ALDENE

Depots

The original Aldene depot sat wedged between the CNJ (foreground) and LV mainlines (elevated, background). The depot actually sat on land owned by the LV, and the later sale of that land to an adjacent industry necessitated the relocation of the Aldene depot. The RV connected with the CNJ here, and passengers could change for all points on the Jersey Central system. (Richard J. King)

Postcard view of the original Aldene depot.

This 1950s view shows the front side of the Aldene depot from the south side of the tracks. The fence in the foreground prevented commuters from attempting to cross the tracks. (Roselle Park Historical Society)

East side of the Aldene depot on April 26, 1958. (Gene Collora)

The Aldene depot is pictured after passenger service to to the depot ended in 1954. The depot continued as a freight agent's office into the 1960s. (Fischer/Greenberg collection)

West side view of the Aldene depot while the building was service as a freight agent's office. (Fischer/Greenberg collection)

In about 1892, the Aldene station was constructed on the north side of CNJ mainline on Westfield Ave. The building itself was constructed by Silas Condict, who was developing Aldene, on land owned by the Lehigh Valley Railroad. It was turned over to the CNJ for utilization as a passenger depot as part of a “short time” lease with the LV for the land the station occupied.

There was an agent posted here who, in addition to catering to passengers, handled the interchange with the RV. T. Pace was an agent here for some duration in the early 1900s before transferring to the RV as their Kenilworth agent.

In mid-1913, the land occupied by the depot was sold to the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Co. by the LV. The further occupation of the land by the CNJ for station purposes was not possible. Furthermore, the station was used jointly with the RV, which accessed the depot via Track 6, up until that time a side track which ran from the junction to the depot. The CNJ was building its mainline Track 6 and further access to the depot would necessitate RV trains to occupy this new main track. In consequence, the CNJ closed the depot in October 1913, and constructed a new one 1,130 feet westward, on the opposite side of the LV.

The outside porticos of the old depot were enclosed and the building was utilized briefly as a church before Marconi began using it for its own purposes in 1915. The building became a laboratory and was later used for storage before Marconi demolished it to make way for the expansion of its main plant.

The new, second Aldene depot was constructed on the westbound, Roselle Park side (north) of the CNJ mainline, in the fork of the RV and the CNJ, so that transfers of passengers could be made from one line to another without the necessity of RV trains occupying the tracks of the CNJ. The building measured 24’ x 44’. An inter-track fence, an overhead pedestrian bridge, and a passenger shelter on the eastbound, Roselle (south) side of the mainline were constructed. The eastbound shelter measured 16’ x 30’ and was a one story frame building. A tunnel for pedestrian traffic, beneath the CNJ mainline, was contemplated for Aldene, but poor drainage at the location made a tunnel impractical.

Inadvertently, a corner of the new Aldene depot was constructed on land owned by the RV. The CNJ was obligated to pay the RV a one dollar per year lease payment for the mixup. At the time of the depot’s construction, it was reported that seventy-seven commuters regularly utilized the Aldene stop on the CNJ. This number either dwindled over the years or proved so inconsequential that the CNJ opted to discontinue the station as a passenger train stop in 1954.

The depot continued to house the CNJ’s Aldene freight agency for the next several years. In late-1965, however, the CNJ closed the Aldene depot as part of changes being made to accommodate the impending Aldene Plan. The Aldene agency was temporarily moved to the SIRT freight office on South Ave. before being relocated to a caboose on the west end of Cranford yard. The eastbound shelter was sold in 1955 and the canopies were removed; it was demolished in 1964. The Aldene depot sat unused and abandoned before it too was demolished in April 1972.