|
Sidetrack agreement entered
into 3/15/1929 between Woolley Fuel and the
RVRR. | |
|
Rahway Valley Railroad Customer Profile |
Name: |
Woolley Fuel
Company (a.k.a. Woolley Coal
Co.) |
Location: |
12 Burnett Avenue Maplewood, N.J.
(Newark
Heights) |
Years of
Operation: |
1924 - Present |
Nature of Business: |
Retail fuel dealer. Sold coal and wood for
heating, ice for refrigeration. |
Shipments via RV: |
Coal, inbound Ice,
inbound (?) Wood, inbound (?) |
Notes: |
An RVRR customer 1929-1957, with possible
shipments as early as 1924. |
|
A horse-drawn Woolley ice
delivery wagon. Note the railroad tracks behind the horse.
Woolley Fuel
Archive. |
|
This 1928 Sanborn map shows
the RVRR's siding extending into Woolley. Courtesy of
Don Maxton. | |
Woolley
Fuel Company, located along
the Rahway Valley
Line in Newark Heights (a section of
Maplewood
), was among
the many coal dealers located along the branch line to
Maplewood.
Founded in 1924 by brothers Herbert and
Norman W. Woolley, Sr., the Woolley Fuel Company opened its doors at 12
Burnett Ave. The mainstay of their operation was the sale of coal as a
home heating fuel. Woolley also sold ice for refrigeration as well as
wood, presumably for homes still utilizing wood-burning stoves.
All of these commodities
were shipped to Woolley Fuel via the Rahway Valley Railroad. A long spur
extended from the main track to the rear of Woolley's offices, alongside
the coal silos. Conveyers were utilized to unload hopper cars and shuttle
anthracite coal up into Woolley's towering silos.
After being delivered directly to Woolley,
coal, wood, and ice were delivered to the customer's doorstep by one of
the wagons in Woolley's fleet.
Although shipments to Woolley via the RVRR
probably began as early as 1924, a sidetrack agreement was entered into on
March 15, 1929 between the Rahway Valley Company, Lessee and Woolley
Fuel.
As the years went on and as technology
changed, people switched from ice boxes to refrigerators and from coal
fueled heating systems to oil fueled ones. Woolley kept up with the times
and modified its facilities and equipment. Coal wagons soon gave way to
fuel oil trucks and by the 1950's coal shipments delivered to Woolley by
the RVRR began to dwindle.
George Clark , the ever mindful President and
General Manager, became agitated with the lessening number of shipments to
Woolley, more so due to the fact that the Rahway Valley Railroad
maintained such a long siding into Woolley.
On July 28, 1956, Clark sent a letter to
Woolley Fuel notifying them that their siding was slated for abandonment.
Woolley assured more shipments, but they never came. On February 1, 1957
the Rahway Valley Railroad terminated its sidetrack agreement with Woolley
Fuel and the siding was thereafter abandoned.
Today, Woolley Fuel continues to operate at the same location
it has since 1924. Woolley is the one of the few former Rahway
Valley Railroad customers still in operation, in its original location.
Woolley continues to deal home heating oil but has diversified its
business to include natural gas, Biodiesel, and propane. The Woolley
family, in its fourth generation, still continues to own and operate the
business till this day.
Sources:www.woolleyfuel.com, see the Letters page, letters dated 7/16/1956, 7/28/1956, 8/6/1956, 12/18/1956, 12/26/1956.
|
|
Woolley Fuel's coal
silos, note the hoppers ready to be unloaded. 3/1929.
Collection of Norman Woolley |
This view, taken
from the roof of another building, shows Woolley's early office
building, the track scales alongside it, an oil delivery truck, a
coal delivery truck near the silos, the large coal silos, the
conveyer, and a hopper full of coal waiting to be unloaded on the
RVRR siding. The circles on the tower were the "Old Company's Lehigh"
logo. Woolley Fuel Archive. |
|
|
This circa
1932 view shows the early, original, office building of Woolley Fuel
on Burnett Ave. Before the company dealt in heating oil it conducted
business as Woolley Coal Company, Inc. As seen on the billboard
above the company specialized in "Lehigh Coal," a hard anthracite
coal |
A nice view Woolley
Fuel's operations in Maplewood in 1946. At this time the company
deals in coal as well as oil, note the four oil delivery
trucks as opposed to the two coal delivery trucks. The truck scales
are located alongside the art-deco style office building. A lone
hopper can be seen on the far left. Collection of
Norman Woolley. |
|
|
An oil delivery
truck poses next to Woolley's three large fuel oil tanks. During the
1940's and 1950's, people were gradually switching their homes to
burn oil for heating, but many older homes continued to burn
anthracite coal well into the 1960's and 1970's.
Woolley Fuel Archive. |
In a view similar to the one on the
left, a host of Woolley delivery trucks pose for this photograph.
Woolley Fuel Archive. |
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|
Seen here is 1924
Ford Model T, modified to deliver coal to Woolley's customers.
Woolley Fuel Archive. |
Woolley's coal
delivery truck #9 strangely lists "Fuel Oil" on its tender rather
than "Coal Co." Woolley Fuel
Archive. |