Freight trains under New York City?

Mike:

The Don Ball Jr. book "Pennsylvania Railroad 1940's - 1950's" notes PRR did perform some tests running freight trains through the Hudson River tunnels.  The grade and curvature of the tunnels is so extreme they pulled a significant number of drawbars and decided to scrap the idea.

Additionally, the clearances in those tunnels are extremely tight.  Way too tight for intermodal.

Keep in mind there were perfectly acceptable routes around the NYC area to New England that avoided having to actually move trains through the city.  Based on the freight schedules  listed in an old book I have, a shipment could move from Boston to Chicago about as fast using one of the alphabet routes as it could going all the way on the New York Central.

in fact today, there are still routes available around New York that probably make far more sense logistically and financially than attempting to build a new route through (or under) the city.  Even the straightest line can become prohibitively expensive if you have to build through a densely packed urban area.

Curt

The fire on the New Haven RR Hudson River Bridge in Poughkeepsie changed everything (in the 70s, I think, post the Conrail takeover).

 

Maybrook yard just west of there was a huge transfer point in and out of New England.

 

Nowadays, the bridge has been restored to a majestic pedestrian walkway.

 

Peter

The fire occurred on May 8, 1974.

 

Stuart

 

PRR and the New Haven did a huge interchange business between Greenville, NJ and Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, NY via car float. I believe they may have operated lcl express freight through the tunnels at night for some period of time, but as others have stated the clearances were only designed for passenger trains.

The NH Maybrook Yard was the the largest yard East of the Mississippi and probably the busiest during WII. The last real use was when NYS&W did the stack train pull-by before the connector to the L&HR (Conrail Hudson Secondary track) in the late 80s. 

The Hudson River Bridge in Poughkeepsie IMO was an important link...I guess at the time it wasn't feasible to have the bridge rebuilt with insurance money for rail traffic?

The Hudson River Bridge in Poughkeepsie IMO was an important link...I guess at the time it wasn't feasible to have the bridge rebuilt with insurance money for rail traffic?

 

MO it's more like making $$ on the mileage by sending all freight to Albany to cross the Hudson.

The Poughkeepsie bridge was x-New Haven, as was Maybrook yard. Once the Penn Central took over the NH in 1968, they quickly began diverting traffic to bypass the Lehigh & Hudson River, among others. When the bridge burned 5/8/1974, it was already obsolete, badly maintained, and down to 1 through train each way a day.
Insurance money was never mentioned as a factor in its rebuilding, why would a bankrupt RR like PC even insure this bridge?
This story is admirably related in the classic 1st issue of RAILFAN magazine "Except that the Poughkeepsie Bridge is Burning, everything is fine" (Winter 1974 issue)

 

In 36 years in industrial transportation for grain, mining and chemical companies I have yet to see a railroad price per mile.  In my experience I've seen pricing expressed per hundredweight; per ton (both long and short); and most commonly today, per carload.

While distance certainly plays a part in how a railroad constructs a rate it is not the overriding factor.  What seems to determine railroad pricing levels more often than not is whether the traffic has competitive options.  If the traffic is captive, best hold onto your wallet.

Curt

I would imagine most businesses today of any decent size would have all of their assets insured...if not required by creditors.  Perhaps not the same in the 70's.