MARINE

Vol. 5, No. 11, Whole No. 59

T1

INDUSTRIES

Twenty-five Cents a Copy

HE Erie Railroad, now a system approximately 2500 miles, began operation in September, 1841, with a line from Piermont, N. Y. to Turner's (near Harriman), N. Y. Subsequently, construction westward was continued until in 1851, a line to Dunkirk, N. Y. had been completed. Between Piermont and New York City, its traffic was handled by ferries. It became advisable to extend the

matic signals, improved terminals, new equipment, etc. approximately $100,000,000 of earnings.

At Chicago, its western terminus, Erie has exceptional transportation advantages. It is completely equipped for rendering expeditious freight service in the Chicago switching district. Through its yards at Hammond, In

diana, 51st Street and 18th Street, it is able to reach quickly all of the belt and switching roads in the entire district-thus being able to satisfactorily serve the public on local and through traffic, outbound and inbound. It is the only road operating car float service for freight traffic on the Chicago River. It is the only eastern railway maintaining freight receiving and forwarding stations on the north side of Chicago. A freight subway of 65 miles connects with the Erie's 14th Street freight house. A "break-bulk" dock delivery lighterage service covering 20 miles of the Chicago River connects with Erie's private dock at its 18th Street yards. It connects with all the western, northwestern and southwestern trunk lines and is an important factor in the movement of traffic from Chicago and points west to the eastern seaboard. Various northern and southern roads feed into it in the stretch between Chicago and New York supplementing the volume of through freight traffic destined to its eastern and western terminals.

in 1895 as the Erie Railroad Company, its physical condition has been rehabilitated and its freight and passenger service greatly improved and increased.

To, accomplish this, it has since its reorganization put back into the property for double-tracking, construction of cut-offs, reduction of grades, installation of auto

The area traversed by the Erie System between Chicago and Youngstown is a rich agricultural one, dotted here and there with important industrial cities. Branch

lines and connecting roads penetrate the soft coal regions of Ohio, and in recent years the proportion of bituminous. coal transported has become steadily larger. The Erie also serves the anthracite coal fields in Pennsylvania, and is a big factor in the movement of this essential commodity to New York City, Chicago and other large consuming centers. Youngstown is the center of the great iron and steel industry of the Mahoning and Shenango Valleys and in this territory are many plants engaged in converting steel into a wide variety of finished products. To provide adequate service for this important industry, the Erie Railroad operates on fast schedule a daily train known as the "Steel Special" to the Port of New York, and from the same center a daily train named the "Tin Plate Special" operates to Chicago. It might be stated. that the Erie was the first to apply special names to trains in freight service.

Western New York is rich in agriculture and industry. Buffalo is the eastern gateway for lake and other traffic moving to and from the rich province of Ontario, Canada. Jamestown, N. Y. is distinguished as a furniture manufacturing center.

Erie Railroad's Relation to Port of New York

The great volume of traffic moving east over Erie rails to the Port of New York, as well as that moving from New York to supply the interior, necessarily requires the maintenance of adequate terminal facilities. At the Jersey City waterfront the Erie's principal terminal facility is located. Its passenger terminal operating at maximun from 7:00 to 9:30 A. M. and from 4:30 to 7:00 P. M. handles over 100,000 daily commuters travelling between their homes in Metropolitan New Jersey and

the business districts of New York City. In fact, with one possible exception, Erie's traffic of this class exceeds that of any other suburban line.

Situated adjacent to a deep water berth permitting ocean steamships to dock for cargo, is its large grain elevator with storage capacity of over 1,000,000 bushels of grain. Through its Jersey City terminal also are handled solid trains of refrigerator cars containing fruits from western states, these cars being "spotted" on floats and taken to Piers 20 and 21, New York City, during the early morning hours and contents unloaded and ready for distribution before mid-morning. The Erie has long been known as the standard route for the movement of fruits to New York.

Vehicular Tunnel at Jersey City Door of Erie

The completion of the vehicular tunnel early in 1927 will link Erie's Jersey City terminal with New York City (Manhatan). The benefits thereby derived will be many and far-reaching, especially with respect to the industrial and residential growth of so-called Metropolitan New Jersey. With the tunnel entrance virtually in the Erie's freight yards, present time consumed in the transfer of freight between Jersey City and New York, Brooklyn and Long Island will be considerably shortened. Much of the freight now lightered will be diverted to the vehicular route, expediting delivery of both inbound and outbound traffic. From the tunnel entrance proper it is proposed to construct a vehicular highway which will ultimately have contact with other highways radiating routes be'ween the states of New Jersey and New York. A viaduct over Erie's tracks is already under construction. It is not too much to predict that the opening of the vehicular tunnel

will revolutionize the entire traffic situation in the metropolitan distret.

Piers and Floating and Terminal Equipment

On a long stretch of Hudson River waterfront at Weehawken, N. J. (opposite West 23rd Street, New York City), the Erie Railroad has a row of modern piers and open docks, in the rear of which is located a large holding yard for arriving cars of freight. Open ground storage is provided between tracks in this yard for the heavy volume of structural steel and large crated packages intended for domestic and export movement.

A fleet of barges and lighters is constantly employed here for the transfer of goods for delivery to points around the harbor. In effecting the transfer from ground storage or direct from cars to water carriers as well as from ships or lighters arriving with inbound cargoes, large locomotive cranes and Gantry cranes are in constant operation. Other classes of traffic requiring weather protection are handled from cars on the covered piers to covered barges.

At Weehawken Yard there are also provided special facilities for the unloading of live poultry shipped to New York from the West, one-half of which traffic is handled by the Erie Railroad. Ferry service from the northern end of this yard to West 23rd Street, New York City will be established Nov. 1st of this year. A local freight station and team yard tracks already serve the manufacturing interests located in Weehawken and the northern part of the city of Hoboken.

At Edgewater, N. J. (opposite 115th Street, New York City), the large coal unloading docks of the Erie Railroad are advantageously situated on the waterfront and

Interior View of Pier, Weehawken, N. J.

provide rapid loading of barges for transporting coal to New York Harbor points for local consumption. Occasionally ships take on entire cargoes of coal at these docks. This facility can deliver 1000 tons of coal per hour. Ample storage yards for coal trains adjoin the unloading facility.

At West 28th Street, New York, the Erie operates a yard providing for the handling of cars by float to and from the terminal yards on the Jersey side. This yard is located near the center of New York City's great midtown commercial district. Well arranged team tracks and driveways permit unloading or loading direct from cars and a large freight house accommodates the less-thancarload inbound and outbound traffic.