Came across this YouTube video with some interesting points of view of the bridge. His so-called "wobble problem" doesn't detract too much. Lots of details of the towers I've never seen. Best with the music muted! 
Jim
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Thanks Jim,
Very interesting! Unusual to see the inside of the tops of the towers and how well built the bridge is...looks like it can easily make another 100 years. The 100 year anniversary was March 9,1917.
Here is a link to a New York Times piece on the anniversary:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/0...mbies-turns-100.html
Tom
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On a side note...I bought some nice black Hell Gate Bridge anniversary shirts off of eBay recently, if anyone is interested, too.
Tom
Neat video!
Somewhere (not on this PC) I have a half decent distant pic from a vantage point no longer possible. The shot was from the Skyfari attraction at the Bronx Zoo (removed about 10 years ago). I'll look for it after York and post if I can find it.
-Dave
Pretty awesome footage!
God, annoying that the graffiti "artists" have managed to tag the stone all the way at the top of the bridge. 
I just noticed that the forum software no longer censors and replaces the word "hell" with "****". I guess I can go back to calling the bridge by the correct name Hell Gate instead of making it a single word to get by the censor! 
Jim
J 611 posted:God, annoying that the graffiti "artists" have managed to tag the stone all the way at the top of the bridge.
Indeed. Catch 'em and make them scrub it off . . . with their own toothbrushes. And then make them kill the grass and shrubs growing at the top.
That light in the middle is one bulb I would NOT want to change . . . .
I stumbled upon this article in the Washington Post from May 26, 1907, talking about the big plans for the soon to be built Hell Gate Bridge. The article mentions then vice president Samuel Rea. Rea would go on to later serve as the Pennsy's ninth president, from 1913 to 1925.
Tom
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J 611 posted:God, annoying that the graffiti "artists" have managed to tag the stone all the way at the top of the bridge.
They are NOT "Artists" they are Hooligans , and their punishment, if caught, should be that they have to clean up 100 pieces of that "mess" for every one they create.
Simon
Interesting that the three tracks are displaced to one side. Was there a fourth track originally?
It looks to me like the concrete blocks on the tops of the towers are missing some of their grouting, although that is probably not the correct term.
RoyBoy posted:Interesting that the three tracks are displaced to one side. Was there a fourth track originally?
It looks to me like the concrete blocks on the tops of the towers are missing some of their grouting, although that is probably not the correct term.
According to that neat article Tom posted (thanks Tom!), it was planned with 4 tracks.
I don't personally know if that plan evolved as being built, but the article says it was designed with 4 tracks.
-Dave
Love that bridge! We ride over it at least 6 times a year when we visit my daughter's family near Boston. I bought a wonderful hand-built model of it at York about 4 years ago. It spans 2 1/2 ft. Too large for my layout, I just have it displayed.
The bridge originally had 4 tracks, all with catenary. These tracks split in Queens with 2 headed to Penn via Sunnyside and the other 2 going to Fresh Pond to interchange with the Long Island. The freight tracks had catenary all the way to Fresh Pond. I remember watching 100+ car freight trains on the bridge being pulled by box cab electrics and electrics that looked like a diesel (I didn’t know what a EF3b until later). There was a set of crossovers just before the split that allowed routing trains to any of the 4 tracks, if necessary. With the advent of Amtrak, only the 2 tracks leading to Penn were needed. The crossovers were removed and the catenary taken down on the freight line. With seriously reduced freight traffic, the rails were removed from one of the freight tracks. I worked across from the split for the last 20 years and crossed the Triborough bridge twice a day. I only noted 2 freights per day; southbound in the AM and northbound in the PM. I remember when they painted it dark red. It was a big improvement over the rust red and grimy black. Within about 3 years it began to fade and oxidize to pink and, today, it is a nondescript grayish white with a hint of red.
RoyBoy posted:Interesting that the three tracks are displaced to one side. Was there a fourth track originally?
Originally had 4 tracks. The 4th track, mainly a freight track, was abandoned I believe in the 1970s.
Edit 3/13/2021: The photo I had originally included in this reply was posted before the OGR copyrighted photo concerns. For that reason, I removed that photo which showed the 4th track. A Google photo search will reveal several older photos showing this track.
Jim
