Please note:
This page will deal only with the
freight carfloating operations of the Long Island Rail Road at Long
Island City / Hunters Point.
Freight traffic arriving over Hell Gate Bridge after 1916;
passenger railroad or passenger ferry
operations will not be discussed, nor will modern era of operation under New York & Atlantic Railway.
.
The earliest reference located so far as to a freight terminal
being constructed in Long Island City at Hunters Point; dates
1872 under the Flushing & Northside Railroad, but it is not
noted if there was an actual float bridge in operation at this time
or whether this was simply a pier station operation. From historical
accounting, it was a freight terminal which received directly from
bulkhead offloading or freight carriage from the passenger ferries two
blocks to the south.
While passenger service is well documented: in 1861, the Long
Island Railroad was persuaded to move its Brooklyn terminus (ferry) to
Hunters Point. Travelers from Manhattan now disembarked here from the
Thirty-Fourth Street ferry to transfer to the railroad.
Freight service is another matter. The only historical reference (of reasonable accuracy) is the following:
"When the road first opened in 1867, all the offices and shops
were located in Jamaica. Since the road owned very little rolling stock
and land at first, these facilities were poor and limited; one flimsy
engine house blew down in a winter storm in December 1867.
Just
as soon as the decision was made to fix the Brooklyn terminus at
Bushwick, all the administrative offices were transferred there on
August 5, 1868, and the engine and machine shops soon followed.
The problem of handling freight inspired the construction of a
dock facility on Newtown Creek. The Brooklyn terminus at Bushwick was a
mile from the waterfront and the single track line through crowded
residential streets made freight car movements difficult; one of the
most profitable viz. the handling of manure, was expressly forbidden as
a health menace. In August 1868 the directors planned the spur to the
new dock and in March 1869 a bill was introduced into the Legislature
to permit such construction.
Over the summer the
single track spur was laid from the main line at about the present
junction of Metropolitan & Flushing Avenues north to the dock just
above where Maspeth Avenue used to intersect Newtown Creek before it
was obliterated by the Navy Yard. Whether there were cranes here for loading and unloading manure barges is uncertain; however,
the railroad went ahead in February 1872 with another freight dock at
Hunter's Point installing $25,000 worth of facilities."
The Long Island Rail Road: A Comprehensive History, Part One: South Side R.R. of L.I.
by Vincent F. Seyfried
Chapter IV: Operations: 1867–1872
As the population grew, and slowly migrated east from the city
proper; so did the need for commodities to be delivered out farther and farther to the Island; as well as
growing manufacturing industries taking place on Long Island to be shipped out west. The Long Island Rail Road was the only game
in town. There was no competing railroads that could vie for freight customers
on Long Island.
Freight car interchange via carfloating took place with the following railroads:
Baltimore & Ohio
Central RR of New Jersey
Delaware, Lackawanna & Western
Erie
Lehigh Valley
New York Central / West Shore
New York, New Haven & Hartford
New York, Susquehanna & Western
Pennsylvania
The only land connection for interchange traffic to / from the Long Island Rail Road, was with the South Brooklyn Railway at Parkville Junction.
The South Brooklyn Railway is the freight subsidiary of the New York City
Transit Authority. Subway cars both incoming new cars and outgoing old
cars for either rebuilding or scrapping were handled at this location,
as well track materials: Ballast, rail. rail appliances (spikes, tie
plates joiner bars, cross ties; etc. Parkville Junction was
located on the Bay Ridge Branch, which was 3 1/4 miles east of 65th Street - Bay Ridge Yard, and 8 1/2 mile south and west of Fresh Pond Junction.
The Long Island Rail Road would remain secure in this position on freight traffic even with the
opening of the joint New York, New Haven and Hartford
Railroad / Pennsylvania Railroad 65th Street - Bay Ridge Yard in that
year 1916, as the Long Island Rail Road would be tasked with local
delivery of freight along the Bay Ridge Branch connecting 65th Street
Yard with their yard at Fresh Pond.
The following year saw the opening of
the Hell Gate Bridge on March 9, 1917; and now another, final link was in place: all freight car traffic that was
transported throughout Long Island, (other than those locked
within the independent contract terminals via carfloat) had to come and go through
Long Island Rail Roads facilities.
But for those years prior to 1916, the only
way carload freight traffic to western Queens, Nassau and Suffolk
Counties; was reliant on the Long Island City freight terminal.
And so, the Long Island Rail Road Freight Terminal was an offline
terminal from 1872 to 1917, then of which became an online terminal by
proxy with connections to the Bronx and north via the New York
Connecting Railroad (NYNH&H / PRR & LIRR) and the Hell Gate
Bridge; and to the south and west via the Bay Ridge Branch (NYNH&H
/ PRR / LIRR) and to the carfloat terminal at 65th Street - Bay Ridge
Yard; and by carfloat connection to Pennsylvania RR at Greenville, NJ.
And since the Pennsylvania RR owned the LIRR after 1900, there was
plenty of freight business routed to the LIRR.
Notice the yard in the middle of this intersection of lines:
Fresh Pond Yard which would become a junction: to the west: Hunters
Point and Long Island City, and to the east: Jamaica Terminal and all
of Long Island. Not shown are smaller secondary freight yards,
passenger branch lines or passenger yards. This would be the basic
freight routes of of the LIRR after 1917.
Long Island Rail Road
Main Freight Routes - Post 1916
Secondaries and Industrial Branches not shown
added 08 May 2024
Long Island Rail Road
Freight Yards and Terminals in immediate vicinity of Long Island City, Queens, NY
Minor Yards, Secondaries and Branches - 1955
excerpt from New York Harbor Terminals Map - 1955 edition
Port of New York Authority
collection of author
added 08 May 2024
As discussed on the NYNH&H / PRR / NY Connecting RR / LIRR page regarding the 65th Street - Bay Ridge Yard;
routing through Brooklyn, over the Hell Gate to the Bronx cut
several hours of marine transit through the congested East River as
well as through often treacherous confluence the of East River, Bronx
Kill, Harlem River
and Long Island Sound at Hell Gate.
As such, even though their primary business was passenger
hauling; the Long Island Rail Road turned a fairly good profit over the
decades, in providing freight service to Brooklyn, Queens, and Nassau & Suffolk counties on Long Island.
As would be seen with the other railroads
in the Northeast; what with the proliferation of a vast network of
connecting highways, and the Eisenhower Interstate System; freight rail
traffic began to diminish in the late 1950's.
While the
Long Island Rail Road ceased owning marine vessels outright in 1963, it would
transfer
their marine assets to their parent organization, the Pennsylvania
Railroad; freight traffic via carfloat to the Long Island City transfer bridges would continue, albeit diminishing each year.
Following the 1968 merger of the Pennsylvania and New York Central Railroads; carfloat service
would fall to Penn Central to perform. But even this would be short lived, with Penn Central filing for bankruptcy in 1970.
In or around 1972, the Long Island Rail Road ceased operations of
their own carfloating; with carfloating services to the Long
Island City location was now contracted to the Erie Lackawanna and
Lehigh Valley Railroads
(Report of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation -
1977, Railroad Improvement Act, Hearings US Senate July 1977.)
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It was very shortly after this set of Hearings, that carfloating to Long Island City ceased altogether in 1978.
However, it is imperative to note that freight traffic on the
Long Island Rail Road did not cease and continued uninterrupted,
by service via the overland route; through Sunnyside Yards and Fresh
Pond Yard via the Hell Gate Bridge.
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We are quite fortunate to have a good selection of property atlases and maps dating back to 1873.
Referencing
an 1873 Beers, Comstock & Cline
Atlas of Long Island, clearly shows tracks
to this location under the LIRR predecessor Flushing & North Side
Railroad. However, at this time, this was believed to be solely a
freight station with no float bridges. Historical accounting states
that freight was brought over by passenger ferry just to the south at
West Second Street.
Beers, Comstock & Cline Atlas of Long Island - 1873
New York Public Library Digital Collection
Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division
added 04 May 2024
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This next plate, dated 1891 and published by Chester Wolverton, it
appears a pair of transfer bridges are shown at the foot of Fifth
Street. Second Street has been renamed Borden Avenue; and we now see an
extensive yard on the shoreline of Newtown Creek, which would be come to be known as
Wheelspur Yard.
C. Wolverton Atlas of Queens Co., Long Island, New York; Wards 1 & 3 - 1891
Plate 4
New York Public Library Digital Collection
Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division
added 04 May 2024
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By this next plate dated 1903 and published by E. Belcher Hyde,
clearly shows two float bridges and slips at the foot of Fifth Street,
now being called Hunters Point Avenue.
E. Belcher Hyde Atlas of the Borough of Queens - 1903
Volume 2, Plate1
New York Public Library Digital Collection
Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division
added 04 May 2024
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By this next plate dated 1909 and published by G. W. Bromley,
now reflects an expansion of the freight terminal with the addition of
two more float bridges; actually the Mallory Design overhead suspended
swiveling head block design, however by this date they were already modified by James French.
This plate also show the the area northeast of Hunters Point
Avenue marked as a freight yard. This is what would become known as the
Arch Street Freight Yard, which would be tied into Sunnyside Yards to
the northeast.
We also see the beginnings of the Brooklyn Eastern
District Terminal appearance at Pidgeon Street (lower left corner.)
G. W. Bromley Atlas of the Borough of Queens - 1909
Volume 2, Plate 1
New York Public Library Digital Collection
Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division
added 04 May 2024
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These next maps are from the "Red Survey" waterfront survey maps held by the New York Municipal Archives. Please click on the maps below for large scale - high resolution versions.
Queens Waterfront Survey Map - Map 22
New York Municipal Archives - Image ID REC0133_1_1129
added 28 July 2026
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Queens Waterfront Survey Map - Map 21
New York Municipal Archives - Image ID REC0133_1_1129
added 28 July 2026
This next plate dated 1909 (revised to 1912) and published by E.
Belcher Hyde,
now shows details of Arch Street Freight Yard as well as the southwest
expansion and encroachment of Sunnyside Yards to Hunters Point Avenue.
Also by this date, a spur leads into the PRR Power Station,
located between Fourth and Third Streets and Front Street. This power
station was built in 1906 to provided electric for the Pennsylvania
Tunnel and Terminal RR Company, a subsidiary of the
Pennsylvania
Railroad, which existed to build and maintain the East River Tunnels
leading from Pennsylvania Station to Sunnyside Yards.
The facility was equipped with a coal unloading dock for scow to
plant transfer; but also installed this spur for the removal of cinders
and ash.
The four smokestacks located at the four
corners of the building, gave Long Island City its very own Battersea
Power Station! All we needed now was an inflatable pig to fly over it.
(If you aren't a Pink Floyd fan, you will not get the reference!)
G. W. Bromley Atlas of the Borough of Queens; Ward 1 - 1909 (1912)
Volume 2, Plate 1
New York Public Library Digital Collection
Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division
added 04 May 2024
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1916: Bridge 4 & 3 (which would become 6 and 5) and Bridge 1 (pontoon)
Arthur Huneke archives
courtesy of Steve Lynch / trainsarefun.com collection
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This next plate dated 1919 and again published by E. Belcher Hyde,
now shows the enlarging of the freight shed / station at Arch Street Freight Yard.
G. W. Bromley Atlas of the Borough of Queens, first ward - 1919
Volume 2, Plate 1
New York Public Library Digital Collection
Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division
added 04 May 2024
Unfortunately, this is where the property atlas editions end
within the New York Public Library for the Borough of Queens and
regarding to the Atlases.
We can presume that the
land occupied by the LIRR has topped out due to urban development,
with minimal to no further expansion of the yards or terminals
should be
expected; only rearrangement of track layout to make better use of
already occupied property.
This would be (and is)
demonstrated by the 1932 and 1942 editions of Port Facilities at Port
of New York Maps following in the next chapter.
The Long Island City Freight Terminal was quite modest throughout its history; but it partook of
the connection to the many routes that ran throughout Long Island.
From
historical accountings, the freight terminal on the East River, when first erected; most of the freight was inbound with only
trace amounts of outbound.
In later years, there was limited room in the immediate vicinity of the transfer
bridges for car sorting, so classification and assemblage of cars for
carfloats was located further east at the Arch Street Yard; then
brought west to the transfer bridges.
Inbound
freight likewise was brought to Arch Street Yard, as well as the
Railway Express Agency Terminal located in Sunnyside Yard. From these
locations cuts of freight cars would be blocked for forwarding to
other parts of Long Island for freight customers there: i.e.,: one block
for Ronkonkoma Line, one for Montauk line, et al.
In later years of operations, car load freight was brought to
"Yard A" (between Thompson Avenue and Queens Boulevard) where it was
sorted for trains for numerous switch jobs in the Long Island City
area (Degnon, Bliss, etc) and freight for east of Jamaica.
The freight for east of Jamaica was made up for haulers(?) to be
transferred to Holban Yard where it was again classified for East bound
freights. Freight was also made up in "Yard A" for transfer to the
Fresh Pond Yard for interchange with New York, New Haven & Hartford
as well as some local switching jobs in that area.
An excellent accounting of LIRR freight service can be referenced here on Steve Lynch's LIRR website.
There were also numerous military contractors (Fairchild Aviation
which was purchased by Grumman) located on "the Island", which received
freight via LIRR.
unknown date, but post-loop connecting track
courtesy of Steve Lynch / trainsarefun.com collection
1929
Fairchild Aerial Survey Photo showing five of the six bridges in
place! From left to right: #6 and #5 French Patents, #3 pontoon Wood
Howe Truss and
Looking southwest at Transfer Bridges #2 and #1.
Fairchild Aerial photo survey - May 8, 1929
Image ID 727284F
New York Public Library Digital Archives
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Fairchild Aerial Survey Photo - 1955
Looking north
Queens Public Library Digital Collections
authors collection
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Long Island Rail Road Long Island Facilities - November 19, 1965
Looking east.
New York Municipal Archives - Image ID: REC 0131 02 020752
annotated by author
added 28 July 2026
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Long Island Rail Road Long Island Facilities - 1959
Looking west.
McLaughlin Air Service
New York Municipal Archives - Image ID: REC 0131 02 020752
annotated by author
added 28 July 2026
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Port Facilities at Port of New York - 1932 Edition
Plate 24 & 34
Note loop track connecting the Freight Terminal with Yard A (Passenger Car Yard) paralleling Second Street.
(digital) collection of author
hard copy: University of Missouri - St. Louis
added 02 May 2024
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Port Facilities at Port of New York - 1942 Edition
Plate 24 & 34
Some
trackage reduced at the Transfer Bridges, but a spur into the Con
Edison plant (former PRR Tunnel Power Generating Station) has now been
installed (but existed prior to this).
(digital) collection of author
hard copy: University of Texas - Austin
added 02 May 2024
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Robert M. Emery map - September 1958
courtesy of Steve Lynch / trainsarefun.com collection
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However, the size of the yard at the East River bulkhead should not be a determining factor or under-estimated, due
to the fact that Less than Car Load (LCL) inbound freight, after being pulled off the cars
floats were brought further inland to Arch Street Freight Yard, and Car Load Freight to the team tracks adjacent to that, the part of Sunnyside Yard where cars were "blocked" (assembled into trains)
according to their final destination on the various routes of the Long
Island Rail Road.
Therefore, in a certain kind of way;
the yard at the transfer bridges and the tracks in the "alley" (between
44th and 45th Avenues) was now sort of a staging yard for loading
to or unloading from carfloats. Actual less than car load freight
transfer was handled a ½ mile further east at the Arch Street Yard.
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1952 Henry Raudenbush map - 1952
courtesy of Steve Lynch / trainsarefun.com collection
The history of transfer bridges at this location is a most
colorful one and a bit convoluted.
Service started first with a single pontoon supported Wood
Howe Truss float bridge about 1891, with a second added on an unknown date, but
believed to be around the same time frame. These were located at the foot of Fifth Street (now 49th Avenue.)
The Mallery Design of Transfer Bridge
While these were the first float bridges to be located
here; in 1903 the construction of the Mallory designed bridges
immediately to the south between 4th and 5th Streets (now 49th and 50th
Avenues); the pontoon bridges were numbered as 1 and 2; with the
Mallery type bridges numbered 3 and 4 (in ascending numerical order and when viewed from the East River.)
As only the richest railroads could afford the overhead
suspended separate apron type transfer bridge which were built by the Pennsylvania RR at Greenville, NJ; and in an effort to create a transfer
bridge that retained some of the virtues of those suspended bridge but without
its high cost; Arlington Humphrey Mallery, an professional engineer (not a locomotive engineer) for the Long Island
Rail Road, designed and patented a new type of suspended transfer bridge (US Patent #743,901;
November 10, 1903):
via Google Patent
Search
added 30 December 2011
In 1904, two transfer bridges of the Mallery design were constructed
at the Long Island City Terminal of the Long Island Rail Road. With a primary
emphasis on economy, Mallery avoided the cost of the apron suspension system
by eliminating the apron altogether, employing instead two innovations to
incorporate the needed flexibility:
First, he replaced the standard single two track bridge with
two independently suspended bridge span of one track each, mounted side by
side and of one track each. These were hung from a common overhead framework.
This allowed one track to be raised higher or lower than the other, and thereby
taking up some of the torsional stress. There was just enough clearance between
tracks on the standard carfloat to allow four complete sets of girder and
suspensions (French, 1917, 65). This ingenious invention was not claimed
in the patent perhaps be cause itself it was not an Patentable idea.
Secondly, Mallery substituted for the regular apron a "swiveling
head block", which was simply a 2 foot deep spacer block at the outer end
of each bridge span. These would pivot at its center on a 10 inch cantilevered
pin going into the middle of the beam under the track ends. In effect, this
was a rocking transverse girder. This swiveling head block design carried
the outer ends of the rails where each rail was hinged independently for
up and down motion. This was designed to flex as the block swiveled.
As Mallery relied on the use of separate bridges for each track
to take up the overall twisting and these blocks would only need to take
up the twisting within the track gauge itself. The swiveling head block was
essentially the only new feature claimed in his patent. The design was ingenious,
but in the kind of rough service that these float bridges perform, puts a
great deal of stress on every connection, and a swivel pin supported at only
one end cannot take such a stress. In addition, the swiveling head block
was too short to serve the various functions of an apron; in particular it
did little to ease the vertical angle between freight cars going on to the
carfloat.
One other change made to save on costs was the elimination of
the rigid system of screw rods and eyebars that lifted the main spans (as
incorporated into the design of the separate apron in the Part II above).
Mallery employed the usual counterweights to balance most of the dead weight,
but the actual lifting and lowering of the new transfer bridge was done by
differential chain pulley blocks, operated by hand no less. Presumably this
lifting apparatus was used only to adjust an empty bridge to the height of
an incoming carfloat, much as pontoon type bridges of the time were adjusted
as we read in Part I.
After the carfloat was attached to the bridge by way of the
swiveling head block; the dead weight in excess of the counterweight, plus
all the live load, was transferred via the toggles to the carfloat. Thus
the weight put onto the carfloat was probably in excess of any previous transfer
bridge design whether it be pontoon or suspended type (French, 1917, 66).
In addition the supporting structure for the counterweight system was not
strong enough, as would shortly be made evident.
The design of these transfer bridges caused the end of the carfloat
to sink more than usual while being loaded, but apparently this greater
submergence was not taken into consideration when deciding how high to make
the towers that supported the counterweights. As it turns out, the original
design as constructed, allowed 90% of the dead load to be taken by the
counterweights, with the remaining 10% taken up by the buoyancy of the carfloat.
One day, not long after these transfer bridges were put into
operation, the combination of a low tide and a heavily loaded carfloat caused
the counterweights to go to their highest position at the top of the towers
and strike an obstruction (the gantry perhaps? author).
When the loaded
freight cars were finally upon the bridge structure itself, all combined
weight: the "live" weight (the freight cars and carfloat) and the "dead"
weight (the float bridge) of which was now unbalanced and no longer being
counterbalanced by the counterweights, transferred this load to the weakest
link in the suspension mechanism, which was the sheaves and sheave axles
carrying the counterweight cables.
This resulting stress caused the sheave or sheave axle to give
way, releasing all the combined weight and causing the bridge span to drop
into the water, freight cars and all! Simultaneously, the counterweights
which were at the highest point possible at the top of the towers and now
relieved of any and all load, free fell the thirty or so feet from the top
of the towers to, and through, the timber tower foundations
and thereby destroying them in the process.
What might have been a routine day, must have turned into mayhem
in a very short span of time! And as it turns out, a similar but less serious
accident of similarity had preceded this one, taking place on the other transfer
bridge (French, 1917, 65 - 67; Engineering News, 1911).
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James Benton French to the
rescue
After this debacle at Long Island City, another professional engineer employed
by the Long Island Rail Road by the name of James Benton French was brought
in to correct things. And correct things he certainly would.
Since the use transfer bridge was urgently needed, he did what was
requested of him: the minimum to return it to service and as quickly as possible.
In 1905 he repaired the transfer bridge using
the Mallery's design, but increased the height of the counterweight towers to allow for more
travel of the counterweight. In addition, to handle the live load and also
to allow efficient raising and lowering of the bridge, he added screw supports
raised by rotating nuts in the overhead structure, such as those in the system
employed at other overhead suspended separate apron type transfer bridges.
He also strengthened the pivot points of the head blocks and
made other improvements. The same changes were made to the other transfer
bridge in 1906. But still other problems surfaced, including the frequent
breaking of the 10 inch cantilever pins; so French added further support
for these pins at their outer ends.
While these modifications as explained above may have solved
the situation, they were nothing short of expedient. More problems arose
and yet another French modification was needed: and a slip joint added to
the threaded rod assemblies to allow sudden upwards thrust motion to occur
without damaging the threaded screw assemblies.
Prior to these modifications, the slowness of the bridging at
Long Island City had been a source of deprecating humor at meetings held by the Railroad
Club of New York of that time.
Following
the success of French's transfer bridge design, which was built for the
New York Central at West 60th Street in Manhattan (constructed 1916);
and since the pair of
French's design constructed at Long Island City in 1924, the modified
Mallory Bridges (that French had rebuilt) were
replaced with another pair of French design in 1925, almost identical
to the set
constructed the year before.
Therefore;
those newer transfer bridges would become numbered 1 and 2, the pontoon
bridges numbered 3 and 4 (with number 4 eventually removed altogether
and number 3 held in
stand by service); and the Mallery / French modified bridges were
numbered as 5 and 6; and the southernmost transfer bridges on the Long
Island City property.
As a quick note,
visual identification of the transfer bridges are thus: 1 and 2
(French, 1924) have a wide gap between the overhead gantries with a
control cabin that bridges that gap. Transfer bridges 5 & 6
(1925) have the overhead gantries
directly abutting one another (or siamesed).
The Development of Carfloat Transfer Bridges in New
York Harbor, J. B. French - 1917
Plate III
5: Shows one of the original Mallery (left)
and the French modified (right) bridges.
6: The swiveling head block (without carfloat)
7: The compromise rails and carfloat attachment (with carfloat).
Note in photo 5; how the horizontal girder on the Mallory design does not over lap the vertical support towers;
where
as Frenchs modification also employs longer girders that do overlap and rest upon the
vertical support towers (like a lintel beam) and thereby adding additional strength to the
girder, and the transfer bridges via the cables.
P. M. Goldstein
collection
added 02 January 2012
As we will see, it would be the failure of the original Mallery
design that would lead to an engineering marvel. It was while making
these repairs and additions to these transfer bridges, that French devised
a new way of building a transfer bridge that, like Mallery's design, did
not require a separate support system for the apron; but unlike the Mallery
design, French's design would have all the advantages of a full working apron which was contained within the main span.
Any good engineer will learn to recognize the short comings of an existing
deficient design and formulate a solution, and we shall read about this in the next
chapter.
Long Island Railroad Information Bulletin - August 22, 1925
via Art Huneke
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LIRR #103 on Transfer Bridge 1 - date? (pre-1931)
The
LIRR acquired their H10s engines from the Pennsylvania Railroad between
1928 and 1930. Only one H10s that the LIRR owned was built by the PRR,
however ALL were previously OWNED by the PRR and were assigned PRR road numbers.
LIRR #103
wheel arrangement: 2-8-0 [Consolidation]
Baldwin Locomotive Works
c/n 40932
ex-PRR #7205
built November 1913
cylinders: 26" x 28"
driver diameter: 62"
to LIRR - July 1928
(And I can't hear you over the sound of some of you being wrong that steam locomotives don't go on transfer bridges!)
Greater Astoria Historical Society
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Transfer Bridges #1 & 2 - (northernmost pair) - August 7, 1930
(note wide opening between gantries.)
NYPL Digital Archives
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Transfer Bridges #5 & 6 (southernmost pair) - June 20, 1932
(note conjoined / siamesed design of gantries)
Frederick J. Weber photo
Queens Borough Public Library Archives
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Bridges # 5 & 6 (southernmost pair) - unknown date
(note conjoined / siamesed design of gantries)
LIRR Tug (steam) Garden City
courtesy of Steve Lynch / trainsarefun.com collection
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Bridges 6 and 5 (already collapsed), and 2 and 1 - January 1971
Pontoon bridges 4 and 3 were once located between the two gantries respectively.
Dave Keller photo
collection of author
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Bridges 2 and 1 - January 1971
Dave Keller photo
collection of author
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LIRR #421 with idler car taking delivery of NYCTA R32 cars - November 1964
LIRR #421 [ALCo S1]
courtesy of Steve Lynch / trainsarefun.com collection
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1955? Transfer Bridges to left, Passenger Yard to right.
The former passenger ferry terminal now appears to be being used as a pier headhouse for station carfloats
courtesy of Steve Lynch / trainsarefun.com collection
original higher res version wanted
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Transfer Bridges 2 and 1 (northernmost) - ca. 1975
LIRR #463 [ALCo RS1]
Tim Darnell photo
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Looking from the East River to the east at Transfer Bridges 1 & 2 (northern pair) - unknown date
courtesy of Steve Lynch / trainsarefun.com collection
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prior to the November 15, 1940 opening of Queens Midtown Tunnel
courtesy MTA Bridges & Tunnels (Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority archives
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Long Island Rail Roader Magazine - June 1951
courtesy of Steve Lynch / trainsarefun.com collection
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Long Island Rail Roader Magazine - November 1953
courtesy of Steve Lynch / trainsarefun.com collection
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Transfer Bridge 5 - 1963
LIRR #406 [ALCo S1]
courtesy of Steve Lynch / trainsarefun.com collection
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Looking west from "the alley" towards Bridges 2 and 1 - ca. 1970
Note
the hemmed in confines of this area, which visualizes the need for
additional freight track space as would be constructed at Arch Street
Yard
courtesy of Steve Lynch / trainsarefun.com collection
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1970 Transfer Bridge 5 Span Collapse
I do not know if the Long Island City location was jinxed or not; but the Mallery bridge collapse of 1904 was not the only incident of a transfer bridge collapse at Long Island City.
There is conflicting information as to the date of the accident - April 1, 1970 (?) but it was definitely before 1976
on which date Conrail took over operations of the various bankrupt
Class 1 railroads in New York Harbor, and subsequently abolished
carfloating operations on this date. It was also upon this date
that the Long Island Rai Road closed the yard.
The anecdote from
the LIRR Brakeman who was on the job that day, believed to be Herbie
Rakebrand; as told to J. J. Earl:
"It was still daylight when we had coupled up to the first car on
the float. I then swung down off the float flat (reacher car) to get
between the flat and the first car and bent down to hang the (air) hose
when I heard this loud noise. I jumped up and looked around and saw the
engine starting to tilt and the float under my feet start to move.
I didn't know that I could move so fast but when it all settled down, I was safely out of the way.
When the new Trainmaster on duty came to the scene, he asked
me, "How fast were you going?" This was the standard question
asked at all mishaps, found on page one of the New Trainmaster's Handbook. "We were standin' still" was my reply. "Aww! Bullshit" came the bellow of the Trainmaster.
Words got a little testy until everyone understood that this was the boss.
To make a long story short, no one was injured, no one was
disciplined, #5 Bridge was put out of service and Alco S1 #421 was cut
up for scrap (there were new engines on order anyhow.)
It wasn't long afterward that all floating operations came to halt with the advent of Conrail."
Transfer Bridge 5 - October 1972
courtesy of Steve Lynch / trainsarefun.com collection
.
.
From close examination of the images, it appears that th outboard steel
hanger cables or rods snapped from the equalizing beam to the bridge span, as
the counterweight is still mostly in the air, and as the cables from
the equalizing beam to the counterweights is still taut.
On the Bensel patent overhead supported separate apron transfer
bridges (like those used at the Pennsylvania RR Terminal in Greenville, NJ; or the
NYNH&H Oak Island Terminal in the Bronx); solid steel plate eyebars suspended the bridge spans to the equalizing beam; with cables used for the shorter outer
transition apron.
On the "pure" French design at Long Island City transfer bridges
1 & 2; similar solid plate steel eyebars are also used as well to
suspend the bridge span to the overhead equalizing beam. But it is clear
from the images, there aren't eyebars being used in suspension of the bridge span.
But wait, why was something so lacking in strength and substance used?
This could not be part of the original Mallery design, could it? This
certainly was not part of the the French design, as I have witnessed
thus far. This question sent me on a quest through all my images of
Bridges 1 and 2 and other French Patent transer bridges; and with that; I made a rather notable and startling
discovery.
Early
images of the LIRR bridges 5 & 6 as well as 1 & 2 clearly show steel eyebars from the equalizing
beam to suspend the bridge span. In the image seen below left; there are eyebars from the equalizing
beam to the bridge spans. This image is dated 1958 (and is the latest image I have, showing those eyebars). This was and remains entirely expected.
By the image at below right, shows the derelict bridges circa 1980,
and mostly intact. Note the eyebars have been replaced, and either
steel rods or
steel cables being used as a form of suspension in place of the
eyebars! Furthermore, reference the photos above of the day of the
incident - thin cables or rods! Whatever they are, they are not as substantial as the eyebars were.
Replacing the original stout steel eyebars with a much smaller
rod or cable would
obviously result in a lower working capacity for the transfer bridge.
Say nothing of corrosion, with their being in a salt air climate of New York
Harbor.
When it comes down to it; I will still put my faith in an unaltered, original
James B. French design, and not someone else's haphazard slapdash work -
we are not talking
about a muffler patch here. It does not take an professional physical
engineering expert to see the modification was insufficient to the
task. It's like a cartoon of Wile E. Coyote suspending a piano from the thread. I am surprised is lasted as long as it did.
We will probably never find out why this modification was done, only that it was done; and as a result, Transfer Bridge 5 span suspenders failed.
Never-the-less, the Long Island Rail Road
now has a second transfer bridge in the drink during its history! And
from the information, it was not repaired. Carfloat traffic by this
time, had reduced to the point Bridges 6 and 5 were no longer needed,
with 2 and 1 doing all the work.
After carfloat service ceased in 1976, and the freight yard
closing in 1977; the property languished for about a decade. Slowly,
the property, including the multiple track "alleyway" between 48th
and 49th Avenues (formerly Fifth and Sixth Streets) from the East River
to Arch Street Yard; was redeveloped into commercial and residential
high rises.
With this urban development, saw a rise in the gentrification of
former industrial spaces throughout New York City, and this included
the Long Island City Hunters Point freight yards.
But, unlike other housing developments in other locations, the
area's history was preserved with the creation of Gantry Plaza State
Park. The centerpiece to this park are the two transfer bridge
gantries.
Unfortunately, portions of the bridge spans were scrapped
illegally. For the construction of the park, the City replaced the two
partially scrapped spans with "pseudo" bridges at Gantry 1 & 2
providing a view area and allowing one to examine the construction of
the gantry up close. Transfer Brdige Gantries 5 & 6 were left as
they were.
derelict late 1970's
.
.
French modified Mallery bridge to left (6 & 5), pure French (2 & 1) to right
Note the eye bar span hangers
both above: December 29, 2007
Paul F. Strubeck photos
Wikipedia entry:
Gantry
Plaza State Park is a 12 acre state park on the East River in the
Hunters Point section of Long Island City, in the New York City borough
of Queens.
The park is located in a former dockyard and manufacturing district, and includes remnants of facilities from the area's past.
The
most prominent feature of the park is a collection of gantries with car
float transfer bridges, which in turn were served by carfloats that
carried freight railcars between Queens and Manhattan.
LIRR LIC Bridges #1 & #2 - December 31, 2007
Looking east.
P. F. Strubeck photo
added 16 February 2016
.
.
LIRR LIC Bridges #1 & #2 - December 31, 2007
Looking northeast.
P. F. Strubeck
photo
added 16 February 2016
.
.
LIRR LIC Bridges #1 & #2 - December 31, 2007
Looking east.
P. F. Strubeck
photo
added 16 February 2016
.
.
LIRR LIC Bridges #1 & #2 - December 31, 2007
Gantry Tower foundation with individual counterweights removed.
P. F. Strubeck photo
added 16 February 2016
.
.
LIRR LIC Bridges #2 - December 31, 2007
Eyebar and counterweight sheaves.
Looking west.
P. F. Strubeck
photo
added 16 February 2016
.
.
LIRR LIC Bridges #1 - December 31, 2007
Eyebar and counterweight sheaves.
Looking west.
P. F. Strubeck
photo
added 16 February 2016
.
.
LIRR LIC Bridges #4 & #5 - December 31, 2007
Looking east.
P. F. Strubeck
photo
added 16 February 2016
.
.
LIRR LIC Bridges #5 & #4 - December 31, 2007
Looking northwest.
P. F. Strubeck
photo
added 16 February 2016
The Arch Street Freight Yard was retained and repurposed by Long
Island Rail Road, as a electric passenger car servicing and
maintenance of way facility.
During this time,
the Long Island Rail Road was performing freight service; operating out of Sunnyside Yard and Fresh Pond Yard. Freight
car interchange and base of operations was relocated to the Fresh Pond
Yard, with its easy interchange to the Hell Gate Bridge to the north,
and the Bay Ridge Branch to the south where interchange with New York
New Jersey Rail carfloating from Greenville, NJ.
However in 1997, the New York and Atlantic Railway (NY&A) was
formed to provide freight service over the tracks of the Long Island
Rail Road, which is a public commuter rail agency and of which had
decided to privatize its freight operations.
The
New York & Atlantic Railway is a subsidiary of the Anacostia Rail
Holdings Company, and the NY&A operates exclusively on Long Island
and is connected to the U.S. mainland via CSX's Fremont Secondary over
the Hell Gate Bridge.
Its primary freight yard
is Fresh Pond Junction in Queens, with another yard, Pine Aire Yard, in
northern Bay Shore, New York. The NY&A officially took over Long
Island Rail Road's freight operations on May 11, 1997, with an initial
franchise for 20 years, which has been renewed.
The NY&A interchanges with New York New Jersey Rail at the 65th Street - Bay Ridge Yard, as well as US Rail of New York located in Yaphank, New York.
US Rail operates the Brookhaven Rail Terminal (BRT). This is a
truck-train trans-load facility in Yaphank in Brookhaven on Long
Island, New York. The 28-acre initial site was built with $40
million in private funds and opened on September 27, 2011. It was
projected to take 40,000 long haul trucks off Long Island roads and
handle 1,000,000 tons of freight per annum by 2016. It includes 13,000
feet of new track, with three tracks for construction material, such as
asphalt and concrete, and six tracks for merchandise, such as flour and
bio-diesel.
.
The Long Island Rail Road employed a
large roster of locomotives over its history, both steam and Diesel -
electric.
Photos show many different locomotives from their fleet that rotated through the freight yard at
the transfer bridges, so no definitive roster is warranted or possible.
When a particular locomotive is seen in any images in the above chapter, its manufacturer and model are noted.
diesel - electric
(2) Ingersoll Rand
6 cylinder 4 cycle
single action
vertical, 13" bore x 19" stroke
Price Rathbone solid fuel inj,
water cooled
steel hull
sold 1963 to L. W. Bicaise, South Carolina'
sunk in transit 10/22/1963 with all four hands
.
.
"Number 1" "Long Island"(second)
1930 - 1963
Pusey & Jones
Wilmington, DE
229322 / 402
104.6'
24'
13.6'
750
(550?)
186
129
diesel-electric
(2) Winton 6-121
steel screw
steel hull
renamed "Long Island" unknown date
Sold 1965 to Port Everglades Towing, of
Ft. Lauderdale, FL;
renamed "Battler", later renamed "Sandra St Philip"
Repowered, then completely rebuilt; in service until early 1990's.
Final disposition unknown
.
.
.
"Garden City"
1941-1963
Pusey & Jones
Wilmington, DE
240341
101.2
25.2
13
800
218
148
steam, uniflow
22" + 22 " x 24"
steel hull
1 boiler, water tube, 280 psi
sold to McAllister
Towing, became the "Wm. H. McAllister"
scrapped 2003, in VA.
.
.
LIRR "Patchogue" - July 2, 1932
northbound East River, NY
Percy Loomis Sperr photo
Dave Keller archives
added 14 May 2024
.
.
LIRR "Patchogue" - October 11, 1944
East River; Long Island City, Queens, NY
Frederick Weber photo
Dave Keller archives
added 14 May 2024
.
.
LIRR "Garden City"(?) - September 14, 1942
southbound, East River, Brooklyn, NY
(passing Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal, taken from Williamsburg Bridge)
Percy Loomis Sperr photo
Dave Keller archives
added 14 May 2024
.
.
zoom and crop on above image - September 14, 1942
southbound, East River, Brooklyn, NY
(passing Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal, taken from Williamsburg Bridge)
Percy Loomis Sperr photo
Dave Keller archives
added 14 May 2024
.
.
LIRR "Meitowax" - April 23, 1939
southbound, Upper New York Harbor, NY
Percy Loomis Sperr photo
Dave Keller archives
added 14 May 2024
.
.
.
.
Carfloats:
.
The following table is from the US Army Corp of Engineers,
Transportation Lines on the Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific Coasts - 1940, 1950 and 1958 editions; and edited to show only
non-powered floating craft for the Long Island Rail Road.
