# Hackensack Drawbridge

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The **Hackensack Drawbridge** (also known as the **HD Draw**)[1] was a double-track railroad [movable bridge](/source/Movable_bridge) across the mouth of the [Hackensack River](/source/Hackensack_River) between [Jersey City](/source/Jersey_City) and [Kearny](/source/Kearny,_New_Jersey), New Jersey.[1][2] It was operational until 1946, when a steamship crashed into it.[3]

Built and maintained by the [Central Railroad of New Jersey](/source/Central_Railroad_of_New_Jersey) (CNJ),[4] the bridge was part of the [Newark and New York Branch](/source/Newark_and_New_York_Branch), a rail line characterized as the "costliest railroad" by W. H. Schmidt Jr., a columnist for *[Trains](/source/Trains_(magazine))*.[5] Opened on July 23, 1869, the line was routed between terminals at [Newark](/source/Newark,_New_Jersey) and [Jersey City](/source/Jersey_City,_New_Jersey), where passengers could transfer to [ferries to New York](/source/List_of_ferries_across_the_Hudson_River_to_New_York_City).[6] It also crossed the [Passaic River](/source/Passaic_River) and the [Kearny Point](/source/Kearny_Point) peninsula. Freight cars regularly traversed the bridge to deliver to various industries in [Harrison](/source/Harrison,_New_Jersey).[7]

## Description

From the west side of the rail via tunnel, four tracks converged into three, and then into two tracks to pass over the Hackensack Drawbridge.[7] By 1913 the rail line, including the bridges across the rivers, was raised about 30 feet (9.1 m) to avoid conflicts with maritime traffic in the newly developing [port](/source/Port_Newark)[8] The draw span of the [PD Draw](/source/PD_Draw) over the Passaic had been relocated 185 feet (56 m) upstream to create another bridge on a new alignment in 1912.[9] By 1922, plans were made to improve the drawbridge's railway signal layout, increasing the number of interlocking levers, ground signals and bridge signals.[10] The drawbridge tower employed three levermen.[11]

In 1897, a train carrying nearly 200 people derailed while crossing the bridge; there were no injuries.[12] In 1940, the Port of New York Authority (now [Port Authority of New York and New Jersey](/source/Port_Authority_of_New_York_and_New_Jersey)) cited the bridge as a navigational menace and called for its replacement.[2] With war impending, the [War Department](/source/United_States_War_Department) in 1941 asked CNJ to replace the [swing bridge](/source/Swing_bridge) with a [vertical lift](/source/Vertical_lift_bridge) to afford better access to the [Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company](/source/Federal_Shipbuilding_and_Drydock_Company) on Kearny Point. Plans were made, but the shortage of steel prevented the project from being constructed.[13]

## Steamship collision

On February 3, 1946, [SS *Jagger Seam*](/source/List_of_Liberty_ships_(G%E2%80%93Je)), a [collier](/source/Collier_(ship)), crashed into the drawbridge, shearing off two of the bridge's [spans](/source/Span_(architecture)). The collision was the result of a mix-up in signals between the [collier](/source/Collier_(ship)) and a tug. It was later determined that mishandling on the part of the *Jagger Seam* was the cause of the accident.[14] Initial estimates indicated that rail service over the Hackensack would be delayed for three months,[15] with the CNJ projecting that it would take that long to procure enough steel to reconstruct the bridge.[16] After the accident, trains continued to run from Kearny to [Newark](/source/Newark,_New_Jersey).[3] Similarly, service east of the drawbridge continued to run between the [West Side Avenue station](/source/West_Side_Avenue_(HBLR_station)) and [Communipaw Terminal](/source/Communipaw_Terminal).[16]

In October 1946, the CNJ asked the [Interstate Commerce Commission](/source/Interstate_Commerce_Commission) (ICC) for permission to abandon the line.[17] Without any further funding for repair of the Hackensack Drawbridge and with the route severed in two, the railroad was deemed "half-abandoned". The ICC sympathized with the CNJ, saying "'twas a pity".[5] While the Newark Branch operated until 1967, service in Jersey City was discontinued. Ultimately, the bridge was dismantled, but remains of its [piers](/source/Pier_(architecture)) are still visible in the Hackensack River.

## See also

- [Timeline of Jersey City area railroads](/source/Timeline_of_Jersey_City_area_railroads)
- [List of bridges, tunnels, and cuts in Hudson County, New Jersey](/source/List_of_bridges,_tunnels,_and_cuts_in_Hudson_County,_New_Jersey)
- [List of crossings of the Hackensack River](/source/List_of_crossings_of_the_Hackensack_River)

## References

1. Colleti, Richard. ["Towers of the CNJ"](http://www.jcrhs.org/cnjtowers2.html). *Jersey Central*. [National Railroad Historical Society](/source/National_Railroad_Historical_Society). Retrieved October 9, 2012.

1. (June 23, 1940). [Authority Calls Hackensack Span Menace; Wants Drawbridge Rebuilt or Abandoned](https://www.nytimes.com/1940/06/23/archives/authority-calls-hackensack-span-menace-wants-drawbridge-rebuilt-or.html), *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)* (reporting that the Port of New York Authority was recommending that the bridge be either rebuilt or abandoned because it offered limited clearance)

1. French, pg. 32.

1. *Federal supplement*, pg. 341.

1. Schmidt, W.H. (May 1946), "Costliest Railroad Now Half Abandoned", *[Trains](/source/Trains_(magazine))*, pg. 52.

1. ["Opening of the Newark and New-York Railroad"](https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1869/07/24/79353581.pdf). *New York Times*. July 24, 1869. Retrieved February 21, 2011.

1. *Railway signaling and communications*, pg. 465.

1. ["Dredge Hackensack River Improving Newark Meadows Section for Development"](https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1913/02/09/100253627.pdf). *New York Times*. February 9, 1913. Retrieved February 16, 2011.

1. Magazines, Hearst (July 1912), ["An Unusual Bridge-Moving Operation"](https://books.google.com/books?id=_90DAAAAMBAJ&q=Popular+Mechanics+July+1912+An+Unusual+Bridge-Moving+Operation&pg=PA5), *Popular Mechanics Magazine*, p. 26, retrieved August 8, 2012

1. *Railway signaling and communications*, pg. 476.

1. *Railway signaling and communications*, pg. 478.

1. ["Accident of Jersey Central; Train with 200 Passengers Off the Track on a Bridge Near Newark."](http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50610FD345D11738DDDAE0994DD405B8785F0D3), *The New York Times*, May 17, 1897, retrieved October 10, 2012

1. [*Plans and Specifications submitted by the Central Railroad Company of New Jersey for Alterations of the Hackensack River Bridge*](http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/cnj-jersey-central-plans-hackensack-river-bridge). Howard, Needles, Tamman, and Bergendoff. May 19, 1941. Retrieved October 10, 2012.

1. ["Petition of Texas Co. 99 F.Supp. 340 (1951) United States District Court S. D. New York."](http://www.leagle.com/decision/195143999FSupp340_1371). Leagle. July 11, 1951. Retrieved November 10, 2014.

1. ["Steamer Wrecks Bridge in Jersey"](https://www.nytimes.com/1946/02/04/archives/steamer-wrecks-bridge-in-jersey-6000ton-coal-ship-shears-off-two.html). *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)*. February 4, 1946. p. 24. Retrieved October 8, 2012.

1. *Railway age*, pg. 329.

1. ["Asks to Abandon Line Central Railroad of New Jersey Files Plea With the ICC"](http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00B13FF3B5C107A93C1AB178BD95F428485F9), *The New York Times*, October 23, 1946, retrieved October 10, 2012

## Sources

- [*Federal supplement*](https://books.google.com/books?id=8qcyAAAAIAAJ). Vol. 99. West Pub. Co. 1952. Retrieved October 9, 2012.
- French, Kenneth (2002). [*Railroads of Hoboken and Jersey City*](https://books.google.com/books?id=R2ugCDdKZEYC). Arcadia Publishing. p. 128. ISBN 9780738509662. Retrieved October 9, 2012.
- [*Railway age*](https://books.google.com/books?id=5bMlAAAAMAAJ). Vol. 120. Simmons-Boardman. 1946. Retrieved October 9, 2012.
- [*Railway signaling and communications*](https://books.google.com/books?id=2JnmAAAAMAAJ). Vol. 15. Simmons-Boardman Pub. Corp. 1922. [OCLC 1604369](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1604369). Retrieved October 9, 2012.
- Schmidt Jr., W. H. (1949). [""Costliest Railroad," now half abandoned"](https://books.google.com/books?id=1RoTAAAAIAAJ). *Trains*. Vol. 9. Kalmbach Publishing Company. Retrieved October 9, 2012.

## Further reading

- Schmidt Jr., W. H. (August 1946). "Costliest Railroad, Half Abandoned". *[Trains](/source/Trains_(magazine))*

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Hackensack Drawbridge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hackensack_Drawbridge) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hackensack_Drawbridge?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.