page_title: Lackawanna Cut-Off
section_title: Planning and construction (1905–11)
hierarchical_section_title: Lackawanna Cut-Off / History / Planning and construction (1905–11)
caption_attribution_description: English: Wharton Fill during construction on the Lackawanna Cut-Off - May 1909Wally From Columbia (NJ) (talk) 00:51, 29 November 2010 (UTC)
context_page_description: The Lackawanna Cut-Off was built by the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad between 1908 and 1911 and it ran from Port Morris Junction in Port Morris, New Jersey, to Slateford Junction in Slateford, Pennsylvania.
  When it opened on December 24, 1911, the Cut-Off was considered a "super-railroad", a state-of-the-art rail line, built upon large cuts and fills, and which included two large concrete viaducts that allowed for what was considered high-speed travel at that time. The line was part of a 400-mile main line between Hoboken, New Jersey, and Buffalo, New York. The Cut-Off ran west for 28.5 miles from Port Morris Junction — near the south end of Lake Hopatcong in New Jersey, about 45 miles west-northwest of New York City — to Slateford Junction near the Delaware Water Gap in Pennsylvania.
  The Cut-Off was 11 miles shorter than the Lackawanna Old Road, the rail line it superseded; it had a much gentler ruling gradient; and it had 42 fewer curves, with all but one permitting passenger train speeds of 70 mph or more. The Cut-Off also had no railroad crossings at the time of its construction.
context_section_description: During 1905–6, 14 routes were surveyed (labeled with letters of the alphabet), including several that would have required long tunnels. On September 1, 1906, a route without tunnels was chosen. This New Road (Route "M") would run from the crest of the watershed at Lake Hopatcong at Port Morris Junction to 2 mi (3.2 km) south of the Delaware Water Gap on the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware River at Slateford Junction.
  At 28.5 miles (45.9 km), the line would be about 11 mi (18 km) shorter than the 39.6-mile (63.7 km) Old Road. The new route would have only 15 curves—42 fewer curves than the Old Road, the equivalent of more than four complete circles of curvature—which increased speeds and decreased running time—especially for freight, but for passenger trains as well.  The ruling grade was cut in half from 1.1% to 0.55%. The new line would also be built without railroad crossings to avoid collisions with automobiles and horse-drawn vehicles.
  Uncertain national economic conditions in 1907 delayed the official start of construction until August 1, 1908. The project was divided into seven sections, one for each contracting company.  Sections 3–6 were 5 miles (8 km) each; Sections 1–2 and 7 were of varying lengths. (Theoretically, to divide the  28.5-mile (46 km) line evenly, the seven sections should have been just over four miles each, but that would have placed the Pequest Fill entirely within Section 3 and the two viaducts within Section 7.)  The amount of work per mile varied; the largest share apparently went to David W. Flickwir, whose Section 3 included Roseville Tunnel and the eastern half of the Pequest Fill. DL&W chief engineer George G. Ray oversaw the project, although given the size and remote location of the project, Assistant Chief Engineer F.L. Wheaton was assigned the task of overseeing the construction in person.
  To accommodate the labor gangs, deserted farmhouses were converted to barracks, with tent camps providing additional shelter.  These workers, many of whom came from Italy and other foreign countries or other parts of the U.S., were recruited and would move on to other projects after their work on the Cut-Off was completed.  These workers were viewed with suspicion by the local populace in Warren and Sussex counties, with the town of Blairstown going so far as to hire a watchman at $40 per month for the duration of the project.  Supervisory personnel and skilled laborers stayed in local hotels, boarding houses, or in local farm houses, usually at exorbitant rates ($1–2 per day) during the years of construction.
  With several thousand men working on the project for over three years, the area all along the Cut-Off, and as far west as Portland, Pennsylvania, benefitted financially.
  As many as 30 workers may have lost their lives building the Cut-Off.  Most of their names remain unknown because they were registered with their contractor by number only.  In 1910, for example, five workers were killed in a single blasting mishap near Port Morris, one of several deadly accidents that involved dynamite.  Other workers died in machinery or cable car accidents, or landslides.  At least one worker is known to have died of typhoid fever.
caption: A May 1909 view of the Wharton Fill looking east from atop Roseville Tunnel, 10 months into construction.
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