Verona is a defunct commuter railroad station in the eponymous township of Verona, Essex County, New Jersey. Located at the junction of Depot and Personette Streets, the station serviced trains of the Erie Railroad's New York and Greenwood Lake Division Caldwell Branch between Great Notch in Little Falls and Essex Fells, where connection was made to the Morristown and Erie Railway. The station contained a single side platform during its existence. The next station towards Great Notch was Cedar Grove while the next station towards Essex Fells was Caldwell.
Rail service in the Verona section of Caldwell Township began with the opening of the Caldwell Branch on July 4, 1891 between Great Notch and Caldwell stations. Service to Essex Fells began in 1892. The original station depot built at Verona by the railroad burned on January 9, 1905 in a fire that destroyed it and the freight house attached. Due to the loss of the structure, Erie Railroad crews moved the original station depot at Caldwell to Verona in February 1905. The replacement depot itself burned on April 1, 1962 due to an electrical fire and was replaced by a three-sided shelter. The Erie Lackawanna Railroad ended passenger service between Great Notch and Essex Fells on September 30, 1966 as part of multiple service cuts.
Verona station would retain freight service until a washout in 1975 eliminated the tracks over the Peckman River. The branch would sit dormant until being officially abandoned in 1979 and the portion between Verona and Great Notch would become the West Essex Trail. To date, the former freight station and baggage shed is one of two remaining extant Caldwell Branch station structures, the other being the original Essex Fells depot, which was converted into a house.
History Interest and construction (1885–1891) An interest by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad and Erie Railroad in the late 1880s led to the demand for a branch to Caldwell Township. In 1885, a report came from the Baltimore and Ohio's headquarters in Chicago, Illinois that the railroad wanted to build a new line between New York City and Chicago. This new line would cut through Essex and Morris Counties, cutting through Verona, Caldwell, Hanover and other places without a competing railroad. Any construction would require going through Orange Mountain of the Watchung Mountains.
The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad first showed their interest in the winter of 1884–1885. Interested in a route to Mendham, New Jersey, they surveyed several routes to reach it, including a line that would go via Montclair, Caldwell and Morristown. Plans for this route would result in replacing the Boonton Branch as the primary route for long distance, freight and mail trains, as executives felt that it would save time reaching Hoboken compared to the existing branch. This also included a four-track bridge being built at Morristown. While executives did inspections of the proposed route via Mendham, officials from the Erie Railroad offered locals in Morristown incentives to choose them for the construction of a line to the city via Caldwell, using their New York and Greenwood Lake Railway line as a starting point for a new service.
By September 1888, the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western had its crews out working near Glen Ridge on a new double track line on the railroad's branch to Montclair, which would also facilitate the extension to Caldwell. However, construction stopped on any extension to Caldwell, resulting in local anger at the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western by January 1889. Locals felt that the Lackawanna was genuinely uninterested in the opinions of Caldwell and Verona residents, putting the ones of New York City ahead of the locals. On the other hand, the operators of the Erie Railroad and the Greenwood Lake Railroad had interest from the public, offering to purchase the right-of-way and pay for the rest of construction and operation of the new line. The expectation though was that the Greenwood Lake branch line would run via Cedar Grove Center and cross Bloomfield Avenue (County Route 506), then follow the continuation of their original surveys. The Lackawanna returned to do more surveying from Montclair to Caldwell on the line by the end of March 1889. At the same time, surveyors from the Pennsylvania Railroad also arrived to inspect their proposed route. This one would involve cutting off at Watchung Avenue station and going along the Watchung Mountains into Caldwell.
However, by August, it became clear that the Erie Railroad would be the most likely railroad to construct a line to Caldwell. In late July 1889, reports noted that the railroad was considering a new line from Rockaway via Parsippany and Montclair, where it would met up with the Greenwood Lake Railroad. At the Rockaway end, the railroad would connet to the Dover and Rockaway Railroad and the Jersey Central Railroad's Hopatcong Branch, creating a connection to Lake Hopatcong. The proposal would also include an arrangement of a lease to operate Erie Railroad trains on those lines. In February 1890, locals in Caldwell decided to go forward with the plans outlined by the Erie Railroad, noting that they were fed up with the Lackawanna. This new branch would cost $75,000 for construction and that locals would fundraise and build it then turn over operation to the Erie after construction was complete. Upon completion, four trains would operate on the branch (two in each direction). This contract was a reflection of the Erie Railroad's genuine interest in the area over the Lackawanna's disinterest. By March 27, locals already raised $54,000 (1890 USD) and they decided that they would no longer pursue the interest of the Lackawanna, putting their final support behind the Erie design.
By early May 1890, the total reached $57,000 and surveyors began designing the route from Caldwell to Cedar Grove, staking the final design. With signs of progress in place, real estate in Verona boomed, with land along Grove Avenue and Bloomfield Avenue were selling quickly. Local farmers sold out at high prices to allow construction of residences along the future railroad line.
Despite the agreement, the Erie Railroad backed out of the existing agreement around August 1890. Instead, the people raising the money and beginning construction announced that they would look at operating the railroad themselves. They also noted that the eastern terminus of the new branch would be at Great Notch station in Little Falls rather than at Cedar Grove Center. By September 1890, the residents had raised $68,000 in susbcriptions of the needed $75,000. However, at that point, the railroad announced that they would not hold up their end of the bargain until the last $7,500 was paid. They also requested that the railroad would keep ownership and paid the $68,000 and that anyone who had not given their money step up and give it to them. At the same time, the Lackawanna re-entered the fray with an interest in a line to Great Notch to meet with the branch via the Boonton Branch. Locals rejected any expectation that they would actually go forward with the proposal. Residents appointed a committee to attain the final $7,000 on September 11, 1890.
In October 1890, construction on the new line to Caldwell and Verona began under control of the fundraising stockholders. The connection to the New York and Greenwood Lake Railroad would remain at Great Notch station, but the stockholders would instead operate their own railroad and lease options for connecting services. The first contract, awarded by a local who moved from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, resulted construction beginning in Verona near a local mill pond. The railroad company ordered of steel from the Scranton Steel Works, which would represent of the new line, installed by around 100 workers. However, despite progress in construction of the new rail line, delays came in purchasing land for the new property. Edwin Taylor, a resident of Cedar Grove, asked for more money on his land than the stockholders would offer for the property. A local magistrate appointed a commission to sort the mess out, with two residents of East Orange and one from Montclair. This commission would come up with a value of the property and the damages for the parts of land taken for the railroad.
Construction came to a grinding halt in December 1890 when a fight broke out between the contractors involved in the project, C. W. Leavitt of the railroad company and his subcontractor, John Ross. They disagreed over how the project was being operated and with a construction deadline of April 1, 1891, time was running out. An accident on Pompton Turnpike by Taylor due to the incomplete grade crossings led to higher emotions among local residents, who demanded the disagreement be worked out. Construction did restart by April 1891, and a preliminary announcement was that the first train would run by Decoration Day. Around of track was laid by the railroad company at the beginning of May 1891. Construction of the line reached Bloomfield Avenue in Verona on May 15 and Caldwell on May 16, but noted that the planned Decoration Day deadline would not be met. All track was in place by May 23, and work on ballasting the line was underway.
The first passenger train on the railroad came on June 20, 1891, with executives from the railroad company on board to inspect the new line. A meeting would be held on July 2, 1891 to accept the property officially from the contractor and the first regular passenger train would be scheduled for July 4 with heavy fanfare planned.
Erie ownership and first station fire (1892–1905) The introduction of passenger and freight service on the Caldwell Railroad led to increased growth immediately for the railroad and the communities around it. Early growth was steady by December 1891. As part of the growth, the Erie Railroad acquired the Caldwell Railroad in January 1892, making changes to continue further growth along the line. By June 1892, the line averaged 15–20 passengers per operating day, along with increased freight service.
The original depot built at Verona burned to the ground on the afternoon of January 7, 1905. The station agent, Frank Fisher, spotted the fire when the chair he was sitting on was in the process of burning, along with the smell of burning odor of cloth in the building. After rushing out of his office, he went to alert authorities about the fire. Due to the lack of a fire department in Verona, nobody could save the wooden station depot, which burned in its entirety with all the documents and money inside. A detective estimated the damage of the depot at $10,000. However, the cause of the fire was considered suspicious. Fisher had told locals at the boarding house in which he lived that he had failed to make payroll for his staff at the station and spent multiple nights going over his books multiple times. The residents of the boarding house also stated that he had hired a couple locals to work on the account balance issues. Fisher also received a $150 from the American Bronze Company for services rendered and that it was also burned in the fire. After telling the officials about the loss, he stated that he was going to Nanuet, New York to be with friends rather than remain in the area.