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  • Sea Train terminals in Edgewater and Weehawken

  • Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New Jersey
Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New Jersey

Moderator: David

 #691830  by ALCOGG1
 
Anybody can give me any inforation and links to pictures of the old Sea Train terminals in Edgewater and Weehawken. I remember as a young kid playing on the pier and crane of the Edgewater terminal. NYSW also seems to have had a small yard there. Did they not try to make it into a coaling dock years later? What is the status of the tunnel under the Palisades at Edgewater?
 #691924  by njmidland
 
There are some photos of the SeaTrain facility in Edgewater in a couple of the NYS&W books. The Carstens book has some as does the Morning Sun Book.

Before and after its time in Edgewater, SeaTrain was in Hoboken. There are some photos on the Hoboken Shore RR website: http://hbs.railfan.net
 #691956  by JLo
 
What is the status of the tunnel under the Palisades at Edgewater?
Inactive but still there. Used as a conduit for piping, IIRC. It was originally to be used for HBLRT, but Edgewater fought hard to change the route and have a widened River Rd. instead.
 #692834  by cjvrr
 
JLo,

Just a point of correction. I worked for the Bergen County Planning Dept. from 1993 thru 1996. Around 1993 the Edgewater waterfront was still nearly 70% brownfield properties but late that year developers started making plans to change those abandoned industrial properties into condos and strip malls. The HBLRT was in well along in the design / build stage and the alignment was pretty much set as going thru the Weehawken Tunnel.

Bergen County and Edgewater fought hard to have the HBLRT alignment brought north along the then still existing railroad right of way to and than thru the unused Edgewater Tunnel. From the west portal the line would continue west along the NYS&W branch and directly into the Vince Lombardi Service Area on Route 95. I designed conceptual plans for the Planning Dept showing various alignments for the HBLRT using the Edgewater Tunnel with the widened River Road. We even had an agreement with the developers in Edgewater to provide the right of way and a location of a station free if that alignment was chosen. It should also be noted they provided the right of way for River Road free of charge and paid most of the bill to re-align / widen the roadway.

However politics played a huge part in the alignment of the HBLRT and the current alignment was chosen. So Bergen County and Edgewater lost that fight.

Now the entire area along the Hudson River is considered the Gold Coast and not many signs of the former industries exist. The Edgewater tunnel has a gasoline pipeline running thru it that connects the Hess facility on River Road, Edgewater to the Hess facility in Bogota.

The recent railroad speeder trip run by the Volunteer Railroaders Association went up that branch to the west portal of the tunnel. The tunnel is gated but you can still see to the other end. On the East side it is not visible from the new River Road. Last time I was in that are a contractor had a mound of dirt blocking the view.

Chris

JLo wrote:
What is the status of the tunnel under the Palisades at Edgewater?
Inactive but still there. Used as a conduit for piping, IIRC. It was originally to be used for HBLRT, but Edgewater fought hard to change the route and have a widened River Rd. instead.
 #692851  by JLo
 
However politics played a huge part in the alignment of the HBLRT and the current alignment was chosen. So Bergen County and Edgewater lost that fight.
I take you at your word, cjvrr, but others in the know have stated on this board just the opposite, that Edgewater opposed the original proposed alignment via the Edgewater tunnel for exactly the reason you state, they wanted gentrification and thought rail would interfere. Perhaps that view evolved but too late.
 #692883  by cjvrr
 
JLo,

My boss at Bergen County had regular meetings with the Mayor of Edgewater and the other local players in which I was present. At that time Edgewater was all for light rail, the road project and the re-gentrification. Again this was in 1993, so perhaps a prior Edgewater administration was not pro rail....

Doing a quick search after I posted the message so I needed to do an edit. The search showed a post from Mr. Bowen that NJARP talked with Edgewater in the 1980s about rail service and they were re-buffed. So it appears that by the time attitudes in Edgewater changed it may have been too late to change the HBLRT alignment.....

Chris
 #700443  by kimannjo
 
My dad worked for Penn truck lines at weehawken, later to be closed up and moved to north bergen. I am 45 and remember very well how the riverfront looked when i would walk around the rail yard. I looked at the tunnel as a long and erie but special place. The ferry slips had old carnival rides in the water. Cars from amusement rides, what i would do if I had a camera back then. Who would have known, guessed. Everything is basically gone as of last year when i went back. The light rail using the tunnel is like a kids toy. it goes nowhere, but looping back on itself. I remember going for rides on trailvan 53, from weehawken, north bergen to selkirk NY. My uncle manny was the conductor and newton sweet (twiggy) was the engineer. I never would have guessed that going back to such a special place in my life would be so sad. Well Sorry if this is on the wrong page,, but just thought id vent some. Joe Lombardi