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The "Little Ferries" of NY Harbor/Sunrise Ferries
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 19, 2020 9:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

When they were modernized during the 1950's, CNJ's ferry fleet not only received a new green/white paint scheme, but also, received shorter, more modern stacks, similar to that installed on the "LACKAWANNA", after her conversion to diesel in 1949.

However, the CNJ boats remained steam powered until they were retired in the mid/late 1960's; IMHO, the squat stacks on the remodeled CNJ boats did give them the impression of a diesel-powered craft, which, of course, they were not.

The CNJ boats, interestingly enough, were also the only railroad ferries on the Hudson River to be equipped with short-range radar.....

"NYO"
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 19, 2020 10:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

As I had mentioned elsewhere here, besides the E-L's "LACKAWANNA", the only other diesel ferries to operate on a railroad-operated, Hudson River ferry crossing were "THE TIDES" and "THE NARROWS", both ex-Brooklyn 69th St. boats, that were on charter to the CNJ for the Liberty St. run out of Jersey City, from 1965 until 1967.

Both of these boats were leased to the CNJ to replace older steam ferries that had been removed from service in early 1965.

Neither of the former 69th St. boats were at all popular with CNJ commuters; for one thing, being built primarily to carry vehicles, there were no passenger cabins on the main deck.

Also, they were not able to load/unload from the upper deck, as the other CNJ ferries were designed to do.

This, of course, led to longer loading/and unloading times at both Jersey City and Liberty St; eventually, due to continuing complaints from rush hour commuters, the CNJ installed makeshift passenger cabins on either side of the main decks, each occupying a former vehicle lane.

After the Liberty St. ferry was abandoned in April, 1967, both boats were again out of work, before being purchased for Coast Guard service to Governor's Island.

"THE TIDES" replaced the venerable, twin-stacked old steam ferry, "MAJOR WM. H. HART", while "THE NARROWS" was stripped of parts to keep "THE TIDES" in operation.

"THE TIDES" went on to serve this crossing faithfully for many years; her sister eventually ended up in New England as a floating hotel/restuarant.....

"NYO"
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 20, 2020 10:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

That the DL&W decided to dieselize even one of their ferries (the aforementioned "LACKAWANNA") is a bit of a mystery.

The "CHATHAM" ("LACKAWANNA") had been rebuilt in 1920 with a new superstructure, granted, but, it still is a bit of a mystery that the DL&W even decided to convert even ONE boat to diesel.

Back in those days, the newest railroad ferry (despite her "traditional" appearance), was the ERIE's "MEADVILLE" of 1936.

That the cash-strapped ERIE purchased even ONE new boat, at the tail end of the Depression, is still a bit of a mystery.

Though her outward appearance differed little from the older boats in the fleet, her upper cabins hinted at a more modern era.

The boat was also unusual in that she was designed with a "spoon" hull, with barely any keel at all.

She also was equipped with a modern SKINNER-UNAFLOW engine; interestingly, the Staten Island Ferry's "MERRELL" class boats also had SKINNER engines.

By the late 1950's, after some revamping, she was puchased by the DL&W to cope with additional crowds at Hoboken, as the ERIE was shifting its trains up to Hoboken from Pavonia Abenue, Jersey City, a few years prior to the E-L merger.

She could now also load/unload from the upper deck at Hoboken and Barclay St.; previously, certain ERIE boats could only load from the upper deck at W. 23rd St., as the terminals at Jersey City and Chambers St. were never upgraded for upper deck loading.

She was a more expensive vessel to operate than the old DL&W boats, and only operated during the rush hours.

In 1965, this ex-ERIE ferryboat was removed from service and sat for about a decade at the old Morris Canal Basin in Jersey City, near the former CNJ terminal.

Later, she was towed away (supposedly to Florida), and most likely, was scrapped long ago; when she was delivered to the ERIE in March, 1936, she arrived under tow, hauled by the "SUSAN A. MORAN".

This tow (from Chester, PA) took thirty hours.

I can remember riding on this boat as a youngster, and also saw her docked many times at Hoboken.

"NYO"


Last edited by NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 on Tue Nov 24, 2020 12:55 am; edited 2 times in total
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 30, 2020 11:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

On this day in 1955, the DL&W closes down ferry service between the Hoboken terminal and Christopher St., Manhattan.

The final crossing was made by the single-deck "BUFFALO"; her running mate was the single-deck "HOBOKEN".

The only DL&W ferry crossing remaining was the line to Barclay Street (this crossing was heavily used during rush hours), which itself would be shut down in November of 1967......

"NYO"
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Mon Nov 09, 2020 2:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

On November 8th, 1926, a new Hudson River ferry line was established by "ELECTRIC FERRIES", operating between W. 23rd St. in Manhattan and Baldwin Avenue, Weehawken.

Originally, six vessels were used on this line, which, in later years, handled a good deal of overflow traffic from the Lincoln Tunnel, which opened one tube in 1937.

This line was primarily a vehicular ferry, and operated until 1943, when it was shut down.

These boats later operated for some time on the 125th St.-Edgewater line (after PSNJ sold the operation to "ELECTRIC FERRIES" in 1943), as well as various City-operated East River crossings; one boat was sold to New England interests, and operated there as a ferry until it was retired, looking quite out-of-place amongst the "traditional" New England steamers.....

"NYO"
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Tue Nov 10, 2020 3:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The last "ELECTRIC FERRIES" to operate on a public crossing in NY Harbor were the boats of the 69th St., Brooklyn-St. George line, which shut down in late 1964, when the VZ Bridge opened to traffic.

These 1940's vessels were the:

"THE TIDES"

"THE NARROWS"

"HUDSON"

"GOTHAM"

"ST. GEORGE"

"HAMILTON"

"E.G. DIEFENBACH"

Four vehicular lanes were situated on the main deck; a passenger cabin on the upper deck was reached by covered stairways, located fore and aft.

After the line was closed down in November, 1964 (it should have been kept as an alternate to the Bridge at times of nearly ever-present gridlock), a few ex-Brooklyn boats went to the Chester-Bridgeport (NJ/PA) ferry crossing, another went to South America.

Two remained in New York Harbor, "THE TIDES" and "THE NARROWS", and, until 1967, ran on the CNJ's Liberty St.-Jersey City crossing.

After the CNJ shut down ferry operations in April, 1967, these two boats were sold to the Coast Guard for service on the non-public crossing to Governor's Island. "THE NARROWS", however, would later be stripped of parts to keep her sister, "THE TIDES" in operation; "THE NARROWS" eventually went north to New England, where she became a floating hotel/restaurant.

"THE TIDES" remained in operation until the early 1990's, when she was retired.

Sadly, not of these once-commonplace ferryboats survives today......

"NYO"
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