The Sussex Railroad (later known as the Sussex Branch of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad) was a short-line railroad in northwestern New Jersey. It replaced its predecessor, the Sussex Mine Railroad, in 1853 and operated under the Sussex Railroad Company until 1945 when it was fully merged into the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (DL&W) system. The Sussex Railroad was important in the economic development of Sussex County as it supplied a route for early local industries, such as dairy farms and ore mines, to export their products. It was the last independently operated New Jersey railroad to be incorporated into the DL&W system. The last train travelled on the Sussex Railroad tracks on October 2, 1966. The tracks were removed soon after and the right-of-way was transformed into a rail trail known as the Sussex Branch Trail. Sussex Mine Railroad The Sussex Mine Railroad, chartered on March 9, 1848, was the predecessor of the Sussex Railroad that was to be used for the sole purpose of hauling iron ore from the recently re-opened Andover Mine. The narrow gauge railway was drawn by mules from the Andover Mine down to the Morris Canal at Waterloo Village and was then taken on to the Thomas Iron Furnaces in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The Act by the New Jersey Legislature that incorporated the railroad also allowed for the provision of extending the rail into Newton, the county seat. The initial of the Sussex Mine Railroad from the mine in Andover, which was named after the mine, was started in May 1849 and completed in August 1851. During construction of the railroad, the legislature approved a supplement to the charter on March 18, 1851, that allowed the railroad to extend the line to the Morris & Essex Railroad (M&E), which was extending its line to Hackettstown. The Sussex Mine Railroad struck a deal with the M&E that would work in their favor if they were to have the connection ready for operation by the time the M&E's extension reached Waterloo. In preparation for this extension and what eventually became a rebuilding of the entire existing line, the New Jersey Legislature approved another supplement to the charter on January 26, 1853, that allowed the company to change its name to the Sussex Railroad, reflecting its new purpose beyond just serving the mines and authorized the company to extend the track to any point in Sussex