NYtrainspotter
The River Line
The River Line's history was that of a usurper.
Originally created to challenge the supremacy of the New York Central ,and funded by arch rival PRR at the start , the " West Shore " was designed to siphon NY Harbor traffic away from its rival and offer an alternative to Buffalo and points west from the NJ side of the Hudson.
Eventually though the Central won out and eventually consumed its rival.
As the NYC River Division It was a varied and interesting operation .It hosted commuter service at its south end , perishable food traffic lightered off of ships in NY harbor , regular mixed freight and all of NYC 's weirdest diesels.
After the PC merger and early in the CR era much of the freight moving to and from New England and the NYC metro region and the south and west traveled over this route .The Penn Central merger ended the NH car floats and the suspicious Poughkeepsie Bridge fire silenced the Maybrook gateway in 1974.
All because the River line (via the National Docks Branch) was physically connected to the former PRR at WALDO INT in Jersey City .
The route offers some spectacular scenic vistas, once it comes from inland to run parallel to the Hudson.
I would come to know it well in the 90's as I lived not far from the former site of the Weehawken yards.
A northbound (time table west) mixed freight heads toward Selkirk behind three 4 axles in the vicinity of
Storm King Mountain as seen from the east bank on a sunny summer morning in 1978
Cornwall on Hudson NY Mainline Waldo to CP 132 CR
The River Line
The River Line's history was that of a usurper.
Originally created to challenge the supremacy of the New York Central ,and funded by arch rival PRR at the start , the " West Shore " was designed to siphon NY Harbor traffic away from its rival and offer an alternative to Buffalo and points west from the NJ side of the Hudson.
Eventually though the Central won out and eventually consumed its rival.
As the NYC River Division It was a varied and interesting operation .It hosted commuter service at its south end , perishable food traffic lightered off of ships in NY harbor , regular mixed freight and all of NYC 's weirdest diesels.
After the PC merger and early in the CR era much of the freight moving to and from New England and the NYC metro region and the south and west traveled over this route .The Penn Central merger ended the NH car floats and the suspicious Poughkeepsie Bridge fire silenced the Maybrook gateway in 1974.
All because the River line (via the National Docks Branch) was physically connected to the former PRR at WALDO INT in Jersey City .
The route offers some spectacular scenic vistas, once it comes from inland to run parallel to the Hudson.
I would come to know it well in the 90's as I lived not far from the former site of the Weehawken yards.
A northbound (time table west) mixed freight heads toward Selkirk behind three 4 axles in the vicinity of
Storm King Mountain as seen from the east bank on a sunny summer morning in 1978
Cornwall on Hudson NY Mainline Waldo to CP 132 CR