The Old Station and Erie Caboose
The Old Train Station and Museum
*The Old Station & Caboose are Currently Closed for the Season*
The Old Station Museum established in 1967 is located in a building that was the original station on the Erie Railroad in Mahwah. It was rescued from destruction, first by the Winters family and later by the Mahwah Historical Society. It contains many interesting artifacts given to the museum by collectors of railroad memorabilia. It also features a 1929 Erie cupola caboose which is being restored. There is a scale model of the Erie system and photos of the early days of railroading in Mahwah and along the rest of the mainline.
In 1848 the Paterson and Ramapo Railroad was built through Mahwah to carry passengers and freight from New York City, via Paterson, to the main line of the Erie Railroad located in Suffern, New York. From there, connections could be made to upstate New York, then Chicago, and on to the west.
In 1871 the leaders of Mahwah petitioned the Erie to allow a stop at a new station in Mahwah. The 1871 station remained in service until 1904 when the Erie expanded to four tracks and raised the roadbed from ground level. The second station remained until 1914 when it was destroyed by fire. The current station was built in 1914 and still serves commuters today.
The exhibit at the station this season features several models built by former Mahwah resident Hollis C. Bachmann. Mr. Bachmann constructed a model of N.Y.C. #999 and several other trolleys. We were fortunate to receive a donation of this balance of Mr. Bachmann’s collection from his niece, Kay Doody. Mr. Bachmann had built our model of the North Jersey Rapid Transit interurban car (trolley) that ran from Suffern to Paterson. You may remember seeing that model in our main museum building. It was constructed of tin cans, was 2 feet in length, and included a detailed interior, having taken Mr. Bachmann six months to build. Please come by and see these really nicely- detailed creations that are the offspring of that trolley.