The North Hudson Railway Company built and operated a streetcar system in Hudson County and southeast

Bergen County, New Jersey Bergen County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was founded by Hillric J. Bonn who became the first President in 1865 and served for 26 years until his death, and eventually taken over by the Public Service Railway. In its endeavors to overcome the formidable obstacle of ascending the lower Hudson Palisades, or Bergen Hill, it devised numerous innovative engineering solutions including funicular wagon lifts, an inclined elevated railway, an elevator and viaducts. The oldest predecessor line of North Hudson County Railway opened 1861. Three companies were consolidated in 1874 to form the North Hudson County Railway Company. North Hudson acquired the Pavonia Horse Railroad Company in 1891, opened the Hudson & Bergen Traction Company in 1893, and opened the Palisades Railroad in 1894. North Hudson County Railway included of at-grade and of elevated trackage. Bonn was always involved in other road and real estate projects in the county. He resided in Weehawken, where a street is named in his honor.

Wagon lifts

Weehawken Wagen Lift from Hackensack Plank Road

Two funicular wagon lifts were built in 1893. The Hoboken lift travelled from near the foot of Paterson Plank Road to Ferry Street, next to

Pohlmann's Hall Pohlmann's Hall is a building located in Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 5, 1985. History The building was built in 1874 by Diedrich Pohlmann a ...

in Jersey City Heights. The Weehawken lift ascended from the foot of Hackensack Plank Road to

West Hoboken West Hoboken was a municipality that existed in Hudson County, New Jersey, from 1861 to 1925. It merged with Union Hill to form Union City on June 1, 1925. The town is notable for being the first city in which Mallomars were sold.Barron, Jame ...

(now Union City). The remnants of the lift ascend to under Troy Tower, a residential high rise.

Hoboken Elevated

The Hoboken Elevated was a long elevated railway trestle that ran from Hudson Place near the Lackawanna Terminal, up to Jersey City Heights next to the wagon lift at

. The line continued west over private property to Central Avenue and then south over that avenue to the Hudson County Courthouse on Newark Avenue near Journal Square. The portion from Hoboken Terminal to Palisade Avenue opened January 25, 1886, under cable power. The extension to Newark Ave opened June 19, 1892, with electric cars, passengers changing at Palisade Avenue. Through electric service began in December 1892. Within the next few years North Hudson's streetcar lines were converted to electric trolley operation, and ramps were constructed at Palisade Avenue and Newark Avenue so that trolleys could go up onto the elevated railway. It was then operated by trolleys until it closed in 1949.

Eldorado Elevator

The Eldorado Elevator rose from the

West Shore Ferry Terminal Weehawken Terminal was the waterfront intermodal terminal on the North River (Hudson River) in Weehawken, New Jersey for the New York Central Railroad's West Shore Railroad division, whose route traveled along the west shore of the Hudson River ...

at Weehawken to meet the streetcar line that travelled along a trestle to a cut in the Palisades which ran parallel to the Eldorado, a pleasure garden, and then proceeded east and north to the Nungesser's Guttenberg Racetrack.

Hillside Line

From 14th Street in Hoboken, the line ran west and with a series of trestles and horseshoe curves ascended the Palisades to

and beyond. Part of the system near 14th Street's Wing Viaduct is a New Jersey Register of Historic Places-designated place.

Palisade Line

Horseshoe curves carried cars from the Edgewater ferry up the cliff to Palisades Amusement Park.

References

Inline citations

General references

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External links

{{Commons category, Public Service Railway
"History of the North Hudson County Railway" From its beginnings to the present day"

HathiTrust HathiTrust Digital Library is a large-scale collaborative repository of digital content from research libraries including content digitized via Google Books and the Internet Archive digitization initiatives, as well as content digitized locally ...

Digital Library. Transportation in Hudson County, New Jersey Transportation in Bergen County, New Jersey New Jersey streetcar lines Defunct public transport operators in the United States Tram, urban railway and trolley companies Defunct New Jersey railroads North Hudson, New Jersey Railway companies established in 1874 1874 establishments in New Jersey