Hackensack Drawbridge

Hackensack Drawbridge
Coordinates40°43′7.35″N 74°6′14.35″W / 40.7187083°N 74.1039861°W / 40.7187083; -74.1039861
CarriedNewark and New York Railroad
CrossedHackensack River
LocaleJersey City and Kearny
Other name(s)HD Draw
OwnerCentral Railroad of New Jersey
Characteristics
Designswing bridge
MaterialSteel
Height75 feet (23 m)
History
Opened1869
Collapsed1946
Location
Map

The Hackensack Drawbridge (also known as the HD Draw)[1] was a double-track railroad movable bridge across the mouth of the Hackensack River between Jersey City and Kearny, New Jersey.[1][2] It was operational until 1946, when a steamship crashed into it.[3]

Built and maintained by the Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ),[4] the bridge was part of the Newark and New York Railroad, a rail line characterized as the "costliest railroad" by W. H. Schmidt Jr., a columnist for Trains.[5] Opened on July 23, 1869, the line was routed between terminals at Newark and Jersey City, where passengers could transfer to ferries to New York.[6] It also crossed the Passaic River and the Kearny Point peninsula. Freight cars regularly traversed the bridge to deliver to various industries in Harrison.[7]

  1. ^ a b Colleti, Richard. "Towers of the CNJ". Jersey Central. National Railroad Historical Society. Retrieved October 9, 2012.
  2. ^ (June 23, 1940). Authority Calls Hackensack Span Menace; Wants Drawbridge Rebuilt or Abandoned, The New York Times (reporting that the Port of New York Authority was recommending that the bridge be either rebuilt or abandoned because it offered limited clearance)
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference fre was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Federal supplement, pg. 341.
  5. ^ Schmidt, W.H. (May 1946), "Costliest Railroad Now Half Abandoned", Trains, pg. 52.
  6. ^ "Opening of the Newark and New-York Railroad" (PDF). New York Times. July 24, 1869. Retrieved February 21, 2011.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference rail was invoked but never defined (see the help page).