Timeline of Jersey City area railroads

__NOTOC__For the purposes of this article, the Jersey City area goes north to Edgewater (the northern end of the line along the Hudson River, south to Bayonne, and includes Kearny Junction and Harrison but not Newark. Thus all events relating to travel east from Newark is covered but not in any other direction.

These abbreviations are used, mainly to identify which system a line ended up with:
*B&O=Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
*CNJ=Central Railroad of New Jersey
*DL&W=Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad
*Erie=Erie Railroad
*LV=Lehigh Valley Railroad
*NYC=New York Central Railroad
*NYO&W=New York, Ontario and Western Railroad
*NYS&W=New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway
*PATH=Port Authority Trans-Hudson
*PRR=Pennsylvania Railroad
*RDG=Reading Railroad

1833

*November 28: The Paterson and Hudson River Railroad (Erie) opens to Marion Junction, where it ends at the New Jersey Railroad (PRR). [http://www.rootsweb.com/~njpchsgc/dir/pat_city_dir_1853_fwd.htm]

1834

*September 15: The New Jersey Railroad (PRR) begins regular trips from Newark to Jersey City, on the west side of the Palisades. [http://www.getnj.com/jchist/101.shtml]

1836

*The Morris Canal is extended from Newark through Jersey City. [http://www.getnj.com/jchist/101.shtml]

1837

*The New Jersey Railroad (PRR) cut through the Palisades opens; the Paterson and Hudson River Railroad (Erie) also uses it. [http://www.getnj.com/jchist/101.shtml]

1838

*December 2: The New Jersey Railroad (PRR) switches from horse to steam power. [http://www.getnj.com/jchist/101.shtml]

1858

* The Pennsylvania Railroad builds a 5-track passenger station and ferry at Hudson Street. [http://www.njcu.edu/programs/jchistory/Pages/E_Pages/Exchange_Place.htm]

1861

*January 28: The Long Dock Company (Erie) finishes its tunnel through the Palisades, bypassing the PRR cut. [http://www.getnj.com/jchist/101.shtml]
*March 14: The New York and Bull's Ferry Railroad (NYC) is chartered and buys the Hoboken and Hudson River Turnpike. Its name is changed to the New York and Fort Lee Railroad on March 8, 1862. [http://www.scripophily.net/newyorcenand.html]

1862

*May: The Pavonia Ferry (Erie) opens. [http://www.getnj.com/jchist/101.shtml]

1864

*July 29: The CNJ's Jersey City extension opens.

1868

*The PRR Harsimus Branch opens, for a new freight terminal at Harsimus Cove.

1869

*July 23:The full length of the Newark and New York Railroad (CNJ) opens, using the CNJ's Hudson River terminal.

1870

*February 22: The New Jersey Railroad (PRR) builds a new bridge over the Passaic River, cutting the distance through Newark and Harrison. Some passenger trains continue to use the old alignment, the Centre Street Branch.
*December 2: A frog war begins between the Erie and DL&W at the west end of the Erie's tunnel.
*December 14: The DL&W begins running passenger trains on its Boonton Branch.
*The New York and Fort Lee Railroad (NYC) opens. [http://www.scripophily.net/newyorcenand.html]
*The PRR leases the United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company. [http://www.getnj.com/jchist/101.shtml]

1871

*January 9: The frog war between the Erie and DL&W ends, with the frog being placed to allow DL&W Boonton Branch trains to run through the Erie's tunnel.

1872

*August 23: Trains are first run along the Erie's Newark and Hudson Railroad from Newark through their tunnel to Jersey City.

1873

* The Pennsylvania Railroad constructs a new passenger ferry terminal with 12 tracks and 6 platforms. The wooden terminal is built on piers over the water.Buildings and Structures of American Railroads, Walter G. Berg, C.E., John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1892, p. 412]

1877

*May 12: The DL&W opens its new tunnel through the Palisades, ending its trackage rights through the Erie's tunnel. Included with the tunnel are western approaches to the DL&W main line and Boonton Branch; the former includes a new bridge over the Hackensack River, south of the old one (which is then used only for the Erie's Newark and Greenwood Lake Branches). The new alignment at first crosses the New Jersey Midland Railroad (NYS&W) at grade.

1884

*The West Shore Railroad's (NYC) tunnel through the Palisades opens.
*August 4: The Pennsylvania Railroad passenger and ferry terminal at Exchange Place burns as a result of an explosion in a gas reservoir underneath the station. [ "In One Mass of Flames, the Pennsylvania Railroad's Buildings Burned", New York Times, August 5, 1884]

1885

*December 5: NYC leases the West Shore Railroad for 475 years from January 1, 1886, with the privilege of an additional 500-year term. [http://www.scripophily.net/newyorcenand.html]

1886

*June 30: The New Jersey Junction Railroad (NYC) leases .24 mi of the New York and Fort Lee Railroad. The rest later disappears in the West Shore Railroad's (NYC) Weehawken yard. [http://www.scripophily.net/newyorcenand.html]
*July 1: NYC leases the New Jersey Junction Railroad for 100 years, with the option of another 100 year term. [http://www.scripophily.net/newyorcenand.html]

1887

*May The New Jersey Junction Railroad (NYC) opens for freight. [http://www.scripophily.net/newyorcenand.html]
*June The New Jersey Junction Railroad (NYC) opens for passengers. [http://www.scripophily.net/newyorcenand.html]

1891

* The Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) rebuilds the passenger ferry terminal to replace the old terminal which was partially destroyed by fire. The new terminal is raised 15 to 20 feet above the old level to accommodate new elevated rails that eliminate grade crossings in the city.Buildings and Structures of American Railroads, Walter G. Berg, C.E., John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1892, p. 412]

1894

* May 15 The New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway tunnel through the Palisades is opened for traffic. The two mile long tunnel took 18 months to construct and provides the NYS&W access to its own terminal in Edgewater. The NYS&W had previously used the DL&W terminal in Hoboken. ["Palisades Tunnel Completed", New York Times, May 14, 1894]

1897

*The Hoboken Manufacturers Railroad opens.

1908

*February 26: The Hudson and Manhattan Railroad (PATH) opens from 19th Street Manhattan to Hoboken Terminal.

1909

*July 19: The Hudson and Manhattan Railroad (PATH) opens from Hudson Terminal (World Trade Center) to Exchange Place.
*August 2: The Hudson and Manhattan Railroad (PATH) opens its connection from Exchange Place north towards Hoboken Terminal.

1910

*November 27: The Pennsylvania Tunnel and Terminal Railroad (PRR) opens from Kearny Junction into New York Penn Station. Manhattan Transfer opens.
*The Penhorn Creek Railroad's (Erie) four-track cut through the Palisades (Bergen Arches) opens, just south of the Erie's two-track tunnel, including a western approach through Secaucus.

1911

*March 14: The New Jersey Shore Line Railroad (NYC) opens from the West Shore Railroad's (NYC) Weehawken yard to the NYS&W at Shadyside, about .85 mi. [http://www.scripophily.net/newyorcenand.html]
*May 16: Cars first move on the New Jersey Shore Line Railroad (NYC). [http://www.scripophily.net/newyorcenand.html]
*October 1: The Hudson and Manhattan Railroad (PATH) is extended through Jersey City to Manhattan Transfer.
*November 26: The Hudson and Manhattan Railroad (PATH) is extended from Manhattan Transfer to Newark Park Place.

1937

*June 20: Manhattan Transfer closes and the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad (PATH) is realigned to Newark Penn Station.

1939

*August 1: The NYS&W begins bus service from Susquehanna Transfer to Times Square via the Lincoln Tunnel.

ee also

*List of Hudson County railroad terminals

ources

*Poor's and Moody's railroad manuals
*New-Jersey Railroad Improvements, New York Times February 23, 1870 page 5
*Local News in Brief, New York Times November 28, 1870 page 8
*Almost a Riot, New York Times December 3, 1870 page 1
*Local News in Brief, New York Times December 15, 1870 page 8
*Local News in Brief, New York Times January 10, 1871 page 8
*New-Jersey, New York Times August 24, 1872 page 8
*The New Bergen Tunnel, New York Times May 12, 1877 page 10

Notes