The Railroad Comes to Glen Rock

The arrival of the railroad transformed northern New Jersey during the mid-nineteenth century, connecting rural communities to growing cities and opening new opportunities for commerce and travel.

The first railroad to serve this region was the Paterson and Hudson River Railroad, which began operating in October 1834. Running between Paterson and Snake Hill in Hudson County, it marked the beginning of rail transportation in the area. About a decade later, the Paterson and Ramapo Railroad was built to connect Paterson with Suffern, New York. In October 1848, trains began operating over the tracks that would eventually become today's Erie Main Line.

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Railroad ownership changed rapidly during these early years. In 1850, the Union Railroad assumed control of both the Paterson and Ramapo Railroad and the Paterson and Hudson River Railroad. Just two years later, the Erie Railroad acquired the Union Railroad, incorporating the route into its expanding rail network. The Erie also shifted its eastern terminal from Piermont, New York, to Jersey City, creating a more direct connection to New York Harbor and establishing the route that remains part of today's Main Line.

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At the Rock Road crossing stood a modest combination station that served as both a ticket office and the station agent's home. The agent sold tickets and managed railroad operations from the first floor while living with his family upstairs. The building stood on the east side of the tracks, approximately where the former Glen Rock Savings Bank was later constructed. In 1905, it was replaced by the handsome Main Line Station that still stands today and now serves as the home of the Glen Rock Historical & Preservation Society and its Museum at the Station.

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In 1876, Ridgewood Township was created from part of Franklin Township. The new municipality included not only present-day Ridgewood but also the areas that would later become Midland Park and Glen Rock.

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As rail traffic increased, the Erie Railroad sought a faster route for its growing freight business. Between 1881 and 1884, it constructed the Bergen County Railroad, commonly known as the Short Cut. This bypass allowed long freight trains to avoid the busy cities of Paterson and Passaic while connecting back to the Erie Main Line at Rutherford and Ridgewood.

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To control traffic where the two rail lines met, the Erie built WJ Tower at the Ridgewood junction. The tower stood within the angle formed by the Main Line and the Bergen County Short Cut, near the end of present-day Valley Road in Glen Rock. Telegraph operators working from WJ directed train movements through one of the railroad's busiest junctions.

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Around 1910, as the Erie expanded the Main Line to four tracks and modernized its signaling system, the original WJ Tower was abandoned and replaced by a new structure just across the borough line in Ridgewood. After that building was destroyed by fire, it was replaced with the present tower, which retained the historic WJ designation. During the legendary Blizzard of 1888, the deep railroad cut just north of the tower became choked with locomotives trapped beneath massive snowdrifts, illustrating both the importance of the line and the challenges faced by nineteenth-century railroads.

Among the best-known telegraphers assigned to WJ Tower was Emerson E. Horton, a Glen Rock resident who lived on Rock Avenue, now South Highwood Avenue. Horton first worked for the contractor that built the Bergen County Short Cut. When construction was completed, he joined the Erie Railroad as one of its first railroad pilots. Before a new line could be placed into regular service, pilots rode in the locomotive cab with the engine crew, inspecting the track and roadbed while reporting conditions along the route. Horton's work helped ensure that the railroad's newest line opened safely and efficiently.