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Re: Re:Re: (erielack) NY Harbor



> This discussion has been going on for almost 100 years, since before WWI. 
> The Port of New York Authority (miscalled the >"Port of Authority" by 
> millions for decades) was formed to explore the feasibility of a rail 
> freight tunnel between New Jersey, >where most railroads ended, and New 
> York City, where most customers and ships were located.  To get an idea of 
> costs and >benefits, they first built a vehicular tunnel -- the Holland 
> Tunnel -- which became an immediate cash cow.  They then built the 
>  >Lincoln Tunnel, then doubled them both, then the George Washington 
> Bridge.  The money was (and is) coming in faster than they >could spend 
> it.

Considering how hard the railroads fought against the Port [of] Authority's 
tunnel plans, it takes some great historic revisionism to decide the PA was 
at fault. The railroads strongly encouraged the highway tunnel projects and 
fought tooth and nail against rail, fearing it would give another line a 
competitive advantage.

As for the above mythology,  let's start with the fact that the Holland 
Tunnel was not a Port [of] Authority project, although they took it over 
later after it was opened. The Holland tunnel was supported by the DL&W and 
the LV; the Erie groused about it because it took a few acres of Erie land 
in Jersey City.

The president of the Lehigh Valley testified many times against the PA, 
declaring "We need highways tunnels, not rail tunnels! Rail tunnels are 
impractical!"

When the Port [of] Authority actually built some track (completing the 
missing links on "Line 13" that would allow through freights to run from 
Bayonne to Edgewater, the Erie sued to prevent its use!

The DL&W built its wonderful huge freight terminal convenient to the new 
Holland Tunnel so that trucks could make LCL deliveries city-wide.

The PRR -- which controlled the New Haven in the 1920s -- was quite happy 
with its Greenville-Bay Ridge operation, and planned its own tunnel. The PRR 
also sabotaged Mayor Hylan's four track tunnel to Staten Island (two 
passenger, two freight, a small length actually built) by getting to Gov Al 
Smith, who saw to it that Hylan's career came to an end in favor of Jimmy 
Walker. Smith left office with a huge block of PRR stock that he did not own 
entering office; I believe he may have even served on the PRR board for a 
time, but I digress . . .

The New York Central actively campaigned against any cross-Hudson rail 
projects in the New York State legislature; as we know, they also lobbied 
hard  (along with the PRR) to make sure the Corps of Engineers kept upping 
the requirements on a cross-Hudson bridge to make sure it could never 
happen.

The B&O (and by proxy, Reading and CNJ) were the only railroads that acted 
with any integrity in the entire matter, but one keep hearing the canard 
about the Port [of] Authority didn;t built the rail tunnel because . . . 
nonsense.

Now -- let's fast-forward to the $100-million. This is not what it appears 
to be. What it is is strictly a Rep. Jerrold Nadler idea to get trucks of 
the streets of his Manhattan District. Having a TOFC or Container termnal in 
Maspeth does NOT get trucks off city streets, only within a limited area of 
Nadler.s West Side Congressional District.

That the LIRR (read NY&A) would not be permitted to carry the freight 
traffic to and from Nassau and Suffolk is the starting point here -- NIMBYs 
are already stopping the triple tracking in Nassau County; other NIMBYS are 
fighting the Pilgrim freight terminal idea, and in general, the locals are 
making the Mayor of Oradell (let's bring this back to E-L-related content 
<g>) look like a man with a double-digit IQ when it comes to rail freight 
traffic. And it also begs the question as to why CSX or NS would want the 
additional expense of hauling freight another couple of miles when they have 
good terminals now.

Cheers,
Jim

PS, for those of you not following the last paragraph, the Mayor of Oradell 
stopped installation of a passing siding there because "it would allow NJT 
to run 250-car freight trains on the NJ&NY through Oradell and block the 
crossings." And NJT allowed this thinking to prevail! Neat, huh?



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