Ramsey Fill

Located near the midway point of Ramsey Fill was Johnsonburg Station (right) and creamery, shown here in 1911. In the distance can be seen Armstrong Cut, which produced much of the fill material.

Ramsey Fill is one of the fills (embankments) on the Lackawanna Cut-Off railroad line in northwest New Jersey. Located between miles 60.4 and 60.9 in Frelinghuysen Township, the fill was constructed between 1908 and 1911 by contractor Hyde, McFarlan & Burke. The .53-mile (0.85 km) fill has an average height of 21 feet (6.5 m), and a maximum height of 80 feet (24.6 m). It was created with 805,481 cubic yards of fill material obtained by blasting with dynamite or other methods.

Ramsey Fill at Johnsonburg Station in July 1990. On the right, trees hide the north side of Armstrong Cut, which was trimmed back after the hill collapsed in 1941, temporarily closing the line.

Ramsey Fill is on a tangent (straight) section of track, permitting 80 mph (129 km/hr). Johnsonburg Station was located about midway along the fill, just east of Armstrong Cut.^[1]

It is named for Stewart W. Ramsey, who owned most of the land acquired to build it.^[2]

References

1. Taber, Thomas Townsend; Taber, Thomas Townsend III (1980). The Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad in the Twentieth Century 1, p. 35. Muncy, PA: Privately printed. ISBN 0-9603398-2-5.
2. 1906 Survey Map of the Delaware Valley Cut-Off, September 1, 1906.