Lackawanna Cut-Off

Rail line between Port Morris, New Jersey, and Slateford, Pennsylvania
the rail line itself

Operated through a subsidiary, Lackawanna Railroad of New Jersey, the Cut Off remained in continual operation for 68 years, through the DL&W's 1960 merger with the Erie Railroad to form the Erie Lackawanna Railroad and the EL's conveyance into Conrail in 1976. Conrail ceased operation of the Cut Off in January 1979, removed the track in 1984, and sold the right of way to private developers. In 2001, the state of New Jersey acquired the right of way; the short section in Pennsylvania was eventually conveyed to the Pennsylvania Northeast Regional Railroad Authority. A project to restore service on the east end of the Cut Off to Andover, New Jersey, is to be complete in 2026. Amtrak is studying the possible restoration of passenger service over the route to Scranton, Pennsylvania.

The line's origin involves two men who most likely never met: John I. Blair and William Truesdale. Blair built the DL&W's Warren Railroad, chartered in 1851 and completed in 1862, to provide a connection between the mainlines of the DL&W in Pennsylvania and the Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ) in New Jersey. But when the Lackawanna CNJ merger fell through and the Lackawanna merged with the Morris & Essex Railroad in New Jersey instead, the Warren Railroad became part of a circuitous patchwork of rail lines connecting two unanticipated merger partners. Truesdale became DL&W president on March 2, 1899 with a mandate to upgrade the entire 900 mile (1448 km) railroad. Early on, the railroad focused on increasing freight capacity by using larger locomotives and cars, as well as strengthening bridges to handle these larger loads. Although Truesdale recognized early on that the Old Road needed to be replaced, it really wasn't until after 1905 that the railroad was in a position to take up the project in earnest. This led Truesdale to authorize teams of surveyors to map out potential replacement routes westward from Port Morris, New Jersey, to the Delaware River for what would be the railroad's largest project up until that time.

Besides cutting travel time, the Cut Off required fewer engines to pull eastbound freights up to the summit at Port Morris. For westbound freights, the challenge was keeping trains from going too fast. Initially, no speed limit existed on the Cut Off, with engineers (both freight and passenger) being expected to exercise "good judgment". By the 1920s, however, most freights were restricted to or less, depending on the priority of the train and the type of locomotive and rail cars. By 1943, rail had been installed on the Cut Off, which permitted fast freights to run at through the Erie Lackawanna years. After Conrail took over operations in 1976, the speed limit was decreased to 50 mph. Local freights served customers at all three stations on the Cut Off. Over the years, Blairstown handled the most local freight. The Johnsonburg creamery, built in anticipation of the opening of the line, served local dairy farmers for years. Another creamery, an ice house, and a stock yard were built at Greendell. The final local shipment was shipped in 1978 by Conrail: cattle feed for a customer in Johnsonburg that was delivered to Greendell, as the siding at Johnsonburg no longer existed.