Little Ferry Yard

Road and NYSW mainline in Babbitt

Little Ferry Yard is a railyard and intermodal terminal in the Port of New York and New Jersey served by the CSX River Subdivision (CSXT),[1] New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway (NYSW),[2] Norfolk Southern Railway[3] and Conrail Shared Assets Operations (CRCX).[4]

Originally developed by NYSW, it was later acquired by CSX.[5][6] Located in Ridgefield, New Jersey and extending into Ridgefield Park, it takes its name from the ferry that used to travel across the Hackensack at approximately this location—the town on the western side, Little Ferry, was also named for this ferry. The yard's street address is in Babbitt, North Bergen, from where it is accessible by road. It is situated at the confluence of the Hackensack River and Overpeck Creek near the Bergen Generating Station.

South of the facility the River Subdivision continues to the North Bergen Yard, where it terminates. Traveling slightly further the NYSW mainline terminates at the Landbridge Terminal at the Jersey City border. The NYSW Undercliff Junction provides access to a spur to the Edgewater Tunnel, occupied by a natural gas pipeline as of 2021.[7] and the electric cable for the Hudson Project.

To the north, the lines cross north over Overpeck Creek. CSX has a two-track swing bridge.[8] As of 2015, the NYS&W bridge was slated for replacement.[9][10][11][12][13] The River Subdvison continues along the original West Shore Railroad alignment through Bergen County and Rockland County, New York[7] reaching the Hudson River after passing through a tunnel at Haverstraw. It continues north to a point near Selkirk Yard where it junctions with the Port Subdivision and Castleton Subdivision. At Bogota the NYSW veers west crossing the Hackensack, and at Paterson, the Passaic River to Sparta, crossing the state line into New York at Warwick.[7]

Numerous studies to restore passenger service that would travel through the yard on have been conducted, but not materialized.[14] The Passaic–Bergen–Hudson Transit Project proposes a station at the Vince Lombardi Park & Ride of the New Jersey Turnpike which is adjacent to the Edgewater Branch.

  1. ^ "CSX in New Jersey". CSX. Archived from the original on 2012-05-11. Retrieved 2013-10-04.
  2. ^ "North Bergen, New Jersey". NYSW. Archived from the original on 2012-05-08. Retrieved 2013-10-04.
  3. ^ "Ridgefield Heights Auto Terminal" (PDF). Norfolk Southern. Retrieved 2013-10-04.
  4. ^ "Regional Intermodal Rail Facilities". Guide to Port of New York and New Jersey. PANYNJ. 2012. Retrieved 2013-10-03.
  5. ^ Kaminski, Edward S. (2010), New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway in New Jersey, Arcadia Publishing, ISBN 978-0-7385-7367-0
  6. ^ Village of Ridgefield Park v. New York Susquehanna and Western Railway Corporation (Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division Dec. 2, 1998 - February 17, 1999) ("In 1991 the railroad sold its Little Ferry Yard and railroad terminal to CSX Rail Systems (CSX) for twenty-one million dollars so it could "benefit from additional rail traffic from the CSX operations into the Ridgefield site."   After the sale, CSX refused to allow the railroad to continue its refueling and light-maintenance operations at the Little Ferry site at the Borough of Ridgefield. This required the railroad to relocate its so-called "light-maintenance" facility to its approximately 125-foot right-of-way located in the Village, where some side-track was added."), Text.
  7. ^ a b c "New Jersey's Rail Network" (PDF). NJDOT. November 15, 2012. Retrieved 2013-10-04.
  8. ^ Tofani, Anthony R. (June 20, 2005). "Little Ferry, NJ - Then & Now". gsmrr. Archived from the original on January 29, 2016. Retrieved January 23, 2016.
  9. ^ "CSX - Overpeck Creek Bridge (1901)". Bridgehunter. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  10. ^ "CSX - Overpeck Creek Bridge/NYS&W Overpeck Creek Bridge". Bridgehunter. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  11. ^ Maag, Christopher (February 4, 2015). "Train bridge over Overpeck Creek in Ridgefield Park to be replaced". The Record. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  12. ^ "NJDOT awards $5.1 million in rail and community-based grants in Bergen and Passaic counties" (Press release). NJDOT. February 4, 2015. Retrieved 23 January 2016. NJDOT also is awarding a $4.3 million grant to replace the rail bridge spanning the Overpeck Creek in Ridgefield Park, Bergen County. The bridge serves as a critical link for freight rail in the region with an average of 25,000 rail cars traversing the bridge each year. It was originally built in the early 1900s with three spans – a north approach, a south approach, and a center span. The north and south approaches were rehabilitated in 1985. This project will replace all three spans with a new steel bent system and steel superstructure, as well as new steel and concrete abutments on the north and south sides.
  13. ^ "InTransition Magazine ~ Transportation Planning, Practice & Progress (from NJTPA & NJIT)". intransitionmag.org. Archived from the original on 2016-03-12.
  14. ^ Maag, Christopher (November 29, 2015). "A train delay for the ages: boosting service in Bergen County among stalled plans". The Record. Archived from the original on 1 February 2016. Retrieved 20 January 2015.