By John Demmer / Town Historian
NUTLEY, NJ — Anyone who has known me for any period of time also knows how fascinated I am with the trolley that used to run through Nutley. It has been the subject of many hours of research and discussion. If there is one local thing that I regret not experiencing, it would be seeing, hearing and feeling the rumbling streetcars riding along their steel tracks.
The trolley system came through Nutley in the late 1890s, and it was meant to connect the Belleville and Newark areas with the system that ran through towns such as Passaic and Paterson. Originally slated to come out of Clifton onto Passaic Avenue, the trolley would have been running through what was once the heart of town. It was the decision to send the line down Franklin Avenue that was the impetus that transformed that avenue from a residential neighborhood to a business-oriented district. The trolley was responsible for the raising of the railroad tracks at High Street and Franklin Avenue, which once were at grade level. It was also the reason that the beautiful old brownstone arch bridge that was just replaced on Centre Street was built. The trolley ran for many years through town, but actual memories of it in motion are getting harder and harder to find.
Although I can find pictures, maps and information on the line that ran through Nutley, one item has eluded me until now. The tracks that ran through town were never removed when the line was shut down in the late 1930s. They were simply paved over. Even when the metal drives of World War II were going on, it was deemed too much work to remove the old abandoned tracks. Now, over the years, I have heard stories about and even seen pictures of the elusive tracks. PSE&G or road-work crews would occasionally come across them, but in almost every case these crews were able to work around the tracks. I was even told that public service had no interest in cutting through the tracks because of their heavy gauge.
All this led to some frustrating times where I could see tracks but never get a piece. This all changed one day during a random drive-by that almost did not happen.
I had a meeting to attend at the Town Hall one evening. It ran late, and when I got out I was exhausted from the meeting and a long day’s work. As I was heading home on Franklin Avenue, I noticed that it was closed off around the area of William Street. As I was turning onto William Street, I saw that there was a road crew from Advanced Professional General Contracting working on a main sewer line across the whole avenue. I wondered for a second as to whether they may have exposed some tracks but quickly dismissed the idea and started to drive on. At the very last second I veered into the entrance of the public lot and decided that I would just take a look.
As I walked onto the avenue I noticed something interesting. There was a large channel cut into the road from one side of the street to the other. A moment of hope sparked that maybe I would get at least another glimpse of my buried treasure. My hopes were dashed though when I saw nothing in the trench. Turning away, a glimmer of light reflected off something in the side of the trench. To my complete surprise I realized that it was the cut end of a track! At that point I noticed two more cut ends flush with the side wall of the cut.
Curious as to what I was seeing I called over two crew members who were photographing the noisy and active job site. It turns out that Mohammad and Abdul were the project managers for Advanced Professional and they were documenting the dig. I asked Mohammad if he had spotted the tracks, and he confirmed that his crew had been the ones to cut them. He complained that the tracks were so hard to cut that they had to bring in an industrial torch truck to get through the thick, tough steel.
I asked with what must have seemed like an unusual amount of enthusiasm, “Do you have the pieces that you cut out?”
He replied, “Yes I do. Three of them. They are over there.”
My heart skipped a beat and I asked if I could have one, but the foreman informed me that, though he would love to give one to me, they were already spoken for! When I came out of my cloud of disbelief, I asked who had claimed them. He pointed to a local policeman and two crew members. My day was crashing fast.
He asked who I was and why I was so interested in the tracks. I went through the whole story and described my 20-year struggle to obtain a piece of the track. My story must have been so compelling — or pathetic — that he said I could have one of the pieces set aside for the workers. My day and my attitude both improved considerably. I carried the incredibly heavy section given to me about 150 yards back to my car. My heart was racing and beating in my eardrums. When I got home, I had my wife take some pictures of me holding my “steel baby.”
The next chapter had me enlisting the help of my son, John, in cutting the large section into smaller pieces. John likes metalworking and had a special band saw that could potentially cut the tough steel. It took about 20 minutes per cut and eventually the blade gave out, but I had enough pieces to give to the appropriate people involved with history and to the Nutley Historical Society and Museum. Of course I kept a piece for myself! The track was much heavier gauge than I had ever thought it would be, and I have a much better understanding of the rolling thunder that once rumbled through our little town.
Many thanks to Mohammad and Abdul and the whole crew at Advanced Professional General Contracting and to my son, John, for all their help in making a dream come true.
Photos Courtesy of John Demmer
Trolley tracks resurface in Nutley after many years added by Editor on
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