NYC New York Central High Line (West Side Improvement)

I've been following the progress on this layout for a couple years now! I need to get out to a work session sometime... my friend Phil M. helps out with scratchbuilding turnouts occasionally...

Any of you guys out there involved with the High Line preservation? I've been reading the website of the organization, and although trains will never run again, it's nice that the overhead structure is being preserved.

http://www.thehighline.org

In the New York Times online for July 22, 2009 (and in the hard copy edition as well, I would imagine):

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/22/nyreg ... hline.html

The High Line is still under construction, with orange-vested workers busily adding last-minute touches. Yet the park, perched on an old elevated railway on the West Side of Manhattan, already seems like a permanent fixture, almost a small town in the air.

Have they put up the ramps for the "personal belongings shopping carts" yet? Or the porta potties and trash containers.

With two large power plants, one on the Hudson and the other at Port Morris was there ever a consideration by the NYC to electrify the rail lines along the Westside of Manhattan?

It was electrified.

Thanks Statkowski

How extensive was the electrification? On the High Line it appears that a portion of the line was electrified (see attached photo), but period photographs at the tail end of the line show no third rail power. Did the 69th Street transfer yard also have electrified sections and did any of the Class S or T motors run along the Westside?

This was not my territory but I believe the third rail went all the way downtown to St. John's Park in its day. The use of
diesels ended the need for the third rail on this line and it was removed by the New York Central. I would have to check my
old timetables to determine just when, this will have to wait till another time unless somebody else on here has the dates
in question.
Noel Weaver

There is an article on here about the "west side improvement". I think Otto wrote it.

Does anyone recall if the Spuyten Duyvil swing bring bridge have third rail electrification along the span or did the locos just make a run for it (coast), in a similar fashion to New Haven electrics?

(Photo courtesy of Jag9889)

chnhrr wrote:Does anyone recall if the Spuyten Duyvil swing bring bridge have third rail electrification along the span or did the locos just make a run for it (coast), in a similar fashion to New Haven electrics?

(Photo courtesy of Jag9889)

The only drawbridge on the New Haven where no overhead wire existed was at Cos Cob. That is still the situation with
Metro-North today and electric powered trains drift/coast over this bridge.
I believe that in the days of electric operation on the west side the bridge at Spuyten Duyvil had third rail over it.
Noel Weaver

Noel is correct - the Spuyten Duyvil Bridge had third rail all the way across on both tracks. Although it was "electrified" for train movement, the bridge itself was operated by a steam engine on the swing span, at least through 1961. I remember sending a car of coal to the bridge from Yonkers Yard on KD-11. It was spotted on a sidetrack close to the bridge on the Bronx end, and the bridge tender used a wheelbarrow to carry the coal to a bin next to the bridge engine.

The third rail on the New York Terminal District extended into the Parcel Post House at 29th Street, but no farther. Operations east of 29th St were handled by the three-power 1500's, using their diesel engines and battery power. They had to shut down the diesel to operate inside the several meat houses and anytime the motors had to go indoors at St. Johns Park.

I seem to recall reading --- perhaps on this forum --- that electric operation on the WSFL ended in 1954, with one exception. The third rail down around the Postal complex around 30th street remained live for a while after that. I can't comment in any more detail but I distinctly recall this came up once before.

I live today on the site of 60th Street yard and as I write this am looking out my living room window at the remains of the 69th Street transfer bridge. It has a historical plaque on it believe it or not. Most of the pier pilings are quite visible at low tide. The "Riverside Park South" complex built here by Donald Trump contains a wonderful recreational pier built out a couple of hundred feet into into the river. It's built at an angle --- i.e., not straight into the river --- because USCG regulations require that new piers have the same "footprint" as the ones replaced; and the old NYCRR piers were built at that angle.

I know that the High Line was strictly for freight and didn't carry passenger trains (although I believe that the street-level line that the High Line replaced had some local service through the '20s or so).
However, does anyone know if there were any fan trips that went over the High Line?

Raanan G

rgeberer wrote:I know that the High Line was strictly for freight and didn't carry passenger trains (although I believe that the street-level line that the High Line replaced had some local service through the '20s or so).
However, does anyone know if there were any fan trips that went over the High Line?

Raanan G

There were at least a couple of fan trips in the mid-1960s. I've seen photos... I'm sure others can chime in with more specific information.

-otto