New York Central Railroad 69th Street Transfer Bridge, Railway transfer bridge in Upper West Side, Manhattan, US.
The 69th Street Transfer Bridge is a railway structure built to move freight cars between rail lines on land and floating barges on the Hudson River. It uses a movable linkspan with mechanical parts that allowed cars to be transferred safely across the water.
Built in 1911 by the New York Central Railroad, the bridge was created to move freight cars to Weehawken Yards across the river in New Jersey. It was part of a larger network of rail and water terminals that made Manhattan a major freight hub in the early 1900s.
The structure stands as a reminder of when the Hudson River was filled with barges and freight, and when rail transport connected Manhattan to the wider region. Walking past it in Riverside Park, you can sense how central these connections were to the city's working life.
You can find this bridge between West 66th and 70th Streets along the Hudson River waterfront, viewable from Riverside Park. The best way to see it is by walking through the park paths that run alongside the river.
The linkspan could rise and fall with the changing water levels of the Hudson River, preventing loaded freight cars from tumbling into the water during the transfer. This simple yet clever system was a key safety feature for cargo operations of that era.
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