New Jersey Railroad and Transportation Co.

[toptrain1]

** This is the first Railroad Terminal built in New Jersey on the Hudson River. It provided a terminal connection from the New Jersey Rail Road and transportation company, and the Powel's Hook ferry service to New York City. A uncompleted terminal opened in 1834, when the railroad was being built, and rail service, at this time was only between Jersey City and Newark NJ. At this time all rail service was Horse powered. The first terminal in 1834 was a three track train shed with temporary services. The exact measurements for this train shed are unknown to me, and it seems everyone else. The structure you see here was add to the 1834 terminal train shed around 1839. This part of the terminal was the head house. In it was the ticket office, a waiting room, Baggage and freight services, and corporate offices on the second floor. This is the Jersey City terminal of the New Jersey Rail Road and Transportation Company, as seen in 1844, located on the west side of Hudson street, opposite the Powel's Hook Ferry terminal. Their is no decent drawing of this terminal. So I made one from the bitts and pieces of other views and articles written on this railroad. It is ashame that something like this can almost totally disappear form history. I am trying to bring back a lost building.

 

[toptrain1]

** The first view , in the opening post, was a artistic representation( by me) of the 1844 terminal Head House. It is angular and two of the structures walls can be viewed. This one ( also by me) is of the same structure and is more nuts and bolts. One in which measurements can be gotten, and possibly a model built from it. This view is one of the east wall of the Terminal's head house. This terminal was built in stages. First and most imamate is the Train Shed which was needed when rail service was begun in 1834. Service of which was completely horse powered. After this the head house structure that is within the Romanesque façade was opened by 1840. The Roman Temple like façade was added and there before 1844. In a number of articles on this railroad, it is said that this terminal was not completed immediately, and was almost constantly being worked on. No real opening date have I found on when this terminal, complete with head house entered service. The best for real date is 1844, where on a map of Jersey City in the book "From the Hills to the Hudson", the footprint of this terminal with head house and colonnade in visible. The actual location of all 17 columns are seen. I know I seem to be doing this post out of context. I am showing you 1844 before 1834. I will post a drawing of the 1834 terminal next.
frank

 

[toptrain1]

The 1834 view os this terminal is from either the book "The Hills to the Hudson, or a Appleton transportation guide publication.
Now this is what the train shed looks like in either book.
frank



** You can tell by the quality of this view that there is no real information that can be gotten from this picture, other then a basic layout of the shed track openings, and that they did have swinging doors. In the lower left corner behind a lamp post is seem a team of horses either pulling or pushing passenger cars. Until the work on the cut, which is a gap being cut through Bergen Hill to get trains to the river is completed, horse power is used on temporary tracks going west towards the Hackensack River and back to the river, over and back across Bergen Hill. There is a station on the west side of Bergen Hill, at which the Paterson and Hudson River Railroad eastern terminal is located. From this station east to the Hudson River Horse power is used to pull passenger cars over the hill. It is a common thing for early railroads starting up to use horse power for a few reasons. Of course Money is number one. And difficult engineering circumstances the other. On this road, the NJRR&TCo. the land between the Hackensack and Passaic rivers is all mash land, swamps and ponds. Regular ballasting doesn't work here. The rock ballast and fill just sinks into the muck and mire that make up the this land. Resorting to what ancient engineers had done in the past was the only way to support a railroad bed. Manny tree branches must to cut and pilled where the road will be. Allowed time to sink down then more branched. then cut up logs still in pieces atop of the branches. Then smaller branches, lots of them. now the rock ballast and the dirt fill has something to hold it in place. A railway can now be placed on top of this substructure. It must be given time to settle and become compacted before you run heavy locomotives on the track. Light horse drawn trains can run now as the track settles.
** I know you really enjoy this last drawing. ( what s terrible picture.)

 

[toptrain1]

There are four views of this old original first terminal on the Hudson river front in Jersey City. The excellent 1843 one directly above in the last post. A 1848 view can be found In the book " " From the Hills to the Hudson" and the same page as the first view. The third view is in a Guide book of the Hudson River and is even worse that this first view. And fourth and last view is on a 1848 map of Jersey City, aviable on line from a Rutgers site, is the only view of the Head House on Hudson street river front. It shows about 2/3 of the building. Also on this 1848 map the block is drawn showing the footprint of this terminal. Now when everything is put together you have about half, or more, of the info on this lost to time building. Still enough to do what I have done and make the drawings you see in the first two posts here.

 

[toptrain1]

Here is the drawing of the Block #8 on the 1848 Jersey City map. Montgomery St. it south. Mercer St. is North. The street above is Green St. and is west. bellow is east and Hudson St. From this map knowing the each lot is 25'x100' and the entire block is 200' x 400, you can work out the measurements of the complete building. The dot shown on the east end and the location of the 17 columns. The square inside a square is the head House. The outside is the Temple like façade. The angled building is the train shed. Now you can figure out what the measurements of the building are.
frank

 

[toptrain1]

Now I have redrawn the 1834 view of the 1st. terminal. I added a roof and a south wall that has arched openings as suggested by the original drawing. Also I redrew the west wall with its three track openings. I even added a chimney. The view is south west corner of Greene and Montgomery St's
frank

.

 

[toptrain1]

Again I have done another view of this same structure. This time adding the head house and giving a look at the terminal around 1844.
frank

 

[toptrain1]

*** I have stood on the same corner of Montgomery and Green St's just a few days ago. I looked off in the same direction. Here is what I seen.

** As you see nothing remains of the first terminal. The second terminal. Or any of the Pennsylvania Railroad terminals.

frank

 

[toptrain1]

I then went down to Hudson St and Montgomery St. I first stood on the north east corner and looked north west to where the view in my first post would have been made. First My drawing of what was in 1844.



** Now here is what you see today.



** Not exactly aw inspiring. Defiantly not a improvement!

 

[Gandolf50]

Adding my 2 cents..from a discussion with toptrain ..and to check something...

"I was running down some leads myself, as I love to find stuff , on your
New Jersey Railroad and Transportation Co. thread but just saw you deleted it from the public before I got back to it... As I re-read through it ..I did notice you have looked at Appleton's guides as I found a decent woodcut of the yard, showing the Patterson Depot and Philly Depot with the Jersey City Trans Depot in the center ( I am sure you might have seen this image,,but just in case )..."

 

[zathros]

This is a test.

 

[toptrain1]

Adding my 2 cents. from a discussion with toptrain ..and to check something...
"I was running down some leads myself, as I love to find stuff , on your
New Jersey Railroad and Transportation Co. thread but just saw you deleted it from the public before I got back to it... As I re-read through it ..I did notice you have looked at Appleton's guides as I found a decent woodcut of the yard, showing the Patterson Depot and Philly Depot with the Jersey City Trans Depot in the center ( I am sure you might have seen this image,,but just in case )..."

Well the one track depot to the left is the Patterson depot of the Patterson Hudson River railroad. As you say in the center is the Philadelphia depot. The Philadelphia Depot is the New Jersey Railroad and transportation Company depot. It was called that because trains to that destination started at this depot.
* My drawing of the NJRR&TCo. 1st terminal from Green and Meeker streets.

 

[toptrain1]

Here is my latest drawing of the first railroad terminal in new jersey on the Hudson River.
Frank

 

[toptrain1]

My oldest Grandson Andrew shaded one of my drawings. Here id what he has done.