Editing Northern Branch (section)

=== Erie and Erie Lackawanna ===
[[File:Northern Branch ROW now National Docks Secondary.jpg|thumb|Before re-routing to Hoboken Terminal, Northern Branch trains passed under DL&W bridge near the western portals of the [[Long Dock Tunnel]] and later, [[Bergen Arches]].]]
By 1954, the Northern Branch had only three rush hour passenger trains each way.<ref>Erie Railroad Company employee timetable number 48, September 26, 1954</ref> Between 1956 and 1958, the allied Erie and [[Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad]] (DL&W) consolidated their diminishing passenger services at the Lackawanna's [[Hoboken Terminal]].<ref>{{Citation| title=JERSEY RAIL MERGER OFF TO GOOD START | newspaper=The New York Times | date=March 26, 1957 | page=54 | access-date=June 7, 2010 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1957/03/26/archives/jersey-rail-merger-off-to-good-start.html}}</ref> During transition Erie trains continued to use the Erie Pavonia Terminal for about an hour in each rush hour, to distribute the heaviest crowds.<ref>Erie Railroad Suburban Timetables / Main Line, October 13, 1956</ref> A Northern Branch train was the very last to leave [[Pavonia Terminal|Pavonia Erie Terminal]] in 1958. Two years later, the Pavonia Terminal was razed in 1961.<ref>{{Citation| title=Once-Busy Chambers St. Ferry Is Closed by Erie in 98th Year | newspaper=The New York Times | date=December 13, 1958 | page=B1 | access-date=June 7, 2010 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1958/12/13/archives/oncebusy-chambers-st-ferry-is-closed-by-erie-in-98th-year.html}}</ref><ref name="JCP&P">[http://www.njcu.edu/programs/jchistory/Pages/E_Pages/Erie_Railroad_Terminal.htm Jersey City Past and Present: Erie Railroad Terminal] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204040823/http://www.njcu.edu/Programs/jchistory/Pages/E_Pages/Erie_Railroad_Terminal.htm |date=February 4, 2012 }}</ref> The two companies merged in 1960 to form the [[Erie Lackawanna Railway|Erie-Lackawanna Railroad]].

The Northern Branch ran from Hoboken for only eight years. Operation was complicated by the lack of a direct connection. Trains leaving Hoboken had to run out over the new connection (1956) from the DL&W [[Boonton Branch]] to the Erie Main Line, pass a switch which would be thrown, back up about two miles on the former route toward the Erie terminal to where the Northern Branch joined the Erie Main, wait for another switch, and then proceed forward again into the Northern Branch. The move added 15 to 20 minutes to running time.<ref>Erie-Lackawanna Railroad Company employee timetable number 4, October 28, 1962</ref>

Because commuter services cost more to run than they earned in fares, the Erie-Lackawanna ended passenger service on several branches in 1966. On the Northern Branch, the entire railroad north of Sparkill was abandoned in January and passenger service on the rest of the branch was eliminated in October.<ref>{{Citation| title=COMMUTERS LOSE BID TO KEEP ERIE TRAINS | newspaper=The New York Times | date=October 3, 1966 | page=58 | access-date=June 7, 2010 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1966/10/03/archives/commuters-lose-bid-to-keep-erie-trains.html}}</ref> The last timetable, April 24, 1966, shows three rush hour trains each way taking 60 minutes to run from Hoboken to Sparkill, only 10 minutes longer than 1954 schedules because of some station closings. Although freight service on the line continued, service into New York state stopped in the late 1970s after the [[Continental Can Company]] in Piermont closed.<ref name="JCP&P" />