Manhattan Transfer (PRR station)

Manhattan Transfer
circa 1912
Location	Northeast Corridor Harrison, New Jersey
Coordinates	40°44′31″N 74°08′38″W / 40.742°N 74.144°WCoordinates: 40°44′31″N 74°08′38″W / 40.742°N 74.144°W
Owned by	PRR & H&M
Line(s)	PRR main line Park Place – Hudson Terminal
Platforms	4
Tracks	4
History
Opened	1910
Closed	1937
Electrified	(DC) Third Rail

Manhattan Transfer was a passenger transfer station in Harrison, New Jersey, east of Newark, 8.8 miles (14.2 km) west of New York Penn Station on the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) main line, now Amtrak's Northeast Corridor. It operated from 1910 to 1937 and consisted of two 1,100 feet (340 m) car-floor-level platforms, one on each side of the PRR line. It was also served by the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad. The only access to the station was by train; no local access was provided.^[1][2]

History

1912 map showing PRR lines to Jersey City waterfront and newly built Tunnel Extension. Equipment changes took place at Harrison Interchange Yard, where passengers could also transfer.

Until 1910 none of the railroads that crossed New Jersey to reach New York City crossed the Hudson River, but had terminals on the Hudson Waterfront, where passengers boarded ferries. The dominant Pennsylvania Railroad was no exception; its passenger trains ran to Exchange Place in Jersey City.

On November 27, 1910, the PRR opened a new line, the New York Tunnel Extension, that branched off the original line two miles east of Newark. The line 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 station just to the west of the junction.^[3] Passenger trains bound for New York Penn changed at Manhattan Transfer from steam locomotives to electric locomotives to run through the tunnel under the river.^[4]

After the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad (H&M), now known as PATH, was extended to Park Place in Newark on October 1, 1911, the H&M trains to Hudson Terminal in downtown Manhattan stopped on the tracks outside the two Manhattan Transfer platforms, allowing passengers to transfer from Penn-Station-bound intercity trains.^[5] 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, the PRR completed its electrification of its main line between New York and Philadelphia/Wilmington/Paoli, so most trains to New York Penn Station no longer needed to change engines at Manhattan Transfer. They all continued to stop there for the H&M connection until 1937. On June 20, 1937, the H&M moved its terminus from Park Place, Newark to the new Newark Penn Station a quarter mile south of Park Place. (On the same day, the Newark City Subway was extended to Newark Penn Station). Since then, PATH (former H&M) passengers have transferred at Newark Penn Station, and Manhattan Transfer was no longer needed.^[6]

The term 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.

See also

• Susquehanna Transfer (NYS&W station) (1939–1966)
• Secaucus Transfer

References

1. E.B., Temple (September 1910), The New York Tunnel Extension of the Pennsylvania Railroad Meadows Division and Harrison Transfer Yard., Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Vol. LXVIII, Paper No. 1153, American Society of Civil Engineers
2. "New High-Speed Line for Newark; Being Built by Pennsylvania Railroad and Hudson & Manhattan Company". New York Times. 1911-04-02.
3. "Open Pennsylvania Station To-night". The New York Times. 1910-11-26. p. 5. Retrieved 2011-04-02.
4. Cudahy, Brian J. (2002). Rails Under the Mighty Hudson (2nd ed.). New York: Fordham University Press. pp. 41–54. ISBN 0-8232-2190-3. OCLC 48376141.
5. "Improved Transit Facilities by Newark High Speed Line". The New York Times. 1911-10-01. Retrieved 2011-04-02.
6. "New Station Open for Hudson Tubes". The New York Times. 1937-06-20. p. 35.