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Louis
Keller What prompted the formation and
construction of the Rahway Valley Railroad between New Orange and
Summit was a man by the name of Louis Keller. Keller was a man of some
notoriety and wealth. Keller was born in his parent's home on
Madison Avenue in the affluent borough of Manhattan on February 27,
1857. Keller was the son of Charles M. Keller and Heloise de
Chazournes. Keller’s father was a prominent lawyer who drafted the
U.S. Patent Law of 1836 and became the first Commissioner of Patents
in the United States. Keller’s grandfather, Felix de
Chazournes, was an affluent merchant, importer, and broker of some
notoriety.
Although born and raised in
Manhattan, Keller spent his summers with his family at their
“country cottage” and farm in Springfield, New Jersey. During
Keller’s youth his family had as many as five servants living with
them.
Keller’s father, Charles M.
Keller, died in 1874. There is no record of Keller's attendance at
either prepatory school or a university. Keller needed an
income but was not inclined to work a normal job. By the
age of twenty-three Keller owned his own cartridge manufacturing
plant which produced ammunition for rifles and hand guns, but the
venture did not prosper. Keller also tried his hand at dairy farming
on his family's farm in New Jersey, without any particular
success. Keller was not a member of New
York's social elite, as they tended to be members of the long
established Protestant "wasp" families while he was a second
generation Catholic American. Although Keller was not a member of
society, he knew many who were and socialized with them often. It is
fair to say that he was an observer and student of society, the he
enjoyed socializing with members of society but had no particular
urge to join it. In 1885, Keller and a partner started a newspaper
devoted to society news and gossip. Two years later, they sold their
paper, one assumes for a good profit. Keller got the idea of
creating a simple list of members of society, chosen only by him,
called "The Social Register." He sold it to those listed in it for
$1.75 per copy and published winter and summer editions, showing the
summer addresses in that season. As time went on, he expanded its
coverage to eighteen cities. This venture was a great success and
put Keller on a firm financial footing. At some point Keller began holding
an annual picnic on his family farm in Springfield, hosting all of
his friends who were listed in his Register. The picnic grew in
popularity and became a "fixture" that was eagerly anticipated. The
affair, complete with the guest list, was reported each year in the
society pages. It grew to the point that in 1884 Keller chartered a
train to transport his guests to the farm from New York City. The
beauty of the countryside around the Keller farm was always
mentioned in those dispatches. Keller noted that an increasing
number of his acquaintances were learning to play golf (Keller
himself had never played the game) and were joining clubs in eastern
Long Island and elsewhere, and might be looking for a place closer
to New York City in the fall and spring. Keller probably observed as
well that many of his friends were summering in the New Jersey
countryside and might want a place to stay. Keller decided to start
a golf club on his farm, and at long last derive some revenue from
it. A nine hole golf course was constructed and Keller's farmhouse
was renovated to serve as a clubhouse. The clubhouse was always
regarded as charming; and the golf course appears to have pleased
the critics. A friend of Keller's had named his farm "Baltusrol
Way," derived from a shortening of Baltus Roll who had farmed the
land fifty years before, so Keller called his new club "Baltusrol." Keller launched his Baltusrol Golf
Club in April of 1895 when he sent a
letter to everyone he knew, including the subscribers to the Social
Register, offering memberships with dues of $10 per year. Opening
Day occurred on October 17, 1895.
The Club House
at the Baltusrol Golf Club, in the shadow of the Watchung
Mountains. This building was originally the Keller
farmhouse. Baltusrol's newly formed Board of
Governors met on October 25, 1895, about a week after the club's
Opening Day, in Keller's office at 35 Liberty Street in New York
City. Keller was appointed the club's secretary and as owner of the
land on which the club was situated, proffered a lease to the Board
which was accepted. Keller retained the office of Baltusrol's
Secretary until the day he died. As Secretary, Keller kept a low
profile. Keller was a private man, he was rarely photographed,
never married, and the press hardly ever interviewed him. On
the occasions when he was asked a question of the press, his
response invariably was "I will inquire of the Board." Most
decisions relating to the operation of the golf programs and the
clubhouse were left to those respective
committees. In the early years of
Baltusrol, there was a large turnover in membership. As many as a
third of the members would join in January and resign in October of
the same year. This told Keller that Baltusrol need to be
competitive with the other clubs and inspired him to keep improving
the golf course and maintaining an interesting schedule of
exhibitions and tournaments. Among the improvements Keller wished to
implement was to institute better transportation to the club.A news
clipping of the time period told of how the club was reached "The
club can be reached by about an hour’s railroad ride from either
Liberty Street or Hoboken, over the Jersey Central or Delaware,
Lackawanna, and Western Road to Westfield or Short Hills, with a
following drive, respectively, of one and three miles" (“The Week in
the Club World”). Although rail service from New
York City was offered to within one mile of the club (the Lackawanna
at Summit), direct transportation to the club was somewhat less than
desirable. Roads in Springfield, and to the club
itself, remained unimproved dirt and gravel thorofares only
traversed by the archaic horse and buggy. With the automobile still
in the beginning stages of development, the railroad offered the
most sound transportation option to the
club. Good news came in 1897 when it was
learned that the New York & New
Orange Railroad (NY&NO) had been chartered. The
NY&NO planned to construct a rail line from Roselle Park to
Summit, a line that would have to pass close to Baltusrol. The
railroad, however, was plagued by financial difficulties from the
start and only ever reached the town of New Orange, some three miles
short of Baltusrol. The NY&NO fell under foreclosure and
reorganized as the New Orange Four
Junction Railroad (NOFJ) in 1901. Management of the newly formed
NOFJ focused their energies in trying to extend the railroad from
New Orange to a connection with the Delaware, Lackawanna, and
Western Railroad (also known as the “DL&W” and the “Lackawanna”)
in Summit, NJ. This extension would have to pass close by to the
Baltusrol Golf Club. This somewhat common interest prompted Keller
to enter into the discussions of extending a rail line to Summit
from New Orange.
Map of the proposed Cross-Country
Railroad The financial instability of the
New Orange Four Junction Railroad prompted the formation of a new
railroad company, the Cross-Country
Railroad (CCR), in September of 1902. Under the new banner
it was hoped new investors would become interested. The CCR's
Articles of Incorporation provided only for a rail line to be
constructed from a connection with
the Lackawanna in Summit and down the mountain to Baltusrol,
although it was planned that the line would eventually be extended
to join the NOFJ in New Orange. A branch line extending from
Baltusrol through Millburn and onto Maplewood was also called
for.
Ray
Tompkins Initial backing for the
Cross-Country Railroad came from Louis Keller, William W. Cole
(President and General Manager of the NOFJ), and Horatio F. Dankel
(Superintendent of the NOFJ) but major funding was pledged by Ray
Tompkins and Howard H. Hallock. Tompkins and Hallock, both of
Elmira, NY, were both tied in with the New Orange Industrial
Association debacle. Tompkins and Hallock both pledged to subscribe
a total of 146 shares in the new company. Right of ways were secured and
after a lull in activity of more than a year with the CCR project,
it seemed as if the railroad was going to finally be
constructed. The Cross-Country Railroad, however, was not to
materialize. Although the reasons for the project coming to grief
are unknown, perhaps Tompkins and Hallock reconsidered their
investments. Both men had great sums of money tied up in the New
Orange Industrial Association debacle. Keller, along with Cole and
Dankel, remained determined to build a railroad from New Orange to
Summit. The men regrouped and gathered new
investors. On July 18, 1904 the Rahway
Valley Railroad Company was formed. Incorporators included
Keller and Dankel, as well as W. Irving
Scott, Charles W.
Webb, Edward G.
Thompson, Nicholas C. J.
English, and George B.
Frost. English and Frost had also been investors in the
NY&NO and NOFJ. The other men, Scott, Webb, and Thompson, were
associated with the newly formed Kenilworth Realty Corporation which
succeeding in rescuing the flailing New Orange Industrial
Association in 1904. “The Rahway Valley Railroad Company of Union
county received a charter from the Secretary of State Monday
afternoon which calls for the building of a steam road six miles in
length from the New Orange Industrial Association to the town of
Summit where connection will be made with the Delaware, Lackawanna,
and Western Railroad” (“New
Railroad for Union County Folk ”). The new company was so named
after the Rahway River which it planned to cross. The company was
formed not only to connect New Orange with Summit and the Lackawanna
but also to construct a branch line through Millburn to Maplewood,
and of course serve the Baltusrol Golf Club. The assistance of J. Wallace
Higgins, who had planned the town of New Orange and engineered the
New York & New Orange Railroad, was again called upon to plan
out the route of the new Rahway Valley Railroad. William S. Young
recounts Higgins’ planned route, "Mr. Higgins marked the line
beginning at a point where the old NY&NO main stem curved
westward to skirt the northern fringes of New Orange. Here a large
hill had to be removed, so Keller helped form an excavating company
. . . Beyond the hill, a half-mile tangent dropped gradually
northward to a point later to be known as Wright's Switch. Here
tracks bend north-westward and gleamed across the Rahway River
Valley in a perfect three mile tangent which stretched on wooden
trestlework over the swamps at Springfield and climbed the mountain
beyond. Here nestled the Baltusrol Station, where holiday bound
golfers swung off as the little engines dug in their heels to get
their two car varnishes started up the steep grade. The tiny Moguls
and tankers brought the echoes crashing back as they blasted up the
hill and followed the giant S-curve which swung them around and
behind the mountain, on a high wooden trestle to the next range, and
into Summit at last" (Young). Several railroad depots were also
planned to be constructed, two in Union (Doty’s and Katemiller), two
in Springfield (Springfield and Baltusrol), and two in Summit
(Summit and East Summit (?)). Surveying the line and acquiring
the proper right-of-ways dragged on through the end of 1904. In one
instance a dispute was entered into with the Morris County Traction Company, a
trolley line, over a certain piece of right-of-way in the City of
Summit. “Whether one railroad company can by condemnation
proceedings . . . acquire land that was bought by another railroad
company for its own uses . . . is a legal question that was raised .
. . here today. The contesting corporations are the Rahway Valley
Railroad and the Morris County Traction Company. The Rahway Valley .
. early this month began condemnation proceedings for the
acquirement of a number of parcels of land along the proposed route
among them being a tract . . .part of the Martin estate in Summit .
. . the Morris County Traction Company, opposed the condemnation of
a part of the Martin estate tract on the ground that the Morris
County Traction Company had acquired title to it by purchase” (“Railroad’s Right to Land ”). After much field work and legal
wrangling, contracts for the construction of the line were finally
let in the fall of 1904 to J&H Cornell of New York. “Work has at
last been commenced upon the extension of the Rahway Valley Railroad
from New Orange to Summit. The Rahway Valley Railroad, better known
as the New Orange Four Junction Railroad, of which H.F. Dankel is
superintendent, runs from the Aldene station of the Central railroad
to New Orange, from which place the extension line begins to cross
the country and connect with the Lackawanna railroad at the Summit
depot, where accommodations have been planned for this new line.
Over 200 men are now at work upon the extension. They are scattered
along the route from the Rahway River at the Harnecke place on
Westfield road in Springfield to New Orange, busily engaged in
making the roadbed. The contractors who are doing the work are
J&H Cornell, of New York, and they are to have the road
completed by August 1, 1905” (“Railroad to
Summit ”).
Construction continued into the
winter months. Crews in the vicinity of the Rahway River found
construction quite difficult due to the marshy ground in the area.
“The story is told how disaster struck, as the line was being built
toward Springfield. The grading crew knocked off work at sundown,
about 450 yards west of Branch Junction. Returning the next morning,
found that about 100 cubic yards of fill had disappeared into the
marshland on the approach to the Rahway River. Considerable delay in
the construction timetable resulted while a coffer dam was built and
the soft footings removed. A firm bed was found somewhat lower and
grillage dropped. The Rahway River span itself redesigned from the
original plate span to a heavier truss bridge, mounted on stronger
reinforced abutments” (McCoy 10). Just before Christmas, 1904, a
somewhat alarming disturbance occurred in New Orange. “A small riot
occurred at New Orange last Friday in consequence of a
misunderstanding between the foreigners employed in building the
extension of the [New] Orange Four Junction Railroad and the
paymaster. The latter had put in the workmen’s envelopes the money
earned to Dec. 10th, while they
expected payment to the 15th, and
thought that they were being cheated out of five days’ pay. The
police of Cranford were called by telephone, and their timely
arrival saved the paymaster from bodily violence. He subsequently
entered a complaint against Dominick Floyd, the leader of the gang,
and the latter was arrested by Special Policemen Jennings and
Jackson. After a hearing by Justice Mendell, the prisoner was
committed to jail to await action by the grand jury” (“Labor Troubles at New
Orange ”).
Once the weather broke and warmer
weather came, construction recommenced on the Rahway Valley Railroad
and the railroad acquired another locomotive. Through railroad
equipment dealer J.E. Bowen of Norfolk, Va., the RV acquired
#5 an
0-6-0T engine built by Baldwin in 1882 for the Central Railroad of
New Jersey (CNJ).
Louis Keller and his special train
reached Springfield on May 24, 1905. The Springfield
Station, pictured here in 1913, may have been
under construction at the time. Two other,
smaller, stations had been constructed in Union:
Katemiller and
Doty's. After Keller’s impromptu excursion
to Springfield, construction crews pressed on towards Baltusrol,
just 6/10 of a mile beyond the Springfield Station. Excitement was
building as Keller’s dream of rail service to the Baltusrol Golf
Club came closer to being a reality. “All aboard for Baltusrol via
the Rahway Valley Railroad! On August 15 trains will be running over
this new steam road to the Baltusrol Golf Club, which is to
informally observe the even in some way not yet settled. Louis
Keller, secretary of the club, sailed yesterday for abroad, to be
gone a month or more, so he will not be back until the road has been
opened. He has been the main factor in building the railroad, which
will connect four big systems, the Central New Jersey, Pennsylvania,
Lehigh Valley, and Lackawanna. Someday, too, by means of a little
extension, the Erie will also tap it. At present, the nearest
railroad station to Baltusrol is two and a half miles distant over a
roundabout, hilly road of poor quality. The new station will be in
the woods, less than half a mile from the club and over a smooth
stretch of nearly level road. This will not only cut off the expense
of the stage trip, but is to cheapen the carfare from New York,
being more direct. By September through trains will be running from
Jersey City over the Central New Jersey to Summit, which will be the
end of the Rahway Valley line. The road branches off near Elizabeth,
running through Springfield. While the road at first may fairly be
called a golf railway, it is expected ultimately to carry a lot of
freight and build up the neighborhood in a residential way. It is
likely to swell the ranks of the Baltusrol Club, which now has more
than six hundred members and is probably the largest exclusively
golfing organization in the country. While northing official is
given out, it is hinted that a handicap or tournament will be given
in the fall to mark the opening of Baltusrol’s direct connection
with the outside world” (“Golf Railroad to Baltusrol Will Be Running
by August 15”). Unexpected delays kept the railroad
from opening to Baltusrol and the August 15th date came and went. A
tentative date for the commencement of passenger service to the
Baltusrol Station, being constructed, was pushed back to
approximately December 31, 1905. While final preparations for opening
the line to the golfers continued, construction pressed onwards and
closer to the Lackawanna connection in Summit. A magnificent
horseshoe curve was constructed around the brim of Baltusrol
Mountain (a.k.a. “Springfield Mountain,” part of the
Watchung Mountains) with a gradient varying between 2% and 5%. A
grade crossing of Shunpike Road was made (Later Shunpike
Road was realigned to be in line with Orchard Street in 1912-1914,
the roadway was depressed and the railroad constructed a bridge over
the new roadway) and crews passed close to Louis Keller’s stone
quarry, operated by the Baltusrol Stone Company, which later
became the Commonwealth Stone Quarry. Crews finally reached Summit, more
specifically the area of the city known as “East Summit.” The RV was
to have an elevated route through the city. Initial construction
included a substantial wooden trestle to later be filled with soil,
giving the RV an elevated grade high above the streets and
eliminating all grade crossings. The RV would cross four streets in
the city, Russell Place,
Ashwood
Avenue, Morris
Avenue, and Park
Avenue (later Broad Street).
Work
commenced on the Ashwood Avenue and Russell Place bridges in the
fall of 1905. Soon after the construction of the two spans the RV
ran into trouble with the City of Summit on the night of October 5,
1905. “The Rahway Valley Railroad, which is building a line from
[Summit] to Aldene, to connect with the Central Railroad, has
encountered trouble in its work here. When many of the residents of
the eastern section of the city arose this morning they were
surprised to find that the railroad bridges erected across Ashwood
avenue and Russell place had been torn down during the night and the
materials moved off the street. Folks living in the neighborhood
were awakened about 11 o’cock by the noise of falling timber and the
choo-choo of the city’s steam roller. They found a large number of
men at work. Nobody attempted to interfere with the destruction of
the bridges. One end of the piers of the bridges was in the center
of the sidewalk and the other in the roadway. The city applied to
the Court of Chancery for a permanent injunction to restrain the
company from completing its work. The injunction was refused on the
ground that, although the construction of the bridge was illegal,
the city could show no damage done. Fearing that it would take a
year or more for redress or to have the bridges removed by law, the
citizens took the matter into their own hands and last night removed
the bridges, sawing the timbers in two and tearing down the ten-ton
iron girders. The girders and all heavy material were removed with
the city’s steam road roller. It is thought that the city
authorities were cognizant of the fact that the bridges would be
torn down and that the steam roller would be used. Now that the
bridges have been torn down, the city has placed officers on guard
to see that when the bridges are again erected they will not
encroach on the streets” (“Summit Smashes Bridges”). Nicholas C. J.
English, general counsel for the Rahway Valley
Railroad, lobbied before the Summit City Counsel to terms in which
the railroad could construct the bridges in a manner that was
agreeable to both parties. Delays encountered with the city pushed
back the completion of the railroad for almost a
year. Interestingly during this time an
“East Summit Station” appears alongside Russell Place, as shown in a
1906 property owner’s map. Due to legal wrangling with the city over
its bridges perhaps trains of the RV were planned to, or in fact
did, terminate for a time at East Summit. The East Summit Station
never appears in RV timetables and perhaps was only ever a planned
or temporary stop. Meanwhile, more exuberance was
building for the opening of the line to Baltusrol. The following is
a descriptive account of the railroad at the time, “All aboard for
Baltusrol and hurrah for the second golf railroad in the United
States! Unless there should be a good deal of bad weather the
remainder of this month, the new route to the largest golf club in
the metropolitan district will probably have its christening about
New Year’s Day. The new station, which is to be called Baltusrol,
after the club, has been finished except for painting and platform,
and the construction force has finished the line to East Summit.
Eventually it will go to Summit, connecting with the Delaware,
Lackawanna, and Western . . . At present the trains are running only
to Springfield, which, however, is but half a mile from the
Baltusrol Club in a straight line, although father by the regular
avenues of travel. The writer took a trip over the new route
yesterday and then pieced it out it out in the cab of the
construction locomotive, in order to give the golfers an advance
peep. At Aldene a train of one car will be found waiting. The
conductor, being also the baggage master is obliged to wear overalls
as part of his uniform. At one end of the car, cutting off the trail
to the ice water tank may frequently be found a couple of baby
carriages and a few overgrown dress-suit cases. Dogs can be carried
in the car for there is no other baggage coach. There is no extra
charge for the acrobatic stunts that the conductor executes in
freeing himself from the tangled thickets of baby carts, babies, and
dogs and other pet animals. After backing up on a curve the
locomotive turns about, making a chance of face. Then at Kenilworth
the iron horse takes a big drink. No one knows how much of its life
is lost by the engine’s smoking and drinking so, but the passengers
are known to lose years of time. The next station is called Doty,
chosen simply because it is a short word and east for the
conductors, who desire to save unnecessary wear on the organs. The
next station is called Katemiller, which it has been suggested was
named by Mr. Miller for his wife or maybe by some man after someone
else’s wife. By this time the brush heap of baby carriages has begun
to grow beautifully less, and the conductor can squeeze by them
without having all his clothing torn off. The next station is
Springfield, which makes folk think of Jamaica because “all change”
there. Beyond Baltusrol will be Silver Lake and then the Summits.
The line will carry folk to within a third of a mile of the
clubhouse against nearly two miles via Short Hills. Speaking in the
strictest sense the road will be used eventually for other things
than golf, so it can hardly long be classed with the two cars
rolling stock of the Midlothian Club of Chicago. Secretary Louis
Keller, of the Baltusrol Club, and his associates, however, are the
chief promoters. There will be a carnival at Baltusrol when the
regular trains begin to run and here’s hoping that no steers ever
get loose at Jersey City to the line up into bowknots, as was the
case with a certain large road, during the recent women’s national
championship” (“Second Golf Railroad in the United States”).
On New Year’s
Day, January 1, 1906, three regular trains travelled to Baltusrol
for the first time on record, commencing regular passenger train
service to the Baltusrol Golf Club. The new Baltusrol
Station was located just about two hundred
yards from the course’s clubhouse.
The Lehigh Valley Railroad, with
which the Rahway Valley Railroad connected to at Roselle Park,
offered to run excursion trips to Baltusrol which the RV kindly
agreed to. In September, 1906 the “Baltusrol Special” through-train
service from New York was inaugurated. “The Lehigh Valley Railroad
has inaugurated through train service from New York to Baltusrol
Station via the Rahway Valley Railroad. This train runs through
solid, leaving New York from the foot of West Twenty-third Street,
Desbrosses Street, Cortlandt Street and foot of Fulton Street.
Brooklyn, every Saturday and Sunday morning, stopping at Newark,
Elizabeth, Roselle Park, returning Sunday P.M. The Rahway Valley
Station at Baltusrol being within two hundred yards of the Baltusrol
Club House, the necesseity of cab-hire is thus obviated. This
service is somewhat a matter of experiment, and should it prove so
successful as to warrant its continuance, better service will be
established later. The train equipment is in every way up to the
Lehigh Valley’s standard deluxe, and being intended solely for
visitors to the Baltusrol Links, the clientele will be most select”
(“New Train Service to Baltusrol Golf
Links”). This “experimental” service lasted for some duration.
While the “Baltusrol Special” did not continue in perpetuity, the
Lehigh Valley and Jersey Central both were known to run special
trains in conjunction with the Rahway Valley for a variety
of special events. Earlier issues with the City Counsel
in Summit delayed construction there for quite some time. The Rahway
Valley Railroad was not completed through the city until the summer
of 1906. The RV established a terminus on Park Avenue (later Broad
Street) at the base of Overlook Mountain. A depot, freight house,
and a small three track yard were established here.
On August 6, 1906, after nine long
years, regular train service commenced between Aldene and Summit on
the Rahway Valley Railroad, “Today the Rahway Valley Railroad,
formerly the New York & New Orange Railroad, will begin running
trains on a regular schedule between Aldene on the . . . Jersey
Central and Summit on the Lackawanna. The company has acquired
several new cars and a new engine” (“Rahway
Valley R.R. Will Open Today ”).
After a few short months of operating between
Aldene and Summit, and the completion of the bridge across Park
Avenue, all the cards were in place for a connection to be made with
the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad at Summit. Harry
Dankel, the RV’s Secretary and General Manager, made a formal
application for a connection to T.E. Clarke, General Superintendent
of the DL&W, on October 3, 1906. Enclosed with Dankel’s
application were petitions of shippers along the RV such as American
Circular Loom and Charles E. Wright, both located in
Kenilworth. T.E. Clarke passed the matter from department
to department of the Lackawanna, to confer with others on this
matter. The question of a connection with the RV at Summit even made
it to the desk of W. H. Truesdale, President of the DL&W.
Dankel
was given an answer by Clarke in a letter dated December 1, 1906. In
short, Clarke and the Lackawanna denied the RV’s application for
such a connection to be made. The Lackawanna cited such reasons as
“. . . sufficient business would [not] be furnished to warrant any
connection with out line . . .” and “. . . such traffic would
interfere with our passenger service . . .” To further add insult to
injury, Clarke continued “We confess that we have no feeling of
responsibility in connection with this matter . . . you contemplated
connecting with us at that point, and without consultation with us
as to whether it would be practical or feasible . . . If you had
taken the matter up with us . . . we should have advised you as
above” (T.E. Clarke letter to H.F.
Dankel). Dankel,
as well as the Board of Directors of the Rahway Valley Railroad, did
not let this matter pass without conflict. Clarke’s response was not
acceptable. Without a connection to the Lackawanna, the RV would
surely fall flat on its face financially.
Dankel retained the services of
Not
waiting for the Lackawanna to construct the connection, the RV all
too hastily went ahead to construct the switch. “We have been
watching the matter of attempt by the Rahway Valley RR to connect
with our road at Summit, NJ. Last night a force of men was working
there and about 1:00 AM they seemed to have made all arrangements to
make the connection. We communicated with Mr. Rine who arranged to
have engine 968 sent from South Orange and placed on track so that
no connection could be made. When this was done the men put out
their lights and left” (Chief Special Agent letter to T.E. Clarke).
The Lackawanna continued to refuse
the Rahway Valley a connection to their line at Summit, despite the
ICC’s decision. William S. Jenney, counsel for the Lackawanna, filed
suit with the United States Circuit Court to overrule the ICC’s
decision on August 24, 1908. Judge Lacombe granted a preliminary
injunction on October 22, 1908, suspending the ICC’s order for a
switch connection. The Interstate Commerce Commission,
not to have its power as the railroad regulatory body, took the case
to the next level. The ICC filed suit with the United States Supreme
Court and began a case titled ICC v. DL&W. A decision was not
handed down by the Supreme Court for more than a year but on March
7, 1910, in the matter of ICC v. DL&W, the court ruled in favor
of the Lackawanna. The Rahway Valley Railroad continued
to fight however. The text of the court’s decision indicated that if
the application had been made by some shipper along the RV, instead
of the RV itself, it would be more likely to secure a connection.
William Flowers, manager of F&F Nurseries, pleaded with the
Lackawanna on behalf of the RV for a connection to be made at
Summit. Mr. Flowers’ application, however, fell on deaf ears. The
matter of a RV/DL&W connection at Summit would not be brought up
again for some time. Without its Lackawanna connection
the Rahway Valley was having a rough go of it. The completed
extension to Summit only tapped the business of two stone quarries
in Springfield one of which belonged to Louis Keller. Lacking on the
freight side of things, Keller had the line run a total of nine
round trip passenger runs over the line a week but without the
Lackawanna connection it seemed like the RV wouldn’t make it.
“Keller blundered on, giving the road fine depots, water tanks, and
coal bunkers . . . Then he sat down and waited for the
“overwhelming” business to come” (Young). An engine shed (or sheds)
was erected in September, 1905 along the Rahway River
Branch. The engine shed, however, was destroyed not
long after its construction by a freak tornado that struck
Kenilworth on May 27, 1906. The Warren
Street Station, replacing the stop at N. 20th Street, was also erected on the branch
(McCoy 11). While Elmer McKirgan dealt with
the railroad’s legal issues with the Lackawanna, General Manager
Dankel had his own set of problems to deal with along the rails of
the Rahway Valley. “. . . the RV got more and more in the hole with
each succeeding year. Passengers were scared off for various
reasons" (Young). On Saturday, March 24, 1906 a coal hopper
tied down on the mountain broke loose of its fastenings and
proceeded on its merry way down the grade in nothing flat. The
Saturday passenger train stood at the Springfield Station, and the
crew on the engine were entirely unaware of the approaching runaway.
Suddenly it struck the engine, demolishing the coal car and damaging
the engine, #3. James B. Gray, the engineer, was caught in the wreck
and his foot was so badly mangled it was necessary to have it
amputated above the ankle. #3, the venerable old American 4-4-0, was
so badly damaged that it was decided not to repair her and she was
eventually scrapped. Gray, who started out as a fireman on the RV,
soon left his position nad instituted legal proceedings againt the
railroad for damages. "Soon after, another . . . passenger train [pursued] through
the Springfield stop and across the valley for several miles while
terrified passengers gripped their seats” (Young).
By the end of 1906 the Rahway
Valley, as a result of construction, legal battles, and various
purchases and expenditures, had amassed a floating debt of $350,689.
Over half of the accrued debt was owed to J&H Cornell,
contractors, which had constructed the railroad. During the
operating year the RV had only brought in a total income of $19,874.
Bills were going unpaid and the outlook was grim. The RV, just like
its NY&NO predecessor, was being faced with the possibility of
foreclosure.
Matthias H. Arnot, the
wealthy Elmira, NY banker, financed not only the town of
New Orange and in-turn the construction of the
NY&NO, but also helped procure the RV a mortgage in
1907. The mortgage was given to secure an issue of
$400,000 worth of 5% gold bonds, a good portion of which
Arnot himself purchased. Elmiran interests remained in
the RV up until the 1920's.
As a result of these
transactions, for many years there was an Elmira presence at the
Rahway Valley Railroad. Ray Tompkins, as well as representatives of
Matthias H. Arnot, sat on the RV’s Board of Directors. After
Tompkins and Arnot had both died, attorneys handling their estates
(such as Alexander D. Falck)
sat on the RV’s Board of Directors. With the Rahway Valley Railroad
in financial turmoil any dreams of expansion for the line, such as
its goal to hitch up to the Erie
Railroad, were squashed. Even constructing a long freight
siding was out of the question. To construct a 1,400 foot long
freight siding to Keller’s stone quarry in Springfield a separate
company had to be formed. The Baltusrol
Railroad Company was formed on June 24, 1907 to construct
such a siding, but for whatever reason the Baltusrol Railroad was
never constructed. The company itself was dissolved on May 27, 1908,
having disappeared as quietly as it was formed. For a short period of time all of
the RV’s debts were paid as a result of the massive $400,000
mortgage the railroad had secured in 1907. This brief period of time
gave the railroad a much needed chance at acquiring new motive
power. The RV’s roster at this time included #4, 5, and 6. All of
the RV’s “teakettle” locomotives dated from the 1880s and each
required some sort of heavy repair work. To remedy this situation an
order was placed with the Baldwin Locomotive Works for a new
locomotive. “. . . the road’s first new locomotive, No. 7, a custom
built 2-4-4T, double ended, built by Baldwin . . . this locomotive
proved equal to the grade and tight curves with the passenger
consist, it operated economically on this run, where frequent stops
required constant acceleration and braking. Since the arrival at
Aldene was timed to make connections with the . . . Jersey Central
trains, the schedule had to be closely maintained” (McCoy 10-11). #7 would be the only locomotive
that the Rahway Valley ever purchased new.
A builder's photo of #7, the RV's
only new steam
locomotive. As the result of some
mismanagement and delinquent tax payments the control of the Rahway
Valley Railroad Company reverted to the Elmira interests which held
RV bonds. Keller was able to set up an operating organization called
the Rahway Valley Company, Lessee on February 27, 1909 to lease the
Rahway Valley Railroad Company. “. . . in February, 1909, they
chartered the Rahway Valley Company to lease the entire railroad .
.
. this way Keller was on the receiving end . . . and had the
added financial support he needed . . . A five year lease was signed
in March, 1909, with rental to be $4,000.00 the first twelve months
and $6,000, $8,000, and $12,000 and so on in the same proportion
each succeeding year until 1914. In 1914, Keller scrawled his
signature on a three year lease . . . This new arrangement did
little good, except give the RV a new ‘lease’ on life. 1910 four
both factions keeping books in red ink” (Young). The lessee company also afforded
the RV to construct that spur to Keller’s stone quarry in
Springfield (later the Commonwealth Stone Quarry), which was
previously to have been built by the Baltusrol Railroad Company.
“The RVC paid for construction of a three-quart mile branch . . .
for the Commonwealth Quarry, but in view of the tremendous expense,
which included [the] erection of a track scale at Springfield,
couldn’t make a profit on the venture” (Young). The end of an era came on June
14, 1913 when the railroad’s longtime Secretary and General Manager,
Horatio F. “Harry” Dankel
(previously the Superintendent of the two New Orange railroads)
died. Up until this point, despite marginal deficits, Dankel had
kept Keller’s Rahway Valley going through all the turmoil. James S. Caldwell was elected to fill the
vacant positions of Secretary and General Manager. Another new face,
Andrew A. Lockwood, soon became the railroad’s auditor. The ensuing
years would miss the management of Harry Dankel, as Caldwell and
Lockwood’s inability would bring about the near collapse of the
Rahway Valley Railroad. “Keller’s Rahway Valley struggled along from
day to day, not knowing where it’s next dime was coming from”
(Young).
Information
regarding Louis Keller and the history of the Baltusrol Golf Club comes
from "Louis Keller, Founder. Baltusrol's Founding Father" by Dick
Brown. |
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