For rail fans, you might know that the Erie Railroad main line in NJ went along from Jersey City through Passaic on its way to Suffern and then westward towards Chicago.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erie_Railroad
In the early 1960's (by this point, the Erie Railway merged with the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western), a section of the main line alignment was abandoned through Passaic, NJ to allow provisions for NJ Route 21 and I-80 out in Patterson. The Erie (passenger at least) terminals in Jersey City were done away with, and all passenger service was realigned to the Lackawanna terminal in Hoboken (still active). The Erie Mainline was still in use, but realigned a bit so it no longer crossed the Passaic river, and rather changed to its Bergen County spur out to Patterson, where things aligned back to the original Erie mainline.
The realignment meant that a short spur deadheaded at the Passaic river, and on that short branch from where the original Erie Mainline split from its Bergen line spur (which now was the Erie Mainline I suppose). Railroad stayed in service for E-L passenger trains for a short time, and freight for a while longer (in reality until the late 1990s), deadheading at the Passaic River in Rutherford, NJ.
There was a station called Carlton Hill, which was a station that was always along the original Erie Mainline, and stayed active even after the mainline was realigned and the track became deadheaded. The station was closed and removed in the mid 1960's. The rails remained for service as I mentioned, and I went to explore the abandoned station and look at the rails as they still remain. Took a LOT of pictures, figured id share for anyone interested.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlton_Hill_(Erie_Railroad_station)
Anyway, perhaps the most interesting thing that I noticed is that the rails along there are labeled Lackawanna 1940. The merger wasnt until later. Why would that be? Was it re-railed after the merger with reclaimed rail from someplace else? Did Erie regularly buy rails from D,L&W? I have a few pics of those rails and others listed as L.S. Buffalo 1904, which is neat as I guess it came from a mill halfway on the Erie mainline to Buffalo, and the fact that they are from 1904 is neat.
Another curiousity is that there was a milepost labeled JC 10, like Jersey Central rail. But this is the Erie railroad mainline. Why would that be?
Anyway, enjoy.