DOTY

During the extension of the RV to Summit, Louis Keller had a depot constructed near the Chester Road grade crossing which was named “Doty.” A period news article stated “ The next station is called Doty, chosen simply because it is a short word and easy for the conductors, who desire to save unnecessary wear on the organs.” In actuality, the stop was named for the Dotys of which there were several families nearby. The railroad opted to establish a stop here as Chester Road (sometimes called Union Road or as the “toll road”) was a major connecting thoroughfare between Union and points to the west such as Mountainside and Plainfield. The depot measured 12’ 6” x 8’ x 8’ 6” to the eaves and 15’ 6” to the peak, giving the building a very steep roof pitch. It was made of clapboards outside and wainscoting inside with a shingle roof. It also featured a bay window. It contained a bench, a stove, and a coal box. In 1907, the depot was renamed “Union” for the town in which it was located. Ironically, that same year, the Borough of Kenilworth was incorporated and within its borders was contained the Union depot. The Township of Union border, however, was just a few strides away. The depot was removed from passenger train schedules in 1914. Thereafter, the depot was relocated to Unionbury on the newly constructed “Morris Ave. Extension” (later known as the “Newark Heights Branch”) and repurposed as a freight agent’s office. A new office was constructed at Unionbury in 1931 and the old building was relocated to Kenilworth where it was utilized as a storage building until it was dismantled sometime later.

MP 2.43 - This siding was constructed between July 26 and September 2, 1949 and removed between January 11 and May 15, 1963. It had a length of 514 feet. The switch stand was a Ramapo #17C with target and connecting rod, with an Adams & Westlake switch lock. The siding was surveyed by J. Wallace Higgins. This siding was for the industries located at 531-535 N. Michigan Ave., which included: Marble Face Blocks, Inc. and Gaspar Kirchner & Sons.

MP 2.49 - The siding was about eight car lengths long, it never had a gate. There were two unloading doors along the siding, a small door and a big door. Continental Packaging always wanted cars at the first spot with the small door which had no more than an eight foot opening. Cars had to be spotted at the door very precisely because their plate was just as wide as the door. If the car wasn’t exactly spotted, the company couldn’t get their plate inside the boxcar door to unload. For some reason, they never used the second, larger door. This siding was for the industries located at 555 N. Michigan Ave., which included: Continental Packaging Corp.

The Route 22 grade crossings were the most heavily travelled, and most dangerous, on the railroad. A motor traffic survey made at the crossings on December 16, 1940 (a Monday on which heavy rain fell all day) indicated that 4,688 vehicles used the eastbound crossing and 3,949 used the westbound one, for a total of 8,637 vehicles, between 8 AM and 5 PM. The crossing was blocked by train movements on five instances but for only one minute in each instance. A similar survey made on Wednesday, December 18, 1940, when the weather was clear, indicated that 5,201 vehicles used the eastbound crossing and 5,339 the westbound, or a total of 9,540 between the same hours of 8 AM and 5 PM. Again, the crossing was blocked on five instances by train movements but only a movement each time. 

On December 14, 1955, the State of New Jersey Department of Public Utilities recommended the installation of manually operated flashing grade crossing signals. That night, at about 6:50 PM, a car operated by Joseph V. Manno collided with an RV train at the crossing. Manno’s sixteen year old son, also named Joseph, suffered scarring and lacerations of the forehead and injuries to the arms and body. He claimed that the train carried no warning lights and that he heard no warning signals. That night had been married by rain and fog. The Mannos sued the railroad for $35,000 in damages but settled two years later for $1,900.

The crossing flashers were installed in October 1955 at a cost of $6,058, which was split 50-50 between the railroad and the New Jersey State Highway Department. Each crossing received two standard NJ State Highway Dept. signal masts (one on each side of the three lane roadway) of stainless steel with double pipe cantilever arms supporting two red lens flasher units, railroad crossing crossbuck signs, and reflectorized signs which read “Stop on Red Signal,” all of which was mounted on a concrete foundation. The most southerly and northerly masts had manual key operating boxes mounted on them. The train would pull up to the crossing and a crew member would activate the flashers with a key. Upon clearing the crossing, the crew would shut off the signals from the far side. Even a lite locomotive move from the west wye leg (mainline) to the east one would necessitate the activation of the flashers as the locomotive’s coupler would stick out into the roadway in order to clear the wye switch. The crew was able to turn on just the westbound signals. The flashers were installed by the NJ State Highway Department.

N. J. Block Products Co. / New Jersey Block Corp. [1] (c. 1949)
Marble Face Blocks, Inc. [1] (1950-1968)
531 N. Michigan Ave., Kenilworth. 

Manufacturer of concrete blocks; outbound concrete marble face building blocks, inbound cement, band steel. 

This company unloaded bulk cement cars off of Kirchner’s siding. It went out of business in 1968 or 1969.