(erielack) OT! Hell Gate [was CNJ Interchange]

["Janet & Randy Brown" <jananran_@_mymailstation.com>]

Definitely Off Topic -- but a question is a question.  And, anything that happened in the New York City region affected ALL the railroads in the region -- although Hell Gate probably had less impact on the Erie and the Lackawanna than almost any other roads.  (List content?)

Brad:

At the turn of the 19th/20th centuries, all railroads to New York City terminated on the west bank of the Hudson River, except the New York Central (and its guest, the New Haven) at Grand Central.

The Pennsylvania decided to tunnel under the Hudson River from New Jersey into Manhattan to afford themselves a major passenger terminal in New York City.  To avoid the expense of major yards on expensive (even in those days) Manhattan, the design continued the railroad from Penn Station under the East River to vast yards in Sunnyside, Queens, on Long Island.  A glance at a map revealed that a bridge from Queens to the Bronx would give them a connection with the New Haven and a gateway to Boston.  Further map study showed that a branch from that bridge route down through Queens and Brooklyn to a car-float terminal in Bay Ridge would allow a connection across New York Harbor to themselves (PRR) at Greenville, NJ, south of Bayonne.

So they built it.

Today's Amtrak still runs the route from Boston to New Rochelle, NY, down to the Bronx, turns to the east across the East River at Hell Gate (named for its treacherous tides) to Queens, around a curve to the west to point at Manhattan and pass Sunnyside Yards, under the East River, and into Penn Station, and on to points south.  It is still the most spectacular entrance to any big city in the world, with the Manhattan skyline spread out on the right side of the train for 15 or 20 minutes.

The freight business disappeared years ago, but the passenger still get the treat.

Long Island?  It didn't exist, strategicllay, when Hell Gate was built.  The Bridge was PRR's way around the NYC on-Manhattan advantage.  The freight was a very happy by-product, even though it meant float across New York Harbor.  

There still is no direct all-rail freight route through New York City and, IMHO, there never will be.

Randy Brown
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Really? I have not read much directly about this. But the pocket historical guide to railroads said NH & PRR jointly built the hells gate bridge <for a lot of money> so they could directly interchange. So even though I could never find the stupid thing on a map I Assumed it went from somewhere on the north end of new york city into new jersey over the hudson. Obviously I was mistaken. If carfloats/ferries still had to be involved what was the point of this bridge?
Bradley Butcher

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