I know TRAINS had a feature on this several years ago, but does there now exist, or has there ever existed, any significant freight RRing w/in or amongst the NYC boroughs in general, or Manhattan/under Manhattan in particular? For example, would I ever be able to look under one of the grates (or historically) and see a local or a freight occupying tracks? Was Grand Central or Penn Central station ever used for any kind of freight, as it is now/has been used for passenger svc? Any descriptive pictures or related websites would be appreciated. Thanks…
There was a good article a couple years ago, maybe, about the NYC’s frt opreations on the West Side of Manhattan in Trains with a companion article in MR. The line ran down the west side from Spyten Dyvil (oh, brother, I probably butchered that Dutch, but I can spell Schuylkil!) way downtown and included a sizable yard and quite a bit of elevated trackage. A portion of the elevated trackage downtown is slated to become a linear park. The upper portion is now connected to Penn Sta and serves Amtrak’s Empire Service.
I don’t think GCT or Penn Sta were ever used for any frt other than express and mail associated with passenger svc. GCT had shops and commisary that may have been supplied by rail, but I don’t really know.
I believe the NYC had the only significant freight terminals in Manhattan thanks to their route entering New York along the east side of the Hudson River. The book Freight Terminals and Trains mentions freight terminals along the west side of Manhattan served by car floats but none of these terminals seemed to be very big. My guess is that most terminals were in New Jersey and freight was loaded into wagons (later trucks) to deliver across the river by ferry (and later tunnels).
At one time Donald Trump owned 70+/- acres of land that was a former railyard. Believe it was on Manhattan but am not sure. The property is being or has been developed, but don’t know if The Donald managed to hold onto it during his financial difficulties a few years ago.
Highpoint(?) yard was between Spuyten Duyvil and GCT. One of it’s last uses was as a terminal for Conrails NYC to Buffalo Roadrailer (pre-Triple Crown) train in the 1980s. I think it was on the west side of the tracks, perhaps in the Bronx between Mott Haven and the Harlem River bridge?
Car floats were used extensively to get freight into the city from New Jersey … NYS&W, NYC, NYO&W, Lackawanna, Erie, PRR, CRNJ, B&O, Reading, Lehigh Valley, etc. Some of the railroads had more than one terminal on the Jersey side. At Port Reading, NJ, Reading operated a rotary coal dumper.
I would say that the carfloat terminals on the New York City side were small becasue they did not need room for incoming trains, switching, etc. … they got dedicated car loads from the Jersey side. A few large customers had thier own dedicated sidings on the New York side.
It must of been quite a sight to see all the tugs pushing floats all through the rivers and bays around the city.
I believe that there is one carfloat still operating…from the PRR’s old terminal in Jersey City … once in a while carrying oversize stuff (subway cars ?), etc. into New York
I think NYC’s biggest yard inside the city was down around 23rd st in Manhattan, with the trains keeping along side the HudsonRiver. They had other smaller yards along the river.
And now, the property left behind by PC and Conrail is being fought over by developers who want to build a stadium for the Jets, office buildings, a larger convention center, ya da ya da ya da…
Jerry, I have an EXCLUSIVE on this great apartment! Now, it isn’t there yet-
What?
Well, it still has to be built, but that’s a minor detail.
George, that is not a minor detail! If you don’t mind my saying so, it COULD be great, but hey, it is not there yet.
It’s gonna be, though. C’mon! All they need is $10 million up front and sheebang!
Oh, if that’s all they need then, piece of cake. Nothing to it. Sorry, I don’t have $10 million lying around right now. But if I do…[(-D]