- North Hudson County Railway
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The North Hudson Railway Company built and operated a streetcar system in Hudson County and southeast Bergen County, New Jersey before and after the turn of twentieth century. It was founded by John Bonn,[1][2][3] and eventually taken over by the Public Service Railway. In its endeavors to overcome the formidable obstacle of ascending the lower Hudson Palisades, or Bergen Hill, it devised numerous innovative engineering solutions including funicular wagen lifts, an inclined elevated railway, an elevator and viaducts.[4][5][6][7]
North Hudson County Railway opened 1861, and in 1891 acquired Pavonia Horse Railroad Company, in 1893 opened Hudson & Bergen Traction Company, and in 1894 opened Palisades Railroad.[8]
North Hudson County Railway included 12.75 miles (20.52 km) of at-grade and 1.25 miles (2.01 km) of elevated trackage. [9] Bonn was always involved in other road and real estate projects in the county.[10] A street in Weehawken where in resided is named in his honor.
Contents
Wagon lifts
Two funicular wagon lifts were built in 1893. The Hoboken travelled from the near the foot of Paterson Plank Road to Ferry Street, next to Pohlmann's Hall in Jersey City Heights.[11] The Weehawken lift ascended from the foot of Hackensack Plank Road to West Hoboken (now Union City). The remnats of the lift ascend to under a residential highrise.
Hoboken Elevated
Known as the Hoboken Elevated the long trestle was part of an elevated railway that ran from Hudson Place near the Lackawanna Terminal, up to Jersey City Heights next to the wagen lift at Pohlmann's Hall. The line turned left and continued along Central Avenue, and again by elveated over Long Dock Tunnel and Bergen Arches to the Hudson County Courthouse where it descended nearby Journal Square.
Eldorado Elevator
From the West Shore Ferry Terminal at Weehawken, the elevator rose to meet streetcar line that travelled along a trestle to a cut in the Palisades which ran parallel to the Eldorado, a pleasure garden, and then proceeded east and north to the Nungesser's Guttenberg Racetrack.[12]
Hillside Line
From 14th Street in Hoboken, the line ran west and with a series of trestles and horseshoe curves ascended the Palisades to West Hoboken and beyond. Part of the system near the Wing Viaduct is New Jersey Register of Historic Places designated place.[13]
Palisade Line
Horseshoe curves carried cars from the Edgewater ferry up the cliff to Palisades Amusement Park.
Trolleys carried passsengers from the Edgewater Ferry Terminal up the cliffs to the amusement park and beyond.
See also
References
- ^ [1] JOHN HILLRIC BONN, Genealogical History Of Hudson And Bergen Counties New Jersey, Cornelius Burnham Harvey, Editor, 1900
- ^ [2] New York Times, October 18, 1891 North Hudson Railway
- ^ "A Busy Life Brought To A Close.; J.H. Bonn, North Hudson Railway Company's President, Dead". The New York Times. November 17, 1891. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F20611FE385E10738DDDAE0994D9415B8185F0D3.
- ^ [3] THE HILLSIDE LINE OF THE NORTH HUDSON COUNTY RAILWAY COMPANY, Scientific American—April 21, 1894
- ^ [4] Joe Thompson, Cable Car Lines in New York and New Jersey, Cable Car Guy website
- ^ [5] Al Mankoff,, Article A: "Conquest of the Palisades: A Triumph of Victorian Traction Technology", "Electriclines" magazine, March/April 1992)
- ^ Francis, Edward T.; Walrath,, George w. (September 1946), Weehawken Time Machine: "The North Hudson County Railway", The Marker 5 (2), http://www.weehawkenhistory.org/images/237.pdf Weehawken Time Machine:
- ^ [6] New Jersey Railway Certificate Accessed November 30, 2009.
- ^ [7] from Poor's Directory of Railway Officials in 1887
- ^ (PDF)New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9E0DE5D71F38E333A25751C1A96E9C946290D7CF. Retrieved March 29, 2010.
- ^ French, Kenneth (2002). Images of America:Railroads of Hoboken and Jersey City. USA: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7385-0966-2. http://www.arcadiapublsihing.com.
- ^ http://www.weehawkenhistory.org/images/255.pdf
- ^ NJ State Register of Historic Places in Hudson County
Sources
Categories:- Transportation in Hudson County, New Jersey
- Transportation in Bergen County, New Jersey
- New Jersey streetcar lines
- Defunct public transport operators in the United States
- Tram, urban railway and trolley companies
- Defunct New Jersey railroads
- North Hudson, New Jersey
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