I recently came upon a period article concerning the New Haven car float freight facilities on the lower East Side of Manhattan. I had always assumed that car float traffic left Harlem River and Oak Point only for destinations either in Brooklyn or the Jersey side of the Hudson River. Apparently the New Haven also transported freight by car floats to the lower East Side of New York.
The car float and freight facility on the Manhattan shoreline of the East River was built by the New Haven's predecessor in 1875 at Montgomery and South Streets. Prior to this construction, freight cars were pulled by horses from a designated location in Manhattan to downtown depots. The horse power became obsolete with increased traffic and heavier livery.
The original facility was designated Pier 50 but was revised to Pier 38, since over time pier designations changed along the East River due to decommissioning and overall expansion of the river’s docking slips. Another New Haven facility was constructed further south at Jefferson Street. Both the New York Central and the Lehigh Valley had smaller facilities in the vicinity. I’ll post a few photos starting with the overall plan (circa 1911) and the pictures of the dock expansion (Piers 39-41) between Montgomery Street and Gouverneur Slip.
Below is an excerpt from the mentioned article that gives further detail.
‘The car floats that are used between Harlem River and piers 45 and 50 in the local freight service vary from 180 to 231 feet in length and are 38 feet wide. They have a raised platform in the center with a canopy or roof. On each side of the platform is a track giving the floats a capacity of eight to twelve cars each. These floats when at piers 45 and 50 really act as a local freight yard afloat without switching facilities giving a yard capacity equivalent to 600 cars in the business part of the city. The cars being unloaded and reloaded by trucks by means of the platforms on the floats which run between the cars while the floats are tied at the piers’
The car float and freight facility on the Manhattan shoreline of the East River was built by the New Haven's predecessor in 1875 at Montgomery and South Streets. Prior to this construction, freight cars were pulled by horses from a designated location in Manhattan to downtown depots. The horse power became obsolete with increased traffic and heavier livery.
The original facility was designated Pier 50 but was revised to Pier 38, since over time pier designations changed along the East River due to decommissioning and overall expansion of the river’s docking slips. Another New Haven facility was constructed further south at Jefferson Street. Both the New York Central and the Lehigh Valley had smaller facilities in the vicinity. I’ll post a few photos starting with the overall plan (circa 1911) and the pictures of the dock expansion (Piers 39-41) between Montgomery Street and Gouverneur Slip.
Below is an excerpt from the mentioned article that gives further detail.
‘The car floats that are used between Harlem River and piers 45 and 50 in the local freight service vary from 180 to 231 feet in length and are 38 feet wide. They have a raised platform in the center with a canopy or roof. On each side of the platform is a track giving the floats a capacity of eight to twelve cars each. These floats when at piers 45 and 50 really act as a local freight yard afloat without switching facilities giving a yard capacity equivalent to 600 cars in the business part of the city. The cars being unloaded and reloaded by trucks by means of the platforms on the floats which run between the cars while the floats are tied at the piers’
Last edited by chnhrr on Tue Jul 24, 2012 8:56 am, edited 3 times in total.
