Dover and Rockaway River Railroad


The Dover & Rockaway River Railroad is a short-line railroad operating in Morris County, New Jersey.
On July 1, 2017 it took over operation of three Morris County owned rail lines previously operated by Morristown and Erie. The DRRV is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chesapeake and Delaware, LLC.

Lines

Chester Branch

The former DLW Chester Branch was extended in 1869 to Chester, New Jersey, to serve the local mining industry. A connection with the CNJ Chester Branch also existed. In the early 1950s DLW abandoned and tore up their Chester Branch from the CNJ connection near Chester to Succasunna. In 1983 Conrail planned to abandon the branch line, but Holland Manufacturing and Westinghouse Elevator purchased the line to continue rail services to their facilities. In 2009, Morris County, New Jersey, purchased the line and leased rail operations to M&E. Branching off from Lake Junction, it ends in Succasunna. DRRV freight service uses this line to access the High Bridge Branch at Ferromonte Junction. The line was rehabilitated in 2010 with the use of federal stimulus funds obtained by the line's new owner, Morris County Department of Transportation. Starting in July 2017 the line was leased to DRRV.

Customers

The High Bridge branch is owned by Morris County, New Jersey, and is leased to DRRV. A former Central Railroad of New Jersey line called the High Bridge Branch, it splits from the Chester Branch at Ferromonte Junction and heads southwest through Succasunna and Flanders. The line ends west of U.S. Route 206 in Flanders. Originally excluded from the Conrail system in 1976, the line remained in service under a subsidy agreement by local authorities until 1981. Morris County purchased the line from the state in 1982. There was talk New Jersey Transit would use the line to connect their lines at High Bridge and Lake Junction to Hacketstown in 1983 but the plan fell through. The line south of Flanders to High Bridge was then dismantled and later became the Columbia Trail in 1995.

Customers

Originally the Dover & Rockaway Railroad. The line operates from D&R Junction in Wharton through downtown Dover northeast to Rockaway. The line ends along Green Pond Road in Rockaway Township, north of Interstate 80. This line passes through downtown Dover and Rockaway with many street crossings. Most of the customers on this branch are located in an industrial park along Green Pond Road, at the north end of the branch.

Customers