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The New York Cross Harbor Railroad was organized in 1983,
when the Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal ( BEDT ) and New York Dock
( NYD ) organizations ceased operation. The NYCH took control of the properties
of Bush Terminal, as well as Fulton and Atlantic Terminals of the NYD as
well. The NYCH acquired all the locomotives, tugboats and carfloats from
each road ( BT, BEDT & NYD ), but kept only certain pieces of equipment
for their operations. Unused nautical property was sold off, and the remainder
of the locomotives were placed on a carfloat, and were stored at Fulton Terminal;
before they were sold and scrapped.
The properties of the NYCH, remain in operation today
under a new owner: NYNJ Rail. It still is the last railroad to utilize
carfloating operations in New York Harbor, and operates out of the Greenville
Yard in Jersey City, NJ; and Bush Terminal in Brooklyn, NY.
Table Of Contents
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Even though the NYCH was a fairly young railroad in chronological terms, it literally had a very large and colorful history attached to it.
The New York Cross Harbor Railroad was organized in early 1983 for one sole reason, to continue carfloating operations in New York Harbor ( see operations chapter below).
The NYCH was born "from the ashes" so to say; of the New York Dock and Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal railroads. Both of these railroads had fallen on very hard times over their last years, due to increasing containerized truck traffic, and as a result the decreasing LCL ( Less than Car Load ) freight traffic entering New York City proper through the New Jersey railyards.
In 1976, when Conrail was formed; it had a very large impact on the small terminal railroads in Brooklyn. As Conrail was not interested in marine operations, BEDT was contracted by Conrail to do the carfloating for themselves and New York Dock; to and from the Greenville Yard in NJ.
In August 1983; both the NYD and BEDT officially ceased operations for good, and the BEDT Bulk Flour Terminal ( on Kent Avenue ) received its last cars this date, ( the BFT was one of BEDT's largest entities ). The NYD however, ceased operations at their Fulton Terminal in early 1982. Very shortly after all this had occurred, a few employees and administrative personnel from both the BEDT and NYD organized and formed the New York Cross Harbor operation.
This was not the end of the BEDT / NYD though, as the administrative offices remained staffed to disburse the remaining real estate properties. The NYCH; on top of the locomotives they received, also took possession of the NYD and BEDT marine equipment ( tugboats and carfloats ), as well as absorbed the Conrail lease agreement to the carfloating operations in Greenville, NJ.
In approximately 1996, a new holding company was formed: New York Regional Rail. NYRR would be the holding company for NYCH; along with JS Transportation. JS Transportation was a trucking firm based out of Greenville; mainly transporting loose bulk materials. NYRR bought along many changes and new customers. One of which was updated NYCH rules to NORAC qualifications.
In 2006, it saddens me to finally say that the New York Cross Harbor operation is officially a "Fallen Flag".
A new company however: Mid Atlantic New England Rail, LLC; based out of West Seneca, NY; has assumed control of NYCH and had the NYCH operation renamed to New York New Jersey Rail LLC. The carfloating operation continues today, as it was essentially "a name change and a paper shuffle" for the most part.
As this is an ongoing saga, please feel free to revisit this website often, as updates are anticipated!
The NYCH operated out of six main terminals in the Port of NY and NJ. These
were:
Bush Terminal is NYCH's most active ( and currently still active ) terminal
on the New York side of the harbor. Bush Terminal property occupied real
estate from 39th Street and Second Avenue to 65th Street yard, a total of
6 acres, betweenon First and Second Avenues, and for this length, the railroad
had direct access to the pier bulkhead for it's twin side-by-side floatbridges
located at 50th Street. Right in the center of this stretch of property is
Bush Terminal Yard.
Bush Terminal was acquired by NYD in a merger in 1972 when Bush Terminal
filed filed for bancruptcy, at which time the City of New York, took possession
of the property and leased operations to NYD. NYCH operates 2 interchange
points in Bush Terminal: the Long Island Rail Road interchange, and is
administered and switched by the New York & Atlantic. This interchange
is located at 65th street and first Avenue. The NYCH also interchanges with
the South Brooklyn Railway at 39th Street Second Avenue.
What makes Bush Terminal unlike any other; is that their trains still run
as Bush Terminal's trains had done for so many decades before, right down
the middle of public streets, almost every day. The tracks in some locations
are still set in cobblestone pavers, which date back to the late 1800's.
All throughout Bush Terminal, except in the yards; the tracks are comprised
of "girder" rail. Girder rail is a special street track, that has a inside
guard rail already cast / extruded as part of the rail to protect the flanges
of the car wheels, and to prevent derailments. This is the same type of rail
to what Streetcars and Trolleys use to this day. It has a U like shape to
it, as it is a rail.
Bush Terminal hosts two carfloat aprons: #1, which is on the South Side of #2 ( Refered to as Bush 1 and Bush 2 ). Both
are located at 50th Street. Today only the #2 (North) is used; as the #1
apron is sunk, due to a leaking pontoon. In 1998, Bush 2 was redecked with all new
bridge ties. In the summer of 2007, a long overdue fix, a brand new pontoon was built for Bush 2
by Great Lakes Shipyard of Cleveland Ohio. The new pontoon was transported to rail to Greenville
and was assembled in the water there. Also in fall 2007 the bridge was again redecked and the approach was rebuilt.
The Bush Terminal enginehouse is
located in the yard, off of 43rd Street. It is 3 tracks wide, of brick
construction; and has offices in the rear upstairs portion. To the right
of the #3 door is a small office / workshop. A large water tower once towered over the yard labeled "Bush Terminal" however it was torn down in the mid 1990's.
Some very notable features concerning Bush Terminal operation include; the
fact that a portion of trackage cuts through the corner of one of the warehouse
buildings located at the corner of 41 Street and Second Avenue. This due
to the narrow confines of the 41 Street and the tight radius turn as a result
thereof. Also the tracks cut so close to a building on 41th street, that
the building has scrape marks on it, where railcars have hit it.
Click here for
photos in and around Bush Terminal
Bush Terminal Customers:
South Brooklyn Railway:
Which is the freight subsidiary of the New York City Transit Authority,
interchanges with NYCH at 39th St. & 2nd Ave. See below for more info.
Interdynamics:
This customer is down behind the shop, and receives R134A refrigerant for
distribution.
American Stevedoring:
Raw and processed cocoa; originally transported in boxcars which were loaded
at the west end of 39th street yard. This operation ended in the late 1990s
also, and is now done dockside ( see operations ).
MVP Warehousing:
At one point used to receive boxcars of rice. This custoemr was also located
behind the shops. This customer went out of business in 1996.
Plywood Specialties:
Is located at 41st Street & First Avenue, and received "centerbeam" plywood
flatcars as well as boxcars of building materials.
Midwood Lumber:
Located at 50th Street & First Avenue. This siding was built, but was
rarely used as it was very sharp of a curve to get a car back there.
NYC Sludge:
Beginning in 1992 NYCH got a new freight consignee, Merko Joint Venture. Merko was a 3rd party contractor that removed the sewage sludge
from NYC sewage treatment plants. This sludge was loaded in 20' sealed containers in which NYCH would then originally load them onto TTCX 60' flat cars in
Brooklyn and transport them to Greenville. 89' Flat cars and Berwick articulated ULTRA stack cars from Epic were sometimes used. The cars would be interchanged with Conrail. These cars ultimately wound up in Texas, at the Sierra
Blanca Sludge Ranch where it was spread out as fertilizer. In 1994 the flat cars would somewhat be replaced by new cars, called the Wastepackers.
These cars were developed by Johnstown America Freight Car Company. Wastepackers were 2 unit articulated spine cars in which 3 containers can be loaded
for each half of the car, thus increasing productivity. The loading operation would eventually be moved to Greenville until 2001 when the city canceled
there contract with Merko. Reporting marks on the Merko railcars were MERX, and the containers were MJVU. Only 5 of the articulated cars could fit on 290' floats and 7 on the 360' floats.
Atlantic Waste:
At 51st Street & First Avenue: there was a waste disposal firm located
here. This location is of note, as the cars ran between two buildings located
to either side of a sharp curve with extremely limited clearances. 53 foot
boxcars were possibly the largest car that this track could accomodate, and
service at this location ended in the late 1990's. Cars used hosted ECOX reporting marks.
Bush Terminal Yard:
In the main yard, there are customers who receive cars at this location,
including Davidson Pipe, Midwood Lumber, Franklin Polymers and Cropsey Metals. Also located in the Northeastern end
of the yard was a concrete ramp used to unload subway cars for the NYCTA.
65th Street Yard
The 65th Street yard is located at the foot of 65th Street and Second
Avenue just south of Brooklyn Army Termnial. The 65th Street yard was formerly
operated by the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad in conjunction
with the Long Island Rail Road ( Bay Ridge Division ). It was then taken
over by the Penn Central Railroad in January 1969, and then Conrail upon
it's absorbing Penn Central in 1976.
The 65th Street yard was once home to four electrically powered cable suspended
floatbridges. In 1981, the yard was reconstructed by NYD with a new, pontoon
type floatbridge in the northwest corner of the yard, because the other four
floatbridges were dismantled in 1970. This transplanted pontoon floatbridge
was formerly the Erie 28th Street floatbridge in Manhattan. The reason for
this refurbishment, was to ease congestion of Bush Terminal, and to be able
to the handle larger railcars gaining use by the Class 1 railroads. Today
this floatbridge is now half sunk. It pulled away from it's bulkhead moorings
and the land side is underwater, but the pontoon is still intact so that
end still floats. Usually, it is the pontoon that usually leaks from age,
and sinks. This yard was referred to as the Army Terminal Bridge when in
operation.
The NYCH once planned to relocate to the 65th Street yard, and thus a brand
new pair of cable suspended floatbridges were built in 1999 on the site of
the previous four floatbridges in the south part of the yard. This NYCH
relocation never took place, and the new bridges still sit unused as built.
The 65th Street yard is still active today and is the interchange point for
the New York and Atlantic Railway. To get to the 65th Street yard and
interchange, the NYCH has to maneuver through the Brooklyn Army Terminal,
of which the trackage runs down the middle of First Avenue.
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The railyard at Greenville was huge in it's heyday, and remains a fairly
large yard to this day. This yard was built by the Pennsylvania Railroad,
when it outgrew it's Harsimus Cove yard. It is located in Jersey City, New
Jersey, but what is most interesting is that Greenville Yard rests atop a
man-made piece of land.
All of this land, including the float bridges; were built in 1904. The original
Greenville float bridges and support structures were made of all wood, but
following a massive fire in 1931; they were rebuilt in steel to prevent a
repeat conflagration.
Greenville Yard featured such apparatus as: a hump yard, outbound/inbound
yards, car repair facilities and even a steel staging area for New York City
building construction. Today Greenville is a shadow of itself, being that
part of the yard is abandoned, some is now a Tropicana facility, and only
a small part is still used for drilling railroad cars.
After Conrail took over Class 1 operations in 1976; is did not want to involve
itself in marine operations. Therefore, the carfloating operations were leased
to Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal in 1976.
Following the cessation of operations of BEDT/NYD in 1983, the New York Cross
Harbor Railroad received the lease on Greenville from Conrail. As previously
discussed above; BEDT had a contract with Conrail, starting in 1976 when
Conrail was formed, and had contracted carfloating operations to BEDT. This
contract subsequently was transferred to NYCH upon their formation. It was
said that part of a revised agreement in 1983, that Conrail would maintain
the yard and floatbridges in Greenville, with NYCH doing the switching and
carfloat work.
After two floatbridges collapsed ( #13 & 14 ) around 1991 and Conrail
refusing to repair them, ownership of the floatbridges and buildings, along
with the floating rights were transfered to NYCH, but the land remains Conrail
owned. See floatbridge section for more information on these.
Greenville Yard once featured six electrically powered cable suspension float
bridges, numbered 9 1/2 - 14. Most of the float bridges are still there,
albeit in various states of disrepair; except for #11 which is in service
at this time. Number 11's outer apron was replaced in 1994, and numbers 13 and 14
which were dismantled in 1997 following the partial collapse of the suspension
gantry.
(See operations section for more information about these floatbridges.)
Greenville Yard today is still active with a transload facility for solidified
sewage sludge containers ( westbound ), and incoming ( eastbound ) commodies
as discussed above for Brooklyn merchants.
Greenville yard once featured 6 electrically powered cable suspended float
bridges, numbered 9 1/2 - 14. All are still there in various states of disrepair,
except #11 which is in service at this time as it's end apron had been replaced in 1994,
and 13 and 14 which were dismanteled in 1997. See operations section for
more information about these floatbridges. Greenville today is still active
with a transload facility for solidified sludge containers ( westbound ),
and incoming ( eastbound ) commodies as discussed above for Brooklyn merchants.
Tracks were numbered in Greenville as so: 12-3 ( southern most ), 12-2, 12-1,
11-4, 11-3, 11-2, 11-1 and the Crane Track. Greenville is approximately 27
Acres.
Greenville never really had any customers other then transload operations until 2006 when a new consignee would recieve boxcars filled with Hay on the crane track.
The Atlantic Terminal, in the Atlantic Basin was also property that was
once New York Dock. The Atlantic Terminal was located North of Bush, right
off of Ferris Street. Atlantic served a series of public Team Tracks and
some customers. Service at the Atlantic terminal ended in 1992, and very
very little remains there. The floatbride was removed in approx. 2005 and its disposition is unknown. Customers in Atlantic recieved cars such as corn syrup tank cars, salt, sugar.
39th Street Yard is a property at the Northern most end of Bush Terminal.
39th Street is owned by the New York City Transit Authority ( SBK operates
it ) on 39th Street and 2nd Avenue. 39th Street is the base of interchange
operations via NYCH and SBK. NYCH transports materials much as ties, rail
and the like to this yard. NYCH also once hauled scrap subway cars from here
to be loaded on a carfloat to be scrapped in New Jersey. NYCH customer Davidson
Pipe used 39th street as there yard until the yard was rebuilt in the late
1990s. As stated, 39th Street was rebuilt and this rebuild eliminated the
old interchange switch on 2nd Avenue, and now only cars 50 feet and under
can be moved here via NYCH.
Fulton Terminal was never actually a NYCH owned or operated piece of
property. Fulton was ex-New York Dock. Fulton terminal housed an engine house,
a small yard and 2 pontoon float bridges. Fulton was a place where NYCH kept
their tugs for a period of time and also where the "Roster on a barge" was
stored. Today Fulton Terminal remains in an abandoned/derelict state.
Also located in the Brooklyn Navy Yard was a floatbridge, and at one point
a massive yard/track structure. It was formally served by the BEDT after
WWII. The Navy Yard had just a single carfloat apron, and an interesting
one at that. It has a contained apron "French" style electric suspension bridge, but
later on it was converted to a pontoon floatbridge in 1977 but the overhead gantry remained
standing. NYCH received a contract to operate in the Brooklyn Navy Yard in
the late 1980's, delivering cars to a subway/electric MU car rebuilder; NEMCo.
This customer was switched once a week. Once the contract ended, so did service. Today the apron is still intact,
but most of the trackage is gone. Service ended by 1992.
To see aerial views of each of the NYCH terminals, click on the following
links:
You can use your mouse to click and drag each one and also the controls on
the left side to view a different section, or which way you want to look
at it.
When the NYCH was organized, it acquired all the locomotives of the prior
NYD/BEDT merger. Some of these locomotives would go on to be used, others
would become parts donors, and some surplus.
From start up of operations in 1983, the NYCH used several of the ex-Brooklyn
Eastern District Terminal Alco S-1's: numbers 21, 22, 25; and a pair of ex-New
York Dock NW-2's: #58 and 59, Number 59 would be the first locomotive to
be painted in the new NYCH color scheme.
The remainder of unused and surplus locomotives were first stored in the
Brooklyn Army Terminal for eventual parts use ( as the BEDT S1's were ) or
stored in the hopes another railroad would purchase them outright for use.
This only occurred with one locomotive: NYD 55 ( General Electric 44T ),
which was sold to Eastern Railcar in New Jersey. Soon after this however,
the remaining locomotives would be stored on a carfloat, and moved to the
ex-NYD Fulton Terminal, until January 1986 at which time the carfloat that
they were on, was relocated to Newark, NJ; and all units were scrapped there.
This included the NYD Alco RS3's. See the below link for info and disposition
on all locomotives.
The first locomotive purchased by Cross Harbor was #11, an Alco S-4. This
locomotive was purchased from the Massena Terminal Railroad in upstate NY,
where it was also their #11. Massena Terminal purchased this locomotive new.
Unfortunately in 2000, #11 blew it's turbocharger and sat idle until June
2006 which sadly at such time it was scrapped in the Greenville Yard.
In 2000, NYCH purchased a General Electric U23B. This unit did not see use
often and was subsequently sold in 2006.
Also in 2000, NYCH purchased 3 ex-Green Bay & Western Alco C424 engines,
and was planning to make "mother-slug" sets out of them with the retired
ex-BEDT Alco S1's, but this never happened and the plans came to naught.
In 2004, NYCH purchased two ex-UPY ( Union Pacific Yard ) SW-1500 Switchers,
one of which remain in use today. The other one is currently off the property
and was apparently sold/traded to Juniata Terminal.
The NYCH has over time, leased other units; mostly BDLX units, which denotes
Big Dog Leasing. One of which, the 2293 has just returned from an overhaul.
In 2006 NYCH borrowed/leased a unit from Morristown & Erie RR while the
2293 was out for overhaul.
Paint Schemes:
Over the years, NYCH has had a few interesting paint schemes that were
used on the engines.
The first was an all blue with a white stripe, and NY Cross Harbor lettering
on the cab, similar to the BEDT scheme. This scheme was updated with a new
logo, with a tug boat and a locomotive on the cab. This logo was updated
in the early 1990s with an "air brushed" style to it, which had a better
appearance. The remainder of the engine was in a blue with a teal top and
white stripe.
By the late 1990's; NYCH had a completely new scheme: the locomotive was
all black with yellow highlights and a small logo on the cab. Only one engine
( #11 ) received the logo, and only 2 received the entire paint scheme (
#1337 & 11 ).
Currently, NYNJ Rail has finally started to repaint its fleet into there own scheme of Green & Red. 2293 was repainted this
past summer with 1133
to follow.
Click
here for the comprehensive NYCH Diesel Locomotive roster
In the early years of operation, NYCH used a pair of ex-BEDT Tugboats: Brooklyn
III and the Greenpoint to shuffle the carfloats around NY Harbor. In the
late 1990's both were sold to the Port Authority of NY/NJ who then also sold
them. Today the NYCH uses contractors to do the daily carfloat work. Some noted companies are Eklof Marine,
McAllister Towing, Kosnac Floating Derrick, Brown Transportation, Marine Steel Towing and Hepburn Marine using there noted tug the Pegasus and the James M. Witte in the early 1990's.
| Name | Built | Builder | Hull # | Notes | Heritage |
| Brooklyn III | 1953 | Jakobsen Shipbuilding | 344 | -Sold to Port Authority ( 1980s )
-Released back to NYCH -Wore BEDT paint entire career -Scrapped 1996 |
ex-BEDT "Williamsbourgh"
ex-BEDT "Petro-Arrow" ex-NYNH&H "Transfer 23" ex-NYNH&H "Cordelia" |
| Cross Harbor I | 1953 | Jakobsen Shipbuilding | 345 |
-Originally the NYCH "New Jersey" until 1985.
-Sold 1998 to Eastern Towing -Forsale as of 2005 - Sold 2007 to Rhode Island Yaught Club to be used as a breakwater - Sunk 11-2007 in storm, future unknown. |
ex-BEDT "New Jersey"
ex-BEDT "Greenpoint" ex-BEDT "Petro-Flame" ex-NYNH&H "Transfer 24" ex-NYNH&H "Bumblebee" |
 Brooklyn III & the Cross Harbor I underway in NY. Daniel Hormann photo |
 Daniel Hormann photo |
 John McCluskey photo |
 Contract tug "John P. Brown" moves a loaded float from Bush Terminal. Photo by author |
Carfloats:
NYCH utilized 4 main carfloats. Each carfloat can hold between 10-15 cars,
depending on the cars and loads. Carfloats can be from 200-350 feet long.
An interesting note is that number 29 was involved in a lawsuit between NYCH
and their insurance underwriter in 1987, when #29 sank with it's compliment
of 15 loaded cars in the Brooklyn Army Terminal, It has since been refloated
and is still in service today.
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NYCH owned a handful of other pieces of various equipment, as listed below:
An ex-PRR X-31a round roof boxcar. It is currently used for storage and is landlocked on the #12 bridge lead in Greenville, NJ. Number 3 is painted in the NYCH Blue and Teal, although now it is covered heavyly in graffitti. Inside is a workbench, a hanging winch, 55 gallon drums and a large diesel generator. This car was used for general storage, MoW service and fuel storage by NYCH. This car was recently scrapped.
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NYCH had this car in ownership until at least 1997, and was used for storage in Greenville, NJ. This car also had holding tanks for diesel fuel for the locomotives and was gravity fed. It had been painted Red, White and Blue by BEDT shops for the Bicentennial of the United States. The disposition of this car is unknown.
The BEDT boxcar in 1997.
John McCluskey photo
Yard Office Caboose:
NYCH has a caboose, and is used as a Yard Office in Bush Terminal. It
is most likely the ex BEDT one from Kent Ave. and also is painted in the Blue Scheme. It was originally a PRR
N5 clas caboose.
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NYCH once had this Caboose as well. It was painted blue and was severly tagged in 1995. It was painted in red primer and sat on the
1st ave. track for awile. Disposition is unknown.
This caboose was stored in Bush Terminal for some time, and was recently towed to Gershow Recycling and scrapped. It is not confirmed if it was even owned by NYCH.
NYCTA Flatcars:
NYCH acquired a pair of ex NYCTA Flatcars to use as rail & tie cars in 1997.
They were in Greenville until March 2006, it is assumed they were also scrapped.
CR 539891 is an old beat and battered 50' gondola that NYCH used in the 1980s as a reacher car. 529891 had plain bearing trucks and was severly deteriorated. Its desposition is unknown.
101 is another idler car used by NYCH in the 1980s. 101 was acquired from NYD, who in turn got it from Bush Terminal. The car was filled with rails for weight and was notched on the ends for ladders. It was last seen in Atlantic Terminal.
NYCH had used a Kalmar 42-1200 container loader for use in Bush Terminal for loading the sludge containers. It was painted red and black and had NYCHRR on the side.
NYCH had an old Ford truck in the 1990s painted blue with a work body. Disposition unknown.
In this section, NYCH operations will be discussed such as carfloating,
unloading, etc..
Bush Terminal Floatbridge Operations:
Bush Terminal uses a common type of carfloat apron, the Pontoon style
( See Carfloat Aprons fro more info ). This type of apron was also used in
Atlantic and Fulton terminal as well as the Navy yard.
To pin ( attach )the carfloat to the apron, one would:
1. A locomotive or loaded car would be used to ballast the apron and push
the pontoon down so the apron was level with the carfloat if needed. Some
aprons have jacks on the ends in the middle of the tracks to help raise the
apron up if needed.
2. A first line would be hooked onto the carfloat from a winch on the apron,
and it would then bring the carfloat into initial alignment.
3. A bridgeman would slide the toggles ( the pins that keep the barge from
having any side to side or up and down movement ) into receptacles on the
carfloat. These would then be chocked in.
4. A second line would be attached to the cafloat from the apron and both
lines would be tightened up, the second line helps in case the initial line
was to break, thus acting as a "safety".
5.A bridgeman would then put the rails into final allignment using a hand
jack ( sort of like a binder ) if needed.
6. A locomotive would pull the left most cut of cars halfway off the float.
7. The locomotive would switch to the right track and pull that cut of cars
all the way back into the yard.
8. The locomotive would the go back to the cut of cars that were halfway
pulled off, and pull them back to clear the switch on the apron. The switch
was thrown and that cut of cars was shoved forward and coupled onto the remaining
cars on the center track, and both would be pulled back into the yard.
To load, the procedure would be reversed. This operation varied often depending
on the cars on the carfloat.
Greenville Floatbridge Operations:
Unlike Bush Terminal, Greenville operations are quite different, and
use a completely different kind of floatbridge. Greenville uses a type of
bridge that is completely suspended over the water by means of a gantry system,
unlike a pontoon like Bush Terminal. Since Greenville is of PRR heritage,
as are the floatbridges.
To pin ( attach )the carfloat to the apron in Greenville, one would:
1. Tug would bring in a loaded carfloat and it would be moored to finger
pier on the sides.
2. The operator would raise or lower the apron depending on the tide to get
the correct matching height between the carfloat and the apron
3. A deckhand would attach a line from an electric power winch to a cleat
on the carfloat, to pull it in and bring it into alignment.
4. The apron would then be pinned to the carfloat. This is done by driving
the toggles on the apron into corresponding hole on the carfloat with a crowbar
and then would be choked to prevent them from slipping out.
5. A secondary line would be attached from a manualally operated winch to
the carfloat and it would also be tightened.
6. A deckhand would then put the rails into final allignment using a hand
jack ( sort of like a binder ).
7. The locomotive would then approch the carfloat on the left track, and
pull that cut of cars back to about the crossover.
8. The locomotive would then go to the right most track and pull that cut
of cars all the way back into the yard.
9. The locomotive would go back to the left track and finish pulling that
cut of cars off just to clear the switch on the apron. The switch would be
thrown and the cut of cars still coupled up would shove onto the center track
and pull off the remaining cars back into the yard.
Note: While all of this is taking place the operator in the cabin would be
constantly raising and lowering the aprons to match the tides and weight
distribution on the cafloat.
NYCH did not really make use of Reacher/Idler cars, even though it owned
an ex NYD ( originally Bush terminal ) one. Today an empty gondola or spine
car is used if it is warrented. See Auxiliary Equipment above for more info.
NYCH has one very large customer, American Stevedoring. This customer transloads a very large portion of the countrys raw cocoa. Whats interesting about this operation is that they receive carfloats of empty covered hoppers in Red Hook ( located by the old Fulton Terminal ) and they load the hoppers right on the cafloat, right on the pier. American stevedoring loads the cars with a conveyor, thus causing the carfloat to list very badly somtimes. This used to be done with bagged cocoa at the 38th street yard but this ended. In January 2006, a carfloat was at this pier with loaded hoppers, and the carfloat started to leak, then sink, taking the hopper cars with it. Thus 3 or so hoppers were floating in the East River for a few days. Another customer that recieved this kind of service was Domino Sugar on the East River. They recieved carfloats with TOFC cars onboard that held trailers of liquid sugar.
Beginning in the early 1990's, the New York Cross Harbor Railroad had its own police force. The NYCH PD employed a full time police chief as
well as about a dozen "Reserve Special Agents" led by the Reserve Superintendent of the Railroad Police.
The main duty of the NYCH PD was traffic control on freight movements that transversed First Avenue among other city thoroughfares. The NYCHRR
Police Reserve held training drills on the property, as well as assisting with security during events and affairs concerning R. Diamond and Brooklyn
Historic Railway Association.
Most of the Reserve Agents had been previously employed in some facet of law enforcement. The uniform was a light blue shirt, with blue jeans and
work boots. A pair of patches were used, One for property protection, and the other for train protection, one on each sleeve. Gold badges were also used.
In the late 1980’s, LI was in a crisis of overloaded roads and something had to be done, Thats when the LIRR in
association with the NYCH, started an experimental Intermodal TOFC ( Trailer On Flat Car ) service between Jersey City,
NJ and Farmingdale, NY. What made this service interesting, is the fact that instead of utilizing regular style intermodal
type flatcars which are commercially available; the LIRR had opted to use, and have custom-built "Bogie" well cars made
instead. he entire purpose of these cars was to be able to introduce intermodal-type services to LI businesses. The reason
that it took so long to do this was the fact that LI is plagued with some very low clearances which will not accept the
traditional double stack containers or trailer-on-flat-car services. This is somewhat ironic being that LIRR helped to
pioneer intermodal in the 1800’s by placing wagons on flat cars destined for the city. The Bogies eliminated the problem
with the latter of the two.
Starting in 1988, The Berwick Car Company of Berwick, Pennsylvania designed and built the first set of the Bogies.
Berwick is a known freight car builder with a line of well known box cars and would later develop the ULTRA
(universal load, twin railcar, articulated) container waste cars in 1991. When complete, the first 12 cars were leased to the
LIRR to test. The tests went well and a DOT grant was issued to pay for the new cars. The original cars were delivered
in April 1988 with a second order coming in August 1991. Only a few cars of the second order were used.
LIRR entered into an agreement with the New York Cross Harbor Railroad, who operated carfloat service
between Jersey City, New Jersey and Brooklyn, New York. Trailers would be come into NJ, be loaded on the Bogies
and taken to Brooklyn to be interchanged with the LIRR. This is the only route the cars would ever take.
The cars were unlike anything ever built at the time, featuring some very sleek lines on a very low profile ,
but heavily built chassis. What made these cars interesting was the fact that the trailer body became an important
part of the cars. The trailer we straddle the cars with one end in the 5th wheel hitch and the wheels sitting in
wells of the next car. The process would then be repeated. The end cars (8000# series, “A” cars) featured a
standard height tight lock (Type H) coupler and a set of cast steel counterweights. The other end featured a
5th wheel hitch. Next in line would be the intermediate car (1000# Series, “C” cars). On one end would be a
set of wells for the tires to sit in, on the other end a 5th wheel hitch. Both ends of the car had low height
couplers. The next and final car (9000# series, “B” cars) would have only a set of wells for the wheels, then
on the end would be steel counterweights and a standard height Type H coupler. An air hose would be strung out
under the trailer and connected to the next car to operate the air brakes. Originally, the cars had black
lettering, but it was changed to white later on. A more refined red air hose reel was also added, along with
guides for the truck tires on the wells. An interesting note is that these cars did not have a center sill like almost every
other freight car has. The cars feature heavy duty 12x9 rectangular box cross supports. The sides of the car were thick metal
which acted as a center sill, but on the sides.
A typical consist would appear as such: A-C-C-C-C-B. Loading and unloading would be handled by a pair of
custom built cranes, one located in Pinelawn on the wye team track and the other in Cross Harbor’s Greenville Yard.
These bogies were in limited service when they were built, but were prone to derailments due to their overall
light weight even when loaded, and due to the fact there were only two axles per car as opposed to four, which
made the bogie not-as-forgiving, in regard to "less than perfect trackage". The unloaders were also problem prone.
The FRA limited the Bogies to 20mph and 15 cars per train.
In preliminary usage, these bogie sets were used to transport US Postal Service trailers to the Processing &
Distribution Center in Farmingdale. The bogies were tested again in the early 1990's, to transport trailers for the
Clare Rose beer distributors. No discernable modifications were evident; and once again in limited service only. As
far as this author has been able to learn, this test resulted in the bogies not having any appreciable advantage over
truck traffic and again experienced technical problems along with rising costs to transport the bogies.
The bogies were used form October 1988 to December 1991.
The bogies survive to this day, but are in storage. One long cut is located on a siding in Hicksville, NY
and another is on the Montauk Cutoff located in Long Island City. One of the loading cranes also survives,
the unit in Farmingdale, NY.
The Bogie Cars in service in Farmingdale NY.
Albert Castelli photo
Click here for more photos
Throughout the years, the NYCH has played host to a number of special moves.
Many of these have been for the Long Island Rail Road, but some were for
Metropolitan Transportation Authority of NY. I list them in chronological
order:
Outbound Scrap Railcars:
Throughout the 1980's, the NYCH was contracted for the handling of scrap
subway cars for the NYCTA. These were loaded directly onto carfloats and
shipped to Greenville. Some were scrapped right in Greenville, while others
were sent to Naporano Iron & Metal in Newark, NJ.
Also, some of the retired LIRR Budd M1 Metropolitan cars were loaded on top
of 89' flatcars by the LIRR. These cars were then sent to Bush Terminal and
floated to Greenville. Only a few M1's went this way; with the majority of
the shipment going via CP Rail on the New York Connecting Railroad. Also beeing sent out were LIRR P72/75 class cars. These were put on a carfloat where they
were taken to Newark NJ to be scraped. Cars include LIRR 2902,
2832, 2785, 2895, 2797 & 2871.
Inbound / Outbound Subway & Commuter cars:
During the 1980's; the MTA, ( which is the parent organization for the
New York City Transit Authority, Staten Island Rapid Transit, Metro-North
and Long Island Rail Road); commenced with a major system-wide fleet
modernization program. As the scrap cars were sent out ( as mentioned above
), new and rebuilt cars would arrive. Most of the new subway cars (from Bombadier
and Kawasaki; as did the rebuilds from Morrison-Knudson) came into Brooklyn
from Greenville. These subway cars were loaded on top of flatcars "piggy
back style", with trucks installed and "ready to roll". Thus, a concrete
unloading ramp was built at the northern end of Bush Terminal just east of
the enginehouse; and a similar ramp made of railroad ties in the nearby
interchange yard of NYCTA / South Brooklyn Railway at 39th Street and Third
Avenue. Some of the NYCTA cars were also rebuilt in the Brookyn Navy Yard
by NEMKO and were carfloated there by NYCH.
Also during this time, Metro-North sent some of their Budd M4 electric cars
to the same rebuilder, thus giving the Brooklyn Navy Yard one last moment
of glory.
The NYCH also carfloated the rebuilt PATH ( Port Authority Trans Hudson )
PA1 cars to and from the Brooklyn Army Terminal yard at 65th Street, where
the PA1's were rebuilt by New York Railcar Company.
Inbound LIRR Bilevel Cars:
In 1999, when the LIRR was modernizing their passenger car fleet; the
brand new Bilevel cars were delivered via the NYCH. These were carfloated
into Bush Terminal and delivered to New York & Atlantic at 65th Street.
Timing was important and a headlight to headlight meet was needed to prevent
any sort of vandalism to the brand new, million dollar cars.
Inbound Plasser Track Geometry Car:
Also in 1999, a new Plasser-American track geometry car for the LIRR was
carfloated into Bush Terminal, for interchange with the NY&A at the 65th
Street yard.
Outbound GP38-2's and Inbound DE / DM30AC:
Along with another fleet modernization, LIRR also sent their fleet of
aging EMD GP38-2 locomotives back to EMD. They were shipped with the aid
of New York Cross Harbor in late 1999. The engines were stored in Bush Terminal
and were carfloated over to Greenville a few at a time. Some of the new
replacement engines, the DE and DM30AC locomotives were also transported
inbound to LIRR via NYCH.
Valley Railroad 1647:
In January of 1990, NYCH transported the then brand new Valley Railroad 2-8-2 1647. This engine was built brand new by TanShan Locomotive company of China.
1647 was then freighted over and unloaded in New Jersey, then carfloated over to the Army Terminal. 1647 is still around today operating as New York Susquehanna & Western 142.
Eared Knuckles:
"Eared" coupler knuckles are a special type of coupler knuckle that were
utilized on locomotives working carfloats for Marine-Rail outfits.
These knuckles had extentions cast into the top and bottom of the knuckle,
which allowed for extra vertical movement of the adjoining coupler on the
car being towed ( which were without eared knuckles ).
This was crucial when moving cars over the rather sharp and abrupt
angle changes in either approaching the apron from land or from the apron
to the carfloat.
Only a few NYCH locomotives were equipped with these types of eared knuckles,
and if they were so equipped, it was early on in the 1980's. For an unknown
reason, the eared knuckles were removed.
The photo below, is of the earred knuckle on BEDT 16. All of BEDT's locomotives
( steam & diesel ) were equipped with eared knuckles ,front and rear.
Rerail Frogs:
On the original NYCH fleet, a special sheet metal side was added to the last handrail sanction on the engineers side extending to the cab. This small boxlike enclosure was on there to hold rerail frogs and heavy ropes.
BEDT 16:
In late 1992, BEDT 16 was moved from is long abandoned state at the old Kent Avenue enginehouse to Bush Terminal by Cross Harbor. At this time, a few different groups tried to claim ownership. Later on, NYCH repainted 16 to a makeshift BEDT sheme and even replaced the number plate. While not 100% correct, this makeshift restoration made it presentable. In 1999 the Railroad Museum of Long Island acquired 16 and it was moved to their Riverhead Restoration Site.
BEDT 16 at Railroad Museum of Long Island - 2006
photo by author
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