PSTL and Hudson Cnty Pk

[JayDee]

At the north end of Hudson County, NJ, right on the border between North Bergen and Fairview, is James J. Braddock (formally North Hudson County) Park. During the days when the Public Service Trolley Line ran from Weehawken to Palisades Park, it passed straight through the park, running north to south. A portion of the line ran right across, on a very low trestle, the man-made lake that sits at the center of the park.

My question is why?

If the park (and the lake), which was built circa 1910, preceded the trolley line, why build the line directly over the lake and incur the cost of the trestle? Why not just detour around the lake? It’s not as if there was any shortage of room to do so.

And, if the lake came after the trolley line, why put it directly under the existing roadbed, and again, add all that cost, etc.

Finally, does anyone have any pictures of this trestle? I have been hearing about this from various older town residents since I was a kid, yet no one can explain why the line ran over the lake in the first place.

[AndyB]

Can not give you an answer as to why it went across the lake(maybe a swamp back then?) but can give you some info on the line.
FromPublic Service Trolley Lines in New Jerseyby Edward Hamm
Begun in 1895, the first car ran to Coytesville in August, sounds like they worked fast in those days but apparently used a lot of trackage from an older Horse Car Line, Englewood Horse Railway dating from 1866. Went through a few names and finally became part of the Public Service System in 1907. Public Service #23, Palisade Car Line
Started at the West Shore Station (NYC) in Weehawken, then into Union City, West New York, Guttenburg, NorthBergen, Fairview, Cliffside Park, Fort Lee, Palisade Junction (Park?), Coytesville (north of GW Bridge).
Buses substituted for trolleys Sep. 5, 1938.
I have heard (rumor?) that there is a tunnel somewhere under the approaches to the GW Bridge in the area of the toll booths. I have yet to see documentation.
There is a photo in Hamm's book of the trestle. I believe the book is back in print.

[Rich T]

In the arly 1960s or so, and before the major rebuildings of the GWB toll plaza, there was a underpass for the trolley line. It was in the form of a concrete bridge appropriate for the era, about exactly where the toll booths are today.
On google maps zoom in on the toll booth area and note the roadway to the left of a large parking lot immediately south. This may be on the R-O-W. Drag the map south and within several blocks the original private right away appears and can be traced to Palisade Junction and south.