Madison-Florham Park Eagle from Madison, New Jersey • Page 4

EAGLE Thursday. April 11, 1966 Madison Battles To Save Its Symbol Of Progress Celebrate 50th Birthday Of Beautiful9 Suburban Station IN THE 50 YEAR span between 1916 and 1966, the railroad line through Madison and Chatham has completed a full circle on the wheel of fortune from riches to rags. In 1966, with the Erle-Lackawanna Railroad management seeking abandonment of passenger service, the commuter, and Indeed the communities themselves, face an uncertain future. This situation contrasts sharply with the year 1916, when the railroad was so confident of Its future that it appropriated huge sums to elevate Its tracks and to modernize Its stations all along the line. It was the beginning of a -lO-year era when the commuter was king.

IN THE HISTORIC winter of 1916 the work of elevating the tracks from grade level made the communities of Madison and Chatham look as If the growing war In Europe had spread to New Jersey. This "cold war" changed the face of both communities. Local Workers1 For more than 40 years Madison residents pointed out their exceptional railroad station with pride. It was one of the first things that a newcomer heard about, along with the million dollar municipal building across the boulevard. Then in the early 1960s people gradually began to notice that things look as shipshape as they used to.

The grass went uncut, bushes were untrlmmed, paint peeled, shingles slid off, ceilings were stained by leaks, woodwork rotted and the railroad management raised not a finger to stop the deterioration. Commuters grumbled country's foremost ex- and community groups to demand action. But the railroad claimed it had no money to spend on a lost cause like a station. It was clearly up to the residents todo something to save their symbol of progress. Thomas i.

Taber, former mayor and the man who Is one of the gar- Tree perts on Rallroadiana, secured permission to restore the station to its once proud appearance. He himself took over the abandoned Railway Express office and remodeled It Into a library to lection of memorabilia and exhibits on the history. In the spring of 1964, several civic groups cooperated In refurbishing the landscape. The Thursday Morning Club restored the rose den. Woodland Experts fed and sprayed the trees.

Interested landscapers took turns cutting the grass. Howe Plant Market supplied new evergreens at cost and the Chamber of Commerce helped defray expenses. The Klwanls Club enlisted the Madison High School Key Club to do some general cleaning up. Meanwhile, In response to an editorial in the Madfson kagle, residents and commuters began sending contributions for a Station Renovation Fund. Mr.

Taber became the prime mover In the restoration program. In the spring of 1965, the Mad Ison-Rorham Park Jaycees helped the beautification by the extensive cleaning, polishing and refurbishing of both waiting rooms. Painter Jack Lutz contributed considerable Loral Leaders Agree Thai Status Wages Oa Railroad Historians, businessmen, politicians and commuters all agree that the railroad Is responsible for bringing a high suburban status to Madison, Florham Park and The Chathams. At last hearings in Newark before the Public Utilities Commission, area representatives vigorously opposed discontinuance of passenger service by the Erie-Lackawanna Railroad. Mayor William G.

Nordllng lllng oxi- testlfied that "approx mately 2,000 commuters pass through our station to and from their places of occupation." He told the Commission that Madison had contributed $16,000 toward the cost of the railroad station and that the local government Is planning certain aspects of its future around the commuter economy. He said the town had recently contracted to purchase lands near the station for $150,000 earmarked for commuter parking. In other testimony Madison Realtor John H. Evans said that the railroad Is a foundation of the market value of real estate In this area and that discontinuance of passenger service would cause a major upset in values. Trust Company of Morris County Vice President William T.

Smith said that the bank holds over 1,800 residential mortgages approximating $30 million and that termination of rail service would result in "economic Drew University Vice President John Pepin said that about half of the 1,500 student body uses train service. College of St. Elizabeth head Sr. Hlldegarde Marie also testified to the need for train service. Such testimony reveals that local leaders are not going to give up their railroad without a fight.

labor to restoring the old glamour. Since then others have lent their services and recently the Rotary Club presented Mr. Taber with a sum of $464 collected from Its membership for use In the restoration. Among the steady volunteers Is William Hopping who has worked regularly over a long period on his days off at the Job of rejuvenation. With him it Is a labor of love.

He Is a railroad buff with his own famous scale model railroad. Another loyal supporter Is ticket agent Jasper Smith. The man to whom the Madison residents owe the greatest remembrance Is Tom Taber, whose persuasive manner with railroad authorities, his enthusiasm to see the project through, and his considerable financial support, have made It possible for symbol of be In proper In the spring of 19 16, I men were still at work on the Boulevard in front of the new Madison station. The view is taken from a spot that was to become, 19 years later, the site of the Hartley Dodge Memorial building. ir; rogn sha ress to ape to celebrate Its 50th birthday on April 17, 1966.

1000 Passengers Travel On First Electric Train In Madison, Kings road, which paralleled the tracks, was a Land. Park avenue and Madison avenue were being completely realigned. Ridgedale avenue, which formerly extended to Madison avenue, was being terminated at Park avenue. Prospect street, which was Just a lane, was being widened. The grade crossings at Union avenue and Division avenue were being eliminated In favor of one elevated crossing midway between.

Houses and businesses were being moved or demolished In all directions. Land for the creation of Lincoln place was being acquired with difficulty. And the grand new station was being built from plans conceived by railroad staff architect F. J. Nies.

ALL OF THIS HECTIC remaking of a town was only accomplished through the great patience and determination of local planners. Their memorial is the splendid station and the curved boulevard which flows around it to give the heart of Madison its open-acres look. Prominent among the people who made It all possible was Mrs. D. Willis James, who lived in the mansion now occupied by Mrs.

M. Hartley Dodge. To facilitate the raising of the railroad tracks, Mrs. James volunteered to pay for all the work incident to changing the course of Madison avenue; the widening of Park avenue; the purchase of three properties on Ridgedale avenue so that this street could be ended at Park avenue; and the rearrangement of James Park. PART II THIS WAS only the beginning.

While the elevated tracks were being laid, a temporary line was placed down the middle of Kings road. This hindered cus- This view above of the new overpass looking into Waverly Place, shows the old American Hotel at right still blocking the entrance to Lincoln Place. The picture at left shows how the Prospect Street end of Lincoln Place looked before the street was cut through. The roadway necessitated the removal of three businesses. All pictures made available Thomas T.

Taber. -ing the Electrification of the Morris Essex Division of the D.L.&W. Railroad through Madison and Chatham was completed In 1930, almost 80 years after the first service was established. Amid the plaudits of about 2,000 Madisonl- ans, Including borough officials, veterdn commuters, businessmen, civic organization officers and school children, the first electrically operated passenger train arrived In Madison at 10:42 on the morning of December 18, 1930. The greeting party Included 150 residents who boarded the 12 -car train as passengers and the St.

Boys Band, which played a short concert In Waverly place. Nearly 1,000 residents along the line between Hoboken and Morristown boarded the train In their communities. Signatures of the Madison passengers were preserved In a book by the Madison Historical Society. The entire list of 150 was also printed In the Madison Eagle, where four veteran commuters were pictured and their reminiscences told. Among the experiences was that related by William W.

Davis, who with Edward P. Holden was caught In the blizzard of March 12, 1888, In a train stalled near South Orange. Passengers spent a day and a Although the Madison station was the most splendid on the Lackawanna line, no ceremony has ever been held to glorify it. However, a group once tried. In September of 1916, three prominent local men offered to put up 1,000 for a proper celebration.

The offer was turned down by the borough council because work was not The work has been finished for 50 years but the celebration Is still to be planned. First Train Was Horse-Drawn It has been 129years since the first railway train made Its tortured way to Madison from Newark on October 2, 1837. The tiny car held about 18 persons inside, with seats for a dozen more on top. It was drawn over the single track by two horses, one ahead of the other. The line, known as the Morris Essex Railroad, was chartered by the New Jersey Legislature on January 29, 1835.

In Madison, Pictured above is the half-mile cut through Union Hill to provide overpasses at Samson Avenue and Union Avenue. This cut, in places up to 75 feet deep was made to escape the long, torturous curve pictured at left, which the tracks originally made between Madison and Chatham. The cut was used for the first time about March 15, 19 16. part of the right-of-way was granted by the congregation of the old Presbyterian Church, whose meeting house was on the hill near the spot where the Kings road underpass now takes the road In front of the YMCA. The train was horse- drawn for several months after the line was opened.

Then the company put on the little engine known as which was kept In operation until 1855. This tiny engine did all the work on the road, drawing one passenger car and a baggage or freight car over the track twice a day. The present site of the Madison Public Library at Main street and Green Village road was originally the terminus of the line. There a small turntable reversed the engine for the return trip. The line was soon thereafter extended to Morristown.

The first depot In Madison was a plain little shack situated near the turntable, where Park avenue and Madison avenue divide from Main street. Passengers, however, could stop the train anywhere, simply by waving a handkerchief at the engineer. In the early days, the Morris Essex figured on three passengers a day each from Madison, a September of 1843, group of residents were instrumental In acquiring a new site for the station at the northwest corner of what Is now Waverly place and Kings road. At first a simple frame structure was built. At this time the annual commuter ticket was priced at $60.

About 1860 the Rev. Samuel L. Tuttle and Frank Lathrop encouraged the enlargement of the station. Mr. Lathrop had become the first regular commuter in 1841.

According to an early account, the enlargement of the station entailed moving the Methodist Church and the Town Hall on the West side of Waverly place as well as a couple of private residences. The total cost, which was shared equally by the railroad and the town, was 12 000 Later a more substantial station was built at the same site. FIRST RAILS The first rails on the Morris Essex were made of strips of iron nailed to timbers. The ends of these strips would curl In the summertime causing To prevent the heads from ploughing through the bottom of the cars or throwing the little into a ditch, a workman frequently rode a cross-bar on the front of the locomotive with a keg of spikes and a sledgehammer to pound down the snakeheads. The engineer stood up In front of the engine and It was also his job to drive wandering cows off the track.

By 1861 a heavier rail was laid down and In 1867 a second track was started from Hoboken. The cars were replaced with a sturdier rolling stock. On December 19, 1868, the struggling line was leased by the Waverly Alleys (nowth Madison Eagle building) and caused protests from two garage owners further up the street. In addition, disruption of storm drains caused deep flooding whenever It rained. A temporary station on the site of the present Hartley Dodge Memorial occasioned the removal of three houses, two of which ended up on Elmer street, plus several business establishments.

THE DECISION to cut through Lincoln place (where the Post Office now Is) from Waverly to Prospect was an afterthought. It occasioned months of haggling In order to provide adequate drlve-in access to the north side of the tracks at the new station. It was necessary to remove the old four- story American Hotel, which blocked the Waverly place end; the Stull Brothers feed and grain mill, which straddled Prospect street end; and the extensive Green and Pierson lumber year in between. The latter moved to its present location (now known as Green, Pierson and Morris.) THE MADISON station Itself, of unusual elegance, was being constructed of stone from the Hog Mountain quarry near Boonton, owned by the Lackawanna. The blocks were hauled here and cut to size on the site.

Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad. Service was eventually Improved to three trains dally each way and coal replaced wood as fuel for the engine. 1.