Manhattan Transfer (PRR station)

Manhattan Transfer was a passenger station in Harrison, New Jersey, east of Newark, 8.8 miles west of New York Penn Station on the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) main line, now Amtrak's Northeast Corridor. It consisted of two 1100-foot car-floor-level platforms, one on each side of the PRR line.

The only access to the station was by train; no local access was provided.

Manhattan Transfer gained considerable public familiarity in its time so that the name became used in other contexts, starting with a 1925 novel by John Dos Passos.

History

Until 1910 none of the railroads that crossed New Jersey to reach New York City actually reached it; they all ended on the west bank of the Hudson River, where passengers transferred to ferries. The dominant Pennsylvania Railroad was no exception; its passenger trains from Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Washington, D.C. and beyond ran to Exchange Place in Jersey City.

On November 27, 1910 PRR opened a new line that branched off the original line two miles east of Newark and ran northeast across the Jersey Meadows to a pair of tunnels under the Hudson River to New York Penn Station. Along with the new line, they built Manhattan Transfer just west of the junction.^[1] Passenger trains to New York Penn changed there from steam locomotives to electric locomotives to run through the tunnel under the river; while the engine was changed, passengers could transfer to trains on the original line to Jersey City and the ferry connection to Lower Manhattan. After the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad (now PATH) was opened to Newark on October 1, 1911, H&M trains to downtown Manhattan stopped on the tracks outside the two Manhattan Transfer platforms, allowing passengers to transfer from Penn-Station-bound intercity trains.^[2] Some PRR trains continued to run to Exchange Place until 1961, but didn't need to change engines and didn't stop at Manhattan Transfer.

In 1933 PRR completed its electrification to Philadelphia/Wilmington/Paoli, so most trains to New York Penn no longer needed to change engines at Manhattan Transfer. They all continued to stop there for the H&M connection until H&M's Newark trains moved about a quarter mile south from their Park Place terminus to the new Newark Penn Station on June 20, 1937 (the same day the Newark City Subway was extended to Newark Penn Station). That was the end of Manhattan Transfer, and PATH (former H&M) passengers now transfer at Newark Penn Station.^[3]

See also

• Susquehanna Transfer (NYS&W station)
• Kearny Connection
• New York Tunnel Extension (PRR tunnel project for New York City area)
• Waterfront Connection

Coordinates: 40°44′31″N 74°08′38″W / 40.742°N 74.144°W / 40.742; -74.144 (Manhattan Transfer)

References

1. ^ "Open Pennsylvania Station To-night". New York Times: p. 5. 1910-11-26. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9407E0DF1638E333A25755C2A9679D946196D6CF. Retrieved 2011-04-02. 
2. ^ "Improved Transit Facilities by Newark High Speed Line". New York Times. 1911-10-01. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9D05E2D71531E233A25752C0A9669D946096D6CF. Retrieved 2011-04-02. 
3. ^ "New Station Open for Hudson Tubes". New York Times: p. 35. 1937-06-20. 

• Cudahy, Brian J. (2002). Rails under the mighty Hudson: The story of the Hudson Tubes, the Pennsy Tunnels, and Manhattan Transfer. Hudson Valley Heritage Series. 2 (2nd ed.). New York: Fordham University Press. pp. 41–54. ISBN 0-8232-2189-X. http://www.books.google.com/books?id=9odNXTGhwyAC. 

Further reading

• "New High-Speed Line for Newark; Being Built by Pennsylvania Railroad and Hudson & Manhattan Company". New York Times. 1911-04-02. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F50C15FD3F5517738DDDAB0894DC405B818DF1D3.