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(erielack) Terminals in the Port of NY [was CNJ Interchange]
> I suspect the confusion arises from forgetting that the reason for the
> Hell Gate Bridge was to provide a gateway for the PRR to >New England for
> passenger, via Penn Station, NY, AND FREIGHT -- via Greenville, NJ (float)
> Bay Ridge/Brooklyn, NY. Any >service to Long Island itself provided by
> Hell Gate was purely secondary and way far down the list of priorities.
> The PRR-NH >interchange between the South and New England over Hell Gate
> consisted of many, many, many through-routed cars for many >years.
It's also important to understand that the Maybrook Gateway was mostly
useless until the Poughkeepsie bridge was strengthened in 1908 -- so the
initial planning for the Hell Gate and Penn Station route came first. I
should hasten to add that the PRR's original scheme had a tunnel from
Greenville to Brooklyn, with an entrance to Manhattan from the East River
side with a stub terminal.
And it should be noted that the Erie, NYS&W, DL&W, LV and the others were
all involved in planning the "Great Bridge" across the Hudson (in various
proposed locations) but mostly at 57th Street, with a great union terminal
in midtown Manhattan.
For those interested in such, the PRR always had a representative on this --
right up until it finally sputtered and morphed into today's George
Washington Bridge. And every time planning seemed to be on track, the PRR
would find some reason to stop it, or their lobbyists would persuade the
Army Corps of Engineers it had to be another 30 feet higher or something
else that would put a stop to it. And if the PRR wasn't at it, the New York
Central also lobbied (privately and in secret) against NY granting
appropriate franchises in Albany, where they had a great deal of (ahem)
influence.
There were other schemes as well -- my favorite being an 1890s plan )I have
a great map which I could post if deemed not too far OT <g>) for a bridge
from Jersey City to Brooklyn via Governor's Island, with the Channel between
there and the Battry at Whitehall Street filled in with a stub terminal on a
wye with multiple diamond crossovers like TRRA St Louis located on the fill.
They were quite serious, too.
At some point, I'll invite everyone to an R&LHS meeting in NYC and present
my "City that Never Was" Powerpoint, which has been half-done for awhile.
Cheers,
Jim Guthrie
ELHS #1296
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