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Topic: The Elco Naval Division today |
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Frank J Andruss Sr
TOP BOSS
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Posted on: Apr 22, 2021 - 5:55am
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When we think of the Elco Naval Division in Bayonne, New Jersey we think of a vast complex that was needed to produce the wonderful Elco PT BOATS. Now this vast complex is no more. To give you an idea as to what is there now and to realize where Elco once was I am enclosing these photos sent to me by friend and Bayonne resident Andy Shanahan. The white border along the edges shows where Elco once stood. There is a Marina out front called the Elco Marina.
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NWSaint
Full Member
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Posted on: Apr 22, 2021 - 9:07pm
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smh.. looks like a retirement village.. like Del Boca Vista in Seinfeld..
NW.
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PRJM3
Advanced Member
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Posted on: Apr 23, 2021 - 4:37pm
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I really enjoy 'Now And Then" comparison photos and from a military standpoint the publication After The Battle provides excellent now and then photos. The B&W photo of the Elco facilities that Frank provided here must be from a different perspective than typically seen as I never before noticed the railroad trestle along the south side of the facility. Footings for some of its piers are visible in the current photos. Having an interest in long defunct eastern railroads (my grandfather worked for the B&O, my uncle the PRR, my father temporarily for the P&LE, and me temporarily for the Union Railroad inside a US Steel plant) I wondered what was the purpose of the trestle by the Elco facility.
A little research determined that the trestle is the eastern end of the Newark Bay Bridge, a massive four-track bridge with vertical lift sections to clear waterborne traffic. http://industrialscenery.blogspot.com/2020/08/1926-lostconrailcnj-bridge-over-newark.html It's not the best text at this link, but a better selection of pictures.
My initial thought was that that's a lot of bridge to serve the needs of Bayonne, but the railroad line actually funneled a lot of passenger traffic to the Jersey City Terminal on the other side of Bayonne. From there ferry boats transported the commuters to New York City. I have several books on railroad ferry boat operations from NJ to NYC that include the Jersey City Terminal, but none of them include information on how the railroad traffic got to the NJ side.
I also wondered why there are two tracks of the bridge occupied by stationary freight cars in this 1940 picture. That's pretty valuable trackage to use for storage. A bottleneck of freight traffic trying to get into NYC? Where the western end of the bridge would have been is currently a Norfolk Southern transfer yard where shipping containers are transferred between trains and trucks. That property is shaped like a classic railroad freight yard from the 40s and would have been the place to store cars pending movement - at least till it filled up.
Frank, do you have any other pictures of the Elco facility that show more of the bridges? Apologies for the diversion but the harbor railroads serving NYC are even more fascinating than the steel mill railroads I grew up with.
Randy McConnell (Randall J. McConnell III) |
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Frank J Andruss Sr
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Posted on: Apr 24, 2021 - 4:30am
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Randy here is one photo that show some of the railroad bridge you are asking about.
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Frank J Andruss Sr
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Posted on: Apr 24, 2021 - 4:36am
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Randy I found a few others that were sent to me by Bayonne Resident Andy Shanahan. In one photos you can see the Elco complex in the upper part of the photo. Andy sent me a photo as well of the old bridge supports as well.
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Frank J Andruss Sr
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Posted on: Apr 24, 2021 - 4:40am
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Here is Shifty the little loco that ran materials in and out of Elco.
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