The North Hudson Railway Company built and operated a

streetcar A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some include s ...

system in

Hudson County Hudson County is a List of counties in New Jersey, county in the U.S. state of New Jersey, its smallest and most densely populated. Lying in the northeast of the state and on the west bank of the North River (Hudson River), Hudson River, the No ...

and southeast

Bergen County, New Jersey Bergen County is the List of counties in New Jersey, most populous County (United States), county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was founded by Hillric J. Bonn who became the first President in 1865 and served for 26 years until his death, and eventually taken over by the

Public Service Railway Transport of New Jersey (TNJ), earlier Public Service Transportation and then Public Service Coordinated Transport, was a street railway and bus company in the U.S. state of New Jersey from 1917 to 1980, when NJ Transit took over their operatio ...

. In its endeavors to overcome the formidable obstacle of ascending the lower

Hudson Palisades The Palisades, also called the New Jersey Palisades or the Hudson River Palisades, are a line of steep cliffs along the west side of the lower Hudson River in Northeastern New Jersey and Southeastern New York in the United States. The cliffs s ...

, or

Bergen Hill Bergen Hill refers to the lower Hudson Palisades in New Jersey, where they emerge on Bergen Neck, which in turn is the peninsula between the Hackensack and Hudson Rivers, and their bays. In Hudson County, it reaches a height of 260 feet. Rai ...

, it devised numerous innovative engineering solutions including funicular wagon lifts, an inclined elevated railway, an

elevator An elevator (American English) or lift (Commonwealth English) is a machine that vertically transports people or freight between levels. They are typically powered by electric motors that drive traction cables and counterweight systems suc ...

and

viaducts A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide v ...

. The oldest predecessor line of North Hudson County Railway opened 1861. Three companies were consolidated in 1874 to form the North Hudson County Railway Company. North Hudson acquired the Pavonia Horse Railroad Company in 1891, opened the Hudson & Bergen Traction Company in 1893, and opened the Palisades Railroad in 1894. North Hudson County Railway included of at-grade and of elevated trackage. Bonn was always involved in other road and real estate projects in the county. He resided 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 ...

, where a street is named in his honor.

Wagon lifts

Weehawken Wagen Lift from Hackensack Plank Road

Two

funicular A funicular ( ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep grade (slope), slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to ...

wagon lifts were built in 1893. The Hoboken lift travelled from near the foot of

Paterson Plank Road Paterson Plank Road is a road that runs through Passaic County, New Jersey, Passaic, Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen and Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson Counties in northeastern New Jersey. The route, originally laid in the colonial era, conn ...

to Ferry Street, next to Pohlmann's Hall in

Jersey City Heights The Heights or Jersey City Heights is a neighborhood in Jersey City, New Jersey, located atop the New Jersey Palisades, along the west side of the Hudson River. It is bound by Paterson Plank Road on the north, Highway 139 on the south, Ho ...

. The Weehawken lift ascended from the foot of

Hackensack Plank Road The Hackensack Plank Road, also known as Bergen Turnpike, was a major artery which connected the cities of Hoboken, New Jersey, Hoboken and Hackensack, New Jersey, Hackensack, New Jersey. Like its cousin routes, the Newark Plank Road and Paterso ...

to West Hoboken (now Union City). The remnants of the lift ascend to under Troy Tower, a residential high rise.

Hoboken Elevated

The Hoboken Elevated was a long

elevated railway An elevated railway or elevated train (also known as an el train or el for short) is a railway with the Track (rail transport), tracks above street level on a viaduct or other elevated structure (usually constructed from steel, cast iron, concre ...

trestle that ran from Hudson Place near the Lackawanna Terminal, up to

next to the wagon lift at Pohlmann's Hall. The line continued west over private property to Central Avenue and then south over that avenue to the Hudson County Courthouse on Newark Avenue near

Journal Square Journal Square is a business district, residential area, and transportation hub in Jersey City, New Jersey. It is named for the newspaper ''Jersey Journal'', whose headquarters were located there from 1911 to 2013. The "square" itself is at the ...

. The portion from Hoboken Terminal to

Palisade Avenue Palisade Avenue is the name given to a historic road which parallels the eastern crest of Hudson Palisades in Gateway Region, northeastern New Jersey. It travels between Jersey City, New Jersey, Jersey City and Fort Lee, New Jersey, Fort L ...

opened January 25, 1886, under cable power. The extension to Newark Ave opened June 19, 1892, with electric cars, passengers changing at Palisade Avenue. Through electric service began in December 1892. Within the next few years North Hudson's streetcar lines were converted to electric trolley operation, and ramps were constructed at Palisade Avenue and Newark Avenue so that trolleys could go up onto the elevated railway. It was then operated by trolleys until it closed in 1949.

Eldorado Elevator

The Eldorado Elevator rose from the West Shore Ferry Terminal at Weehawken to meet the streetcar line that travelled along a trestle to a

cut Cut or CUT may refer to: Common uses * The act of cutting, the separation of an object into two through acutely directed force ** A type of wound ** Cut (archaeology), a hole dug in the past ** Cut (clothing), the style or shape of a garment ** ...

in the Palisades which ran parallel to the Eldorado, a

pleasure garden A pleasure garden is a park or garden that is open to the public for recreation and entertainment. Pleasure gardens differ from other public gardens by serving as venues for entertainment, variously featuring such attractions as concert halls, b ...

, and then proceeded east and north to the Nungesser's Guttenberg Racetrack.

Hillside Line

From 14th Street in Hoboken, the line ran west and with a series of trestles and horseshoe curves ascended the Palisades to West Hoboken and beyond. Part of the system near 14th Street's Wing Viaduct is a

New Jersey Register of Historic Places The New Jersey Register of Historic Places is the official list of historic resources of local, state, and national interest in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The program is administered by the New Jersey's state historic preservation office wit ...

-designated place.

References

Inline citations

General references

* * * * *

External links

{{Commons category, Public Service Railway
"History of the North Hudson County Railway" From its beginnings to the present day"

HathiTrust HathiTrust Digital Library is a large-scale collaborative repository of digital content from research libraries. Its holdings include content digitized via Google Books and the Internet Archive digitization initiatives, as well as content digit ...

Digital Library. Transportation in Hudson County, New Jersey Transportation in Bergen County, New Jersey New Jersey streetcar lines Defunct public transport operators in the United States Tram, urban railway and trolley companies Defunct New Jersey railroads North Hudson, New Jersey Railway companies established in 1874 1874 establishments in New Jersey