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From: "David J DOT Monte Verde" dmvgvt AT earthlink DOT net
Date: Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:59:34 -0500
Subject: DL&W, Kearny Jct 1960s-1970s
"P4270008.jpg" - image/jpeg, 1280x960 (24bit)


Subject: Re: DL&W, Kearny Jct, 1978

Great find and annotation job! They say (I have no idea who 'they' are)
that a picture is worth a thousand words and I will probably end up writing
that many words about this photo. It revives many memories from my early
days on the railroad as well as my final days on the railroad.



The original 1951 NJ Turnpike (now the Eastern Spur at this location) was a
six lane bridge with no shoulders, clearing MHW by 135 feet. In 1969, the
turnpike was widened to twelve lanes. At this location, another bridge was
built west of and adjacent to the original bridge. This was also six lanes
but with shoulders and became the Western Spur.



In December 1972 while on my way home from Military duty at Fort Knox, I
rode a MP-54 local out of Penn Station to change to the CNJ at Newark for
Bound Brook. The MP-54 local made an employee stop at Portal.
Unexpectedly, a PC Civil Engineer that I graduated with boarded there too.
While stopped, I noticed that the old Eastern Spur Turnpike bridge was being
widened to accommodate shoulders on both sides.



Even with shoulders, it could be a suicide mission to stop and take a
picture. I ran into such a situation about five or six years ago. In
addition to joint facilities, I was also administering the CBS Signboard
agreement. At nearly the exact spot that your photo was taken, a new tall
(very tall!) signboard was proposed on Conrail property. I also needed to
photograph the next signboard to the south from the viewpoint of the
southbound turnpike driver on top of the bridge. I solicited the assistance
of Joe Seaman who rolled down my truck window, held my camera outside and
snapped a picture as I sped along the turnpike sandwiched between two maniac
trailer trucks.



In your photo, just to the right of the Lackawanna main tracks, you can just
barely see the east leg of the wye to the Harrison Branch. That is now the
site of a junk yard. Notice the slightly different colored grass to the
right of the Lackawanna and curving along the wye. That property is still
owned by Conrail and is known as RA-26 (Residual Asset). A natural gas main
trunk line is buried underneath. This was the ROW of the former PRR-DL&W
interchange track that came off the NEC in the vicinity of what is now known
as 'Swift' - the 'Midtown Direct' connection that keeps the commuters happy.
Actually, it's probably a major source of discontent among commuters because
it seems like there is a major NEC disruption on a weekly basis that
necessitates diversion into Hoboken.



Today is January 31. Two years and two days ago (January 29, 2010) there
was an incident involving the Conrail operator-bridge tender who occupied
the PATH bridge and controlled both the CR Hack bridge as well as the PATH
bridge. This became known as the "Moon in Perigee" incident. The third
trick operator was an avid astronomer and photographer. Early that fateful
morning, that operator apparently climbed higher than the control cabin in
the upper reaches of the structure and attempted to photograph the moon.
Although the exact circumstances will never be known, somehow he slipped and
fell off the bridge, plunging to his death in the mud flats below. Almost
exactly a year later, another operator was found dead there by his relief.
He apparently died of natural causes, though.



Back in November 1977 when I bumped Pickelmtn Fred out of 2nd Cranford, he
went on to 2nd Summit. When I got bumped out of Cranford in March 1978, I
decided to give Fred a break and not bump him again, so I went to 2nd Hack.
Simultaneously, I qualified as Extra Movement Director. I ended up working
either that or Train Dispatcher on a daily basis. It wasn't until late
Summer that year that I finally made it to Hack. I lugged my camera
equipment to work on the first day I worked there.



To get to the operator's cabin, one first has to climb up an embankment to
the freight bridge, check that there's no train, walk down the track onto
the bridge, climb down a ladder to the pilings, walk a boardwalk on the
pilings between the two bridges, climb up a ladder to the PATH bridge, check
that there's no PATH train coming, walk along the PATH track looking out for
the third rail, then go up a couple hundred step exposed stairway on the
side of the bridge. Needless to say, I only lugged the camera equipment out
there once.



The freight bridge sits so low to the water that a lift is needed to clear a
rowboat while the PATH bridge sits high enough to clear all the tug and
barge traffic, requiring a lift only for the occasional larger craft, maybe
one or two lifts a week. On my first day there, I had three lifts of the
PATH bridge, including one at rush hour when the PATH ran at 3 minute
intervals in each direction. The PATH dispatcher thought I just wanted to
raise and lower the bridge for kicks!



To this day, I regret never taking my camera equipment when I worked the now
gone CNJ Newark Bay Draw, a much more impressive structure.



Attached are some of the photos I took from Hack as well as others.



1. Photo from NJTP that you originally attached.

2. Photo of signboard taken by Joe Seaman from the same location.

3. 375 Eastbound DL&W approaching their Hack bridge, NEC Portal in
background.

4. 374 Looking South, down Newark Bay, NJTP Extension overhead, PRR/LV
"Upper Bay" being raised.

5. 372 NEC moving train crossing Portal Bridge

6. 377 Westbound two GG-1s crossing Portal, DL&W in foreground, NJTP East
Spur in background.

7. 371 Westbound DL&W exiting their Hack bridge.

8. 370 Westbound DL&W on their Hack lift span.

9. 376 Westbound DL&W crossing their Hack, PSE&G generating station in
background.

10. 373 Four bridges are up in the air for passage of the Asphalt Merchant.
I am on the PATH bridge, the next bridge in view is the Freight bridge
raised to 135' MHW. Immediately adjacent to it on the other side is the
Highway bridge. In the background is the DL&W bridge that looks like it has
just started to lower. Collectively, these were know as the Triple Bridges,
rather than the expected Quadruple bridges, probably because the Freight and
Highway bridges were immediately adjacent to each other.

11. Bayonne Scoot crossing west lift span of CNJ's Newark Bay Draw. DY
tower sits between the east and west draws as well as between the north and
south bridges. Both Pickelmtn and JerseyZephyr worked there many times.
Photo by former CNJ (and NJT) towerman, the late Bill Burke.

12. Bay Draw tower being dismantled. Port Authority photo.

13. Photo taken by me at the site of my favorite bridge experience. George
Washington Bridge looking toward Upper Manhattan from the Fort Lee NJ tower.





P4270008.jpg

Image EXIF Data:
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Image Creation Date   2002:04:27 14:37:29
Image Capture Date   2002:04:27 14:37:29
Image Digitized Date   2002:04:27 14:37:29
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JPEG Quality   HQ
Macro   No
Digital Zoom   Normal
Firmware Version   SR873
Camera ID   OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA


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