New-York tribune., 1901-05-05
HOW FREIGHT is FLOATED.
THE SYSTEM BY WHICH 1T Is TRANS
PORTED FROM POINT To POINT
OVER THE HARROR

An official of one of the railroads having ter
mnal at jersey City said the other day: II am
just old fogyish enough believe that the old fash
Toned method of lighterng freight across to New
York is cheaper. quicker and more convenient than
that of bringing 1t across by bridge and dstribut-
Ing IL by an elevated track. The interest alone on
the money invested In the bridge would pay for all
the floats required. Floats which will last for years
can be built for $1,000 $4,000 EACH and one man
only is needed to take of one Towing is
rot expensive and floats lighters can be placed
right alongside steamers where the freight can be
easily swung aboard. In the case of the bridge
every would have to wait it's turn to be
switched and when got onto the pier the
freight would have be unloaded and moved by
hand to the side of the pier. 1t may be good
thing TO be able to bring passengers directly into
the city without change, but do believe freight
will be brought into the city by bridge 1t would
be too expensive. as compared with the cost of
floating it,
In New-York Harbor railroad freight is moved
in two ways-on lighters and floats in cars.
Lighters boats of from 200 to 400 tons burden.
usually without means of self-propulson. which
freight is loaded from piers, other vessels rail-
road cars, and towed from part of the harbor
another II Is estimated that railroads terminat-
Ing at this pore own and operate between 200 and
800 lighters. There besides many lighters
owned by hghterage and towing companies. The
railroad companies often find it necessary go
outside their own fleets OF lighters in order
handle their traffic
When the freight is 10 be put aboard the
without intermediate lishterage. floats having
capacity of from 10 to L each used.
These are brought alongside the piers and steam
ers as In the of the lighters. for loading and
unloading. The various railroads having terminals
at this port have freight stations situated at
yenient points along the North and East rivers
where freight regularly received and distributed
and loaded and unloaded aboard the cars these
floats
In the case of Long Island and New England il
is necessary TO float all the through cars from the
great trunk lines around the Battery, and vice
versa These floats open-decked and double
tracked. and are rectangular in shape Slips into
which they fit snugly provided for them, and
cars may be run them over either end When
placed alongside steamships the contents OF the
cars may be readily transferred to the holds of
the vessels by power derrcks. The number Of car
floats in this harbor owned by the railroads Is
about three hundred
AS in the case of the lighters, very few OF them
and used here by the railroads for this sort
of work Is about hundred. Few self
propelling lighters built for railroads,
the periods when the propeing machinery would
be idle numerous that Ii is more economical
to put the machinery into tugs where IL be
land and the Express, owned by the New-York,
New-Ftayen and Hartford Railroad. notable
ceptions among floats. They suggest Sound
steamers more than ca- floats. and equipped
with engines that move them through the water at
the speed of that type Of vessel They used TO