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Re: (erielack) DL&W, Kearny Jct 1960s-1970s

David & List,

Great shots these are!  Thank goodness Joe Seaman had a steady hand.

Years ago, the PRR ran some fast freights from Harsimus Cove behind

GG-1's over what is now the PATH bridge across the Hackensack River.

These freight trains were scheduled to run at night and would operate

right through Newark Penn Station after joining the Main Line at Hudson.
Unlike PATH trains, these freight trains drew power from a catenary system.

From the window of a MU train on the Morristown Line at night, one could
sometimes see the silhouette of these freight trains crossing the high-level

Hackensack River bridge downstream. These freight trains moved right

along and sometimes the PRR motors and DL&W MU equipment would

run right alongside one another between Kearny Junction and Hudson.

Now that was a sight to behold!

Bill Sheppard

- -----Original Message-----

From: David J. Monte Verde <dmvgvt_@_earthlink.net>

To: EL List <erielack_@_lists.railfan.net>; 'Peter Gores' <petergores@yahoo.com>; 'P J TEMPLETON' <pjt1197@msn.com>; Larry Malski <lmalski@msn.com>

Sent: Tue, Jan 31, 2012 4:01 pm

Subject: (erielack) DL&W, Kearny Jct 1960s-1970s

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DL_W_1978_from_NJ_Tpk_Br_at_Kearny_NJ_looking_west.jpg (image/jpeg, 2460x1671

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Subject: Re: DL&W, Kearny Jct, 1978

Great find and annotation job!  They say (I have no idea who 'they' are)

that a picture is worth a thousand words and I will probably end up writing

that many words about this photo.  It revives many memories from my early

days on the railroad as well as my final days on the railroad.

The original 1951 NJ Turnpike (now the Eastern Spur at this location) was a

six lane bridge with no shoulders, clearing MHW by 135 feet.  In 1969, the

turnpike was widened to twelve lanes.  At this location, another bridge was

built west of and adjacent to the original bridge.  This was also six lanes

but with shoulders and became the Western Spur.

In December 1972 while on my way home from Military duty at Fort Knox, I

rode a MP-54 local out of Penn Station to change to the CNJ at Newark for

Bound Brook.  The MP-54 local made an employee stop at Portal.

Unexpectedly, a PC Civil Engineer that I graduated with boarded there too.

While stopped, I noticed that the old Eastern Spur Turnpike bridge was being

widened to accommodate shoulders on both sides.

Even with shoulders, it could be a suicide mission to stop and take a

picture.  I ran into such a situation about five or six years ago.  In

addition to joint facilities, I was also administering the CBS Signboard

agreement.  At nearly the exact spot that your photo was taken, a new tall

(very tall!) signboard was proposed on Conrail property.  I also needed to

photograph the next signboard to the south from the viewpoint of the

southbound turnpike driver on top of the bridge.  I solicited the assistance

of Joe Seaman who rolled down my truck window, held my camera outside and

snapped a picture as I sped along the turnpike sandwiched between two maniac

trailer trucks.

In your photo, just to the right of the Lackawanna main tracks, you can just

barely see the east leg of the wye to the Harrison Branch.  That is now the

site of a junk yard.  Notice the slightly different colored grass to the

right of the Lackawanna and curving along the wye.  That property is still

owned by Conrail and is known as RA-26 (Residual Asset).  A natural gas main

trunk line is buried underneath.  This was the ROW of the former PRR-DL&;W

interchange track that came off the NEC in the vicinity of what is now known

as 'Swift' - the 'Midtown Direct' connection that keeps the commuters happy.

Actually, it's probably a major source of discontent among commuters because

it seems like there is a major NEC disruption on a weekly basis that

necessitates diversion into Hoboken.

Today is January 31.  Two years and two days ago (January 29, 2010) there

was an incident involving the Conrail operator-bridge tender who occupied

the PATH bridge and controlled both the CR Hack bridge as well as the PATH

bridge.  This became known as the "Moon in Perigee" incident.  The third

trick operator was an avid astronomer and photographer.  Early that fateful

morning, that operator apparently climbed higher than the control cabin in

the upper reaches of the structure and attempted to photograph the moon.

Although the exact circumstances will never be known, somehow he slipped and

fell off the bridge, plunging to his death in the mud flats below.  Almost

exactly a year later, another operator was found dead there by his relief.

He apparently died of natural causes, though.

Back in November 1977 when I bumped Pickelmtn Fred out of 2nd Cranford, he

went on to 2nd Summit.  When I got bumped out of Cranford in March 1978, I

decided to give Fred a break and not bump him again, so I went to 2nd Hack.

Simultaneously, I qualified as Extra Movement Director.  I ended up working

either that or Train Dispatcher on a daily basis.  It wasn't until late

Summer that year that I finally made it to Hack.  I lugged my camera

equipment to work on the first day I worked there.

To get to the operator's cabin, one first has to climb up an embankment to

the freight bridge, check that there's no train, walk down the track onto

the bridge, climb down a ladder to the pilings, walk a boardwalk on the

pilings between the two bridges, climb up a ladder to the PATH bridge, check

that there's no PATH train coming, walk along the PATH track looking out for

the third rail, then go up a couple hundred step exposed stairway on the

side of the bridge.  Needless to say, I only lugged the camera equipment out

there once.

The freight bridge sits so low to the water that a lift is needed to clear a

rowboat while the PATH bridge sits high enough to clear all the tug and

barge traffic, requiring a lift only for the occasional larger craft, maybe

one or two lifts a week.  On my first day there, I had three lifts of the

PATH bridge, including one at rush hour when the PATH ran at 3 minute

intervals in each direction.  The PATH dispatcher thought I just wanted to

raise and lower the bridge for kicks!

To this day, I regret never taking my camera equipment when I worked the now

gone CNJ Newark Bay Draw, a much more impressive structure.

Attached are some of the photos I took from Hack as well as others.

1. Photo from NJTP that you originally attached.

2. Photo of signboard taken by Joe Seaman from the same location.

3.   375  Eastbound DL&W approaching their Hack bridge, NEC Portal in

background.

4.   374  Looking South, down Newark Bay, NJTP Extension overhead, PRR/LV

"Upper Bay" being raised.

5.   372 NEC moving train crossing Portal Bridge

6.   377  Westbound two GG-1s crossing Portal, DL&W in foreground, NJTP East

Spur in background.

7.   371  Westbound DL&W exiting their Hack bridge.

8.   370  Westbound DL&W on their Hack lift span.

9.   376  Westbound DL&W crossing their Hack, PSE&G generating station in

background.

10. 373  Four bridges are up in the air for passage of the Asphalt Merchant.

I am on the PATH bridge, the next bridge in view is the Freight bridge

raised to 135' MHW.  Immediately adjacent to it on the other side is the

Highway bridge.  In the background is the DL&W bridge that looks like it has

just started to lower.  Collectively, these were know as the Triple Bridges,

rather than the expected Quadruple bridges, probably because the Freight and

Highway bridges were immediately adjacent to each other.

11. Bayonne Scoot crossing west lift span of CNJ's Newark Bay Draw.  DY

tower sits between the east and west draws as well as between the north and

south bridges.  Both Pickelmtn and JerseyZephyr worked there many times.

Photo by former CNJ (and NJT) towerman, the late Bill Burke.

12. Bay Draw tower being dismantled.  Port Authority photo.

13. Photo taken by me at the site of my favorite bridge experience.  George

Washington Bridge looking toward Upper Manhattan from the Fort Lee NJ tower.

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