Cranford

The Lehigh Valley Railroad’s Cranford station was located on Centennial Avenue, at MP 17.9. Constructed in 1896, the modest station building measured 14 by 20 feet. In 1901, Thomas A. Packer was listed as the station agent. The stop was originally known as “South Cranford,” reflecting its location in the southern portion of the township and serving to distinguish it from the nearby Cranford station of the Central Railroad of New Jersey.

In 1906, the ticket agent posted here was transferred to the newly opened Aldene stop. Passengers could still board and detrain here; however, tickets would needed to have been purchased beforehand or from a uniformed trainman on board the train.

Local commuter service between South Plainfield and Jersey City was discontinued by the Lehigh Valley on May 29, 1948. At that time, operations had been reduced to a single eastbound morning train (52) and a single westbound evening (53) train, both operated by a gasoline-powered “doodlebug.” The train, called the "dinky" by commuters, originally had its western terminus at Easton, Pennsylvania, before it was later moved eastward to Flemington Junction, New Jersey, and then to South Plainfield. Cranford was removed as a stop sometime between 1939 and the end of service in 1948.

Following the end of local passenger service, the station building continued to serve as a freight agency, handling traffic at Staten Island Junction—the Lehigh Valley Railroad’s connection with the Staten Island Rapid Transit line.