River Line (Conrail)

The River Line is a rail corridor located between Jersey City, New Jersey and Selkirk, New York, running along the west bank of the Hudson River. A parallel track, which was operated as part of the River Line from Jersey City to Weehawken, New Jersey, was known as the Weehawken Branch. The River Line has since been split into several sections, following the 1999 division of Conrail assets between Norfolk Southern Railway and CSX Transportation.

The section south of CP 2 at CSX's North Bergen Yard is now owned by New Jersey Transit and used as part of the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail. CSX owns the remainder of the line. The section from CP 2 north to CP 7, a point in Bogota, New Jersey, is part of the Bergen Subdivision while the River Subdivision runs the rest of the way from CP 7 to Selkirk.

At CP 2, the Bergen Subdivision connects to the ex-Conrail Northern Branch, which now carries trains that had used the River Line south of CP 2. At Selkirk, the River Subdivision ends at the Castleton Subdivision, with the Port Subdivision continuing towards Albany. The Castleton Sub was built as part of a bypass for through trains around Albany.

Conrail's defunct River Line and Weehawken Branch

The River Line began at CP Waldo, at a junction with the Passaic and Harsimus Line. The P&H Line runs west through the Pennsylvania Railroad's cut, just north of PATH, through Marion Junction.

At CP Nave, the River Line junctioned with the National Docks Secondary, which still runs south on the east side of the New Jersey Palisades, with the Nave-Croxton Running Track running west through the old Erie Railroad tunnel to Croxton Yard. The junction only allowed trains coming to/from the south on the National Docks to continue to/from the north on the River Line.

North of CP Nave, the River Line entered Hoboken; it is now used for the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail north of this point. The Light Rail runs around the west and north sides of Hoboken and into Weehawken, where it turns west through a tunnel to CSX's North Bergen Terminal, originally part of the New York Central Railroad.

From that point north, the River Line is still in use, but by CSX as their Bergen Subdivision and River Subdivision, north towards Albany, New York.

The Weehawken Branch was just east of the River Line, from somewhere in Jersey City north of CP Nave to Baldwin Avenue in Weehawken. It was operated by Conrail as a second track of the River Line.

The River Line was abandoned south of the Tonnelle Avenue overpass (just south of CSX's North Bergen Terminal); the short connection between the National Docks Secondary and the River Line was also abandoned, as was the Weehawken Branch.

History

The first bit of the River Line, splitting from the P&H Line and passing over the National Docks, was built fairly recently as a connecting track. North of there, the line was the New Jersey Junction Railroad to the Weehawken tunnel. Through the tunnel, it was the West Shore Railroad. Both of these lines were owned by the New York Central Railroad.

The Weehawken Branch was built and owned by the Erie Railroad. It originally passed through the middle of Hoboken, but was later realigned to the west side, right next to the New Jersey Junction Railroad.

External links

* [http://www.stb.dot.gov/Decisions/readingroom.nsf/2fd5b0a40d03372185256f7a006623d0/4fc95495a8c9c98d852569a5006f78a6?OpenDocument STB - CSX Discontinuance Exemption AB-55 584X]
* [http://www.stb.dot.gov/decisions/readingroom.nsf/ByDocketNumber?OpenView&Start=1953&ExpandView STB - Conrail Abandonment of the Weehawken Branch AB-167 766N]
* [http://www.stb.dot.gov/decisions/readingroom.nsf/ByDocketNumber?OpenView&Start=2368&ExpandView STB - NS Discontinuance Exemption AB-290 212X]
* [http://www.trainweb.org/eastpenn/crprivl.html January 15, 1998 Conrail River Line timetable]