Necessity - The Mother of Invention

The 69th Street Transfer Bridge and West Side Highway, New York City.

At the beginning of the Twentieth Century there were no bridges or tunnels across the Hudson River between New York and New Jersey. Developments in tunneling and in electric-traction locomotives led the Pennsylvania Railroad to construct its own Hudson River tunnels.

Meanwhile in 1911 the the New York Central Railroad built the 69th Street Transfer Bridge (now listed on the National Register of Historic Places) as a part of it's West Side Line. Not really a bridge at all, but a dock for 'car floats' (barges) which allowed the transfer of railroad cars from the rail line to 'car floats' which crossed the Hudson River to the Weehawken Yards in New Jersey. It's innovative linkspan design kept the boxcars from falling into the river while being loaded.

Before the elevated West Side Highway was built, the road along the Hudson River was a busy one, with significant cross traffic going to docks and ferries. At 22nd Street, most traffic continued north along 11th Avenue, along which the New York Central Railroad's West Side Line ran; it was known by many as Death Avenue for the large number of accidents caused by trains and automobiles colliding. [Wikipedia]

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USA-Canada / USA-New York

Lat: 40° 46' 46.26" N
Long: 74° 60' 20.89" W

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Precision is: High. Pinpoints the exact spot.

Nikon D300, Nikkor 10.5mm, Handheld