The Erie Railroad's main line ran from Jersey City to Chicago via Binghamton and Jamestown, New York, Akron and Marion, Ohio, and Huntington, Indiana, with branches to Buffalo, Cleveland, and Dayton.

The Erie Railroad's major long-distance passenger trains to Chicago, the Atlantic Express and Pacific Express, the Erie Limited, and the Lake Cities, ran along this section, through Passaic, Paterson, Ridgewood, on to Port Jervis, northwest to Binghamton, New York State's Southern Tier, Jamestown, and west to Chicago.

Nominal Boonton Line service began using the Erie's Greenwood Lake division up to its junction with the Lackawanna Boonton Branch at Mountain View in Wayne as the Lackawanna right-of-way in Paterson was used for the construction of Interstate 80 and New Jersey State Highway 19.

Exiting the tunnel, the train curves right onto the Main Line at West End interlocking in Jersey City.

The Main Line then crosses over the Hackensack River on the single-track Upper Hack Lift bridge, built in 1958.

The train continues through the Meadowlands and passes the first grade crossing at Valley Brook Avenue in Lyndhurst.

After Lyndhurst the train crosses the Passaic River on a swing bridge that has been bolted shut (although it is technically required by Federal regulation to be opened on 24 hours notice).

After Passaic, the Main Line has a stretch through some industrial areas before the Clifton station, also on an embankment.

The Main Line passes under U.S. Route 46 and the Garden State Parkway before it crosses under and over several streets in south Paterson.

After a long stretch, the train reaches Glen Rock station, at grade level at a crossing.

Waldwick follows with an abandoned station building on the northbound side and a footbridge connecting the two platforms.