My Grandfather, John Enright, born in Ireland, migrated to the USA, married and raised 8 children in a Jersey City brownstone, was the Chief Freight Dispatcher for the New York Central Rail Road. His office was in the St John's Terminal, the HQ of The Highline.
Rail car float service is still operating between Brooklyn's 65th street yard and Greenville, N.J. by the New York/New Jersey rail company, formerly the New York Cross Harbor Railroad.
My grandfather, George Berkoben, a Prussian/German immigrant came to this country in 1907. He worked for the Leigh Valley RR from 1908-1966 on the company river train barges. I have his kerosene lantern with the mandatory orange globe. Could not be white/red/green since those colors were for marine operations. He travelled with calls at Pabst beer in Hoboken, military terminals in Bayonne. Brooklyn Naval Yard. Open freight to Weehawkin and American fruit warehouses moving incoming tropical fruits for east coast distribution to middle America in reefer railcars.
The New York New Jersey Connecting Railroad still operates a car ferry from New Jersey to the old Army Terminal in Sunset Park Brooklyn. I took some pictures of it operating a month ago from the SI ferry. So one ferry is still in operation.
What a great heritage and story to tell. Here in the San Francisco Bay Area we had the "Solano", a large railroad ferry, built as a reinforced paddle steamer with independently powered sidewheels by the Central Pacific Railroad, that carried entire trains across the Carquinez Strait between Benicia and Port Costa in California daily for 51 years, from 1879 to 1930. When launched, the Solano was the largest ferry of its kind in the world, a record held for 35 years until 1914 when she was joined by her sister ship, the "Contra Costa", which was 13 feet longer. "Solano" was in continuous service, 24 hours a day, between Benicia and Port Costa, from 1 December 1879 to 15 October 1930. In 1904 she was making 36 to 46 crossings every 24 hours, transporting about 115,000 freight cars and 56,000 passenger cars a year.
Hey brother, the rail float in the Greenville yard in Jersey City has been operating transferring cars to Brooklyn. I don’t think it ever stopped. Except during hurricane Sandy when the lift operation was damaged. It was run as NY Cross Harbor railroad and was traded on the stock market. It was then taken over and rebuilt by the Port Authority. It runs now as NJ/NY rail and it has its own website
Good job with this video, I didn't know Governors Island once received rail service. However, there's a few things I'd like to point out to you regarding the Staten Island Ferry and the Staten Island Railroad. The Staten Island Ferry is still in operation today and was never used to transport railroad cars between Staten Island and Manhattan. (White Hall Street Terminal) In the past, prior to the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks, the Staten Island Ferry transported cars and small trucks, but never any railroad equipment. The Staten Island Railroad, along with it's "parent company", the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, (B&O, later the Chessie System) operated a car float operation from their St George Yard adjacent to the Staten Island Ferry Terminal into Manhattan. This operation was abandoned by the Chessie System in 1981. Note, the North Shore Subdivision was NOT abandoned in 1953, following the elimination of commuter rail service between St George and Mariners Harbor, east of Arlington Yard. This line became a non electrified, non signaled freight only, single track line, following the elimination of commuter service. (When the line hosted commuter service, this line had two main tracks, both with a top side running 600 Volt DC Third Rail distribution system, just like the New York Subway.) East of Arlington Yard to St George, the second main track was removed, sometime in the late 1950s or early 60s. There were "float bridges" on both the Staten Island side, as well as the Manhattan side. (The float bridges on the Manhattan side still exists today, but disused.) This car float transported freight from the mainland, (New Jersey via the Arthur Kill Rail Bridge, via the SIRR's North Shore Subdivision) from St George to the lower West Side of Manhattan, between West 26 & 28 Th Streets and 10 & 12 Th Aves. The B&O owned an "off line terminal" there and at least one of those buildings still stands today. The B&O's official eastern most terminal was located in Philadelphia, PA. But the B&O extended their trackage to join with the Reading Company's tracks in Eastern Philadelphia at a place called Park Junction, in the late 1800's. The B&O then bought stocks of share in the Reading Co, Central Railroad of New Jersey and the Lehigh Valley Railroads and acquired trackage rights on those companies. (The B&O had partial ownership of these companies) The B&O, later the Chessie System would use these "proxy roads" to come into New York City. Going eastward from Philadelphia, the B&O would utilize the Reading's tracks to Bound Brook Jct, NJ, switch over to Central Railroad of New Jersey tracks until reaching Cranford Jct, before being back on "home rails". This arrangement would end on April 1st, 1976 when Conrail absorbed the Reading, CNJ and Lehigh Valley Railroads. Conrail management essentially terminated Chessie Systems trackage rights between Park Jct, and Cranford Jct. The Chessie System then sold the operating rights of the SIRR's freight operations to the New York Susquehanna & Western, (in 1985) until Procter & Gamble closed their factory on Staten Island in 1991. These trains would use the B&O's Baltimore & New York Subdivision east of Cranford Jct, to the Arthur Kill Rail Bridge to Staten Island to reach St George. However, not all freight trains ended their runs at the St George Yard, some of them went beyond that towards the South Shore of Staten Island, using what was known as the "Staten Island Rapid Transit", to Tottenville. (The South Shore Line) There was a lot of industries and manufacturers on the South Shore and a local news paper that were freight customers. And some of them, such as Nassau Smelting down in Tottenville and the Staten Island Advance, (the local news paper) along with a few other industries continued to receive rail service until the late 1980s. The last freight train to leave Staten island was in March 9, 1991, when Procter & Gamble closed their Port Ivory Factory. At that time, the Staten Island Railroad from Cranford Jct, NJ to St George, was abandoned. The last passenger train to utilize the tracks of the North Shore Subdivision, was a B&O passenger train that carried Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, in October of 1957. This train carried the Royal Couple up from Washington DC, to Staten Island, after having dinner with President Dwight Eisenhower. (The Royal Couple rode the Staten Island Ferry into Manhattan.) This movement was under extremely tight security and crossed the original Arthur Kill Rail Bridge. This bridge was a steam powered swing bridge, built by B&O in the late 1880s and was severely damaged by an oil tanker ship colliding with the bridge, just about two weeks after the Royal Couple rode a train over it. (I don't know if the bridge was in it's open position or it's closed position when it was struck.) The B&O took this bridge out of service and rerouted all freight trains to Jersey City, via the CNJ Railroad. There, all trains were transported between Jersey City and Staten Island (via car float) and vise versa. This lasted for close to two years, until the B&O replaced the bridge with a vertical lift span bridge. This Bridge has two 215' towers on either side of it and was opened in summer 1959. The new bridge sits a few hundred feet to the north of where the original Arthur Kill Rail Bridge stood. The old bridge wasn't demolished until, sometime in the mid 1960s or early 70s. Freight trains still rolled into Staten Island, until March of 1991. Then in the early 2000's, about two thirds of the Right Of Way was restored on the abandoned portion of the Staten island Railroad. The first freight trains began serving Staten Island in 2007. However, the ROW east of Arlington Yard to St George wasn't restored and still remains disused. The tracks on this part of the ROW have been severed from the ends of active tracks, both in St George and Mariners Harbor. There's been debate about whether to have this portion of the ROW restored as a Light Rail System or the way it was historically, as a Heavy Rail System. God bless.
My pleasure! I'm a train buff and grew up on Staten Island, (but not a native) and remember watching freight trains years ago. I remember seeing a green and yellow EMD SW1200 Switcher engine, probably the Susquehanna's #116, or #120, after they took over in '85. (Might have been both sent to SI to switch the still rai served industries. One of their switchers was a former Chessie System switcher of Pierre Marquette origin.) In addition, the Susquehanna assigned a "low nose" GP18 occasionally, mainly to pull freight on and off SI. The P&G's Port Ivory Plant had their own "in house" rail system, with an interchange at Arlington Yard. P&G operated a rebuilt Baldwin VO1000 switcher that was called the "Mutt" and had P&G's logo on it. I vaguely remember seeing one of the "Susie Q's" SW1200 switchers, in the early afternoon down in the New Dorp section of SI's south shore years ago. I thought that was rather odd, considering the freight engines typically didn't switch the industries along the south shore, until the evening rush hour was over. @@zorkmid1083
when most of the Car float operations ceased in the 70s, many surplused rail road tug boats, were pressed into ship docking services,in the port of New york and Boston , the old carfloats were used by marine contractes, in fact there were a few iron hulled rivited ones in use up till the 1990s great video !
As a kid I remember taking the ferry with our car from Brooklyn to visit family on Staten Island. Then they built the Verrazano Bridge that opened in ‘64. The Staten Island ferry is still very popular as a commuter ferry to Manhattan and it’s free 😊
@@marcellocolona4980 Fortunately, the current terminal at South Ferry had facilities for cars built in, though I don't think they've ever been used. How many boats can even carry cars now?
I was privileged to have traveled on the Lake Michigan Car Ferry, the SS Badger, while it was still transporting rail cars. I saw them shove the cars into the hold. Rail car service was discontinued years ago. SS Badger still plies Lake Michigan but she only carries cars, trucks, and people.
Dude you need to do something on the old tunnel night club. When I went there in the early 90’s, an old man told me the trains used to come right inside the building!
Passenger ferries from Manhattan's Battery Park and Brooklyn still arrive at Governor's Island's ferry terminal shown in the video. Besides the large, relatively young park there, the National Park Service manages two historic harbor defenses there: post-revolution Fort Jay and one of the most unusual Army forts of the early 1800s, the round, red sandstone Castle Williams. Basically, playgrounds for the kids, walking paths and cool forts that defended New York Harbor in the Age of Sail for history-minded adults.
When the various bridges were built in the 1960s, the now obsolete steam powered ferries, tugboats, fire boats, and car floats were sent to Witte's Marine Equipment Yard, 2453 Arthur Kill Rd, Staten Island, NY to be broken up. For a variety of reasons, many of them were never broken up; and their rotting remains are still there today.
As a history enthusiast I enjoy your videos. As a Long Islander these are especially interesting. The Long Island Railroad (LIRR) is steeped in history and still very much used today. In fact the whole island has history dating back before the Revolutionary war. The Nathen Hale story would fit well here as a topic. The tavern where he was betrayed is close to where I live. There are also many buildings, churches and light houses dating back to the 16th century.
Wow! That explains why the leftover hardware was so huge…. Hoboken is a powerful connecting point! Getting the weight and balance correct would take a good engineer with reliable data… and hands actually following the guidance…. Lots of room for a collection of errors.
Northern California had the Sacramento Northern RR, an all electric railroad that ran from Oakland to Chico. It had no bridge across the lower delta area and used a rail ferry that had to be equipped with with overhead power lines to the various locomotives to use. It's all been gone since 1958.
This was a railroad history that was worth watching. I learned some things about the New York City rapid transit system that I should have known as a child.
I'd love to see a version of this for the SF Bay Area. For years, the transcontinental railroad ended in Sacramento, and the trains were ferried down the Sacramento River and the Delta to different areas around the bay, including Marin, Oakland, and San Francisco. Eventually, rails made it to Richmond, Oakland, Emeryville, Sausalito, Tiburon, and San Francisco, among others. The coolest story, though, at least I think, was in 1934. It was the first transfer of civilian (instead of military) inmates to Alcatraz. It was a train from Chicago, and included a few big names, the biggest being Scarface himself, Al Capone. The G Men didn't want to make it easy for people (including Al's buddies) to figure out which way the train was going to go. The most sense would've been probably Oakland or Emeryville, maybe Richmond. But they ended up going with Tiburon, and sailing past Angel Island to get to Alcatraz. It's an amazing story, and there are some great pictures available online. I'd LOVE to see if anyone can find some video, or pictures from INSIDE the train cars (wink wink nudge nudge). Now THAT would be some great history!
When I was very young, some abandoned wasteland in town still showed the imprint of train tracks and loading structures, from an old spur line that lead to the nearby canal, where shipbuilding and metalworks were. Although the tracks had been lifted, the imprint of them and the sleepers was still clear in the earth, like the ghosts of decades past. All landscaped and built over now, but like these remains of the boat-trains, it is fascinating to see these echoes of the yesterdays of our cities gently reminding us of how the town has changed
Fun fact about the long island railroad, when the Pennsylvania railroad took it over, they tried to make it so they could get a train directly to Boston. (The couldn't before because Vanderbilt owned every crossing over the Hudson and otherwise they would have to cross over significantly north of Albany). However they could cheat a *bit* by crossing over in New York city and thus out to long island. Thus there were a few ferries on Long Island. One was in oyster bay. It was so incredibly unsuccessful that after one year they were putting cardboard cutouts in the windows to pretend there were travelers. It wasn't long before that one closed.
That leaves a fairly narrow window of "significantly north" too, centered on Saratoga (itself a valuable destination though) before you get into Lake George and Lake Champlain.
One railroad tugboat served the NYC & Northern RR (NY Central Putnam Division), with a Bronx terminus. Dorothy, launched 1891, was the first hull built by the Newport News Shipbuilding yard. Revered and beautifully restored after 7 decades of service, it's a streetside historical exhibit at the shipyard in Virginia.
Without the Putnam Division, it would have proved even more difficult the transport of military equipment to the European Theater via the Port of NY. It served a vital role few know about.
Great topic. I never knew about the train ferries. The new parks along the East River at Long Island City are wonderful. Now I know what those were for.
cool video! the bay coast railroad used carfloats across the mouth of the chesapeake bay and is what built the towns which is a major piece of history but in 2012 the car ferry system stopped then in 2018 the whole rail line closed due to bankruptcy and the governor tore the rails away and now it is forgotten history
6:07: This photo is of a German ferry; notice the name in German above the cars. Also notice that the cars use a European link/pin coupling with buffers on each side. Also, I'd think that the source of the photo being "Comet Photo AG" would also be a dead giveaway that the source was German....
Paul, when I was in the USAF at Griffiss AFB, NY, my computer shop for security had no windows. So when the power went off, it could be cave dark. Tp prevent that, we had a couple US Navy Battle Lanterns. These were plugged in to a wall outlet. This kept the battery charged. More important, it had a relay so when power went off, it would automatically turn on. These provided enough light so we could power off the computer and then hit the power on relay to put us on generator power. When this happened, we moved quickly to turn everything off, go to backup power, power the computer back up, and resync everything.
There’s still an old train float pier next to The Delaware Memorial Bridge here in Delaware that they used to float freight cars across the Delaware river to the DuPont gun powder factory in Deepwater NJ. We used to play on it as kids. If you ever travel into Delaware from the north, look to the right and you’ll see it.
Car ferries crossed Lake Michigan between Michigan and Wisconsin, and at least one has been converted to an automobile and passenger service, to this day.
My grandfather Jesse Anderson worked for the Lehigh Valley RR, starting in the Jersey City rail yard and ending as Captain of the Tugboat Cornell. He would take multiple floats of coal cars up the East River. Last I heard the Cornell is still around the NY area, but I am uncertain where.
Oyster Bay was the home of the Culper Spy Ring,and Raynam Hall has an exhibit on it! Yeah,and the OB branch is one of the most scenic lines on the Long Island,worth the trip! Thank you 😇 😊!
The north side of Williamsburg from n. 3rd. To n. 10th.,between Kent ave. And berry st. We’re storage for freight cars going on and off the barges to Manhattan into the 1970’s.- there were crossing gates on Kent ave. And whyte ave. - the cars were used for the factories in the area, goods going in and out.
Railroad Barge or car float. There are a few still in use. One of them just has about a mile of track on the US side of the border. It makes the cargo hauled cheeper because it was on a rail car across the Great Lakes.
I had taken the C.R.R. Company of New Jersey ferry, departing (now) Liberty Terminal in Jersey City with the ferry landing at Liberty Street in New York City. For the price of a ticket you got a train ride and a boat ride.
Yes, in the Bronx. A tiny property with a circular warehouse encircled by rails. A very creative way to install a full freight transfer yard in a space too small to build a conventional transfer facility. Trains were unloaded from car floats and spotted on a track where their doors aligned with the doors on the outside of the warehouse. freight was moved through the warehouse to be loaded onto trucks that would enter the inner loading zone where they would back up to the warehouse doors that opened onto the loading zone. The operation was run by a consortium of several major railroads. I don't remember the name of this system. Maybe New York and Harlem?
NYC was not always the playground for Kidults and their trust fund babies. Actual working class people once lived and labored here. These are the vestiges of the people that built this great city.
Hey I work for the marouns (owners of ambassador bridge) there's one of these train docks on my yard with the huge train barge sank right in the middle can you do some research on it it's on the north side of the ambassador on the river. Can you do some research on it
I don't remember past your cars ever being furried across the rivers. I do remember freight cars being from your across the rivers. It was usually done on barges that were pulled by tugboats
Another use of the ferry terminals in Brooklyn is to bring in work locomotives and Subway electrical multiple units built in Nebraska while Yonkers built are trucked in. German equivalents to NYC Train ferry are 1963-2022 Eisenbahnfahre Puttgarden Rødby Eisenbahnfahre Rostock/Warnemünde-Gedser/Trelleborg Saßnitz Trelleborg breitspur Sassnitz Memel Ostpreußen. Of those train ferry routes in Germany only the Puttgarden Rødby Vogelfluglinie are featured in u.s. military travel magazine for Europe because it is in West Germany. The other ones I mentioned are in the former East Germany
Back in the day building bridges was expensive and I think train ferry’s were cheaper so they did that but times changed and bridges became cheaper and ferry’s expensive
I remember being in jersey city by the docks and saw the train tracks that went all the way to the river. I remember saying to myself how the hell did they get to the other side of the river? now I know.
What a tragic loss of an architectural and engineering masterpiece to be replaced by: a parking lot? Thanks for remembering the once iconic structure so later generations can marvel.
Even if you had the use of today's computers, that would be one huge logistics nightmare, especially as you have to remember that it involved more than just a couple of rail companies!
@16:54 There were no closer scrap yards to NYC than Ohio? Sounds like someone made a ton of money disposing those NYC subway cars! Nice to see graft still exists in the 21st century!! 💸💸💸😜😁😂
There was NEVER a passenger float ferry from Long Island City to anywhere. The car floats that remain as a significant part of the Long Island Rail Road and the Pennsylvania system were always for freight. Please check your facts.
My Grandfather, John Enright, born in Ireland, migrated to the USA, married and raised 8 children in a Jersey City brownstone, was the Chief Freight Dispatcher for the New York Central Rail Road. His office was in the St John's Terminal, the HQ of The Highline.
That's amazing
Rail car float service is still operating between Brooklyn's 65th street yard and Greenville, N.J. by the New York/New Jersey rail company, formerly the New York Cross Harbor Railroad.
I dont know how he missed thos
My grandfather, George Berkoben, a Prussian/German immigrant came to this country in 1907. He worked for the Leigh Valley RR from 1908-1966 on the company river train barges. I have his kerosene lantern with the mandatory orange globe.
Could not be white/red/green since those colors were for marine operations. He travelled with calls at Pabst beer in Hoboken, military terminals in Bayonne. Brooklyn Naval Yard. Open freight to Weehawkin and American fruit warehouses moving incoming tropical fruits for east coast distribution to middle America in reefer railcars.
He mentioned both places but didn't mention they work together. 🤦♂️
This Operation should be expanded !
As a New Yorker, I am happy you finally did a video about these old train relics by the Hudson.
The New York New Jersey Connecting Railroad still operates a car ferry from New Jersey to the old Army Terminal in Sunset Park Brooklyn. I took some pictures of it operating a month ago from the SI ferry. So one ferry is still in operation.
The last one.
What a great heritage and story to tell. Here in the San Francisco Bay Area we had the "Solano", a large railroad ferry, built as a reinforced paddle steamer with independently powered sidewheels by the Central Pacific Railroad, that carried entire trains across the Carquinez Strait between Benicia and Port Costa in California daily for 51 years, from 1879 to 1930. When launched, the Solano was the largest ferry of its kind in the world, a record held for 35 years until 1914 when she was joined by her sister ship, the "Contra Costa", which was 13 feet longer. "Solano" was in continuous service, 24 hours a day, between Benicia and Port Costa, from 1 December 1879 to 15 October 1930. In 1904 she was making 36 to 46 crossings every 24 hours, transporting about 115,000 freight cars and 56,000 passenger cars a year.
Without a doubt, one of the best history sites on TH-cam.
Hey brother, the rail float in the Greenville yard in Jersey City has been operating transferring cars to Brooklyn. I don’t think it ever stopped. Except during hurricane Sandy when the lift operation was damaged. It was run as NY Cross Harbor railroad and was traded on the stock market. It was then taken over and rebuilt by the Port Authority. It runs now as NJ/NY rail and it has its own website
You are right they are still operating to this day
You'd think he would have found that out before pronouncing the demise of them all by 1978.
Ferry
Floats
Manhattan
Long island
1876
Deck
Upper deck open to sky
Weather delays
Multiple decks
Single deck
Upper roof single deck
East river tunnel
At 2:01 - the Mohawk & Hudson connected "AWL-buhny" and Schenectady, not "El-benny", or whatever you called New York State's capitol city.
The map at the opening is NOT the New York Central system but ALL of the different railroads in the NY-NJ area-PRR, Erie, DLW, LV, etc.
Good job with this video, I didn't know Governors Island once received rail service. However, there's a few things I'd like to point out to you regarding the Staten Island Ferry and the Staten Island Railroad. The Staten Island Ferry is still in operation today and was never used to transport railroad cars between Staten Island and Manhattan. (White Hall Street Terminal) In the past, prior to the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks, the Staten Island Ferry transported cars and small trucks, but never any railroad equipment. The Staten Island Railroad, along with it's "parent company", the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, (B&O, later the Chessie System) operated a car float operation from their St George Yard adjacent to the Staten Island Ferry Terminal into Manhattan. This operation was abandoned by the Chessie System in 1981. Note, the North Shore Subdivision was NOT abandoned in 1953, following the elimination of commuter rail service between St George and Mariners Harbor, east of Arlington Yard. This line became a non electrified, non signaled freight only, single track line, following the elimination of commuter service. (When the line hosted commuter service, this line had two main tracks, both with a top side running 600 Volt DC Third Rail distribution system, just like the New York Subway.) East of Arlington Yard to St George, the second main track was removed, sometime in the late 1950s or early 60s. There were "float bridges" on both the Staten Island side, as well as the Manhattan side. (The float bridges on the Manhattan side still exists today, but disused.) This car float transported freight from the mainland, (New Jersey via the Arthur Kill Rail Bridge, via the SIRR's North Shore Subdivision) from St George to the lower West Side of Manhattan, between West 26 & 28 Th Streets and 10 & 12 Th Aves. The B&O owned an "off line terminal" there and at least one of those buildings still stands today. The B&O's official eastern most terminal was located in Philadelphia, PA. But the B&O extended their trackage to join with the Reading Company's tracks in Eastern Philadelphia at a place called Park Junction, in the late 1800's. The B&O then bought stocks of share in the Reading Co, Central Railroad of New Jersey and the Lehigh Valley Railroads and acquired trackage rights on those companies. (The B&O had partial ownership of these companies) The B&O, later the Chessie System would use these "proxy roads" to come into New York City. Going eastward from Philadelphia, the B&O would utilize the Reading's tracks to Bound Brook Jct, NJ, switch over to Central Railroad of New Jersey tracks until reaching Cranford Jct, before being back on "home rails". This arrangement would end on April 1st, 1976 when Conrail absorbed the Reading, CNJ and Lehigh Valley Railroads. Conrail management essentially terminated Chessie Systems trackage rights between Park Jct, and Cranford Jct. The Chessie System then sold the operating rights of the SIRR's freight operations to the New York Susquehanna & Western, (in 1985) until Procter & Gamble closed their factory on Staten Island in 1991. These trains would use the B&O's Baltimore & New York Subdivision east of Cranford Jct, to the Arthur Kill Rail Bridge to Staten Island to reach St George. However, not all freight trains ended their runs at the St George Yard, some of them went beyond that towards the South Shore of Staten Island, using what was known as the "Staten Island Rapid Transit", to Tottenville. (The South Shore Line) There was a lot of industries and manufacturers on the South Shore and a local news paper that were freight customers. And some of them, such as Nassau Smelting down in Tottenville and the Staten Island Advance, (the local news paper) along with a few other industries continued to receive rail service until the late 1980s. The last freight train to leave Staten island was in March 9, 1991, when Procter & Gamble closed their Port Ivory Factory. At that time, the Staten Island Railroad from Cranford Jct, NJ to St George, was abandoned. The last passenger train to utilize the tracks of the North Shore Subdivision, was a B&O passenger train that carried Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, in October of 1957. This train carried the Royal Couple up from Washington DC, to Staten Island, after having dinner with President Dwight Eisenhower. (The Royal Couple rode the Staten Island Ferry into Manhattan.) This movement was under extremely tight security and crossed the original Arthur Kill Rail Bridge. This bridge was a steam powered swing bridge, built by B&O in the late 1880s and was severely damaged by an oil tanker ship colliding with the bridge, just about two weeks after the Royal Couple rode a train over it. (I don't know if the bridge was in it's open position or it's closed position when it was struck.) The B&O took this bridge out of service and rerouted all freight trains to Jersey City, via the CNJ Railroad. There, all trains were transported between Jersey City and Staten Island (via car float) and vise versa. This lasted for close to two years, until the B&O replaced the bridge with a vertical lift span bridge. This Bridge has two 215' towers on either side of it and was opened in summer 1959. The new bridge sits a few hundred feet to the north of where the original Arthur Kill Rail Bridge stood. The old bridge wasn't demolished until, sometime in the mid 1960s or early 70s. Freight trains still rolled into Staten Island, until March of 1991. Then in the early 2000's, about two thirds of the Right Of Way was restored on the abandoned portion of the Staten island Railroad. The first freight trains began serving Staten Island in 2007. However, the ROW east of Arlington Yard to St George wasn't restored and still remains disused. The tracks on this part of the ROW have been severed from the ends of active tracks, both in St George and Mariners Harbor. There's been debate about whether to have this portion of the ROW restored as a Light Rail System or the way it was historically, as a Heavy Rail System. God bless.
It was a lot to read, but thank you so much for the corrections and the additional info!
My pleasure! I'm a train buff and grew up on Staten Island, (but not a native) and remember watching freight trains years ago. I remember seeing a green and yellow EMD SW1200 Switcher engine, probably the Susquehanna's #116, or #120, after they took over in '85. (Might have been both sent to SI to switch the still rai served industries. One of their switchers was a former Chessie System switcher of Pierre Marquette origin.) In addition, the Susquehanna assigned a "low nose" GP18 occasionally, mainly to pull freight on and off SI. The P&G's Port Ivory Plant had their own "in house" rail system, with an interchange at Arlington Yard. P&G operated a rebuilt Baldwin VO1000 switcher that was called the "Mutt" and had P&G's logo on it. I vaguely remember seeing one of the "Susie Q's" SW1200 switchers, in the early afternoon down in the New Dorp section of SI's south shore years ago. I thought that was rather odd, considering the freight engines typically didn't switch the industries along the south shore, until the evening rush hour was over. @@zorkmid1083
when most of the Car float operations ceased in the 70s, many surplused rail road tug boats, were pressed into ship docking services,in the port of New york and Boston , the old carfloats were used by marine contractes, in fact there were a few iron hulled rivited ones in use up till the 1990s great video !
How very Remarkable!...I should think few New York residents are aware of this part of their City's. Transport History...thankyou...dgp/uk
Always appreciate your videos!
As a kid I remember taking the ferry with our car from Brooklyn to visit family on Staten Island. Then they built the Verrazano Bridge that opened in ‘64. The Staten Island ferry is still very popular as a commuter ferry to Manhattan and it’s free 😊
But no more cars after 9/11/01.
They did that until the 70s early 80s
@@marcellocolona4980good
@@marcellocolona4980 Fortunately, the current terminal at South Ferry had facilities for cars built in, though I don't think they've ever been used. How many boats can even carry cars now?
@@zorkmid1083 Cape May-Lewes Ferry
There were at least 4 different transfer bridges in the Bronx with the largest at Oak Point yard.
I was privileged to have traveled on the Lake Michigan Car Ferry, the SS Badger, while it was still transporting rail cars. I saw them shove the cars into the hold. Rail car service was discontinued years ago. SS Badger still plies Lake Michigan but she only carries cars, trucks, and people.
Wow that is a good one, I never knew they once carried trains.
Dude you need to do something on the old tunnel night club. When I went there in the early 90’s, an old man told me the trains used to come right inside the building!
Passenger ferries from Manhattan's Battery Park and Brooklyn still arrive at Governor's Island's ferry terminal shown in the video. Besides the large, relatively young park there, the National Park Service manages two historic harbor defenses there: post-revolution Fort Jay and one of the most unusual Army forts of the early 1800s, the round, red sandstone Castle Williams. Basically, playgrounds for the kids, walking paths and cool forts that defended New York Harbor in the Age of Sail for history-minded adults.
When the various bridges were built in the 1960s, the now obsolete steam powered ferries, tugboats, fire boats, and car floats were sent to Witte's Marine Equipment Yard, 2453 Arthur Kill Rd, Staten Island, NY to be broken up. For a variety of reasons, many of them were never broken up; and their rotting remains are still there today.
As a history enthusiast I enjoy your videos. As a Long Islander these are especially interesting. The Long Island Railroad (LIRR) is steeped in history and still very much used today. In fact the whole island has history dating back before the Revolutionary war. The Nathen Hale story would fit well here as a topic. The tavern where he was betrayed is close to where I live. There are also many buildings, churches and light houses dating back to the 16th century.
Lighthouses on LI dating back to the 16th century? Please share more! Montauk light was the oldest I thought
@@marvingreenspank251 Buildings and churches. Yes Montauk Point is the oldest lighthouse at 1792. GW himself commissioned that one.
@@fortress1133 thanks for clarifying. Also, fascinating to know GW commissioned the Montauk Light
Ny dock railway operated until august of 1983!
Governors island railroad was abandoned in the 30s dude get your facts straight there are many errors in your statements !😡
Just found this channel. I'm impressed
Wow! That explains why the leftover hardware was so huge…. Hoboken is a powerful connecting point!
Getting the weight and balance correct would take a good engineer with reliable data… and hands actually following the guidance…. Lots of room for a collection of errors.
Northern California had the Sacramento Northern RR, an all electric railroad that ran from Oakland to Chico. It had no bridge across the lower delta area and used a rail ferry that had to be equipped with with overhead power lines to the various locomotives to use. It's all been gone since 1958.
This was a railroad history that was worth watching. I learned some things about the New York City rapid transit system that I should have known as a child.
I'd love to see a version of this for the SF Bay Area. For years, the transcontinental railroad ended in Sacramento, and the trains were ferried down the Sacramento River and the Delta to different areas around the bay, including Marin, Oakland, and San Francisco. Eventually, rails made it to Richmond, Oakland, Emeryville, Sausalito, Tiburon, and San Francisco, among others. The coolest story, though, at least I think, was in 1934. It was the first transfer of civilian (instead of military) inmates to Alcatraz. It was a train from Chicago, and included a few big names, the biggest being Scarface himself, Al Capone. The G Men didn't want to make it easy for people (including Al's buddies) to figure out which way the train was going to go. The most sense would've been probably Oakland or Emeryville, maybe Richmond. But they ended up going with Tiburon, and sailing past Angel Island to get to Alcatraz. It's an amazing story, and there are some great pictures available online. I'd LOVE to see if anyone can find some video, or pictures from INSIDE the train cars (wink wink nudge nudge). Now THAT would be some great history!
When I was very young, some abandoned wasteland in town still showed the imprint of train tracks and loading structures, from an old spur line that lead to the nearby canal, where shipbuilding and metalworks were. Although the tracks had been lifted, the imprint of them and the sleepers was still clear in the earth, like the ghosts of decades past. All landscaped and built over now, but like these remains of the boat-trains, it is fascinating to see these echoes of the yesterdays of our cities gently reminding us of how the town has changed
It is appropriate for freight cars to be a barge, since a tugboat is kind of like a floating locomotive.
One quibble: Chelsea Piers is actually the old Cunard and White Star piers (59, 60 and 61). Pier 66 is currently a restaurant.
Ryan, nice story, but we truely enjoy your Chicargo stuff.
There used to be train floats from Detroit to Windsor and you can see their crumbling remains on the Detroit side from the Ambassador Bridge.
Fun fact about the long island railroad, when the Pennsylvania railroad took it over, they tried to make it so they could get a train directly to Boston. (The couldn't before because Vanderbilt owned every crossing over the Hudson and otherwise they would have to cross over significantly north of Albany). However they could cheat a *bit* by crossing over in New York city and thus out to long island. Thus there were a few ferries on Long Island. One was in oyster bay. It was so incredibly unsuccessful that after one year they were putting cardboard cutouts in the windows to pretend there were travelers. It wasn't long before that one closed.
That leaves a fairly narrow window of "significantly north" too, centered on Saratoga (itself a valuable destination though) before you get into Lake George and Lake Champlain.
Thank you for this content! Great channel love the history!
Thanks so much for this video! When the Erie RR still existed, the Nyack "Flyer" took commuters at 8am and dropped them at Wall St by 9am.
One railroad tugboat served the NYC & Northern RR (NY Central Putnam Division), with a Bronx terminus. Dorothy, launched 1891, was the first hull built by the Newport News Shipbuilding yard. Revered and beautifully restored after 7 decades of service, it's a streetside historical exhibit at the shipyard in Virginia.
Without the Putnam Division, it would have proved even more difficult the transport of military equipment to the European Theater via the Port of NY. It served a vital role few know about.
Great topic. I never knew about the train ferries. The new parks along the East River at Long Island City are wonderful. Now I know what those were for.
Amazing I never knew this. Thanks for uploading.
cool video! the bay coast railroad used carfloats across the mouth of the chesapeake bay and is what built the towns which is a major piece of history but in 2012 the car ferry system stopped then in 2018 the whole rail line closed due to bankruptcy and the governor tore the rails away and now it is forgotten history
6:07: This photo is of a German ferry; notice the name in German above the cars. Also notice that the cars use a European link/pin coupling with buffers on each side. Also, I'd think that the source of the photo being "Comet Photo AG" would also be a dead giveaway that the source was German....
Paul, when I was in the USAF at Griffiss AFB, NY, my computer shop for security had no windows. So when the power went off, it could be cave dark. Tp prevent that, we had a couple US Navy Battle Lanterns. These were plugged in to a wall outlet. This kept the battery charged. More important, it had a relay so when power went off, it would automatically turn on. These provided enough light so we could power off the computer and then hit the power on relay to put us on generator power.
When this happened, we moved quickly to turn everything off, go to backup power, power the computer back up, and resync everything.
Actually sounds magnificent!
YOUR BACKGROUND GRAPHICS IS FREEKING ME OUT
Cool video thank you
There’s still an old train float pier next to The Delaware Memorial Bridge here in Delaware that they used to float freight cars across the Delaware river to the DuPont gun powder factory in Deepwater NJ. We used to play on it as kids. If you ever travel into Delaware from the north, look to the right and you’ll see it.
NEVER EVER was there a train ferry from St. George to Whitehall, Manhattan! PLEASE check your facts!!!!!!
This is awesome. I just visited this area and was wondering how they were used. Thank you.
Had no clue this even existed! Very fascinating to learn about!
I remember them well even worked for the railroad in carfloat operations
Car ferries crossed Lake Michigan between Michigan and Wisconsin, and at least one has been converted to an automobile and passenger service, to this day.
Love the SS Badger
Great topic, great video👌🏾. As a Harlem native, I’m always surprised by the former RR lines no longer around.
My grandfather Jesse Anderson worked for the Lehigh Valley RR, starting in the Jersey City rail yard and ending as Captain of the Tugboat Cornell. He would take multiple floats of coal cars up the East River. Last I heard the Cornell is still around the NY area, but I am uncertain where.
Fourth Avenue in Manhattan is Lexington Ave,. not Park.
Oyster Bay was the home of the Culper Spy Ring,and Raynam Hall has an exhibit on it! Yeah,and the OB branch is one of the most scenic lines on the Long Island,worth the trip! Thank you 😇 😊!
I love history
Interesting, thank you.
The picture at 5:43 is rather famous and was also used on a pictorial book cover.
The north side of Williamsburg from n. 3rd. To n. 10th.,between Kent ave. And berry st. We’re storage for freight cars going on and off the barges to Manhattan into the 1970’s.- there were crossing gates on Kent ave. And whyte ave. - the cars were used for the factories in the area, goods going in and out.
Would you please provide some of your resources? I would like to do more research on this topic. Thanks
If mentioning NYC to Hoboken/JC you should also make a video of the construction and history of the Hudson and Manhattan tubes (PATH)
Railroad Barge or car float. There are a few still in use. One of them just has about a mile of track on the US side of the border. It makes the cargo hauled cheeper because it was on a rail car across the Great Lakes.
I had taken the C.R.R. Company of New Jersey ferry, departing (now) Liberty Terminal
in Jersey City with the ferry landing at Liberty Street in New York City.
For the price of a ticket you got a train ride and a boat ride.
You should do south jersey in Cape May County and Atlantic County and the townships of their train system
Was there a round yard around a building in new york ?
Yes, in the Bronx. A tiny property with a circular warehouse encircled by rails. A very creative way to install a full freight transfer yard in a space too small to build a conventional transfer facility. Trains were unloaded from car floats and spotted on a track where their doors aligned with the doors on the outside of the warehouse. freight was moved through the warehouse to be loaded onto trucks that would enter the inner loading zone where they would back up to the warehouse doors that opened onto the loading zone. The operation was run by a consortium of several major railroads. I don't remember the name of this system. Maybe New York and Harlem?
NYC was not always the playground for Kidults and their trust fund babies. Actual working class people once lived and labored here. These are the vestiges of the people that built this great city.
Hey I work for the marouns (owners of ambassador bridge) there's one of these train docks on my yard with the huge train barge sank right in the middle can you do some research on it it's on the north side of the ambassador on the river. Can you do some research on it
Bro you are the new History Channel. Because the History channel isn’t the history channel anymore.
Thanks
Wow, I grew up in NJ/NY and had no idea this was a thing
There is still a ferry between the Italian mainland and Sicily that carries passenger train cars.
I don't remember past your cars ever being furried across the rivers. I do remember freight cars being from your across the rivers. It was usually done on barges that were pulled by tugboats
Another use of the ferry terminals in Brooklyn is to bring in work locomotives and Subway electrical multiple units built in Nebraska while Yonkers built are trucked in. German equivalents to NYC Train ferry are 1963-2022 Eisenbahnfahre Puttgarden Rødby Eisenbahnfahre Rostock/Warnemünde-Gedser/Trelleborg Saßnitz Trelleborg breitspur Sassnitz Memel Ostpreußen. Of those train ferry routes in Germany only the Puttgarden Rødby Vogelfluglinie are featured in u.s. military travel magazine for Europe because it is in West Germany. The other ones I mentioned are in the former East Germany
There is still carfloat service in New York today.
The image at 6:18 is actually a european train ferry not one in New York.
I wish these were still active
The tidal forces in both the Hudson and East rivers vary widely every six hours. They could have been (were?) difficult to operate.
Back in the day building bridges was expensive and I think train ferry’s were cheaper so they did that but times changed and bridges became cheaper and ferry’s expensive
It’s not Al-bany, it’s All-bany.
I remember being in jersey city by the docks and saw the train tracks that went all the way to the river. I remember saying to myself how the hell did they get to the other side of the river? now I know.
We still have a train ferry near Vancouver bc
I assume this is why several railroads in the area owned tug boats.
What a tragic loss of an architectural and engineering masterpiece to be replaced by: a parking lot? Thanks for remembering the once iconic structure so later generations can marvel.
Sorry. Comment pertains to previous content!
I'm surpised they didn't have many accidents where the freight cars came loose and fell into the bay or the weight capsized the bsrges.
Even if you had the use of today's computers, that would be one huge logistics nightmare, especially as you have to remember that it involved more than just a couple of rail companies!
Floating freight cars is still done today in NYC.
7:48 Pete Davidson and Collin Jost own that boat 😂
I always wondered what the heck those things were. They were in GTA too lol
And it's why it's the trucks that come in now
How do you say Albany?
Wouldn't be more accurate to say that the boat took the trains to Manhattan?
You need to create a channel called "its train history"...
@16:54 There were no closer scrap yards to NYC than Ohio?
Sounds like someone made a ton of money disposing those NYC subway cars!
Nice to see graft still exists in the 21st century!!
💸💸💸😜😁😂
Back east, it's All-ban-E, not Al-Ban-E, 😊
There was NEVER a passenger float ferry from Long Island City to anywhere. The car floats that remain as a significant part of the Long Island Rail Road and the Pennsylvania system were always for freight. Please check your facts.
The Virgin of Governor's Island
If anyone has risen a ferry on a car, you l ow they are overstating inefficiencies just to try to make a point
…and everything worked so well. NOT like nowadays.
First Ferries, but later car floats using barges.
Those remaining floats are now the centerpiece of Gantry State Park and are totally non-functional.
who taught this guy the names of NYC locations?
I used to take care of the horses for the New York & Harlem RR. They ate like elephants.
Car float. Trains wouldn't be ferried, but railcars would.