May Abandon Railroad Line
Application Made to Close Branchville Junction
Franklin Branch of Sussex Railroad
At a recent meeting of the stockholders of the Sussex
Railroad Company, a subsidiary of the D. L. & W. R. R. Co. they
voted to authorize the officers to abandon the Branchville Junction
Franklin branch which covers a distance of nine miles. Application has
been made to the Interstate Commerce Commission to abandon this piece
of railroad as a matter of economy.
This piece of railroad was started in 1869 and was
constructed to carry supplies and products of the mining and quarrying
industries active at that time. The iron mines at Franklin were active
until 1890 when Franklin Furnace shut down because of the competition
from Lake Superior ores. Since that time the limestone quarries have
closed and the shipments of ore from the Zinc Company's mines at Franklin
have been greatly reduced. Another factor reducing the amount of business
over this line is changing the transfer of freight to the L. & H.
R. R. from Franklin Junction to Andover Junction. Still further inroads
on the amount of freight traffic is the reduction of transfers from
the N. Y. S. & W. R. R. largely due to the closing of the paper
mill at Hamburg. Twenty years ago it required several trains a day to
carry the ore from the Zinc Company's mines and the limestone and limestone
products from the Windsor Lime Company and the New Jersey Lime Company.
Transportation of farm products by automobile has had
its effect upon the business over this nine mile stretch of railroad
also.
The passenger service was discontinued some time ago,
due to the fact that the majority of the passengers preferred to use
the bus, reducing the number of railroad passengers to one or two per
day.