Henry ; to add insult to injury the Raritan river ridge took a hit by 2 tug boats with extent of damage unknown.
I may be wrong about Harold, but please check on this. The track from Fresh Pond Junction to Bay Ridge was always owned by the LIRR after it took over the Manhattan Beach Railroad, which had owned part or all of the Bay Ridge line. (The Manhattan Beach Railroad was first built as a narrow gauge steam passenger railroad from the Bay Ridge Ferry teminal to the junction just east of the Brighton Line, and then parallel with the NY and Brighton Beach Railroad south to a point south of Kings Highway and then a jog over to Manhatan Beaach.) The LIRR thus did the switching at Bay Ridge, with the B1 0-6-0 PRR-designed 11000V AC switchers labeled Long Island. However, the New Haven paid for and installed the electrification, and their wire train did the maintenance, as well as the maintenance on the tracks owned by the New York Connecting Railroad.
Tnx for correcting the between Manhatten and LI. 'Thought my brain was being punished.
Also, tnx for the NY Connecting correction Mr. Keppler.
W/O going to references, my recollection from 18 years on LI in western Nassau County was that HAROLD governed the east end of Jamaica station.
F tower at the east end of the East (North) River tunnels at Sunnyside Yard may be the west end of the NY Connecting. FRESH POND being the south end of it jibes, but nagging is the thought that from there to the car float's docks was also NY Connecting track. LIRR switched but NH RR crews ran to the shore.
One more ride way out there, pioneers.
Except that it wasn't built for the PRR but for the New York Connecting Railroad, which was 50% owned by PRR and 50% owned by the NYNH&H. It owned the track from Harold Tower near Sunnyside Yard and from Fresh Pond Junction with the LIRR to the Oak Point connection with the NYNH&H Haarlem River branch.
Now why on earth would you build a swing bridge with a 185 feet vertical clearance at center channel at MHW? Duh! Gustav Lindenthal's PRR Bridge is still the largest steel arch railroad bridge ever built being exactly 18 and 3/4 inches longer than the center span of the Firth of Forth in Scotland.
There are NO moving bridges on the Hell Gate route between The Bronx and Long Island. There is a draw bridge further north to the entrance to Pelham Bay, about the northen border of The Bronx, border of NYC with Westchester County. The Hell Gate arch bridge was designed to be high enough over the water to prevent the need for a movable bridge.
Yes, portal is a swing bridge, built as part of the initial tunnel approach work in 1901-06 but the problem isn't the bridge, a NJ Trans electrician said the newer pantographs have more upward pressure and break the wire at the ends of the hard track.
John WR Are you absolutely sure the Hell Gate is not a swing bridge, David? I go from NYP to Providence a few times a year so don't think you can fool me on this issue.
Are you absolutely sure the Hell Gate is not a swing bridge, David? I go from NYP to Providence a few times a year so don't think you can fool me on this issue.
The Hell Gate Bridge is a classic steel arch, connecting Long Island and Riker's Island. Farther north on the same viaduct there is a bridge across the channel separating Riker's Island from Da Bronx. It may well be a swing bridge, but it isn't the Hell Gate Bridge Hell Gate is the channel under the arch, so-called because of the fast tidal current that was a problem to sailing ships.
There are no swing bridges currently between Manhattan and Long Island. All bridges over the East River are fixed, either suspension (most) or cantelever or arch ("Hell Gate").
I've heard of hand cranked swing bridges but I have never seen one. Perhaps we should replace the Portal Bridge with a hand cranked swing bridge to save on energy costs.
John, I only knew about it because I lived north of the city, and we would take one of the swing bridges to get into Manhattan. They had swing bridges for trains, subways and cars.
The most interesting rail swing bridge operation I've seen was on the old SP&S line along the Colombia River between Portland and Astoria, Oregon. They ran RDCs along the line during the Lewis & Clark Bicentennial, 2004-06. There were 3 hand-cranked swing bridges. The operator would have to row out to the center, then insert a large crank into the deck of the bridge. There was a 10 foot diameter footpath that the operator would walk around and around to open the bridge, and also another similar set-up to open and close the alignment lock.
You're right, Mike. I should have said the Bronx which is not on Long Island.
John WR Perhaps the Coast Guard does not like them but there are still a lot of swing bridges around. There is a whole row of them between Manhattan and Long Island.
Perhaps the Coast Guard does not like them but there are still a lot of swing bridges around. There is a whole row of them between Manhattan and Long Island.
I think you mean between Manhattan and the Bronx.
CSSHEGEWISCH The push to remove/replace swing bridges goes back further than 20-30 years.
The push to remove/replace swing bridges goes back further than 20-30 years.
CSS thanks; My memory is foggy but isn't Portal drawbridge a swing bridge ?? I know it hangs up at least once a month.
The push to remove/replace swing bridges goes back further than 20-30 years. In Chicago on the Calumet River, the Calumet Western Ry. bridge was removed in 1964 after being knocked off its center pins by a freighter a few years earlier. The NKP swing bridge was replaced by a vertical lift bridge in 1969 and the EJ&E swing bridge was also replaced by a vertical lift bridge a few years later.
The Raritan Bay swing bridge was built in 1908. Whether or not New Jersey Transit plans to replace it I do not know.
since the life of most swing spans is 80 - 100 years and the coast guard has only come out to eliminate swing spans 20 - 30 years there will be a lot of swing bridges for years to come.
John WR This is a swing bridge. It rotates around a central pivot to be either parallel or perpendicular to the banks of the river. Swing bridges have a tendency to get stuck but they are probably more likely to get stuck in the closed position than in the open position. Perhaps the possibility of getting stuck along with the mechanics of the bridge is why they have fallen out of favor.
This is a swing bridge. It rotates around a central pivot to be either parallel or perpendicular to the banks of the river. Swing bridges have a tendency to get stuck but they are probably more likely to get stuck in the closed position than in the open position. Perhaps the possibility of getting stuck along with the mechanics of the bridge is why they have fallen out of favor.
US Coast guard does not like swing bridges because they limit the opening size to less than half the total value of the width of the waterway course.
NJT's North Jersey Coast line has suspended service between Perth Amboy and South Amboy tonight becuse of a malfunction on the bridge over the mouth of the Raritan River. It had been opened earlier this evening for water traffic.
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