Suffern station is a railroad station in the village of Suffern. The station, located on Ramapo Avenue in Suffern, services trains of New Jersey Transit's Main Line and Metro-North Railroad's Port Jervis Line. Suffern station serves as the terminal for Main Line trains, as trains continue north into Hillburn Yard. The next Main Line station, located in New Jersey, is Mahwah. The next Port Jervis Line station to the north is Sloatsburg. The station consists of two low-level side platforms for trains in both directions, neither of which are handicap accessible for the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
Railroad service in Suffern began with the construction of the New York and Erie Railroad in 1841 on land owned by the family of local settler John Suffern of Antrim, Ireland. As part of the generosity, the station at New Antrim was named Suffern in their honor. Regular passenger service in the area began on September 23, 1841 between Goshen and Piermont. Railroad service through Suffern changed on October 19, 1848 when the Paterson and Ramapo Railroad opened for passenger service, resulting in the standing Suffern station becoming part of a branch of the railroad instead of the main line. A new station was built in 1862 to help serve the two lines better. This was replaced on March 9, 1887 between the junction of the Erie Railroad main line and the Piermont Branch. The railroad replaced this station on New Year's Day of 1941 with the current structure.
History
Construction and opening (1835–1841)
The construction of a railroad through the town of Ramapo and village of Suffern date to the incorporation of the New York and Lake Erie Railroad, a proposed line from Piermont in Rockland County to Dunkirk in Chautauqua County in November 1831. After several years of delays in funding, including gaining the interest and financial influence of Eleazar Lord in 1832, survey work for the new line began in 1834, with a report in January 1835 finalizing the line. Despite New York City being the better terminal for a railroad, Lord demanded that the railroad end in Piermont, to the northwest. The New York and Harlem Railroad also offered to build a branch to meet a rail ferry from Piermont to connect the two railroads for a direct New York City connection at the cost of $90,000 (1834 USD) and Lord declined.
Construction of the railroad began with a groundbreaking ceremony on November 7, 1835 at Deposit in Delaware County. Lord was not present at the ceremony due to disagreements with John Gore King, the President, about a route through Orange County via Newburgh instead of Piermont.
However, a panic came on December 16, 1835 when the Great Fire of New York broke out, resulting in the elimination of funding for the railroad. Many people who paid subscriptions for the new railroad lost their wealth and numerous banks collapsed. As a result, the people in charge offered two engineers, Andrew Talcott and Edwin Johnson, to re-survey the railroad because of their confidence the New York State Legislature would help back the railroad. This optimism was short-lived as the finances were continuing to struggle and politicians in Albany were growing opposed to the railroad. The counties along the proposed railroad, save for Rockland and Orange, sent letters to their politicians to support the railroad. Governor of New York William Marcy also attempted to help the cause by saying that any decision should be done with the matter of public good and encouraged his colleagues to reconsider their views. As a result, both houses of the Legislature and the Governor signed a bill helping fund the railroad.
However, the funding of $600,000 (1836 USD) would only come if the railroad spent $1.3 million in return. Already reeling financially, King tried to help raise new funds for the railroad and could not get outside financing from banks in the United Kingdom. As a result, Lord returned to the project in 1836. Lord proposed that the state match the railroad with a loan of $100,000. As a result, the requirement would be that the railroad be built in each direction from Dunkirk and Piermont. The officials, who preferred Lord's investment over King, who did not and attempted to censure a liaison for Lord, removed King from his post and made Lord President.
Back in control, Lord immediately let contracts for the construction of the two railroad segments. He also asked that the railroad start letting out contracts to extend the railroad to Goshen in Orange County and soon after, Middletown, from Piermont.