West Portal: (Satellite)
East Portal: (Satellite)
Tunnel: (Bridge Hunter; HAER)
This railyard and tunnel used to serve the NYC West Shore Ferry Terminal. Some of the railyard land has been sold, some is now an intermodal yard and some is still used for freight cars. The tracks that went East from the south end of the yard, through the 4,014' tunnel to the ferry terminal are now the north end of the New Jersey Transit light rail service.
The tunnel was built by the New York, West Shore & Buffalo Railroad (NYWS&B). "Rehabilitated in 2006 for light rail including Bergenline Avenue station midway through tunnel." [BridgeHunter]
"The New York, West Shore & Buffalo Railroad Weehawken Tunnel is significant in the development of freight and passenger rail service in New York Harbor in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by allowing rail access through the Palisades Sill to the Hudson River. Construction of the tunnel afforded direct access to New York Harbor during a period of intense expansion and competition among regional railroads." The tunnel was a joint venture between NYWS&B and New York Ontario & Western Railway (NYO&W). "At the turn of the century, freight traffic east of the Hudson River had increased to such an extent that the NYC's freight line and yards in Manhattan were very congested. Freight yards could not be expanded due to the high cost of waterfront land. Therefore, the Central devised an alternative strategy: in 1900, a direct connection between the NYC original main line, east of the Hudson and the West Shore on the west side of the Hudson, was built at Hoffman's Bridge, 26 miles west of Albany. Large quantities of New York-bound freight were then diverted at Hoffman's Bridge to the West Shore and thence to Weehawken Terminal, where it was transferred to lighters or carfloats for delivery around New York Harbor....After 1900, Weehawken Terminal developed into NYC's major New York outlet for export freight, with facilities that included passenger, ferry and freight terminals, a locomotive roundhouse and turntable, railroad and marine repair shops, and an icehouse - all serving twelve freight piers that occupied over a mile of Hudson River waterfront." [HAER-data]
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| HAER NJ,9-WEEHK,1A--2 2. VIEW EAST, WESTERN PORTAL - New York, West Shore & Buffalo Railroad, Weehawken Tunnel, Weehawken, Hudson County, NJ |
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| HAER NJ,9-WEEHK,1A--4 4. VIEW SOUTHWEST, EASTERN PORTAL |
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| HAER NJ,9-WEEHK,1A--5 5. VIEW WEST, DETAIL, EASTERN PORTAL |
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| Charles A. Warren commented on his post The West Shore Tunnel. |
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| Mark Backhaus commented on Charles comment Now used by Hudson-Bergen Light Rail. |
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