LEHIGH VALLEY BRANCH

MP 0.14 - This siding was constructed in 1931. Between the switch and Fairfield Ave., where A. H. Gutbrod would have their cars spotted, there was about two and a half car lengths of space. Two cars could be placed there with a little extra room, but not three. Gutbrod would unload peat moss from the ground with a forklift and a pallet. The moss would be thrown on top of the pallet. Sometimes, it would be directly unloaded into a truck. Beyond the grade crossing, a couple car lengths in, was where Neill & Spanjer unloaded their cars. They put planking across the main part of the Lehigh Valley Branch so they could back a truck up to their cars and unload. The rest of the siding, where Lock Joint had been, was used for car storage. About eight cars could fit there in total. This siding was for Lock Joint Pipe Co., Neill & Spanjer, and A. H. Gutbrod Co.

Fairfield Ave. (MP 0.12). Two tracks, dirt crossing, vehicular traffic light, 2 P.U. signs (marked 2 tracks) (description from 1944). The second track was the siding for Lock Joint Pipe Co.

W. Colfax Ave. (MP 0.34). Noted in 1919.

W. Webster Ave. (MP 0.54). This grade crossing was constructed in 1920. 

Lock Joint Pipe Co. (1928-1961)
Fairfield Ave., Kenilworth. 

Manufacturer of concrete pipe; outbound culvert pipe, inbound cement, steel mesh.  

Lock Joint Pipe Co. was founded in 1905 in East Orange, New Jersey, by Allan M. Hirsh (1878-1951) as a manufacturer of concrete pipe and other cast concrete pieces. The company eventually grew to have thirty plants throughout the United States and Latin America, including facilities in East Orange, Wharton, and Passaic, New Jersey. In 1928, the company opened a plant in Kenilworth on Fairfield Ave. The railroad constructed a private siding to the facility. A separate track was built parallel to the siding and was traversed by an American steam crane, with an upright boiler, that was used to load pipe into gondola cars. In 1954, Lock Joint brought up an American diesel crane from its Orangeburg, SC plant to replace the steam one. The Kenilworth plant employed forty people in 1938. Products produced by the company ranged from 8” to 144” in diameter, including prestressed and reinforced concrete pipes used for water lines and culverts. In 1961, the company acquired a 23-acre tract of land in East Brunswick, New Jersey to construct a new plant. The new plant replaced the Kenilworth facility, where there was no room for expansion, and the latter was later abandoned. The company merged with Gladding, McBean & Co. of Los Angeles in 1962 to form International Pipe & Ceramics Corp. 

Edgar H. Allen & Son, Inc. (1948-1964)
825 Fairfield Ave., Kenilworth. 

Distributor of telephone poles; inbound telephone poles. 

Edgar H. Allen, Sr. founded Edgar H. Allen & Son, Inc. as a trucking company in 1928. The company was originally located at 525 Dietz Street in Roselle, New Jersey. The company moved to the 825 Fairfield Ave. property in Kenilworth in 1948. The company engaged in the distribution of telephone poles. Allen would take inbound loads of telephone poles to supply local utility companies, such as Public Service or Jersey Central Power & Light. The company moved to Old Bridge, New Jersey in 1964.