Program

Historic Transportation

Subject

Transportation

Location

180 Orrs Mills Rd, Salisbury Mills, NY 12577, USA

Lat/Long

41.430266, -74.100016

Grant Recipient

Town of Cornwall

In 1909, freight trains began running on the Erie and Jersey Railroad, a subsidiary of the Erie Railroad. The 40-mile, low-grade freight bypass connected Guymard, near Port Jervis, with Newburgh Junction. Also known as the “Guymard Cutoff” or the “Graham Line,” the bypass avoided the steep grades and sharp curves of the Erie main line, enabling a single engine to haul nearly four times as much freight as was possible prior to its opening. Before the bypass, a freight train had to use extra engines to traverse the steep grades. With the Erie and Jersey Railroad, that extra hauling power was no longer needed.

The freight bypass required the construction of a steel viaduct over the valley of Moodna Creek. Work on the viaduct began in June 1906 and took just over two years to complete. The structure measured 3,200 feet long and 193 feet high. Considered an engineering achievement at the time, it remains among the longest and highest active railroad trestles in the eastern United States.

As of 2026, the former Erie and Jersey Railroad carries both passenger and freight trains, and is operated by New Jersey Transit, with Metro-North Railroad and Norfolk Southern Railway retaining trackage rights.