Gypsy Heart
Gold Member
The Lehigh Valley Railroad in 1872 was running through Franklin Township and had a station in Landsdown. On March 6, 1890 the Pittstown Branch Railroad Company decided that a branch line was needed to run into Pittstown. By November 1890 the Company had purchased all the land necessary to build the branch line. April 2, 1891 over 100 men began the work on the branch line. The grand opening of the Pittstown Branch Line was held on the 4th of July in 1891. The line ran off of the Lehigh Valley main line from Landsdown. The engine was named NANCY!
The Pittstown Station was a very important shipping station because Pittstown had a large peach crop industry. The peaches were shipped to Easton, Pennsylvania by train; this was a major business for the railroad and made them a lot of money. Sometime around the turn of the century blight destroyed the peach industry.
In 1903 the Pittstown Milk Association was formed and they began shipping milk to Brooklyn, New York. Thus keeping the railroad busy. Somewhere in the 1920's the Association stopped using the train.
At some point during these great shipping years the state would send an inspector from the New Jersey Weights and Measures Division to check the accuracy of the Pittstown scales. During a period of time , Samuel Christie, was the person sent to do this job. He later became the head of the Weights and Measure Department.
With more roadways being built, trucks were faster and cheaper to send things to other places. By the 1960's most families in this area had a car. In 1968 the Lehigh Valley Railroad tried to close the Pittstown Station. In 1969 the station was closed, for a while there was talk of putting an airport in the land owned by the railroad. Lucky this never happened.
In 1970 the Lehigh Valley Railroad went bankrupted. Conrail took over the 1,100 miles of railroad in 1976. Today the rail lines are owned by the Franklin Township on their way to Allentown.
The station appears to be solid. It was well built using a minimum 4x4 wood pieces instead of today's standard 2x 4 construction. Instead of today's plywood the outside is made up of 1x6 and 1x10 wood pieces. The foundation seems to be very good. The brick chimney in the center of the building also seems to be in solid shape. The roof is made out of slate, which is a type of rock. It is in need of repair, but could be fixed. There is some water damage in the building due to missing slates.
The Pittstown Station was a very important shipping station because Pittstown had a large peach crop industry. The peaches were shipped to Easton, Pennsylvania by train; this was a major business for the railroad and made them a lot of money. Sometime around the turn of the century blight destroyed the peach industry.
In 1903 the Pittstown Milk Association was formed and they began shipping milk to Brooklyn, New York. Thus keeping the railroad busy. Somewhere in the 1920's the Association stopped using the train.
At some point during these great shipping years the state would send an inspector from the New Jersey Weights and Measures Division to check the accuracy of the Pittstown scales. During a period of time , Samuel Christie, was the person sent to do this job. He later became the head of the Weights and Measure Department.
With more roadways being built, trucks were faster and cheaper to send things to other places. By the 1960's most families in this area had a car. In 1968 the Lehigh Valley Railroad tried to close the Pittstown Station. In 1969 the station was closed, for a while there was talk of putting an airport in the land owned by the railroad. Lucky this never happened.
In 1970 the Lehigh Valley Railroad went bankrupted. Conrail took over the 1,100 miles of railroad in 1976. Today the rail lines are owned by the Franklin Township on their way to Allentown.
The station appears to be solid. It was well built using a minimum 4x4 wood pieces instead of today's standard 2x 4 construction. Instead of today's plywood the outside is made up of 1x6 and 1x10 wood pieces. The foundation seems to be very good. The brick chimney in the center of the building also seems to be in solid shape. The roof is made out of slate, which is a type of rock. It is in need of repair, but could be fixed. There is some water damage in the building due to missing slates.
