New York Connecting Railroad - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The New York Connecting Railroad or NYCR is a rail line in the borough

Borough (New York City)

New York City, one of the largest cities in the world, is composed of five boroughs. Each borough now has the same boundaries as the county it is in. County governments were dissolved when the city consolidated in 1898, along with all city, town, and village governments within each county...

of Queens

Queens

Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....

in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. It links New York City and Long Island

Long Island

Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...

by rail directly to the North American mainland. Amtrak

Amtrak

The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...

, CSX, Canadian Pacific Railway

Canadian Pacific Railway

The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...

, Providence and Worcester Railroad

Providence and Worcester Railroad

The Providence and Worcester Railroad is a Class II railroad in the United States. The railroad connects from Gardner in central Massachusetts, south through its namesake cities of Worcester and Providence, Rhode Island, and west from Rhode Island through Connecticut and into New York City...

and New York and Atlantic Railway

New York and Atlantic Railway

The New York and Atlantic Railway is a short line railroad formed in 1997 to provide freight service over the tracks of the Long Island Rail Road, a public commuter rail agency which had decided to privatize its freight operations...

currently use the line. It runs from the Hell Gate Bridge

Hell Gate Bridge

The Hell Gate Bridge or Hell's Gate Bridge is a steel through arch railroad bridge between Astoria in the borough of Queens and Randall's and Wards Islands in New York City, over a portion of the East River known...

over the East River

East River

The East River is a tidal strait in New York City. It connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island from the island of Manhattan and the Bronx on the North American mainland...

to Fresh Pond Yard in Glendale

Glendale, Queens

Glendale is a neighborhood in the west-central portion of the borough of Queens in New York City. It is bounded by Cooper Avenue to the north, Woodhaven Boulevard to the east, Myrtle Avenue to the south and Fresh Pond Road to the West...

. It was completed in 1917. Amtrak uses the northernmost section of the line from Sunnyside Junction (Bowery Bay

Bowery Bay

Bowery Bay is a bay off the East River in the New York City. It is located near the Steinway neighborhood of Queens and is bordered on the west by the Bowery Bay Water Pollution Control Plant and on the south and east by LaGuardia Airport....

) in the Woodside

Woodside, Queens

Woodside is a neighborhood in the western portion of the New York City borough of Queens. It is bordered on the south by Maspeth, on the north by Astoria, on the west by Sunnyside and on the east by Elmhurst and Jackson Heights. Some areas are widely residential and very quiet, while others are...

section of Queens

Queens

to the Hell Gate Bridge into the Bronx

The Bronx

The Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City. It is also known as Bronx County, the last of the 62 counties of New York State to be incorporated...

from which it follows the line north to Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

.

Amtrak owns the line north of Sunnyside Junction, which forms part of the Northeast Corridor

Northeast Corridor

The Northeast Corridor is a fully electrified railway line owned primarily by Amtrak serving the Northeast megalopolis of the United States from Boston in the north, via New York to Washington, D.C. in the south, with branches serving other cities...

. South of this point, CSX is the owner, with the line being the Fremont Secondary.

The line begins at the Hell Gate Bridge

Hell Gate Bridge

over the East River. This is a massive span, a main span of 1017 feet (310 m) and a total length of over 17000 ft (3.2 mi; 5.2 km). Continuing south the line is on a high-level elevated viaduct, over Astoria

Astoria, Queens

Astoria is a neighborhood in the northwestern corner of the borough of Queens in New York City. Located in Community Board 1, Astoria is bounded by the East River and is adjacent to three other Queens neighborhoods: Long Island City, Sunnyside , and Woodside...

and Interstate 278

Interstate 278

Interstate 278 is an auxiliary Interstate Highway in New Jersey and New York, United States. The road runs from U.S. Route 1/9 in Linden, New Jersey to the Bruckner Interchange in the New York City borough of the Bronx...

(Grand Central Parkway

Grand Central Parkway

The Grand Central Parkway is a parkway that stretches from the RFK-Triborough Bridge in New York City to Nassau County on Long Island. At the Queens-Nassau border, it becomes the Northern State Parkway, which runs across the northern part of Long Island through Nassau County and into Suffolk...

). The line then is on an embankment and Sunnyside Junction

Sunnyside Yard

Sunnyside Yard is a large coach yard, a railroad yard for passenger cars, in Sunnyside, Queens in New York City.-Description:The yard is owned by Amtrak and is also used by New Jersey Transit. The shared tracks of the Long Island Rail Road Main Line and Amtrak's Northeast Corridor pass along the...

, where Amtrak's Northeast Corridor line branches off, is here. The line heads south and parallels Interstate 278 (Brooklyn Queens Expressway) for a distance. This portion of the line was completely rebuilt in 2002. Now in the section of Elmhurst

Elmhurst, Queens

Elmhurst is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It is bounded by Roosevelt Avenue on the north; Corona to the northeast; Junction Boulevard on the east; Rego Park to the southeast; the Long Island Expressway on the south; Middle Village to the south and southwest; and Maspeth...

, the NYCR passes under several streets in a cut. An arched concrete viaduct over Queens Boulevard is followed by cuts and overpasses over streets in Maspeth, Queens

Maspeth, Queens

Maspeth is a small community in the borough of Queens in New York City. Neighborhoods sharing borders with Maspeth are Woodside and Sunnyside to the north, Long Island City to the northwest, Greenpoint to the west, East Williamsburg to the southwest, Fresh Pond and Ridgewood to the south, and...

. After crossing under the Long Island Expressway (Interstate 495

Interstate 495 (New York)

Interstate 495 is an auxiliary Interstate Highway on Long Island in New York in the United States. The route extends for from the western portal of the Queens-Midtown Tunnel in the New York City borough of Manhattan to County Route 58 in Riverhead, Suffolk County...

) and passing a few cemeteries, the line reaches Fresh Pond Yard. This is the main facility for shipping freight by rail in and out of New York City and Long Island. New York and Atlantic Railway

New York and Atlantic Railway

's main offices are here. CSX and CP also interchange freight with New York & Atlantic Railway here.

South of Fresh Pond

Fresh Pond, Queens

Fresh Pond is a small neighborhood in Queens separated from Juniper Valley by the Lutheran and Mount Olivet cemeteries. Its main streets, Fresh Pond Road, Metropolitan Avenue, Eliot Avenue and 61st street, meet at the community's commercial center...

, the line continues south as Long Island Rail Road

Long Island Rail Road

The Long Island Rail Road or LIRR is a commuter rail system serving the length of Long Island, New York. It is the busiest commuter railroad in North America, serving about 81.5 million passengers each year. Established in 1834 and having operated continuously since then, it is the oldest US...

's (LIRR) Bay Ridge Branch

Bay Ridge Branch

The Bay Ridge Branch is a rail line owned by the Long Island Rail Road and operated by the New York and Atlantic Railway in the U.S. State of New York...

.

The line is 3 tracks north of Sunnyside Junction and 1 track south of this point (with 2-track sections in some areas).

CSX and Canadian Pacific serve the line with 1-2 daily round trips, the latter using the Oak Point Link

Oak Point Link

The Oak Point Link is a long railroad line in the Bronx, New York City, USA, along the east bank of the Harlem River. It connects the Metro-North Railroad's Hudson Line with the Harlem River Yard and the CSX Transportation Oak Point Yard at the north end of the Hell Gate Bridge.The line,...

. Providence and Worcester runs service in the summer.

Origins

The New York Connecting Railroad was incorporated in 1892, opening in 1917 as a connection between the New Haven's Harlem River and Port Chester Railroad

Harlem River and Port Chester Railroad

The Harlem River and Port Chester Railroad was a branch of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, upgraded to main line status in 1917 with the completion of the New York Connecting Railroad and its Hell Gate Bridge...

and the Pennsylvania Railroad

Pennsylvania Railroad

The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....

's Pennsylvania Tunnel and Terminal Railroad

Pennsylvania Tunnel and Terminal Railroad

The New York Tunnel Extension , was a major project of the Pennsylvania Railroad at the beginning of the 20th century, to improve railroad access throughout the greater New York City area...

to Penn Station and the tunnels under the Hudson River

Hudson River

The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...

. It was owned half-and-half by the New Haven and Pennsylvania.

The line was dedicated on March 9, 1917 by Samuel Rea

Samuel Rea

Samuel Rea was an American engineer and the 9th president of the Pennsylvania Railroad . He was awarded the Franklin Medal in 1926.-Early life and career:...

and Gustav Lindenthal

Gustav Lindenthal

Gustav Lindenthal was a civil engineer who designed the Hell Gate Bridge among other bridges.Lindenthal's work was greatly affected by his pursuit for perfection and his love of art. His structures not only serve the purpose they were designed for, but are aesthetically pleasing to the public eye...

. A special train took the directors of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad

New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad

The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , was a railroad that operated in the northeast United States from 1872 to 1968 which served the states of Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts...

over the line on March 25, 1917, and at that time it was turned over to the New Haven for operation, though the Southern Division (freight-only) was not completed yet. Passenger service began on April 1 of 1917, with the return of the Federal Express
Federal Express (passenger train)
The Federal Express was an overnight named passenger train run by the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad between Washington, DC's Union Station and Boston, Massachusetts's South Station from 1912 to 1971. Train numbers on both railroads were 172 northbound and...

and the rerouting of two local trains. The Colonial began using it April 30, resulting in the first accident on the NYCR on August 20, 1917. Through freights to Bay Ridge

Bay Ridge, Brooklyn

Bay Ridge is a neighborhood in the southwest corner of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, USA. It is bounded by Sunset Park on the north, Seventh Avenue and Dyker Heights on the east, The Narrows Strait, which partially houses the Belt Parkway, on the west and 86th Street and Fort Hamilton on...

began January 17, 1918, and the final work was completed August 7, 1918.

Electrification

The New York Connecting Railroad was electrified around 1927 as an extension of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad

New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad

's system of electrification. The system encompassed 20 route miles of track, and was electrified, like the New Haven, using overhead catenary at 11 kV, 25 Hz. The system received power from the New Haven's Cos Cob power plant and Consolidated Edison 201st generating station via the West Farms substation. Additional power was supplied from a 5 MW, 7 kVA, 11 kV, three-phase to single-phase converter installed at East New York. This unit was also operated in synchronous condenser mode for reactive power support.
Like the New Haven, the NYCR traction power was distributed using the 2 x 11 kV autotransformer

Autotransformer

An autotransformer is an electrical transformer with only one winding. The auto prefix refers to the single coil acting on itself rather than any automatic mechanism. In an autotransformer portions of the same winding act as both the primary and secondary. The winding has at least three taps where...

topology. Two wires, the feeder and the catenary (often called the trolley wire), carried voltage of 11 kV to ground, but of opposite phase such that the feeder and catenary were 22 kV phase-to-phase. Six autotransformer stations, spaced an average of 3.8 miles apart along the line, converted power. Each station contained oil circuit breakers for both feeder and trolley buses, bus sectioning switches, and one 3 MVA outdoor autotransformer.

The Long Island Rail Road

Long Island Rail Road

portion of the system (essentially everything to the south of Bowery Bay), along with the freight catenary from West Farms over Hell Gate to Bowery Bay, was removed in 1969-1970. By 1986 Amtrak, which had inherited the Connecting Railroad, changed the traction power system over to 60 Hz operation coincident with Metro North's re-powering of the New Haven Line at 60 Hz and de-activation of the Cos Cob Power Station

Cos Cob Power Station

Cos Cob Power Station is a historic district roughly bounded by Metro North Railroad tracks, the Mianus River and Sound Shore Drive in Greenwich, Connecticut.The Spanish Revival style station was built in 1907....

. The autotransformer architecture was retained, but the source of power changed from the Metro North New Haven Line system to the ConEdison supplied Van Nest Substation 40.8420°N 73.8633°W.

Autotransformer Stations along the New York Connecting Railroad
Location	Trolley Breakers	Feeder Breakers	Coordinates	Comments
Bungay Street	5	6
Bowery Bay	9	6	40.7643°N 73.9054°W	Catenary Bridge C68. Converted to 60 Hz operation circa 1986. Amtrak SS number 45.
Fresh Pond	9	6
New Lots	9	6
Manhattan Beach Jct	7	8
Fourth Ave., Bay Ridge	6	4

External links

New York Connecting Railroad Society
Forgotten New York: "New York Connecting Railroad"

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Origins

Electrification

See also

External links