Waldwick is a commuter rail station operated by New Jersey Transit in the borough of Waldwick, Bergen County, New Jersey, United States located at the intersection of West Prospect Street and Hewson Avenue. It is served by the Main Line and the Bergen County Line; some trains of both originate and terminate at the station. The station has three tracks, the outer two of which are served by low-level side platforms, which are connected by a pedestrian bridge at their southern ends. The multiple-track yard Waldwick Yard is located at the north end of the station. The historic Erie Railroad Signal Tower is between them.
This station did not open along with the rest of the Paterson and Ramapo Railroad on October 19, 1848. The Erie Railroad, which took over that railroad, established a stop at Waldwick and a wooden station depot was built on the east side of the tracks. The historic original station house has been listed in the state and federal registers of historic places since 1978 and is part of the Operating Passenger Railroad Stations Thematic Resource. With The Waldwick Community Alliance has leased the building for 25 years until 2034. After years of being in disrepair, it was restored and now houses the Waldwick Museum of Local History.
History Establishment The Paterson and Ramapo Railroad started service on October 19, 1848, though no station was built in the area of Hohokus Township that constitutes modern-day Waldwick. Stops were established at Allendale and the eponymous Hohokus for passenger and freight from Jersey City and vice versa.
The establishment of Orvil Township, New Jersey (named after local resident Orvil Victor) in the late 1880s helped pushed the interest of the Erie Railroad to build a station between Allendale and Hohokus. Farmers requested that the railroad provide trains for them to transport their products more quickly. Peter Bogert, a local farmer, donated some of his land along the tracks Orvil Township and residents offered to pay for a new station in 1886. Victor was chair of a committee to decide what the name of the new stop would be, which decided on the name "Waldwick" after originally choosing "Waldweck".
The architect Augustus Mordecai of the Erie Railroad was chosen to design the station. Mordecai designed a depot of mixed architectures, combining Stick style and Queen Anne styles. The depots were Stick with the Queen Anne exception being corbeled chimneys, square window borders and shingled gable ends. Mordecai would use this style at other stops, including Suffern, New York and Palisades Park. The depot at Waldwick was a one-and-a-half-story structure with five different rooms. This includes a waiting room for passengers, the baggage room and ticket office, a storage room and a coal facility that combined for of the structure. The waiting room and ticket office contained cast-iron stoves for heating. The outside was batten wood with stucco.
With the establishment of the station, the railroad agreed that a rail yard would be completed by 1887. However, local investors from both New York City and Passaic County, New Jersey invested in a piece of land next to the tracks at Waldwick in 1889. With the property abutting the tracks, would be offered to the Erie Railroad to build a yard, replacing a previous proposal at Ridgewood. This would be the terminal for all local trains, in effect replacing the yard in Paterson, necessitating the construction of a new station in the city. With the new yard, more express trains would stop at Paterson with Ridgewood and Waldwick having upgraded facilities. With the yard and increased trains, speculators would be selling out cut out pieces of purchased lands for country homes.
1887 accident On July 21, 1887, a deadly train accident occurred at the curve just south of Waldwick station. With local laborers putting ballast on the railroad, a delayed express train from Chicago entered the area an hour behind schedule. Around 7:15 a.m., the train reached the workers, who were unaware the train was running late. The train crashed into the laborers, killing at least 11 workers instantaneously. The train came to a stop and began to reverse. The crew and passengers looked at the wounded and deceased bodies all over the track. There were also several laborers running around in a disoriented manner. Several bodies were mangled, with dismembered parts all over the track right-of-way. 15 bodies were counted by passengers as laying on the track.
After 15 minutes, the train continued on its way east to Hohokus. After the accident, the deceased workers were taken to Hohokus while the injured were taken to St. Joseph's Hospital in Paterson. Blame was immediately placed on the foreman for the ballast crew for not getting his crew out of danger of the oncoming express train. Later investigation stated that there 16 men in the crew that was on the tracks at the time of the accident. The engineer noted to the press at Jersey City that he blew his whistle to alarm the herded ballast workers and attempted to stop the train from hitting them. However, the engineer admitted that there was little he could do to stop the incident.
Proposals for replacement 1958 In August 1958, the borough of Waldwick appealed to the Erie Railroad to demolish their station depot and replace it with a modern structure on the west side of the tracks. The station, considered a local eyesore by Mayor Robert Denver, would be replaced by extra parking for commuters. The railroad stated in a letter that they would not rebuild the station depot in Waldwick, but was open to using some of its land for a parking area, involving a lease of the property to the borough.
At a meeting of the Erie Railroad with delegates from the Waldwick Planning and Zoning Boards, along with the Taxpayer's Association on October 11, 1958, Denver proposed construction of a new station at Waldwick. As part of this, the 1887 depot, freight house, and two of the four tracks would be removed from the station. J.R. Ebert, the superintendent for the railroad, stated that he would ask his superiors about the borough's proposal. He also wrote to the borough would get a high priority if they agreed to it. If upper management agreed, the new depot would be built for freight trains, the railroad would lease some of the property for municipal parking.
At a meeting with the Waldwick Planning Board on October 14, George Sondergaard told attendees that the railroad would reconsider their August decision. Sondergaard stated that the railroad would consider building a new depot similar to the one at Ho-Ho-Kus if Waldwick borough was to demolish the current depot. Sondergaard added that the railroad was actively considering tearing down the freight house in Waldwick and two of its tracks, along with a railroad spur to a local lumberyard.
Denver, wanting a new station, pushed local societies to push for the relocation or removal of the original depot to no success. Also, the rest of the Waldwick Borough Council for 1958 seemed disinterested in his proposal. Denver stated that he would press the 1959 Council to be more interested in his proposal and that either the railroad or the borough would have to demolish the depot.
1970s proposal A new proposal for replacing the Erie depot in Waldwick came in 1973. The borough and the New Jersey Department of Transportation began working on plans to replace the station for a new structure and a new parking lot. As part of this proposal, the depot would be razed and replaced with a 150 parking space lot on the Hewson Avenue side of the tracks. A new station depot would be built on the inbound side of the tracks to replace the original structure. This new depot, built of brick material, would contain a waiting room, a ticket office and a new restroom. The depot would also have a picture window and aluminum doors looking towards the tracks. A new platform would be constructed for the new structure, replacing a flood-prone existing platform. The new parking lot on Hewson Avenue would have concrete curbs and guide rail to protect commuter vehicles.
The Department of Transportation requested that the borough turn Hewson Avenue into a one-way street in order to help traffic flow for the new parking lot. The Waldwick Borough Council approved such a design change. Robert Ryan, a member of the Council, stated that the Department of Transportation budgeted $500,000 (1973 USD) for the station replacement. Ryan noted that the state requested a letter of intention before it would take any actions, including putting out bids for such a job.
Eugene DelGuidice, the ticket agent at Waldwick station, noted that the new station would make things easier for commuters, who had to cross the tracks to get the tickets in the morning then cross back to catch their trains. Councilman Ted Bell also noted that the gravel parking lot would be extended and replaced with new pavement, resulting in commuters not parking on side streets. This new parking lot would be maintained by the borough and avea small fee to cover maintenance and expenses. The new station would be finished by the autumn of 1974.
Vocal opposition to demolition of the depot was almost immediate. By early October 1973, local residents immediately stated their interest to the local press that they would push for making the Waldwick station depot a historic site.
However, legal issues resulted in the project being delayed into the autumn of 1975. As part of the project, land for the new station and ticket office would need land the Erie Lackawanna Railroad leased to a local lumber yard. The lack of ability to acquire the necessary land resulted in a much smaller depot having to be designed. The smaller depot would no longer require a ticket agent. In October 1975, local press noted that the station's parking lot would be replaced in a range of 30–45 days with the depot demolished and replaced by a heated shelter in six to nine months. The borough of Waldwick also set aside $33,000 for the new parking meters and to light the new parking lot. Mayor Ralph Cook stated that the borough had no interest in preserving the depot unless a local group was willing to move the structure to another location.
The project continued to be delayed into 1976 and by January 1977, the Department of Transportation set a deadline to have the old station depot moved or it would be razed. Terry Karschner, the historian curator for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, stated that he was trying to find someone who wanted the depot. The Jaycees branch in Waldwick noted that they should move the station. Borough residents were split on the project, some hailing for a new modern parking lot and depot, some concerned about losing a piece of the borough's history. Eugene DelGuidice noted that the depot was still clean, maintained and almost everything was original.
The Department of Transportation set the deadline for January 31 to have a proposal to move the depot in hand. The organization had a handshake agreement with Conrail over the proposal and Mayor John Cassetta noted that the borough would have to sign an agreement for maintenance purposes of the new parking lot. However, the Department of Transportation stated that construction of the lot would likely not begin until March 1977 until agreements and bids were certified. Local groups had been unable to that point find no money to move the station to a new location, if one was provided. The Waldwick Borough Council continue to express no interest in saving the depot, despite Cassetta's efforts to talk to the concerned citizens.