advertisement

---

Earlier this month, Morris County, N.J., officials marked the completion of the Chester Branch rehabilitation project by driving a ceremonial golden spike into a railroad tie on tracks in Roxbury, N.J. The project called for rehabilitating a four-mile, county-owned branch line in Roxbury Township.

In April 2010, the county was awarded $5.8 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds for the project.

Jack Holland, who owns Holland Industries, donated the Chester Branch to the county in October 2009. The county has contracted the Morristown & Erie Railway Inc. (M&E) to operate the branch line. The M&E also operates two other county-owned lines: the High Bridge Branch and Dover & Rockaway Railroad.

The Chester Branch connects to the High Bridge Branch, which both connect to a New Jersey Transit line near the Roxbury-Rockaway Township border, “allowing businesses along these branches to connect to the national freight-rail network,” county officials said in a prepared statement.