NYW&B use of Harlem River Branch

It was always my understanding Westchester trains used the outer two tracks on the west side of the Harlem River Branch between SS1 @ Harlem River to SS8 @ West Farms Jct.

Tonight I found a photo of SS8 taken in 1912. It's a view north and clearly shows the begining of Westchester property. What puzzels me is that Westchester tracks #2 & #4 begin by diverging to the west at SS8 from the two middle tracks of the Harlem River Branch. They cross the outer tracks of the Branch, which would be inbound, on hard crossings; maybe movable point frogs but not slips. This begs the question what was the assignment of the inner tracks on the Branch at this location? If they were outbound for Westchester trains were they also inbound for NH traffic to Harlem River / Hell Gate / Bay Ridge? That would make them bi-directional, not impossible but cetrtanly novel at this point in history.

Does anyone have access to information to provide the track assignments on the Harlem River Branch between SS1 & SS8 ?

Here's a diagram of SS 8, undated, but it lines up with your description for 1912. Looks like tracks 1-4 (arrangement being 3-1-2-4-5-6 going east-west) diverged directly to the corresponding NYW&B tracks 1-4. I once saw some very nicely drawn track diagrams of the entire branch which laid out the track assignments and how they moved around at various locations but I can't seem to locate the diagrams.

I know later in the NYW&B's history the tracks were reconfigured so that the western pair of tracks was an E/W pair with island platforms, and those two tracks diverged directly to tracks 1&2 of the NYW&B, which expanded to four just north of the junction. Prior to that, in the absence of other documentation, I would assume that the stations had platforms on the outside of tracks 3 and 4.

I guess the answer to that question really depends on the arrangement Harlem River prior to the Hell Gate Bridge going up - I guess the four passenger tracks went directly to the terminal and ran straight through to SS8/22, and when the HGB approach necessitated changes, the later arrangement was instituted to avoid interference of NYW&B and Penn Station trains south of SS8.

Okay, as stated, it all depends on the particular section of track, and the timeframe involved.

There are five timeframes involved: Pre-rebuild (i.e., before they made it up to six tracks wide, before they eliminated all grade crossings, circa 1912); pre-Hell Gate Bridge (although provisions were made for such during the rebuild, but before the bridge was built), which included NYW&B trackage; Hell Gate Bridge opened (1918); local NYNH&H service eliminated (1931); and, NYW&B eliminated (1939). I can't comment on pre-rebuild since I have no data on such, and NYW&B Eliminated is outside the parameters of this discussion.

Trackage sections involved include east of West Farms Junction (S.S. 8), West Farms Junction to Bungay (S.S. 3), and Bungay to Harlem River.

Eastbound tracks are even-numbered, westbound tracks are odd-numbered.

Heading westward, the tracks approaching West Farms Junction, from north to south, were Tracks 3 (local), 1 (express), 2 (express), 4 (local), 5 (freight) and 6 (freight). For all timeframes involved except pre-rebuild, tracks 5 & 6 were freight only and remained numbered as such through to the end of the NYNH&H (and will no longer be part of this discussion). Tracks 3-1-2-4 remained as such from pre-Hell Gate up until local NYNH&H service was eliminated (circa 1931). At that time, tracks 1 & 2 were eliminated.

From Bungay to Harlem River, it was tracks 3-1-2-4 from 1912 to 1918, but with Hell Gate Bridge opening up and S.S. 8 being reconfigured, it now became tracks 1 & 2 handling the passenger traffic, with tracks 7 & 8 handling the freight traffic into Harlem River. Tracks 3, 4, 5 & 6 were Hell Gate Bridge tracks. Following 1939, tracks 1 & 2 were deactivated and were removed piecemeal.

Circa 1927, Harlem River was expanded and S.S. 1, Harlem River, was installed to service the passenger terminal.

To make it even more confusing, Pelham Bay Drawbridge (S.S. 14) also changed over the years, including interaction with S.S. 12, Westchester Yard, but that's another story.

To simplify the preceding, when the Harlem River Branch was rebuilt, it consisted of tracks 3-1-2-4 coming out of Harlem River and continuing eastward to New Rochelle Junction. Tracks 5-6, freight only, ran from Bungay to New Rochelle Junction. Passenger platforms for the local tracks (3 & 4) were on the outside of those tracks.

When the NYW&B came along, its tracks 3-1-2-4 fed directly into the New Haven's 3-1-2-4.

When Hell Gate Bridge opened, the tracks were shuffled around between Bungay (S.S. 3) and West Farms Junction (S.S. 8). They now became 1-2-3-4-5-6, with 1 & 2 being the local NYNH&H/NYW&B tracks, 3 & 4 being the Hell Gate Bridge passenger tracks, and 5 & 6 still being freight only. East of West Farms Junction nothing changed, it was still 3-1-2-4-5-6. Going into Harlem River, you now had 1 & 2, plus 7 & 8 - 5 & 6 continued on over Hell Gate Bridge. The four-track NYW&B line became a two-track line, with hand-thrown switches.

When the New Haven local service ended, east of West Farms Junction had 1 & 2 removed (nothing renumbered), so that it was now 3-4-5-6. From West Farms Junction to Bungay, 1 & 2 were now NYW&B only, with no connection to the New Haven at West Farms Junction. S.S. 8 was eliminated.

Thanks for the reply with such concise information, its appreciated.

Here's the final version of S.S. 8 showing what tracks were taken out of service and how things were rearranged:



This diagram shows a number of things:

* It shows the track diagram from 1918 (opening of Hell Gate Bridge) to 1931 (end of NYNH&H local service), with all the switches and movable-point frogs.

* It shows the track diagram from 1931 to 1939 (end of NYW&B service), with no interlocking required.

* It shows that the NYNH&H, at this time, was still using right-hand, two-position, lower-quadrant semaphores.

One more time...thanks for your educated input. The Interlocking Diagram answers questions...also creates some. Interesting to note how NYNH&H numbered switches & signals. My 38 years experience always provided signals with even numbers & switches with odd numbers. Just goes to prove at 70 one is not too old to learn and factual posts such as yours are appreciated.

The numbering sequence used for switches, signals, movable-point frogs, derails and electric locks all depends on the type of mechanical, electro-mechanical, or electric interlocking machine involved. In this case it was a Union Switch & Signal Type F electro-mechanical machine.