Railroad Men of The Somerset Hills

The iron rail that brought the steel horse to the Somerset Hills.
This story is as much about the railroads that were built as it is about the railroads that weren’t.

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Railroad Companies of the Time

Before we begin, this story gets a bit confusing because so many different railroad companies are involved. Some come, some go, some merge, and others still exist today. The West Line story involves a combination of 10 different railroad companies:

Chartered in 1865 by the State of New Jersey
The Passaic Valley and Peapack Railroad Company
State of New Jersey Laws, 89th Legislature

Our historic transportation journey begins on March 29, 1865, when the State of New Jersey formally chartered the Passaic Valley and Peapack Railroad Company, launching an ambitious vision that would reshape the Somerset Hills.

On March 29, 1865, the New Jersey legislature approved a charter authorizing construction of a railroad extending west from a connection with the Morris and Essex Railroad near Summit across the rolling countryside toward the Delaware River, where links to Pennsylvania rail systems were anticipated. The Passaic Valley & Peapack Railroad was originally chartered to run from the Morris & Essex connection near Summit through Basking Ridge to Peapack in Somerset County. The Legislature treated the railroad as a public highway and would regulate tolls for freight and passenger service over this “iron highway.” See, New Jersey has always been about tolls!

From the outset, the plan reached far beyond local travel. Promoters envisioned a major transportation corridor that would cross central New Jersey and connect regional markets to broader freight networks. Bernardsville was never intended to be the end of the line, but rather a midpoint along a route expected to continue westward toward the Delaware Valley and beyond.

Somerset Hills Romance With the West Line Railroad

From the beginning, the project depended on existing infrastructure east of Summit. Trains already operated from Hoboken through Newark and Millburn to Summit over the Morris and Essex Railroad, making Summit the logical starting point for westward construction. Incorporated in 1835, the Morris and Essex Railroad became one of the earliest railroads in New Jersey, expanding west from Newark to Morristown by 1838 and eventually reaching Phillipsburg by 1866 before being leased by the Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad in 1868.

What later became known as the West Line therefore relied on the Morris and Essex as its eastern gateway to New York markets long before any new track was laid across Somerset County. Leadership of the Passaic Valley and Peapack Railroad consisted primarily of local business people and landowners who believed rail access would stimulate agriculture, commerce, and land values. Contemporary records include names such as William M. Force, John H. Anderson, George W. Brown, Isaac W. Scudder, John I. Little, Andrew Kirkpatrick, James S. Nevius, Lewis H. Kirkpatrick, John Lyons, and John W. Taylor, representing investors from the Summit, Basking Ridge, and Bernardsville region.

From its opening on January 29, 1872, the New Jersey West Line entered a precarious period that ultimately determined its fate. The railroad operated successfully as a short, twelve-mile branch from Summit to Bernardsville, providing local passenger service and connections to Newark and New York via the Morris and Essex. Still, the larger vision of a through route was never realized.

Planned extensions east of Summit stalled almost immediately, leaving only partial grading and bridge abutments as evidence of the intended expansion. At the same time, Asa Packer and Lehigh Valley interests secured the Charter for the competing Easton-Amboy Railroad in 1872, redirecting capital and strategic attention away from the West Line.

While Asa Packer had stepped in around 1870 to rescue and advance the struggling New Jersey West Line Railroad, he was removed from the Board of directors by a dissatisfied majority of stockholders in roughly two years, by June 1872, who elected a new Board in Newark. The newly elected Board consisted of Benjamin F. Bingham as President, with directors Oliver R. Sillie, John Littell, Wm. J. Osborn, Peter V. Gallaudet, Morris P. Crater, William Ferguson, J. Jonathan, and William Z. Larned ended the West Line’s Packer era.

Finally, on October 10, 1878, at the Mansion House in Morristown, a NEW railroad company was formed by R. G. Rolston and others, who purchased the West Line Railroad and organized a new corporation under the name of the Passaic and Delaware Railroad Company. They elected Samuel Sloan President, and Samuel Sloan, Moses Taylor, R. G. Rolston, Benjamin G. Clarke, John Bishin, Jacob Vanatta, Percy R. Pyne, Andrew Reissener, and Solomon Griffith, Directors. A common seal was adopted. The capital stock of the new corporation is $1,000,000, in shares of $50 each. The West Line story was officially closed.

The Men Behind the West Line

BERNARDSVILLE SIDE HISTORY:
John H. Anderson was a Bernardsville businessman, landowner, and civic leader whose family homestead, just up the hill from the Bernardsville village that later became Anderson Hill Road, was also the site of the first President of the Passaic Valley and Peapack Railroad.

Living on the Anderson homestead during the height of the West Line Railroad development (1870 – 1905), Anderson was part of the circle of local investors and promoters whose financial and political interests were closely tied to the development and success of the Somerset Hills rail corridor and the Gladstone extension. Contemporary references describe him in leadership roles, including service as President in connection with railroad-related initiatives and funding efforts, reflecting his standing in the community. By 1911, the former Anderson estate had passed out of the family. It was purchased by Colonel Edwin A. Ned Stevens and his wife, Emily, members of the prominent Stevens family, whose nearby holdings included the Annandale estate of Robert Livingston Stevens, thereby linking the earlier Anderson ownership directly to the later Stevens presence along the same ridge.

The Passaic Valley 10, as we call them, were the local promoters and charter members of the original Passaic Valley & Peapack Railroad, which later became the West Line, the Peapack & Delaware, the DL&W, and finally the Peapack Gladstone Line.

After the railroad’s financial collapse in 1873 and for the next five or so years, leadership associated with the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, particularly Samuel Sloan, ensured the West Line’s preservation through acquisition and reorganization in 1878 of what became the Peapack & Delaware Railroad, transforming a failed independent venture into a stable branch line that would endure and later expand to Gladstone.

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The 1865 Charter – Bringing Rails to the Somerset Hills & a West Line Vision

First, the March 29, 1865, Charter and the associated supplemental updates document the history of the railroad expectations stated by the New Jersey legislature.

Passaic Valley Charteed 10 – Here are the key people in the 1865 Charter by the New Jersey Legislature to build New Jersey’s ambitious western railroad:

John H. Anderson
John H. Anderson was a landowner and farmer from the Bernardsville section of Bernards Township, Somerset County, New Jersey. He was associated with the Anderson family, whose property gave rise to the name Anderson Hill Road. His service as a commissioner of the Passaic Valley and Peapack Railroad represents the involvement of Somerset Hills agricultural and real estate interests supporting rail development in the region.

George W. Brown
George W. Brown was a businessman and merchant associated with northern New Jersey commercial communities along the Morris and Essex Railroad corridor, including the Summit region. His participation as a commissioner reflects the role of local commercial leadership in promoting transportation expansion into Somerset County.

William M. Force
William M. Force was a businessman and investor associated with the Summit area of Union County, New Jersey, a major transportation hub along the Morris and Essex Railroad. His involvement in the railroad reflects the participation of established regional capital supporting westward expansion into agricultural communities.

Andrew Kirkpatrick
Andrew Kirkpatrick was a lawyer and member of the prominent Kirkpatrick family of northern New Jersey, historically associated with Morris County and the Morristown region, where the family held legal and political influence. His participation provided organizational leadership and legal expertise during the railroad’s formation.

Lewis H. Kirkpatrick
Lewis H. Kirkpatrick was a businessman associated with the same New Jersey Kirkpatrick family network centered in Morris & Somerset counties. The involvement of multiple family members reflects reliance on established regional leadership and financial credibility when organizing railroad ventures.

John I. Little
John Isaac Little (1840 to 1916) was part of the wealthy Little family of Passaic and Paterson. The family fortune came primarily from textiles and manufacturing during Paterson’s rise as the Silk City.
He was a businessman and investor connected to central and northern New Jersey communities served by the Morris and Essex Railroad, including Morris and Somerset County regions. His role as a commissioner reflects the participation of regional commercial interests in supporting transportation development.

John Lyons
John Lyons was a farmer and substantial landowner with large agricultural holdings in Bernards Township, Somerset County, New Jersey. His involvement in the railroad reflects the strong interest of agricultural property owners in securing rail access to improve the shipment of farm goods, increase land values, and connect rural communities to regional markets during the post-Civil War period.

James S. Nevius
James S. Nevius was born in Somerset County, practiced law in the region, and belongs to the long-established Nevius family of Somerset and Union counties, New Jersey. The family’s agricultural and civic prominence made participation in transportation development consistent with efforts to improve regional economic opportunity.

Isaac W. Scudder
Isaac W. Scudder was a New Jersey lawyer, public official, and transportation executive whose career bridged government service and railroad development during the state’s mid-19th-century expansion. Through his roles as a county prosecutor, congressman, railroad director, and commissioner named in the 1865 charter for the Passaic Valley and Peapack Railroad, he stood among the influential legal and business figures who helped shape early rail planning, ultimately contributing to the Somerset Hills rail corridor.

John W. Taylor
John W. Taylor was a businessman and investor connected to northern New Jersey communities along the Morris and Essex Railroad corridor, including Union and Somerset County regions. His participation represents the broader coalition of regional commercial interests supporting westward rail expansion.

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