A History of Triumph and Tribulations, Camaraderie and Community.

This picture on the front of the post card is of a locomotive on the Morristown and Erie Railroad. This article below is taken from the website of today's Morristown & Erie Railway. Here is their website: https://www.merail.com/about The Morristown & Erie is a short-line with a long and proud history of serving the communities along its rails in Morris and Essex Counties, in northern New Jersey. For more than a century, the M&E has hauled freight down its short but vibrant mainline, built originally to serve the paper mills in Whippany, NJ. The big railroads, which traversed the landscape by the late-nineteenth century, were promulgated by the railroad barons and their monopolies. The progenitor of the M&E, Robert McEwan, was no railroad baron. McEwan was a Scottish immigrant who had come to the United States in early manhood, penniless. Through hard work and determination, he and his seven sons built themselves a small fortune in the paper industry. Though, without direct rail service, the McEwans realized the continued growth of their enterprise was hindered. The nearest railroad, the Lackawanna Railroad in Morristown, was four-miles distant over poor roads, making transportation costly. To bridge this gap, the McEwans endeavored to build their own rail line, aptly named the Whippany River Railroad, for the meandering river it was to follow. With their expertise being the manufacture of paper, the McEwans retained a local railroad contractor to construct and operate their railroad. However, within a year, its route had to be largely realigned and rebuilt. The McEwans took charge and sought to grow their little railroad and tap new markets. They formed another company, the Whippany & Passaic River Railroad, to construct a six-mile eastward extension. The new line tapped the Erie Railroad in Essex Fells, NJ, affording the railroad’s growing clientele access to more competitive freight rates. The two Whippany railroads were merged on August 28, 1903, forming the ten-and-a-half mile long Morristown & Erie Railroad, so named as it connected Morristown with the Erie Railroad. The McEwans sought to develop new industries which kept the railroad’s two freight trains exceptionally busy, delivering dozens of carloads daily. Passenger service was operated, too. The railroad’s genial conductors would entertain their passengers with harrowing tales of the railroad’s earliest days, endearing themselves to the local populace. The M&E even ferried passengers in a self-propelled railbus, for a time. Passenger service was discontinued in 1928 In 1929, the Great Depression struck the nation with devastating effects. Freight tonnages shrank as did the payroll. The remaining two-dozen-or-so employees, many of whom had been with the M&E for decades, persevered. They accepted a pay cut or a reduction in hours so that the little M&E might continue to operate. Through their resolute determination, and that of the McEwan management, the railroad overcame the economic calamity. In 1940, the M&E proudly announced that it had paid off the last of its indebtedness. The M&E played its patriotic part during WWII, and the freight business swelled. For a time, train crews were so busy that they found it difficult to meet the demand of the incredible number of carloads handled daily. To solve this problem, in 1944 and 1946, the M&E purchased the three most powerful steam locomotives in its history. Even after WWII had concluded, the railroad continued to prosper. The M&E hauled countless carloads of building materials that built hundreds of homes, and the schools, fire and police departments, and infrastructure needed to support them, in the postwar housing boom. Despite a period of prolonged prosperity, storm clouds gathered for the M&E and most of the northeastern railroads. The trucking industry gobbled up a lot of the railroad’s freight business. The suburbanization of Morris and Essex Counties, which had been a boon to the M&E, consumed a lot of valuable industrial land. Coal tonnages, which had once been a staple of the M&E’s business, precipitously dropped as homes and local industries switched to fuel oil. In 1952, to reduce costs, the M&E retired its three costly steam locomotives and replaced them with a diesel-electric locomotive, purchased new the American Locomotive Company (ALCo). Compounding ongoing misfortunes, the new diesel was heavily damaged in a 1960 fire that consumed the M&E’s Morristown shop complex. The McEwan family, by then in its third generation declared bankruptcy in 1978. A group of local businessmen, driven by a desire to revitalize the railroad acquired the railroad in 1982. Led by Benjamin J. Friedland, these businessmen worked to reinvigorate the railroad and its image. New corporate colors, as well as a new corporate herald, were unveiled on a set of four newly acquired ALCo locomotives. Finally, the railroad rebranded itself under a new corporate identity, the Morristown & Erie Railway, Inc. The resurgent M&E worked with Morris County to save and operate four railroad branch lines, discarded by Conrail as unprofitable, and attracted new business to them. A contract was secured with Bayway Refinery, a sprawling oil refining facility in Linden, NJ, to provide in-plant freight car switching services. Over the ensuing years, with its big red ALCOs (longtime favorites of local rail buffs), the M&E grew to become a vibrant and visible part of northern New Jersey’s railroad freight operations. The M&E operated other rail lines too, under contract, beyond New Jersey over the years. No matter where it operated, the M&E provided the same level of professional and personal service that has been the hallmark of its operations since 1903. The M&E has also worked to diversify its traditionally freight-centered business model. The M&E has turned its Morristown, NJ, shop complex into a nationally respected passenger car rebuild and repair facility. The shop complex, coupled with the redevelopment of the Whippany, NJ, yard as a private car storage facility, makes the M&E a premier location for Amtrak-certified private passenger cars. The M&E operates, annually, The POLAR EXPRESS™ train ride for Rail Events Productions, one of their most successful operations nationwide. Also, the M&E had been a proud participant in the preservation of railroad history, frequently working with the Whippany Railway Museum, United Railroad Historical Society of NJ, and Tri-State Railway Historical Society, all 501c3 nonprofits, to support their efforts. The story of the Morristown & Erie – now over a century long – has always been that of overcoming obstacles and adapting to changing times. Since its founding, the M&E’s small but dedicated team has been big on personable and professional service to its diverse set of customers, living up to its slogan, “Service is Our Business.”

The post card was published by the same mysterious company as last week's post card. I have 204 post cards in my collection from this company.