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Colby Cut (also known as Roseville Cut) is one of a number of cuts on the Lackawanna Cut-Off railroad line in northwest New Jersey. Located between approximately mileposts 51.8 and 52.3 in Byram Township, the cut was constructed between 1908 and 1911 by contractor David W. Flickwir. (During construction, Lackawanna Railroad Chief Engineer, Lincoln Bush, would leave the railroad and join Flickwir's construction company to form the Flickwir & Bush construction company.) The cut, which was created by removing fill material obtained by blasting with dynamite or other methods, is 0.53 miles (0.64 km) long, has an average depth of 45 feet (14 m), and a maximum depth of 110 feet (34 m). The cut was the result of the removal of 462,342 cubic yards of fill material within this section.
Back in March 1906, Mr. Colby, who owned some of the land on the proposed right-of-way for the Cut-Off west of what would be Roseville Tunnel, would propose to Lackawanna President Truesdale for the railroad to locate a train station for the Cut-Off on his property near what was referred to as Roseville Lake (probably Wright's Pond, which is just east and north of the tunnel). Truesdale had Colby contact Lincoln Bush to investigate the idea, but the proposal appears to have gone no further. In the months prior to the final decision on the routing of the Cut-Off, which was finalized on September 1, 1906, there was an alternate route considered (Line "M") that would have proceeded north of where the tunnel would be located, avoiding the need for the massive cut. This alignment, which would have also avoided the need for a Pequest Fill, but at a cost of a several-mile, curvaceous sweep to the south near Tranquility, NJ, was ultimately rejected.
Colby Cut is located on a tangent (straight) section of right-of-way, permitting 70 mph (113 km/hr), and is just east of the Pequest Fill and just west of Roseville Tunnel. This section is scheduled to receive a single track as part of the reactivation of the line, which was abandoned in 1983. NJ Transit rail service is projected to begin in 2019.
Colby Cut is named for F.G. Colby, from whom some, but not all, of the land comprising the cut was acquired.