Hackensack Drawbridge
Hackensack Drawbridge | |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 40°43′7.35″N 74°6′14.35″W / 40.7187083°N 74.1039861°W |
| Carried | Newark and New York Branch |
| Crossed | Hackensack River |
| Locale | Jersey City and Kearny |
| Other name(s) | HD Draw |
| Owner | Central Railroad of New Jersey |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | swing bridge |
| Material | Steel |
| Height | 75 feet (23 m) |
| History | |
| Opened | 1869 |
| Collapsed | 1946 |
| Location | |
The Hackensack Drawbridge (also known as the HD Draw) was a double-track railroad movable bridge across the mouth of the Hackensack River between Jersey City and Kearny, New Jersey. It was operational until 1946, when a steamship crashed into it.
Built and maintained by the Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ), the bridge was part of the Newark and New York Branch, a rail line characterized as the "costliest railroad" by W. H. Schmidt Jr., a columnist for Trains. Opened on July 23, 1869, the line was routed between terminals at Newark and Jersey City, where passengers could transfer to ferries to New York. It also crossed the Passaic River and the Kearny Point peninsula. Freight cars regularly traversed the bridge to deliver to various industries in Harrison.