The Hackensack Drawbridge (also known as the HD Draw) was a double-track railroad

movable bridge A moveable bridge, or movable bridge, is a bridge that moves to allow passage for boats or barges. In American English, the term is synonymous with , and the latter is the common term, but drawbridge can be limited to the narrower, historical d ...

across the mouth of the

Hackensack River The Hackensack River is a river, approximately 45 miles (72 km) long, in the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, emptying into Newark Bay, a back chamber of New York Harbor. The watershed of the river includes part of the subur ...

between

Jersey City Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.Kearny, New Jersey.(June 23, 1940)
Authority Calls Hackensack Span Menace; Wants Drawbridge Rebuilt or Abandoned
''

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'' (reporting that the Port of New York Authority was recommending that the bridge be either rebuilt or abandoned because it offered limited clearance) It was operational until 1946, when a steamship crashed into it. Built and maintained by the

Central Railroad of New Jersey The Central Railroad of New Jersey, also known as the Jersey Central or Jersey Central Lines , was a Class I railroad with origins in the 1830s. It was absorbed into Conrail in April 1976 along with several other prominent bankrupt railroads of ...

(CNJ), the bridge was part of the

Newark and New York Railroad The Newark and New York Railroad was a passenger rail 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 ...

, a rail line characterized as the "costliest railroad" by W. H. Schmidt Jr., a columnist for ''

Trains In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often know ...

''.Schmidt, W.H. (May 1946), "Costliest Railroad Now Half Abandoned", ''

'', pg. 52. Opened on July 23, 1869, the line was routed between terminals at

Newark Newark most commonly refers to: * Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States * Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area Newark may also refer to: Places Canada * Niagara-on-the ...

and

Jersey City Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.ferries to New York. It also crossed the

Passaic River Passaic River ( ) is a river, approximately long, in Northern New Jersey. The river in its upper course flows in a highly circuitous route, meandering through the swamp lowlands between the ridge hills of rural and suburban northern New Jersey, ...

and the

Kearny Point Kearny may refer to: People *Cresson Kearny (1914–2003, American author and researcher **Kearny fallout meter ** Kearny air pump *Eleanor Kearny Carr (1840–1912), American planter and political hostess, First Lady of North Carolina *Jillian K ...

peninsula. Freight cars regularly traversed the bridge to deliver to various industries in

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Description

From the west side of the rail via tunnel, four tracks converged into three, and then into two tracks to pass over the Hackensack Drawbridge.''Railway signaling and communications'', pg. 465. By 1913 the rail line, including the bridges across the rivers, was raised about to avoid conflicts with maritime traffic in the newly developing

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

The draw span of the

PD Draw PD, P.D., or Pd may refer to: Arts and media * People's Democracy (newspaper), ''People's Democracy'' (newspaper), weekly organ of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) * ''The Plain Dealer'', a Cleveland, Ohio, US newspaper * Post Diaspora, a t ...

over the Passaic had been relocated upstream to create another bridge on a new alignment in 1912. By 1922, plans were made to improve the drawbridge's railway signal layout, increasing the number of interlocking levers, ground signals and bridge signals. The drawbridge tower employed three levermen. Aerial view of Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company 03, Kearny NJ (USA) 1945

Aerial view of Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company 03, Kearny NJ (USA) 1945

In 1897, a train carrying nearly 200 people derailed while crossing the bridge; there were no injuries. In 1940, the Port of New York Authority (now

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, PANYNJ; stylized, in logo since 2020, as Port Authority NY NJ, is a joint venture between the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, established in 1921 through an interstate compact authorized ...

) cited the bridge as a navigational menace and called for its replacement. With war impending, the

War Department War Department may refer to: * War Department (United Kingdom) * United States Department of War (1789–1947) See also * War Office, a former department of the British Government * Ministry of defence * Ministry of War * Ministry of Defence * Dep ...

in 1941 asked CNJ to replace the

swing bridge A swing bridge (or swing span bridge) is a movable bridge that has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its center of gravity, about which the swing span (turning span) can then pi ...

with a

vertical lift Vertical is a geometric term of location which may refer to: * Vertical direction, the direction aligned with the direction of the force of gravity, up or down * Vertical (angles), a pair of angles opposite each other, formed by two intersecting ...

to afford better access to the

Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company The Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company was a United States shipyard, active from 1917 to 1948. It was founded during World War I to build ships for the United States Shipping Board. During World War II, it built ships as part of the U.S. Gov ...

on Kearny Point. Plans were made, but the shortage of steel prevented the project from being constructed.

Steamship collision

On February 3, 1946, SS ''Jagger Seam'', a collier, crashed into the drawbridge, shearing off two of the bridge's spans. The collision was the result of a mix-up in signals between the collier and a tug. It was later determined that mishandling on the part of the ''Jagger Seam'' was the cause of the accident. Initial estimates indicated that rail service over the Hackensack would be delayed for three months, with the CNJ projecting that it would take that long to procure enough steel to reconstruct the bridge. After the accident, trains continued to run from Kearny to

.French, pg. 32. Similarly, service east of the drawbridge continued to run between the West Side Avenue station and

Communipaw Terminal The Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal, also known as Communipaw Terminal and Jersey City Terminal, was the Central Railroad of New Jersey's waterfront passenger terminal in Jersey City, New Jersey. The terminal was built in 1889, replacing ...

.''Railway age'', pg. 329. In October 1946, the CNJ asked the

Interstate Commerce Commission The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was a regulatory agency in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads (and later trucking) to ensure fair rates, to eliminat ...

(ICC) for permission to abandon the line. Without any further funding for repair of the Hackensack Drawbridge and with the route severed in two, the railroad was deemed "half-abandoned". The ICC sympathized with the CNJ, saying "'twas a pity". While the Newark Branch operated until 1967, service in Jersey City was discontinued. Ultimately, the bridge was dismantled, but remains of its

piers Piers may refer to: * Pier, a raised structure over a body of water * Pier (architecture), an architectural support * Piers (name), a given name and surname (including lists of people with the name) * Piers baronets, two titles, in the baronetages ...

are still visible in the Hackensack River.

References

Sources

* * * * *

External links

*{{Commons category-inline, Hackensack Drawbridge Central Railroad of New Jersey Railroad bridges in New Jersey Bridges over the Hackensack River Swing bridges in the United States Bridges in Hudson County, New Jersey Buildings and structures in Jersey City, New Jersey Kearny, New Jersey Steel bridges in the United States

Description

Steamship collision

See also

References

Sources

Further reading

External links