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Aldene Station

Here we see NY&NO/NOFJ #2 meeting a CNJ passenger train at the original Aldene Station near the turn of the last century. Collection of the late John J. McCoy, courtesy of Don Maxton. The original Aldene Station existed as early as the mid-1890's, "Aldene" being the name of the section of Roselle Park which the station served. The station was located along the mainline of the Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ), while the property it sat upon was owned by the Lehigh Valley Railroad which ran directly behind the building on an elevated berm. Other theories suggest that the structure was owned by the Rahway Valley Railroad (RV). The facts regarding the station's ownership remains in question, but it was a scheduled stop along both the CNJ and the RV. The station was removed from service some time between 1906 and 1915, the Aldene stop was replaced by the second Aldene Station owned by the CNJ. The old Aldene Station was then utilized as a church before being taken over by the Marconi Company of America which used the building for storage and as a laboratory. The old Aldene Station site was later oblierated by the expanse of the plant of Romerovski Brothers. Above we see the original Aldene Station, alongside the plant of Marconi Company of American. The CNJ main is seen in the foreground and the elevated LV main can be seen behind the station. Marconi utilized the old station for storage. The station was razed after the building to the right was expanded numerous times. Collection of Ed Leonard. This map, from 1906, shows the Rahway Valley Railroad (the vertical rail line) coming down from Kenilworth to hook up with the CRR of NJ. The elevated Lehigh Valley Railroad mainline cuts across the bottom right corner of the photo. Rahway Valley passenger trains at this time had to travel under the LVRR to reach the Aldene Station on the opposite side of the embankment. The first Aldene Station is seen in a postcard view above. The station was wedged between the LVRR's elevated mainline, the CRR of NJ mainline (in the foreground) and Westfield Avenue, seen in the extreme right going underneath the LVRR mainline.   See Report of the Board of Public Utility Commissioners, 1914, concerning the moving of Aldene Station

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