Commuter/NYC Bridges over Harlem River in New York City

1867 Bridge: (Bridge Hunter, drawbridge)
1896 Bridge: (Bridge Hunter, 4-track swing bridge) (The only other 4-track swing bridge I have seen is still in Conneaut, OH.)
1954 Bridge: (Bridge Hunter, twin 2-track lift; 3D Satellite)

This is on the train route that leads to Grand Central Station.

1867 Drawbridge

Since there is no counterweight, this is not a bascule bridge. It is an old fashion drawbridge like the ones that used to be used over the moat of a castle. The steam engine had to be strong enough to lift the full weight of the bridge.

December 1892 Scientific American.
[There is a higher resolution copy near the bottom of these notes.]

Opening of the Harlem Ship Canal Source NYPL

1896 4-track Swing Bridge

Francis Otterbein posted
Manhattan Harlem Railroad Bridge at Park Avenue, undated.
[We can tell by the smoke coming out of the smokestack on the left side of the bridge that it was still steam driven when this photo was taken.]

1896 Bridge Hunter

eBook, p246
[The men repairing a pin connection in 1916-17 provide scale for the size of the steel beams. The bridge carried "some 700 train or engine movements per day."]

1954 Lift Bridge

Photo taken by Pi.1415926535, License: Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike (CC BY-SA), from 1954 Bridge Hunter

Comment by Peter Metrinko on Francis' post

Bridges Now and Then posted
The Harlem River Lift Bridge, New York City, 1956. (Hardesty and Hanover)

 

Matt Csenge posted
Harlem River Lift Bridge
Metro-North Railroad M8 car no. 9213 (Kawasaki, 2011) is seen leading New Haven Line train 1557 across the railroad's Harlem River Lift Bridge. Built in 1956, the bridge is the fourth rail bridge built by the New York Central at this location, and consists of two parallel double-track lift spans that carry Harlem, Hudson, and New Haven Line trains onto and off of the island of Manhattan.
Mike Cook: When I was working out of GCT this interlocking was called DB. It was later changed to Draw Bridge.

Alan Zelazo posted
1956 view of the 'New Harlem River Bridge'. A. Zelazo collection.
John-Paul Fiorentino Speaking of, the bridge is scheduled to open up at 1030am.
James Teehen They don’t raise that bridge often.
John-Paul Fiorentino James Teehen they did last week and then today at 1030. When they opened it last week, there was an issue with 1 span not locking properly.
James Joyce It does open regularly for testing.
Emily Elizabeth Moser James Joyce when it happened last week it was for a boat to go through.
Wayne Koch Nice! It officially opened some time in 1955.
Wayne Koch shared
Pierce Haviland I wonder how the opening went today?
Mike Powell Good opened for a barge closed with no issues
John-Paul Fiorentino Opening again tonight at 1159pm
Comments on another post
Wayne Koch: Bronx is to the right, and Manhattan to the left. The new span is west of the old span.
Keith Schaffler: Wayne Koch yes, and besides the bridges, entirely new, long approaches were required on both sides. They moved a track at a time to the new viaduct.
Douglas Butler shared
Matt Csenge MNATK Railroad Lift Bridge Bronx, NY.

Gregory Grice posted

"Opening the Park Avenue Railroad Bridge" 

Around 0220hrs on March 22nd, 2022, the Harry McNeal Tug shoved a loaded construction barge under the half-opened Metro-North Park Avenue Railroad Bridge as it traveled up the Harlem River in New York City. Due to strict Coast Guard regulations, most vessels that travel up and down the Harlem River usually fit under this bridge and most others in the closed position making this opening extremely rare.

Photo Link: https://www.railpictures.net/photo/798846

The $612m 2010 span for the Willis Bridge going under this bridge.

4:16 timelapse video

Miscellaneous

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Fred Hadley posted three photos and a video with the comment:

Improvements at the Harlem River bridge in 1892 included moving its tower to a temporary wood crossing to the south. 

There are three railroad bridges across the Harlem River, the estuary connecting the water of Long Island Sound with the Hudson River. The principal one of these bridges, situated in the line of Fourth (Park) Avenue, is used by the New York Central, the Harlem, and the New Haven Railroads for their passenger traffic mainly.

An immense number of trains pass over it daily, so much so that it has become insufficient for its uses. It included always a center swinging draw, which was the only four-track drawbridge in the country at the time. 

This draw was struck so often by passing boats that apprehensions were entertained as to its working perfectly. Accordingly, to preserve the integrity of the river navigation, and also of the railroad transit, an auxiliary draw was erected adjoining the swinging draw.

This second one, from the designs of Mr. G. H. Thompson, of the New York Central road, was of the lifting type. In the upper (blue) cut, this draw is seen in position nearest the front of the picture, while immediately back of it is the old swinging draw.

To open the draw, it was simply pulled upward, rising into a vertical position. To effect this operation, cable hoisting machinery was provided, and to give scope to its operation, the tower, shown in the cut, was erected.

The bridge has now to be removed and replaced by another structure. Independent of the requirements of present traffic on the Harlem River, it is obvious that when the improvements now under way shall have been completed by the Federal government, it will become a waterway of considerable importance to the city.

The bridge also is of increasing importance with regard to the railroad traffic, and the opening of its draw, even now, has had to be restricted, owing to the number of trains which have to pass it.

 A new bridge is to be built, elevated nearly 30 feet above the water, so that the majority of boats can go under it without the draw being opened.

The bridge will be the continuation of the elevation of the tracks in Fourth Avenue - a colossal work soon to be begun. The Park Avenue Line's grade had to be raised to allow it to reach the higher bridge, and as a result, a new four-track steel viaduct was built between 132nd Street and 106th Street.

To enable the new bridge to be constructed, a temporary bridge is to be built at one side of it, which is shown in the upper (blue) cut. When this bridge is finished trains will use it, and the old structure will be demolished and replaced by the elevated bridge just mentioned.

The temporary bridge, however, must have a draw, and the Federal engineers exacted a minimum width, requiring trusses 106 feet long. The old trusses of the lifting draw spanned but a little more than 90 feet.

To provide the new draw for the temporary bridge, it was determined first to move the tower bodily into position in line with the temporary bridge, and to use it to raise and lower the lattice girder draw, 106 feet in span.

The line of travel of the tower having been decided on, rows of piles were driven; caps were placed on them, and on these 12 by 12 longitudinal timbers were placed. Rails were then spiked down on the timbers so as to form a horizonal sliding way.

The tower was jacked up bodily 3 feet after being stripped of counter weights and other material so as to make it as light as possible. It is calculated that 100 tons weight were thus removed, of which 85 tops were represented by the counter weights alone. Even when this was done, the residual weight was in the neighborhood of 180 tons.

When the tower was thus elevated, slideways in continuation of those laid on the outside were placed under it. The rails were lubricated with Dixon’s plumbago lubricator and the tower was lowered upon them.

When everything was ready, the final operation of moving, illustrated in the lower (brown) cut, was executed. It was done at night, in order to avoid interruption to traffic. At 12:30 A. M. the tracks were cut by the railroad company, and the way was cleared for the tower to be drawn out from its position.

The foreman in charge of the work, as a signal code, arranged at one motion of his hand to indicate one revolution of the engine. When all was clear, the engine was started, first slowly, and then more rapidly, and in 21 minutes the great mass was moved 54 feet. The railroad company replaced the tracks, and by 3:20 AM all was ready for traffic once more.

The work of moving the tower was done by the firm of Coffrode & Saylor, of this city, who were its original constructors. All the operations were in charge of their foreman, Mr. Maylan, and the entire work was successful in every sense of the word.

Scientific American excerpt and engravings, December 31, 1892

On February 15, 1897, trains on the Harlem Division started running over the new drawbridge over the Harlem River and the elevated structure connecting to it. The Department of War ordered that the bridge cannot be opened during peak hours, between 7 and 10 a.m. and 4 and 7 p.m.

Between 1954 and 1956, the New York Central Railroad built a fourth rail bridge on this site, this time a vertical-lift bridge, to replace the 1897 bridge. The new bridge opened in 1956. The four-track bridge remains in use today and consists of two parallel double-track spans, 340 feet long. It has 25 feet of clearance when closed and 135 feet when open. During the 1960s, the bridge came under the ownership of several different companies, including Penn Central Railroad. Metro-North operates it, referring to it as the Harlem River Lift Bridge.

 - Wikipedia

2021 Google Street View of the transition from brick to steel at 111th Street and Park Avenue. The view is south. 

2021 Google Earth video of the 1956 Harlem River Lift Bridge. The bulge in the Bronx shoreline marks the location of the relocated tower of the 1892 temporary crossing.

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3, Screenshot @ 0:55
[This video starts with a drone-like fly-around of the bridge, and then it pans out.]

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