NJT Meadowlands shop complex, the railroad
crosses another large drawbridge.  This time over the Passaic River just before entering Newark.

       An eastbound train stops at the Newark station. 1977.

  A westbound train also at Newark.  There are three tracks through to Maplewood.

  This is an old postcard of the station that once existed at Roseville Ave. in Newark.  The tracks are below street level
and this is the site of the junction for the Montclair branch. Once a short dead-end branch, NJT recently connected this branch with the
Boonton Line.  More details on this rather complex situation later.

    Ampere station on the Montclair branch.  This station is now gone.

    Watsessing Ave station in 1988.

    A concrete station at Bloomfield. Again 1988.

    At Glen Ridge the track heads through a short cut in the hill.

      The Lackawanna station at was the end of the branch in Montclair has been transformed
into a very busy market and shopping complex.  1988 photo.

  Just east of the station was this platform that served as the end of the branch until NJ Transit purchased some of the homes
visible in the distance and connected this line with the Boonton Line that passed about two blocks away.  For what it's worth, the Boonton Line
that they connected to was not the original Lackawanna Boonton Line, but was originally the Erie Greenwood Lake Branch.  Back in the very
early 1960's about the time of the E-L merger, the State of New Jersey was planning the new Interstate 80 and needed to locate the road around
the city of Paterson.  They purchased the original Lackawanna Boonton main and several Erie and Lackawanna lines were mixed together.

I hope to make up a map that will better explain this shortly.

To continue on the Lackawanna mainline pages, Click here......

Back to the Erie-Lackawanna main page, click here.