Selkirk hurdle
The Selkirk Hurdle is the term used by urban planners, railroad employees, politicians and others to describe the route that must be taken by freight trains traveling between New York City or other points in downstate New York and points in the United States west of the Hudson River. Because there are no freight crossings of the Hudson River south of Selkirk, which is 10 miles (16 km) south of Albany, trains from Long Island and New York City (except for the borough of Staten Island which has a rail bridge to New Jersey) must travel 140 miles (230 km) north to cross at Selkirk before continuing on their way.[1] Advocates claim that this detour and the inefficiencies that result, force New York City to rely more heavily on relatively inefficient trucks than most parts of the United States, where freight trains are more common. However at least for traffic to and from the west, this route was touted for its efficiency as the "Water Level Route" by the New York Central Railroad, because trains using it do not have to climb over the Appalachian Mountains, and it is still used by the New York Central's successor, CSX for traffic to both sides of the Hudson River.
Freight trains to New York City have had few other options since a 1974 fire of suspicious origins eliminated service across a railroad bridge at Poughkeepsie.[2] Because of the height of the bridge at Poughkeepsie trains still had to travel west to Maybrook, NY and back. Although the bridge at Poughkeepsie (85 miles / 137 kilometers) north of New York) still stands, the rails were removed in the late 20th century and it became a New York State park in 2009. To cross the Hudson, trains must use the Alfred H. Smith Memorial Bridge instead, or another bridge further north near Mechanicville, New York, operated by Pan Am Southern railroad.
In absence of the bridges and tunnel described above, the only alternative to the Selkirk Hurdle is for rail cars to be floated across the Upper New York Bay, an operation run until 2006 by the New York Cross Harbor Railroad, and currently by New York New Jersey Rail, LLC, now owned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which is investing in improvements to its decayed infrastructure. As trucking has become more prevalent, rail float operations across the bay have dwindled over the years from 600,000 cars per year to 1,600 cars per year.[3]
Eliminating the Selkirk Hurdle is a primary objective of the Cross-Harbor Rail Tunnel proposed to span the Upper New York Bay between Brooklyn and either Jersey City, New Jersey or Staten Island.[4] This is not the case with the proposal to include commuter rail tracks on the Tappan Zee Bridge when the bridge is rebuilt in the coming years.[5] However, the possibility does exist that freight trains could use such tracks during the very early hours of the morning, and at other times when commuter traffic is light, if they were built according to certain specifications.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "USING BARGES TO REVIVE A RAIL ROUTE", The New York Times, May 4, 1986. Accessed January 3, 2008. "That is because in recent years virtually all rail traffic between Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island, at one end, and points south, at the other, has traveled over the Selkirk Hurdle, a 280-mile (450 km) loop that extends up the east shore of the Hudson River to a bridge at Selkirk, N.Y., near Albany, then down the west side of the river."
- ^ The Beacon Line by Pierce Haviland
- ^ Cross Harbor Freight Movement Draft Environmental Impact Statement, p. 1-2
- ^ Cross Harbor Freight Movement Project Maps
- ^ Tappan Zee Bridge Environmental Review: Alternative 4A
