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From: "R CHAPIN" rwc27q AT verizon DOT net
Date: Mon, 17 May 2010 10:31:38 -0400
Subject: Re: (erielack) North of Wanaque-Midvale
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Ed et al.,

There is a section of rail from the former line to the Ringwood Mines still
visible in Margaret King Blvd (near to the Ringwood DPW garage) and there
are sections of the ROW clearly visible along the reservoir, and more if the
water level is down. There are also several very large bridge abutments
still in place, one just down river of the Wanaque dam itself. Serious
mining stopped in the 1920's (NJ deep mining couldn't compete with Mesabi
Range open pit mining, even though the NJ ore was better) and was off-on
into the early 30's. The US Govt completely rebuilt Peter's mine buildings
and facilities in the late 30s in prep for WW2, but only "test mined" a
limited quantity of iron ore. Some of the government's Peters buildings are
still standing. (Up hill from former mine shaft and on private property.)
Peters Mine is now part of Ringwood State park. There were many mines in
Ringwood dating back to the early 1700s, with Cannon and Peters being the
two significant ones.

The track ended at Peter's Mine, the northern-most mine where the ore
processing facilities were. I've a section of the 1910 USGS quad sheet the
shows this; will forward if you like. (I attached it to this e-mail, not
sure if it will come thru.) There was a yard for staging and loading of ore
cars. (not shown of the topo map.) Ore from the Cannon Mine was sent to
Peters for crushing/processing, which is about a mile run. I wonder if the
Erie handled that? or they had their own cars and loco? Did the Erie have
any ore jennys rostered in the late 1800s?

Yes, the area around the mines is not suburban at all, very rural in
character. Many houses are former "company homes".

If you trace the tracks, the line to the mines joins the Greenwood Lake Br.
at Ringwood Junction. At one point in the 1800's this was one of the major
iron mining areas of the Country, so the rail traffic must have been
significant. What kind of engine would the Erie have used for an iron ore
train?

A few point of order on the Ringwood Mines. (I've been involved with the
Ringwood contamination issue for the last 5+years, including its re-listing
as a supefind site, which is the first and only [so far] re-listing in the
Country.)

The mines at Ringwood don't go under Wanaque; they basically ran east and
west. They are extensive, up to 1800 feet vertical depth. Peters has 17
level running off its main shaft. Ford had a contract with a waste hauler to
dump their wastes at Ringwood. And, a Ford subsidiary owned the land when
that happened.


Rich Chapin


----- Original Message -----
From: "Montgomery, Edward T"
To: "'EL Mail List'"
Sent: Monday, May 17, 2010 9:21 AM
Subject: RE: (erielack) North of Wanaque-Midvale


> Ringwood was, and still is, a rather remote part of Passaic County with
> the mine area surrounded by woods. It was more like West Virginia than
> suburban New York. I'd like to know what was at the end of the rail line?
> There must have been some yard trackage at the mines. One think I never
> heard about was the movement of ore over the Greenwood Lake Branch.
> Obviously the Erie must have handled this traffic because the bridges on
> the Greenwood Lake were beefed up. I don't think any had to be replaced
> when EL moved Boonton Line traffic on to it.
>
> Ed Montgomery
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: ShepRail@aol.com [mailto:ShepRail@aol.com]
> Sent: Monday, May 17, 2010 9:02 AM
> To: jguthrie@pipeline.com; erielack@lists.railfan.net
> Subject: Re: (erielack) North of Wanaque-Midvale
>
>
> Jim & List
>
> A friend of our family had a cottage at Greenwood Lake in the late 50's.
> On the way to visit her one day, we were driving on the road that ran
> around the lake and were stopped by a flagman who let a black 44-ton loco
> cross the road with a string of hoppers. The railroad right-of-way crossed
> the lake nearby on a causeway of sorts, I recall.
> Hope this recollection is helpful.
> Bill
>
>
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