Reading about the Hudson & Manhattan on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudson_%26 ... n_Railroad), there was mention of plans to tunnel up to GCT. I was wonder what would have happened if the uptown tunnel had been built to GCT instead of 33rd Street with the ability to run commuter/LD trains? Could NYC, NH and others have partnered/mergered to run trains from points south thru GCT (station if thru traffic?) to points north and NE? Could they have done this despite PRR interference/takeovers? If this connection was built, how would rail traffic thru NYC be effected today?
hrfcarl wrote:I was wonder what would have happened if the uptown tunnel had been built to GCT instead of 33rd Street with the ability to run commuter/LD trains?The H&M tunnels were never designed to accommodate full-size passenger trains, only 50-foot rapid transit cars, so I don't see how this would be possible in any scenario.
Could NYC, NH and others have partnered/mergered to run trains from points south thru GCT (station if thru traffic?) to points north and NE?Could they? Who knows. But why would they?
Could they have done this despite PRR interference/takeovers?Doubtful the NYC and PRR would set up any through routes. The PRR took over the H&M specifically to keep the Hudson Tubes out of the hands of potential competitors-- there was only going to be one company tunneling under the Hudson River, and that was going to be the Pennsy, thank you very much. The New Haven was the non-competitive neutral party with service to both facilities. The Pennsylvania was already investigating their link to New England with the New Haven via the Long Island and the New York Connecting project (Hell Gate).
If this connection was built, how would rail traffic thru NYC be effected today?We'd be riding PATH trains from Grand Central and it would be a lot easier to get across town to Penn Station. That's about it...
You obviously have some opinions about this, so what do you think?