New York Central Railroad 69th Street Transfer Bridge

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New York Central Railroad 69th Street Transfer Bridge
69th St Hudson RR bridge sinking jeh.jpg
69th Street Transfer Bridge, February 2012
Location Hudson River W of the West Side Highway bet. West 66th and 70th streets, Manhattan, New York City, New York State
Built1911
NRHP reference No. 03000577
NYSRHP No.06101.007750
Significant dates
Added to NRHPJune 26, 2003
Designated NYSRHPMarch 25, 2003
69th Street Transfer Bridge, May 2007 69th-st-transfer-bridge.jpg
69th Street Transfer Bridge, May 2007

The 69th Street Transfer Bridge, part of the West Side Line of the New York Central Railroad, was a dock for car floats which allowed the transfer of railroad cars from the rail line to car floats which crossed the Hudson River to the Weehawken Yards in New Jersey. Its innovative linkspan design kept the boxcars from falling into the river while being loaded. [1]

Contents

The transfer bridge was constructed in 1911 based on an innovative design by James B. French that allowed cargo to be rapidly loaded and unloaded. [2]

After it fell into disuse, it was in danger of being torn down and removed, but around the year 2000, during renovations of Riverside Park, following the example of Gantry Plaza State Park, it became a prominent feature of the park. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003. [3]

Similar facilities are in use between 65th Street Yard in Brooklyn and Greenville Yard in Jersey City by the New York New Jersey Rail, LLC, which still operates car floats across Upper New York Bay.

As of October 2014, the New York City Department of Parks is in the design phase of a project to reconstruct, restore and adaptively reuse the 69th Street Transfer Bridge. [4]

See also

References

  1. "The gantry of the float bridge of New York Central Railroad". Wired New York Forum. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
  2. Gray, Christopher. "On Waterfronts of the Present, Rail-Bridge Relics of the Past", The New York Times , November 7, 2004. Accessed September 28, 2025. "In 1911, the New York Central Railroad built such a system, designed by James B. French, at the foot of West 69th Street. French patented his design, which uses two separate decks raised and lowered independently and a wide shed running across the top to protect the lifting machinery."
  3. "National Register of Historic Places Listings July 11, 2003" (PDF). nps.gov. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
  4. "NYC Parks Department Capital Projects Tracker". www.nycgovparks.org. Retrieved October 18, 2014.

40°46′45″N73°59′23″W / 40.779209°N 73.989626°W / 40.779209; -73.989626