Late in October, we learned of a Millburn project honoring the country’s 250th birthday, and were pleased to be offered a chance to participate in the planned municipal celebration with a block in a commemorative tile mural. With short notice, through nobody’s fault but our own (we have noted that we need to work on being more visible), we came up with a design on deadline and are looking forward to working with other municipal organizations as well as the project’s conveners and artists in this commemorative representation of our home town.
Our inspiration for this round of design was 3 critical dates in Millburn rail history— bits of history that didn’t quite fit with the designer’s concept (once the mural is in place at the Millburn Public Library, our Web site will have the initial draft sketches of the tryptic of tiles that didn’t quite work):
1 January 1838: the Morris and Essex line extends its route, coming to Millburn for the first time as it links Newark and Morristown.
2 9 April 1979: Mayor Maureen Ogden and commuting residents, concerned about the quality of train service in the township, form the Lackawanna Coalition to investigate how it might be improved. Though we have no notes from those meetings, we suspect that the formation of NJ Transit had been announced, and residents were eager to learn more and share their experiences. The first meeting was held in Millburn town hall’s conference room, where we have met monthly ever since, excluding the pandemic shutdown and the December 2021 meeting in which I was elected chairperson after David Peter Alan’s 20-year term in office (his 250th meeting in that role). That conference room will not survive the renovation. While construction is underway, we are meeting at the Summit Free Public Library, courtesy of our Community Member Summit. This location also is easily accessible on the Morris & Essex rail line.
3 1 January 1983: some 3.5 years after NJ Transit’s formation on 1 July 1979, NJ Transit Rail Division is born, taking over service from Conrail and the N.J. Department of Transportation.
With the November election just past as this issue goes to press, we are curious to learn more about Governor-elect Sherrill’s thoughts on NJ Transit service. Politicians routinely express concern and state that they will fix the agency. We’re not impressed with Governor Murphy’s efforts; time will tell—and we will do our best to influence—what is coming with a new administration on 1 January 2026.
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