Vail Fill

Vail Fill where it passes over Mt. Hermon Road in the Vail section of Blairstown, NJ. This location was also referred to as Molasses Junction. Note that the underpass design is similar to others on the Cut-Off, which was controversial at the time of construction because some of the underpasses were narrow with a low clearance, and because in winter time horse-drawn sleighs would have a considerable "dead pull" (especially if upgrade) through the tunnel.^[1] In this location, which is the tallest part of this embankment, a stream was rechanneled under the road, which itself was realigned with the construction of the Cut-Off. This was done in several locations along the Cut-Off where a road and a stream crossed the right-of-way at approximately the same location.^[2]

Vail fill is one of the fills on the Lackawanna Cut-Off railroad line in northwest New Jersey. Located between approximately mileposts 65 and 65.3 in Blairstown Township, the fill was constructed between 1908 and 1911 by contractor Hyde, McFarlan & Burke. The fill, which was created by fill material obtained by blasting with dynamite or other methods, much of which was obtained from nearby Jones Cut, the fill is 0.32 miles (0.5 km) long, an average of 39 feet (12 m) high, and a maximum of 102 feet (32 m) tall. The fill contains a total of 293,500 cubic yards of material. Vail Fill is located on a 1° curved section of track, permitting 80 mph (129 km/hr).^[3]

Vail Fill is named for the nearby hamlet of Vail.^[4]

References

1. The Lackawanna Railroad in Northwestern New Jersey by Larry Lowenthal and William T. Greenberg, Jr., Tri-State Railway Historical Society, Inc., 1987.
2. 1906 Survey Map of the Delaware Valley Cut-Off, September 1, 1906.
3. The Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad in the Twentieth Century (Volume 1), Thomas T. Taber III, Lycoming Printing Company, 1980.
4. 1906 Survey Map of the Delaware Valley Cut-Off, September 1, 1906.