Hackensack Drawbridge

{{Infobox bridge

| bridge_name = Hackensack Drawbridge

| image =

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| other_name = HD Draw

| carries = Newark and New York Branch

| crosses = Hackensack River

| locale = Jersey City and Kearny

| owner = Central Railroad of New Jersey

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| design = swing bridge

| material = Steel

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| height = {{convert|75|ft|m}}

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| open = 1869

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| collapsed = 1946

| coordinates = {{Coord|40|43|7.35|N|74|6|14.35|W|region:US_type:landmark|display=it}}

}}

The Hackensack Drawbridge (also known as the HD Draw) was a double-track railroad movable bridge across the mouth of the Hackensack River between Jersey City and

Kearny, New Jersey.{{cite web|url=http://www.jcrhs.org/cnjtowers2.html|title=Towers of the CNJ|last=Colleti|first=Richard|work=Jersey Central|publisher=National Railroad Historical Society|access-date=October 9, 2012}}(June 23, 1940). [https://www.nytimes.com/1940/06/23/archives/authority-calls-hackensack-span-menace-wants-drawbridge-rebuilt-or.html Authority Calls Hackensack Span Menace; Wants Drawbridge Rebuilt or Abandoned], The New York Times (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 (CNJ),Federal supplement, pg. 341. the bridge was part of the Newark and New York Branch, a rail line characterized as the "costliest railroad" by W. H. Schmidt Jr., a columnist for Trains.Schmidt, W.H. (May 1946), "Costliest Railroad Now Half Abandoned", Trains, pg. 52. Opened on July 23, 1869, the line was routed between terminals at Newark and Jersey City, where passengers could transfer to ferries to New York.{{Cite news | title = Opening of the Newark and New-York Railroad | newspaper = New York Times | date = July 24, 1869 | url = https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1869/07/24/79353581.pdf | access-date = February 21, 2011}} It also crossed the Passaic River and the Kearny Point peninsula. Freight cars regularly traversed the bridge to deliver to various industries in Harrison.

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 {{convert|30|ft|m}} to avoid conflicts with maritime traffic in the newly developing port{{Cite news | title = Dredge Hackensack River Improving Newark Meadows Section for Development | newspaper = New York Times | date = February 9, 1913 | url = https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1913/02/09/100253627.pdf | access-date = February 16, 2011}} The draw span of the PD Draw over the Passaic had been relocated {{convert|185|ft|m}} upstream to create another bridge on a new alignment in 1912.{{citation | title = An Unusual Bridge-Moving Operation | newspaper = Popular Mechanics Magazine | page = 26 | date = July 1912 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=_90DAAAAMBAJ&q=Popular+Mechanics+July+1912+An+Unusual+Bridge-Moving+Operation&pg=PA5 | access-date = August 8, 2012 | last1 = Magazines | first1 = Hearst }}

By 1922, plans were made to improve the drawbridge's railway signal layout, increasing the number of interlocking levers, ground signals and bridge signals.Railway signaling and communications, pg. 476. The drawbridge tower employed three levermen.Railway signaling and communications, pg. 478.

File:Aerial view of Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company 03, Kearny NJ (USA) 1945.jpg. The Lincoln Highway Bridge was to the north (upper left)]]

In 1897, a train carrying nearly 200 people derailed while crossing the bridge; there were no injuries.{{citation | title = Accident of Jersey Central; Train with 200 Passengers Off the Track on a Bridge Near Newark. | newspaper = The New York Times | date = May 17, 1897 | url = http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50610FD345D11738DDDAE0994DD405B8785F0D3 | access-date = October 10, 2012}} In 1940, the Port of New York Authority (now Port Authority of New York and New Jersey) cited the bridge as a navigational menace and called for its replacement. With war impending, the War Department in 1941 asked CNJ to replace the swing bridge with a vertical lift to afford better access to the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company on Kearny Point. Plans were made, but the shortage of steel prevented the project from being constructed.{{cite report | title = Plans and Specifications submitted by the Central Railroad Company of New Jersey for Alterations of the Hackensack River Bridge | publisher = Howard, Needles, Tamman, and Bergendoff | date = May 19, 1941 | url = http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/cnj-jersey-central-plans-hackensack-river-bridge | access-date =October 10, 2012 }}

Steamship collision

File:HD Draw (Newark & NY RR) 01.JPG

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.{{cite web | title = Petition of Texas Co. 99 F.Supp. 340 (1951) United States District Court S. D. New York. | publisher = Leagle | date = July 11, 1951 | url = http://www.leagle.com/decision/195143999FSupp340_1371 | access-date = November 10, 2014}} Initial estimates indicated that rail service over the Hackensack would be delayed for three months,{{cite news|title=Steamer Wrecks Bridge in Jersey |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1946/02/04/archives/steamer-wrecks-bridge-in-jersey-6000ton-coal-ship-shears-off-two.html|work=The New York Times|date=February 4, 1946 |access-date=October 8, 2012|page=24}} 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 Newark.French, pg. 32. Similarly, service east of the drawbridge continued to run between the West Side Avenue station and Communipaw Terminal.Railway age, pg. 329.

In October 1946, the CNJ asked the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) for permission to abandon the line.{{citation | title = Asks to Abandon Line Central Railroad of New Jersey Files Plea With the ICC | newspaper = The New York Times | date = October 23, 1946 | url = http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00B13FF3B5C107A93C1AB178BD95F428485F9 | access-date = October 10, 2012}}

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 are still visible in the Hackensack River.

References

Sources

{{cite book|title=Federal supplement|year=1952|publisher=West Pub. Co|access-date=October 9, 2012 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8qcyAAAAIAAJ|volume=99}}
{{cite book|title=Railroads of Hoboken and Jersey City|last=French|first=Kenneth|year=2002|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|isbn=9780738509662|page=128|access-date=October 9, 2012 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R2ugCDdKZEYC}}
{{cite book|title=Railway age|year=1946|publisher=Simmons-Boardman|access-date=October 9, 2012 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5bMlAAAAMAAJ|volume=120}}
{{cite book|title=Railway signaling and communications|year=1922|publisher=Simmons-Boardman Pub. Corp|oclc=1604369|access-date=October 9, 2012 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2JnmAAAAMAAJ|volume=15}}
{{cite book|title=Trains|chapter="Costliest Railroad," now half abandoned|last=Schmidt Jr.|first=W. H.|year=1949|publisher=Kalmbach Publishing Company|access-date=October 9, 2012 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1RoTAAAAIAAJ|volume=9}}