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Hell Gate Bridge
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=== Opening === The first train ran across the bridge at a dedication ceremony on March 9, 1917,<ref>{{cite news |date=March 10, 1917 |title=New Hell Gate Bridge Dedicated To Public Service: Pennsylvania and New Haven Systems Joined by Connecting Railroad |work=New-York Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |page=11 |id={{ProQuest|575687356}} |postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=March 10, 1917 |title=Hell Gate Route Tested; Through Service Soon from New England to West and South. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1917/03/10/archives/hell-gate-route-tested-through-service-soon-from-new-england-to.html |access-date=March 1, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |postscript=none |archive-date=March 1, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240301200606/https://www.nytimes.com/1917/03/10/archives/hell-gate-route-tested-through-service-soon-from-new-england-to.html |url-status=live}}; {{Cite news |date=March 10, 1917 |title=First Train Crosses Hell Gate Bridge |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-first-train-cro/142455453/ |access-date=March 1, 2024 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |issn=2577-9397 |pages=5 |postscript=none |archive-date=March 1, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240301200609/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-first-train-cro/142455453/ |url-status=live}}; {{cite magazine |date=March 16, 1917 |title=New York Connecting Railroad Finished |magazine=Railway Age Gazette |page=453 |volume=62 |issue=11 |id={{ProQuest|886556136}}}}</ref><ref name="nrhs1917">{{cite book |last1=Thom |first1=William G. |title=The New York Connecting Railroad |last2=Sturm |first2=Robert C. |date=2006 |publisher=Long Island-Sunrise Chapter, [[National Railway Historical Society]] |isbn=9780988691605 |page=46}}</ref> on a track constructed for the occasion.<ref name="n142522091">{{Cite news |date=March 10, 1917 |title=Big Gang Laying Hell Gate R. R. |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-big-gang-laying-hell-gate-r/142522091/ |access-date=March 2, 2024 |work=Times Union |pages=8 |archive-date=March 2, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240302193055/https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-big-gang-laying-hell-gate-r/142522091/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The Hell Gate Bridge was not complete; workers were still laying tracks,<ref name="n142522091" /> and the line was not electrified.<ref name="n142458180">{{Cite news |date=March 10, 1917 |title=Over New Route |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-buffalo-commercial-over-new-route/142458180/ |access-date=March 1, 2024 |work=The Buffalo Commercial |pages=11 |archive-date=March 1, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240301200612/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-buffalo-commercial-over-new-route/142458180/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Intercity passenger trains began running on April 1<ref>{{cite news |date=April 2, 1917 |title=Hell Gate Bridge is Opened for Traffic |work=New-York Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |page=9 |id={{ProQuest|575725239}} |postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=April 2, 1917 |title=Open All-rail Line Boston to Capital; Federal Express Passes Over New Hell Gate Bridge This Morning in Initial Trip |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1917/04/02/archives/open-allrail-line-boston-to-capital-federal-express-passes-over-new.html |access-date=March 1, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=March 1, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240301200607/https://www.nytimes.com/1917/04/02/archives/open-allrail-line-boston-to-capital-federal-express-passes-over-new.html |url-status=live}}</ref> with the rerouting of the NH's ''[[Federal Express (train)|Federal Express]]'' via the bridge.<ref>{{cite news |date=March 31, 1917 |title=First Train Over Hell Gate Bridge |work=The Christian Science Monitor |page=5 |issn=0882-7729 |id={{ProQuest|509877174}} |postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=March 31, 1917 |title=Open Hell Gate Bridge; Federal Express of the New Haven Road First Train Over the Structure. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1917/03/31/archives/open-hell-gate-bridge-federal-express-of-the-new-haven-road-first.html |access-date=March 1, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=March 1, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240301200605/https://www.nytimes.com/1917/03/31/archives/open-hell-gate-bridge-federal-express-of-the-new-haven-road-first.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The Hell Gate span was the world's [[List of longest arch bridge spans|longest steel arch bridge]] until the [[Bayonne Bridge]], between New York and New Jersey, was completed in 1931.<ref name="New York City Department of Parks & Recreation 1939 l157">{{cite web |date=April 29, 1939 |title=Best Places to See NYC's Bridges : NYC Parks |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/highlights/best-places-to-see-NYC-bridges |access-date=March 8, 2024 |website=New York City Department of Parks & Recreation |archive-date=November 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221108215809/https://www.nycgovparks.org/highlights/best-places-to-see-NYC-bridges |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="p236899975">{{Cite magazine |last=Jablow |first=Valerie |date=Oct 1999 |title=Othmar Ammann's Glory |magazine=Smithsonian |pages=34,36,38 |volume=30 |issue=7 |id={{ProQuest|236899975}}}}</ref> Its completion enabled passengers to travel the length of the Northeast Corridor without having to transfer to a ferry.<ref name="Barron 2017 y5212" /> Ammann initially estimated that the bridge would be mostly used by freight trains, because capacity constraints at Pennsylvania Station limited the bridge's two passenger tracks to 80 trains a day, and because most NH trains were planned to continue running to Grand Central.<ref name="Ammann p. 1657">{{harvnb|Ammann|1918|ps=.|page=1657}}</ref> In mid-1917, NYCR applied for permission to issue $1.5 million{{efn-lr|About ${{Inflation|index=US-GDP|start_year=1917|value=1.5|fmt=c}} million in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}{{Inflation/fn|US-GDP|group=lower-alpha}}}} in bonds to finish the bridge.<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 12, 1917 |title=Connecting Co. Bond Issue; Application Made for $1,500,000 to Finish Hell Gate Bridge. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1917/04/12/archives/connecting-co-bond-issue-application-made-for-1500000-to-finish.html |access-date=March 1, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=March 1, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240301200606/https://www.nytimes.com/1917/04/12/archives/connecting-co-bond-issue-application-made-for-1500000-to-finish.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The bridge started carrying other routes in late 1917, such as the PRR's ''[[Colonial (PRR train)|Colonial Express]],'' the ''[[Washington-Bar Harbor Express]]'',<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 18, 1917 |title=More Hell Gate Trains; The Colonial Express and Bar Harbor Trains to Run Over New Route. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1917/04/18/archives/more-hell-gate-trains-the-colonial-express-and-bar-harbor-trains-to.html |access-date=March 2, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |postscript=none |archive-date=March 1, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240301200703/https://www.nytimes.com/1917/04/18/archives/more-hell-gate-trains-the-colonial-express-and-bar-harbor-trains-to.html |url-status=live}}; {{Cite news |date=April 18, 1917 |title=More Hell Gate Trains |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-more-hell-gate-trains/142525440/ |access-date=March 2, 2024 |work=Times Union |pages=4 |archive-date=March 2, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240302193053/https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-more-hell-gate-trains/142525440/ |url-status=live}}</ref> and a short-lived St. Louis–Pittsburgh–Boston route.<ref>The route lasted two months. See: {{Cite news |date=November 25, 1917 |title=Through Train for Boston Left St. Louis Last Night: First Time the Service Has Been Attempted Over Hell Gate Bridge. |work=St. Louis Post – Dispatch |page=7B |id={{ProQuest|578127040}} |postscript=none}}; {{Cite magazine |date=January 4, 1918 |title=Pennsylvania Will Eliminate 104 Weekday Trains |magazine=Railway Age |page=91 |volume=64 |issue=1 |id={{ProQuest|879777097}}}}</ref> Commuter services continued to run to Grand Central Terminal.<ref>{{Cite news |date=March 8, 1917 |title=Hell Gate Bridge in Use Next Week |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-hell-gate-bridg/142528119/ |access-date=March 2, 2024 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |issn=2577-9397 |pages=17 |archive-date=March 2, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240302205743/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-hell-gate-bridg/142528119/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="p129684267">{{cite news |date=September 24, 1918 |title=Few New Haven Trains Use Pennsylvania Station: Federal Control Has So Far Neglected Opportunity to Increase Usefulness of Huge Capital Investment |work=The Wall Street Journal |page=5 |issn=0099-9660 |id={{ProQuest|129684267}}}}</ref> Though the bridge only carried rail traffic when it opened, it could also be adapted for pedestrian and car traffic.<ref name="nyt-1941-07-13">{{Cite news |last=Bennett |first=Charles G. |date=July 13, 1941 |title=New Bridges Busy; They Speed City Traffic and Add to the Beauty of Surrounding Waters |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1941/07/13/archives/new-bridges-busy-they-speed-city-traffic-and-add-to-the-beauty-of.html |access-date=March 4, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=March 4, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240304021950/https://www.nytimes.com/1941/07/13/archives/new-bridges-busy-they-speed-city-traffic-and-add-to-the-beauty-of.html |url-status=live}}</ref> By the end of 1917, all four tracks were complete,<ref name="n142522256">{{Cite news |date=December 27, 1917 |title=Hell Gate Bridge Plays Part in Troop Movements |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-hell-gate-bridge-plays-part/142522256/ |access-date=March 2, 2024 |work=Times Union |pages=6 |archive-date=March 2, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240302193101/https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-hell-gate-bridge-plays-part/142522256/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=January 2, 1918 |title=Freight Hauls: Shortened by Use of Hell Gate Bridge to New England |work=Cincinnati Enquirer |page=10 |id={{ProQuest|865340475}}}}</ref> and freight trains began running across the bridge in January 1918.<ref>{{cite news |date=January 17, 1918 |title=Freight by Hellgate Bridge: Route Will Be Opened Today to Speed Traffic to New England. |newspaper=The Washington Post |page=13 |issn=0190-8286 |id={{ProQuest|145661214}} |postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=January 17, 1918 |title=Hell Gate Bridge Opened |work=The Christian Science Monitor |page=9 |issn=0882-7729 |id={{ProQuest|509896338}}}}</ref> At the time, the ''Brooklyn Daily Eagle'' wrote that the bridge would be able to accommodate 240 freight cars daily.<ref>{{Cite news |date=January 25, 1918 |title=240 Freight Cars Through Brooklyn Daily on New Road |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-240-freight-car/142531641/ |access-date=March 2, 2024 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |issn=2577-9397 |pages=3 |archive-date=March 2, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240302205742/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-240-freight-car/142531641/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The passenger tracks were also electrified by 1918.<ref name="RA1918 p. 1367">{{harvnb|Railway Age|1918|ps=.|page=1367}}</ref> During World War I, when the federal government took control of railroad lines in the U.S., the New York Central began using the Hell Gate Bridge,<ref name="p1113121861a">{{cite news |date=September 17, 1924 |title=Ask Reopening Of Freight Line Over Hell Gate: New York Central Tells Port Authority Restoration of Bridge Roule Would Save $400,000 a Year Could Cut Cost of Food Connecting Railroad's Toll So High Line Has to Use Slow Car Floats |work=The New York Herald, New York Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |page=8 |id={{ProQuest|1113121861}} |postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=September 17, 1924 |title=New Haven Barred Bridge to Central; Both Roads Used Hell Gate Route to Long Island Under Federal Control. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1924/09/17/archives/new-haven-barred-bridge-to-central-both-roads-used-hell-gate-route.html |access-date=March 2, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=March 2, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240302230950/https://www.nytimes.com/1924/09/17/archives/new-haven-barred-bridge-to-central-both-roads-used-hell-gate-route.html |url-status=live}}</ref> allowing Long Island merchants to send products directly to the mainland via any railroad.<ref name="n142555131">{{Cite news |date=September 28, 1925 |title=Port Authorities' Meeting Revives Hope Boro Will Get Adequate Transfer Lines |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-port-authorities-meeting-re/142555131/ |access-date=March 3, 2024 |work=Times Union |pages=19 |archive-date=March 3, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240303203345/https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-port-authorities-meeting-re/142555131/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The bridge was carrying only four passenger trains per day by September 1918, amid the war.<ref name="p129684267" /> The media wrote that, due to its low use, the bridge's construction cost was unlikely to be recouped.<ref name="p129684267" /><ref name="p886557243">{{Cite magazine |date=April 6, 1917 |title=New York a Way Station |magazine=Railway Age Gazette |page=727 |volume=62 |issue=14 |id={{ProQuest|886557243}}}}</ref> As late as 1919, the bridge was still carrying very limited passenger service because of wartime restrictions that diverted train traffic.<ref>{{cite news |date=July 17, 1919 |title=Urge Greater Use of Hell Gate Bridge to Connect N. E. With West |work=The Hartford Courant |page=2 |issn=1047-4153 |id={{ProQuest|556721626}}}}</ref> The New York Central stopped using the bridge in November 1920 after the PRR and NH raised the bridge's freight-transport fees,<ref>{{cite news |date=February 28, 1926 |title=Hell Gate Bridge Toll Excessive, N. Y. C. Charges |work=The New York Herald, New York Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |page=8 |id={{ProQuest|1112733514}}}}</ref> and the New York Central began using car floats to Long Island instead.<ref name="p1113121861a" /><ref name="n142555131" />
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