page_title: Verona station (Erie Railroad)
section_title: The end of the Caldwell Branch (1966 – 1979)
hierarchical_section_title: Verona station (Erie Railroad) / History / The end of the Caldwell Branch (1966 – 1979)
caption_attribution_description: English: A view of the former freight shed for the Erie Railroad's former Verona Station in Verona, New Jersey. The station, which last saw passenger trains in 1966 and freight in 1975, has since been removed (only a shelter since 1960) although the painted freight shed remains.
context_page_description: Verona station was a station on the Caldwell Branch of the Erie Railroad in Verona, New Jersey. The station was originally constructed in 1891 at the intersection of Depot Street and Personette Street by the Caldwell Railway, which was soon merged into the Erie Railroad system. The station burned down twice: the 1891 station depot burned down in 1905, and the second station survived until April 1, 1962, when arsonists destroyed it.
  However, the freight station built in 1891, a one-room shed, remained standing between both burnings, and although passenger service on the Caldwell Branch ended on October 3, 1966, the freight station in Verona is the only remaining structure left of the entire line. In 2010, the town of Verona proposed to restore the old freight shed, which stands along the right-of-way as a one-room museum. Also that year, the shed was added as the first of Verona's local landmarks by its historical commission.
context_section_description: Change remained slim from 1905 to 1960 in Verona with the daily commuter services from Essex Fells to Jersey City's Pavonia Terminal. On April 1, 1962, the station depot moved from Caldwell in 1905 was burned down by arsonists. Rather than building a third station depot, the Erie Railroad, which was experiencing major financial difficulties, put up a three-sided metal shelter for commuters. Once again, the 1891 freight shed survived the passenger station catching fire. By 1962, the station saw only two commuter trains to the new terminus, Hoboken Terminal in Hoboken, New Jersey. To add to the problem, the station lost all passenger service under the new Erie-Lackawanna Railroad on September 30, 1966 after the Interstate Commerce Commission approved services could be cut on the branches losing money. After serving passengers of Cedar Grove, Verona, Caldwell and Essex Fells for 75 years, the Caldwell Branch was reduced to a costly freight service for companies in Cedar Grove and Verona.
  In the summer of 1975, a major storm washed away the usability of the tracks of the Caldwell Branch, and although the New Jersey Department of Transportation was willing to put in money for a grant to get the tracks rehabilitated, a lack of interested corporations ended the investment. It ended up the branch would not be absorbed into the Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail) in 1975, unlike most of the Erie Lackawanna system. On April 1, 1976, the Erie Lackawanna system was absorbed into Conrail. In June 1979, the dormant tracks of the Caldwell Branch were removed from Essex Fells to Great Notch.
caption: The  Verona freight shed, the only remains of the entire Caldwell Branch, seen in July 2010.
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