Little Falls Railway Station — Live Webcam Traffic

Railway Infrastructure of Little Falls

Little Falls is a township in Passaic County, New Jersey, where railway infrastructure forms an important part of the region's transportation network. The live webcam shows a section of track where the historical legacy of the American railroad era intersects with modern commuter service. Little Falls station serves NJ Transit trains on the Montclair-Boonton Line, providing connections to Newark and other cities in northern New Jersey.

Great Notch Historic Depot

The camera captures an old building with a distinctive brown tile roof, reminiscent of an early 20th-century railroad depot. This is a reminder of the Great Notch station, which was built in 1905 for the New York & Greenwood Lake Railway, a subsidiary of the Erie Railroad. The depot building was a standard "type five" frame structure measuring 12 by 28 feet, painted in the green and red colors characteristic of railroad architecture of that period.

The Erie Railroad Era and Its Legacy

The history of this track section is inseparably linked to the Erie Railroad, one of the oldest railroads in the United States. After merging with the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad in 1960, the Erie Lackawanna Railroad was formed, which existed until 1976. It was then, following the creation of the Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail), that many commuter stations in this region lost regular passenger service. Great Notch was abandoned, and the depot building gradually fell into disrepair.

The Modern Montclair-Boonton Line

Today, rail service in Little Falls has been revived at a new level. The Montclair-Boonton Line was officially formed on September 30, 2002, with the opening of the Montclair Connection — an engineering junction that united the former Montclair Branch and Boonton Line. This created a single transportation artery from Hackettstown to Hoboken with electrified sections and diesel branches.

Little Falls station is located on the non-electrified section of the line and serves passengers only during peak hours — mornings toward Newark and evenings back. This is a typical pattern for commuter service in New Jersey, where traffic intensity varies depending on the time of day.

Transportation Significance of the Region

Passaic County historically developed around transportation corridors. The Passaic River, Interstate 80, and Erie Railroad tracks created a dense infrastructure network here. Little Falls sits at the intersection of several transportation flows: highways connect it with Clark, Totowa, and Montclair, while the railroad links it to the major transportation hubs of northern New Jersey.

The elevated viewpoint provided by the webcam allows you to appreciate the scale of the track infrastructure — the rails stretch into the distance, with trees and open terrain visible in the background, characteristic of suburban development in this region. The fence and vegetation along the tracks are standard safety features on railway sections.

Architectural Heritage of the Railroad Era

The old building with a tile roof that appears in the frame is a typical example of early 20th-century railroad architecture. Similar depots were built across the country to serve passengers and freight operations. The brown tile, wooden frame, and compact size all point to a typical provincial station design, where the premises were divided into a waiting room, ticket office, and telegraph operator's room.

Although the exact purpose of the building in the frame has not been documented, its location along the track and architectural features suggest a connection to the Erie Railroad infrastructure or its successors. Many similar structures in New Jersey have been demolished or converted into commercial properties in recent decades.

What You Can See on the Camera

The live webcam broadcasts a view of the railway tracks from an elevated position. In the frame are rails along which a passenger train with a blue and silver body and headlights on is moving. On the left is an old building with a brown tile roof, reminiscent of a railroad depot or historic station. A fence and vegetation are visible along the tracks. The railroad rails stretch into the distance, with trees and open terrain in the background. The shot covers part of the station and the surrounding area, demonstrating the operation of commuter rail service in Little Falls.