"On Monday, last week, the village of Brookside was noted in its history as having a locomotive in it for the first time as it came in whistling with ringing bell and stopped at the new siding for the place just finished. The roar of a cannon was heard, and from the grove came the citizens to meet it with welcome rejoicing; wreaths of flowers were hung over the headlight and other parts of the engine, and a big bouquet was presented to the superintendent. A feast of welcome was provided for the laborers and all felt thankful at the reception the town gave the stranger. Cheers were given for the president of the Construction Company, followed by more for other officers of the Company. After several short speeches, the day's work being over, all went home rejoicing." Jerseyman, June 29, 1892

Sounds like a big deal…and it was. Because trains in the 1800s brought growth and prosperity to the towns they visited. For Mendham (there was only one Mendham back then, 14 years before the Borough was carved from the Township), accessibility to a train meant faster, cheaper delivery of our products to the larger markets of Morristown, Montclair, Newark and New York. The lime from our kilns, iron from our forges, grain from our mills, plus the lumber, milk, vegetables and other items produced in Mendham, could be sold in big markets at competitive prices for greater profits.

The train also offered convenience and economy to our residents. Coal delivered from Morristown by horse-drawn cart at $2 a ton could be delivered by train for $1 – not only a 50% saving but a considerable sum saved at a time when workmen earned about $1.75 a day. It also offered our students convenient transport to the high school -- in Morristown -- or weekend excursions for anyone to the Black River Glen “out west.”

Hopes were high the day the train arrived. But the promise, it turns out, exceeded performance. The railroad was poorly financed, even more poorly constructed, and met with some disastrously bad luck.

The railroad was the property of the Rockaway Valley Railroad, a company incorporated on March 28, 1888. It was described as a short-line railroad that would extend the 24 miles from White House Station to the Watnong section (near Lake Road) of Morristown. Its purpose was primarily to carry peaches from the huge orchards in Warren and Hunterdon counties to the markets and distilleries in Newark and New York. The company estimated 200,000 baskets of peaches would travel the rails each year.

To build the railroad, the company sought economy instead of quality. It selected John Melick, a resident of Hunterdon County who had inspected railroads, but had never before built one. At a time when others were quoting construction costs of $27,000 a mile, Melick quoted $15,000.

How could he come in at so low a price?

First, he selected light-weight rail rather than standard weight. Then he placed crossties 30” apart when others placed them 19” apart. And then there were the beds. Properly constructed rail beds were made raised at least 6” to 12” inches above the ground, and spaces between the ties filled with a porous substance to assist in drainage. Not Melick’s. His tracks were laid on the ground like trolley tracks, and the spaces between ties were filled with mud and, in some places, a sprinkling of cinders. There was no excavation. Brush was cleared. Low points were filled in and high points leveled. Except for a few trestles, the entire project was completed with pickaxes, shovels and wheelbarrows.

The combination of poor construction and unevenness of the ground caused the train to lurch and sway as it traversed the rails. Passengers noticing this, referred to “The Rock-a-Bye Baby Railroad” – a name more recognizable by people today than its proper “Rockaway Valley Railroad.”

The first spike was driven May 1888; the last rail laid July 1893; and after valiant efforts to keep it alive, operations mercifully stopped just 10 years later, October 13, 1913.

The problems that faced the Rock-A-Bye Baby comprise a litany.

Any venture dependant on peach production places its future in the hands of Mother Nature. And to the railroad, Mother Nature was not kind. Expecting to ship 200,000 baskets of peaches each year, 1889 saw only 80,000. Blight hit the orchards in 1890, and shipments dropped to just 104 baskets. The next few years saw some recovery, but blight struck again in 1895, and within a few years the peach orchards, and revenues from them, had disappeared.

Derailments and accidents were common – nine in 1908 alone. Arsonists destroyed two coal trestles, a newly built station and four freight cars, one of which was filled with beer. Tracks were submerged in the spring as the Whippany River overflowed its banks. Locomotives were purchased that were in inoperable or too heavy for the light-weight rails. The list goes on.

The railroad filed for bankruptcy in 1895, 1906, and 1912. Finally, in 1917, after four years of inactivity, the company tore up the rails and crossties as part of the war effort. They sold the ties for $84,000, and the rails for about $150,000.

It was easily the most profitable year in the company’s history.

Sources:
Taber, Thomas T. III, The Rock-A-Bye Baby, © 1972
Johnston , Howard E., The Rockaway Valley Railroad, © 1958