Newark and New York Branch

Newark and New York Branch
The façade of the Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal near Four Corners in Downtown Newark
Technical
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Route map Show interactive map Legend mi 0.0 Liberty Street West 23rd Street North River (Hudson River) 1.0 Jersey City Hudson–Bergen Light Rail 2.3 Communipaw Hudson–Bergen Light Rail 2.7 Pacific Avenue 3.0 Arlington Avenue 3.3 Jackson Avenue 3.8 West Side Avenue Hackensack Drawbridge over Hackensack River 5.2 Kearny PD Draw over Passaic River Bay Shore industrial track 6.0 Newark Transfer Manufacturers branch Chemical Coast Line Passaic and Harsimus Line 7.2 East Ferry Street 7.9 Ferry Street Northeast Corridor 8.5 Newark Broad Street [1] Show route diagram map

The Newark and New York Branch was a railway line that ran between Downtown Newark and the Communipaw Terminal at the mouth of the North River (Hudson River) in Jersey City, bridging the Hackensack River and Passaic River just north of their mouths at the Newark Bay in northeastern New Jersey. The Central Railroad of New Jersey operated it from its opening in 1869. Through operations ended in 1946; portions remained in use until 1967.

History

Opened on July 23, 1869 and operated by the Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ), the railroad provided a direct route between Newark and its Jersey City terminal, where passengers could transfer to ferries to New York. ^[2] The line cost $300,000 per mile, unprecedented at the time, earning it the sobriquet "the country's costliest railroad". ^[3] In 1872 a connection south was added at a junction called Newark Transfer to Elizabeth, where it joined the railroad's main line, which crossed Newark Bay at Bayonne on the predecessor of the CRRNJ Newark Bay Bridge. The line was built partially to relieve overcrowding and reduce the travel time taken on the New Jersey Railroad line to Exchange Place on the Hudson River waterfront. ^{[4] [5] [6]}

The route travelled west from the Hudson and crossed Bergen Hill where a cut had been excavated for a right of way (ROW). ^{[7] [8]} It then crossed the Hackensack to Kearny Point, the tip of a larger peninsula formally known as New Barbadoes Neck, to the Passaic River. The bridges across the rivers were raised in 1913 to accommodate shipping. ^[9] Upon crossing the Passaic River, it entered the Ironbound Section of Newark at Ferry and St. Francis Streets, traveling parallel to and south of Market Street until it crossed Ferry Street again between Union and Prospect Streets. From there, the line crossed over the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) tracks and terminated at Broad Street. ^[10] At its peak over 100 passenger trains used the route daily. ^[3]

After a boat collided with the Hackensack Drawbridge in 1946 causing severe damage, ^[11] the through line was discontinued, and the bridge was dismantled. ^{[8] [3]} Passenger trains from both Newark and Elizabethport continued utilizing the PD Draw over the Passaic to Kearny to serve a Western Electric plant on Kearny Point until the Aldene Plan was implemented in 1967. ^[12]

The piers of the Hackensack bridge are still visible (at 40°43′07″N74°06′14″W / 40.718709°N 74.103985°W / 40.718709; -74.103985 ) from the shoreline along the proposed Hackensack River Greenway. ^[13] Several open-deck spans of the Passaic River swing bridge, and its main pier (though not the swing span itself), remain (at 40°43′23″N74°07′17″W / 40.72299°N 74.121346°W / 40.72299; -74.121346 ). While the Newark terminal building is still standing and is part of the Four Corners Historic District the trackage and train shed which served it are now the site of the Prudential Center. The rail yard is site of Mulberry Commons. The bridges from the yard over McCarter Highway, the PRR tracks now used by Amtrak/New Jersey Transit (NJT) to Newark Penn Station, and New Jersey Railroad Avenue still exist. ^[14] The right of way through the Ironbound was developed as commercial space and housing. ^[15] A station house at the Jackson Avenue station survived until at least 2007. ^{[16] [17]}

The ROW through Bergen Hill and West Side in Jersey City has become part of the Hudson Bergen Light Rail. NJT has announced plans for 0.7 mile extension of the West Side Branch from its current terminus at West Side Avenue station over Route 440 to a redevelopment area known as Bayfront, where a new station would be constructed. ^{[18] [19] [20] [21]}

Service

City	Station	Distance [a]	Service Began	Service Ended	Status
New York City	Liberty Street [23] [24] [25]	N/A			location filled as part of Battery Park City Service provided by NY Waterway at BPC Ferry Terminal
	West 23rd Street [25] [26]	N/A			Pier 63 at Hudson River Park
North River (Hudson River)
Jersey City	Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal [23] [24] [25] [27]	7.48	1864	April 30, 1967	Partially preserved in Liberty State Park
	Communipaw [23] [24] [25]	6.23			Liberty State Park (HBLR station) is just to the north of the former station
	Pacific Avenue [25]	5.82
	Arlington Avenue [25]	5.50			Garfield Avenue (HBLR station)
	Jackson Avenue [16] [17] [25]	5.17		1948 [28]	Martin Luther King Drive (HBLR station)
	West Side Avenue [25]	4.65			West Side Avenue (HBLR station)
	Bayfront is a planned Hudson Bergen Light Rail station along the right of way on the West Side [20] [29]
Hackensack River-Hackensack Drawbridge
Kearny [25]	Kearny	3.31
Passaic River-PD Draw
Newark	Newark Transfer [25]	2.53	December 21, 1913 [30]	April 30, 1967 [30]	Chemical Coast freight only
	East Ferry Street Station [25]	1.30	1869 [30]	1951 [30]	Trackage and stations removed
	Ferry Street [25]	0.57	1869 [31]	April 30, 1967 [31]
	Newark Broad Street [25] 40°44′1″N74°10′16″W / 40.73361°N 74.17111°W / 40.73361; -74.17111	0.0	July 23, 1869 [31]	April 30, 1967 [31]	Terminal building standing and trackage removed Now the site of the Prudential Center and Mulberry Commons Park

1. Measured in miles from Newark Broad Street ^[22]

See also

• Newark Plank Road
• Timeline of Jersey City area railroads
• List of stations on the Central Railroad of New Jersey
• List of bridges, tunnels, and cuts in Hudson County, New Jersey
• List of ferries across the Hudson River to New York City
• Park Place (H&M station)

Notes

1. Official Guide of the Railways . New York: National Railway Publication Co. March 1945. p. 350. OCLC   6340864.
2. "Opening of the Newark and New-York Railroad" (PDF). New York Times. July 24, 1869. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 5, 2021. Retrieved February 21, 2011.
3. Schmidt Jr., W.H. (November 1948). ""Costliest railroad" now half abandoned". Trains . Vol. 9, no. 1. p. 52.
4. "Importance of the New Railroad to Newark" (PDF). The New York Times. March 4, 1866. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 23, 2022. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
5. "NEW-YORK AND NEWARK RAILROAD; Enthusiastic Meeting in Newark-Abuses of the New-Jersey Railroad Denounced--Resolutions in Support of a New Road--Importance of Proper Communications with New-York" (PDF). The New York Times. February 14, 1866. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 23, 2022. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
6. "Article 1 -- No Title" (PDF). The New York Times. February 16, 1866. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 23, 2022. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
7. "The Newark and New-York Railroad Company" (PDF). The New York Times. September 16, 1866. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 23, 2022. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
8. French, Kenneth (February 24, 2002). Images of America: Railroads of Hoboken and Jersey City. Portsmouth, New Hampshire: Arcadia Publishing. pp. 25–29. ISBN   978-0-7385-0966-2. Archived from the original on July 18, 2011. Retrieved November 21, 2009.
9. "Dredge Hackensack River Improving Newark Meadows Section for Development" (PDF). New York Times. February 9, 1913. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 5, 2021. Retrieved February 16, 2011.
10. "Railway Management.; A New Story Of A Deal" (PDF). The New York Times. January 12, 1890. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 23, 2022. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
11. "Steamer Wrecks Bridge in Jersey 6000-Ton Coal Ship Shears Off Two Spans of Central Railroad Structure", The New York Times, February 4, 1946
12. Colletti, Richard (December 26, 2011). "Towers of the CNJ2". Towers of the CNJ. NRHS (Jersey Central). Archived from the original on April 2, 2012. Retrieved August 9, 2012.
13. "Hackensack River bridges". Archived from the original on September 6, 2014. Retrieved April 18, 2010.
14. "Newark and New York Branch over NJ21" (PDF). New Jersey Historic Bridge Data. NJDOT. 2007. Retrieved August 6, 2012.
15. Garbarine, Rachelle (July 2, 1989). "IN THE REGION: New Jersey; Dwellings Proliferate in Newark's Ironbound". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on April 27, 2023. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
16. "Jackson Avenue Station". Archived from the original on July 26, 2011. Retrieved April 25, 2010.
17. "Jackson Avenue Station". Archived from the original on July 26, 2011. Retrieved April 25, 2010.
18. Whiten, John (May 11, 2011). "Light Rail Extension to Jersey City's West Side Gets Push Forward from NJ Transit". Jersey City Independent. Archived from the original on October 6, 2011. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
19. "NJ Transit Approves Study of Light Rail Extension" (Press release). New Jersey Transit. September 16, 2010. Archived from the original on October 19, 2011. Retrieved April 30, 2011.
20. Whiten, Jon (August 23, 2010). "West Side Light Rail Extension Project Picks Up Some Federal Funding". www.jerseycityindependent.com. Archived from the original on July 12, 2011. Retrieved April 4, 2011.
21. NJ Transit's board advances light-rail extension, awards transit center contract
22. "Central Railroad of New Jersey: Time Table No. 108" (PDF). September 27, 1936. p. 76. Retrieved January 25, 2025.
23. Travelers' official Guide of the Railways. National Railway Publication Company. June 1, 1970.
24. Travelers official Guide of the Railways. National Railway Publication Company. June 1893.
25. Timetable (1925), Service schedule (Newark and New York), Central Railroad of New Jersey, archived from the original on July 14, 2011
26. "Weekdays". New Jersey Central. 1941. Archived from the original on May 25, 2012. Retrieved August 9, 2012.
27. "Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal". Archived from the original on February 1, 2010. Retrieved December 6, 2009.
28. Bernhart (2004), p. 103.
29. Higgs, Larry (March 3, 2020). "New NJ Transit light rail will serve developments along N.J. waterfronts". nj.com. Archived from the original on May 16, 2020. Retrieved March 4, 2020.
30. Bernhart (2004), p. 105.
31. Bernhart (2004), p. 106.

References

• Bernhart, Benjamin L. (2004). Bernhart, John H. L.; Leinbach, Jay (eds.). Central Railroad of New Jersey: stations, structures, & marine equipment. Dauberville, Pennsylvania: Outer Station Project. ISBN   978-1-891402-07-4.

External links

• 1931 aerial view of the rail line through Ironbound Section of Newark
• Newark and New York Branch
• Portrait of a Railroad: The CNJ’s Newark Branch An Alternative Approach to Model Railroad Design