Newark Heights (located at 363 Boyden Ave., Maplewood, NJ) was
the station located at the end of the Rahway Valley Line in
Maplewood. The RVL was completed into what is now Maplewood in 1918
and a terminus was established on Boyden Avenue, sometimes referred
to as the "Boyden Avenue Terminal" in documentation. At the time
what is now Maplewood was known as South Orange Township (not to be
confused with today's South Orange). The several neighborhoods in
South Orange Township each had their own name such as Maplewood and
Jefferson. The area of South Orange Twp. that the RVL served was
known as Hilton.
The station that the Rahway Valley
established on Boyden Avenue was originally known as "Hilton." This
name was altered to "Newark Heights" in 1921. Although the RV
entered Maplewood, which it was officially renamed in 1922, the RV
never named any of their stations "Maplewood," to avoid confusion
with the DL&W station in town which bore that name.
Passenger service to Newark Heights is
a matter of debate - if not confusion. The Rahway Valley Line,
although established in 1914, was not completed until 1918. Troubles
in acquiring the necessary right-of-way held up construction. Most
passenger operations on the Rahway Valley were discontinued in 1919,
a mere year after the branch's completion. Continuing, although
limited, passenger operations persisted for a few years thereafter
until as late as 1923.
William S. Young notes that turntables
for the railbus(es) were located in Baltusrol, Kenilworth, and
Hilton (a.k.a. Newark Heights). Passenger operations are known to of
been carried out with, at least, one of the railbuses after 1919.
Even mixed trains are mentioned. Perhaps contradictory to Young's
statements of passenger service, a 1921 passenger train schedule
notes no scheduled stops at Newark Heights although "labor trains"
are noted on the RVL. Young expounds on this by stating labor trains
were, ". . . there was little else of note save for “worker’s
trains” on the Heights Branch. They consisted of the regular freight
bedecked with men going to work, in the cab, on the tops of cars,
and on the pilot" (Young). What we can infer from all of this is
that any passenger service, if any, was very short lived to Newark
Heights.
What we do, in fact, know and for
certain is that Newark Heights was a freight agency station for
several years. The RV also constructed wagon scales here to help
facilitate that purpose.
The amount of business generated here
apparently did not warrant the continued operation of the freight
agency at Newark Heights. The station was closed and all operations
previously handled at Newark Heights were consolidated with the
freight agency at Unionbury. Tom Miller, the longtime agent at
Unionbury, simultaneously handled business conducted at both
Unionbury and Newark Heights from the station at Unionbury which
also had a freight house, which the Newark Heights agency
lacked.
The unused Newark Heights station,
similar to the Baltusrol and Warren Street stations, was
subsequently leased to the Carl Coal Co. which had taken over the
RV's Boyden Avenue Terminal property. Carl Coal operated a coal yard
on the property. The Carl Coal Co. used the Newark Heights station
as office space.
At an unknown later date (after 1944)
the building was razed.
