The NX Draw (sometimes colloquially known the "Annie Bridge") is an out-of-service

railroad bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

on 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, ...

between

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 Kearny,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. It is the 13th bridge from the river's mouth at

Newark Bay Newark Bay is a tidal bay at the confluence of the Passaic and Hackensack Rivers in northeastern New Jersey. It is home to the Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal, the largest container shipping facility in Port of New York and New Jersey, t ...

and is upstream from it. The

bascule bridge A bascule bridge (also referred to as a drawbridge or a lifting bridge) is a moveable bridge with a counterweight that continuously balances a span, or leaf, throughout its upward swing to provide clearance for boat traffic. It may be single- or ...

(sometimes called a jackknife bridge), built by the

Erie Railroad The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in the northeastern United States, originally connecting New York City — more specifically Jersey City, New Jersey, where Erie's Pavonia Terminal, long demolished, used to stand — with Lake Erie ...

and once part of its

Newark Branch The Newark Branch was a branch of the Erie Railroad in New Jersey, United States, running between Jersey City and Paterson with stops in the Broadway Section in North Newark. Inaugurated in the 1870s, the line was last used for passenger serv ...

, has been abandoned in the raised position.

History

The lower of the long Passaic River downstream of the

Dundee Dam The Dundee Canal was an industrial canal in Clifton and Passaic in Passaic County, New Jersey. It was built between 1858 and 1861 and ran parallel to the Passaic River. It supplied hydropower and water for manufacturing. There was interest by some ...

is tidally influenced and

navigable A body of water, such as a river, canal or lake, is navigable if it is deep, wide and calm enough for a water vessel (e.g. boats) to pass safely. Such a navigable water is called a ''waterway'', and is preferably with few obstructions against dir ...

. Rail service across the river was generally oriented to bringing passengers and freight from the points west over the Hackensack Meadows to

Bergen Hill Bergen Hill refers to the lower Hudson Palisades in New Jersey, where they emerge on Bergen Neck, which in turn is the peninsula between the Hackensack and Hudson Rivers, and their bays. In Hudson County, it reaches a height of 260 feet. Rail ...

, where tunnels and cuts provided access to rail terminals on the Hudson River. The NX is the third bridge to cross the river at its location, the first having been built in 1871.

Post Erie era

The bridge was built as a double-track structure, but after the elimination of commuter train service it was changed to have only a single track in service. Freight train service continued through the creation of

Conrail Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do busin ...

in 1976, but the bridge was taken out of service by Conrail in November 1977. It has been locked in the raised (open) position ever since. The bridge is located within the

North Jersey Shared Assets Area Conrail Shared Assets Operations (CSAO) is the commonly used name for modern-day Conrail (reporting mark CRCX), an American railroad company. It operates three networks, the North Jersey, South Jersey/Philadelphia, and Detroit Shared Assets Area ...

and is assigned to

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31 ...

. Conrail continued to serve both sides of the branch with local freight train service until 2002, when the eastern side of the branch was removed from active service, partly due to the loss of the last shipper on the branch, SparTech Poly-Com. A three-track trestle bridge over Passaic Avenue, just east of the NX bridge was removed in the mid-2000s to increase roadway clearance. On the west bank of the Passaic River, the Newark Industrial Track is still an active freight line serving several industries in the Newark area. In 1982, the bridge was used in the filming of the movie ''

Annie Annie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Annie (given name), a given name and a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Annie (actress) (born 1975), Indian actress * Annie (singer) (born 1977), Norwegian singer The ...

''. It was left in its open position during the filming, though the structure itself was painted black, and the rails were painted silver. It has since become nicknamed the "Annie Bridge". Since the filming, the bridge has received no maintenance.

References

External links

Abandoned Railroad Drawbridge
*

Historic American Engineering Record Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) responsible for administering the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes ...

documentation: ** (previous bridge) ** (current bridge)
Scene from ''Annie''
{{Crossings navbox , structure =

Crossings Crossings may refer to: * ''Crossings'' (Buffy novel), a 2002 original novel based on the U.S. television series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' * Crossings (game), a two-player abstract strategy board game invented by Robert Abbott * ''Crossings'' ...

, place =

, bridge = NX Bridge , bridge signs = , upstream =

WR Draw WR Draw is an out-of-service railroad bridge crossing the Passaic River between Newark and the Arlington section of Kearny, New Jersey. The plate girder rim-bearing swing bridge, originally built in 1897 and modified in 1911 and 1950, is the 14 ...

(unused) , upstream signs = , downstream =

Clay Street Bridge The Clay Street Bridge is a bridge on the Passaic River between Newark and East Newark, New Jersey. The swing bridge is the 13th bridge from the river's mouth at Newark Bay and is upstream from it. Opened in 1903, the Warren through truss r ...

, downstream signs = Bascule bridges in the United States Erie Railroad bridges Historic American Engineering Record in New Jersey Railroad bridges in New Jersey Bridges over the Passaic River Bridges in Newark, New Jersey Bridges in Hudson County, New Jersey Kearny, New Jersey Bridges completed in 1922

History

Post Erie era

See also

References

External links