The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1896-09-12
sas ss ENTERING = YARD ct ! Level 81 over

therefore be crossed below grade. and the
pan q the Greenville and Hudson Rail-
point where entrance can be gotten into
1neir terminal yards b a practicable line.
Inas point IS Just south Of Johnston ave-
rye, and one thousand three hundred and
fifty Q,35W feet north Of Communicative
avenue measured on the proposed railroad
line 70 secure a clearance Of
villa and Hudson Railway at III
point is about five 20 feet abb
tide The position and elevation Of I'll
point OF crossing the National Doe
Railway are fixed, and cannot be chang
except at the cost Of destruction 10 VI
usefulness Of from 20 to 40 per cent.
Gripping Of the facilities Of the company
70 an extent represented capitalized by a
sum running into the millions.
o A1ous llye hundred 900 feet
the Greenville and Hudson Rail-
way crosses the Newark and New York
praneh Of the Central Railroad Of New
Jersey The elevation of his road at the
point OF crossing is about eight and one
half so feet above tide.
Four Thousand six hundred feet south
o. THIS crossing the Greenvile and Hud-
son Railway crosses the Central Railroad
or New Jersey at the Point of Rocks by
an overhead crossing about thinty-four'
tSs2 feet s29ve tide. The elevation Of the
eurbs OF C~onmunipaw avenue at The.
proposed point Of crossing is about nine
teen and one-half l91al feet above tide.
Thus it will be seen that Between the
crossing OF the Central Railroad Of New
Jersey at the Point Of Rocks and the tar
m5nal yards the grades of the Greenyflle
and Hudson Railway are governed ana
coFF re- bg thrss goints;-
~eleyation, eight and one-half @ts) feef.
The C~ommuHipaw avenue elevation
nl TTssfase and onerhaf $50 feet. and
elevation. four ~ feet.
Commencing at the Central Railroad OF
Jew Jersey crossing and descending by
q GRACE OF about seven inches in one hun
cred feet. crossing the Newark and New
aolA Hailroaq at grade. a grade might
nave been obtained from the Newark
nave been highly advantageous to the
new railroad, being an almost level en-
france mtg their yards. and would. have
that steel. This ssalf plan er0s9 h5gevs =
while saving the grade crossing
grade crossing of the Newark am Nsw
State this could have been condemned.
me me average damage as fixed in two. re-
were liked on trial at about lftv
thousand dollars ts50. 0G9). In both
e ,neSe ci gases the approaching racks
did not equal the traffic at the poinf
IN question Notwithstanding this. al
ready \ accident at one of these cross
49, 4AStS III d TIL crew.
Here the crossing would be at a sharp
curve on the Newark and. New YORK
Aallroad. The first cost of and main
tenance OF crossings, frogs and the APP
pllances for guarding the traffic would
pc large and the damages might we'll run
e. s~eventy-iye thousand dollars (s75.-
uoot But the saving in c~onstruc-
tlo1 over the plan adopted would have
probably been double thls. Very wisely.
notwithstanding this saving in construc-
tion, this plan was not adopted. A grade
crossing of the two railroads at this
point, even if guarded by the best an
pianees. would sooner Or later nave REL
suited in accident and great loss Of life.
No amount of ingenuity in signals OF
care IN detection of employees has been
proved against casualties similar to the
late collision near Atlantic City, and at
the point in question the surroundings
are all against safety. The Newark and
NeW York Railroad has a daily average
passenger trains, "A freight trains and
from thirty 500 to fifty (50) drilling
or light engines over the point of cross
has a freight and light or drill traffic
over the National Docks Railway Of
about sixty tO passages daily. With
business Of the completed road It
will probably exceed enc hundred QOa)
trains. The approach frem the West
is by a falling grade of about ten inches
IN ono hundred feet. From the east it Is
by a curve when will prevent the engin-
Ger seeing tle point OF crossing untu al
most upon it. The Greenviiie and Hudson
Railway approach from the south would
be a very long grade of about seven
inches ia one hundred feet. and from
the north out OF a curved cutting. It
| would only require The combination of a
| heavy freight train coming down the
grade from the south and a passenger
train coming around the curve, a foggy
day, slippery rails. and engineers over
| confident as to holding power of the
brakes 10 bring abort an accident which
no block system could guard against. A
| grade crossing of the two roads at that
point under these conditions would have
been little less than a crime. To obviate
this the Central Railroad Of . Jersey
has depressed the tracks of the Newark
and New York branch four and ene-half
Alal feet or 10 within four 90 feet of the
The Greenyille and Hudson Railroad
propose to cross bysa clearance of seven
teen I'D feet, making their grade at his
point about twenty-three and ene-half
point to the fixed crossing under the
National Docks Railway, a distance of
one thousand eight hundred and fifty
Q,85O feet. there IS a fall of
Allowing for clearing the abut-
n.ents of the bridge, this gives
q theoretical grade of one foot one and
one-half inches FOR one hundred feet.
But as there is a sharp curve. IN this
| descent for which compensation must Be
made IN the grade, the actual working
4 OCE cltAIL QIS 40Jl4 IOQL AilEilCS
in one hundred feet. This grade crosses
/ Commlnipaw avenue at the curb eleva-
tion, and makes the grade crossing in
| question. This grade cannot be altered
to avoid q grade crossing. To go below
| Communipaw venue would entail, as we
| a seen, a grade crossing of the Newark
and New York Railroad, This
is against good engineering prac-
| tice, conservative railroad man
agement, and also a menace to the safety
OF thousands of passengers who must
cross this point daily. To raise the rail-
| road grade to avoid q grade crossing il
n2) feel to secure even a len
foot clearance of the street. This
would increase the working ii grade
to the fixed point under the National
Docks Railway to a rate ex-
ceeding two feet per hundred feet.
Such a grade is not practicable for the
outlet from q trunk line terminal.
The grade adopted of one foot one and
onc-half incfes per hundred feet
compensated, IS twice as great
as is allowable in good practice.
On such a grade a car will not stand
unless brakes are set. 1t is about double
the ruling grade for the whole Lehigh
Valley line between tide water and Mauch
Chunk.
A locomotive which will haul thirty
900 loaded cars on the road etwee the
Hudson and the Delaware, viii only haul
fifteen Q51 cars loaded UP this
grade, and If 1t be Increased
to two feet per hundred feet would
only haul ten tO cars. Thus. as I
is a solid train going west from the yard.
must either be cut in two to go over
G0n N ~ n n ~ Y "a Il ~ u 81 ~ a. nnEhfnG ~