Coytesville
Fort Lee is a borough at the eastern border of Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, situated along the Hudson River atop The Palisades.
As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 40,191, an increase of 4,846 ...
in the north to Palisades Junction on the border of Fort Lee and
Cliffside Park
Cliffside Park is a borough in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 25,693, an increase of 2,099 (+8.9%) from the 2010 census count of 23,594, which in turn reflected ...
, and then split into two branches, one running to Edgewater and its ferry terminal, and one running to
Weehawken Terminal
Weehawken Terminal was the waterfront intermodal terminal on the North River (Hudson River) in Weehawken, New Jersey for the New York Central Railroad's West Shore Railroad division, whose route traveled along the west shore of the Hudson Rive ...
. It opened sometime before 1895 and closed on June 1, 1933, although tracks remained until 1937.
Route
The line started out in the
unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...
of Coytesville, now in the northern section of Fort Lee. It ran south from there, passing through what is now the
George Washington Bridge Plaza
The George Washington Bridge Plaza, also known as GWB Plaza or Bridge Plaza, is the convergence of roads and highways around the site of the George Washington Bridge toll plaza in Fort Lee, New Jersey, United States. The plaza is located nor ...
, and crossing Fort Lee's Main Street. It then entered a private
right-of-way
A right of way (also right-of-way) is a specific route that people, animals, vehicles, watercraft, or utility lines travel, or the legal status that gives them the right to do so. Rights-of-way in the physical sense include controlled-access h ...
, which it followed through the southern section of Fort Lee, and to Palisades Junction. It intersected with routes 1 - Hudson River and 5 - Englewood here, coming from
Paterson Paterson may refer to:
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*Paterson (given name)
Places
Australia
*Paterson, New South Wales
* Paterson River, New South Wales
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and
Tenafly
Tenafly () is a borough in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 15,409, an increase of 921 (+6.4%) from the 2010 census count of 14,488, which in turn reflected an ...
, respectively. Route 1 - Hudson River is now the and bus routes, and route 5 - Englewood is now the 751 and bus routes. There was a power substation here, which still stands .
Some trains continued to the Edgewater Ferry Terminal via a hairpin curve down the Palisades here, while others continued south through Cliffside Park and through what is now the North Hudson County Park. Streetcars then traveled along Broadway, turning east on 48th street (then called 4th street) where they met the Bergenline Avenue and Weehawken Car lines before going down the Palisades on a private right-of-way similar to the route of Pershing Road in
Weehawken
Weehawken is a Township (New Jersey), township in the North Hudson, New Jersey, northern part of Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located on the Hudson Waterfront and Hudson Palisades overlooking ...
, which they used to access
Weehawken Terminal
Weehawken Terminal was the waterfront intermodal terminal on the North River (Hudson River) in Weehawken, New Jersey for the New York Central Railroad's West Shore Railroad division, whose route traveled along the west shore of the Hudson Rive ...
, also called the West Shore Terminal.
Service
A schedule from 1895 shows 17 round trips a day, mostly oriented towards commuter hours.
Remnants
North of Fort Lee, not many remnants remain, as the
George Washington Bridge Plaza
The George Washington Bridge Plaza, also known as GWB Plaza or Bridge Plaza, is the convergence of roads and highways around the site of the George Washington Bridge toll plaza in Fort Lee, New Jersey, United States. The plaza is located nor ...
was built on top of the ROW. However, in southern Fort Lee, the right-of-way remains intact, as a walking and biking path between Tom Hunter Rd and Riverdale Dr, and as the median of Abbott Blvd south of Riverdale Dr. The power substation at the former Palisades Junction remains intact, on the west side of Abbott Blvd at Warren Av, right on the Fort Lee-Cliffside Park borough line. The right-of-way is traceable down a street called Railroad Avenue until Gorge Road, which was crossed by a bridge, continuing through Borough Hall and Commercial Avenue, just west of Palisade Avenue as far as the Hudson County line. In addition to these remnants, Pershing Road in Weehawken, formerly used by the Coytesville Line and other streetcars, still exists, and is now a road for cars.
Replacement
Route 9 - Coytesville closed in 1933, however unlike the other Bergen Division lines, route 9 - Coytesville was never replaced directly with bus service. However, the bus route roughly follows the route north of
North Bergen
North Bergen is a township in the northern part of Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 63,361, an increase of 2,588 (+4.3%) from the 2010 census count of 60,773, ...
, and the {{cite web , title=T0089-2 , url=https://content.njtransit.com/sites/default/files/bus_schedules/T0089.pdf , website=
NJ Transit
New Jersey Transit Corporation, branded as NJ Transit or NJTransit and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey and portions of the states of New York and Pennsylvania. I ...
, access-date=24 January 2023 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230124201854/https://content.njtransit.com/sites/default/files/bus_schedules/T0089.pdf , archive-date=24 January 2023 , url-status=live buses roughly follow it south of North Bergen. In addition, some rush hour trips of the 23 continue down Pershing Road to Port Imperial, the successor to
Weehawken Terminal
Weehawken Terminal was the waterfront intermodal terminal on the North River (Hudson River) in Weehawken, New Jersey for the New York Central Railroad's West Shore Railroad division, whose route traveled along the west shore of the Hudson Rive ...