The CSX River Subdivision
Milepost 0
Added 1/2008 Copyright © 2008 Lewis Bogaty
A long time ago, the New York Central Railroad had a large train yard in Weehawken, NJ. Freight trains were kept on tracks along the Hudson River north of the entrance to the railroad tunnel cut through the Palisades, and passenger trains on tracks to the south of the tunnel entrance. And so it is that River Subdivision mileage is measured from what today seems to be such an unlikely place: an unremarkable stretch of running track alongside the Hudson River, across from the Empire State Building, just south of the Weehawken Tunnel.
Above: A southbound
freight passes Milepost 0 (visible directly in front of the train) in Weehawken, NJ. February 10, 2002.
© 2002 Lewis Bogaty
Note: With apologies for the low quality of these Weehawken images -- they are
taken from frames of a video we shot there.
By the end of the Conrail era, the stretch of track south of North Bergen was no longer considered part of the River Line, but was known separately as the South River Line. Then, in 2002, the track connecting the Weehawken Tunnel to the North Bergen yard was severed and trains heading south from the River Line were rerouted over the Northern Branch tracks. The Weehawken Tunnel was closed forever to freight traffic, and a century of coal dust and diesel oil was scrubbed off the walls and ceiling of the tunnel. Freight trains would give way to a newly built New Jersey Transit light rail line. While River Sub trains no longer pass by, Milepost 0 is still the measuring point for River Subdivision mileage.
Two Below: The southbound train exits the Weehawken Tunnel just prior to passing Milepost 0 on February 10, 2002. The tunnel entrance on the right had been long abandoned. The tunnel portal looks quite different today as a part of the New Jersey Transit light rail system.
© 2002 Lewis Bogaty
