Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal
Communipaw Terminal | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Former Central Railroad of New Jersey station | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() The Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal at Liberty State Park in 2013 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
General information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Location | Liberty State Park Jersey City, New Jersey, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Construction | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Accessible | No | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
History | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Closed | April 30, 1967 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Electrified | No | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Former services | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Location | Liberty State Park Jersey City, New Jersey | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Coordinates | 40°42′26″N 74°2′7″W / 40.70722°N 74.03528°W | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Area | 63 acres (25 ha) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Built | 1889 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Architect | William H. Peddle, Peabody & Stearns | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Architectural style | Richardsonian Romanesque | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NRHP reference No. | 75001138[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NJRHP No. | 1513[2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Significant dates | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Added to NRHP | September 12, 1975 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Designated NJRHP | August 27, 1975 |
The Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal, also known as Communipaw Terminal and Jersey City Terminal, was the
It also serviced the Central Railroad of New Jersey-operated
The terminal was one of five passenger railroad terminals that lined the
The
Description
The terminal is part of
The main building is designed in a
Service
Trackage
The terminal, along with its docks and yards, was one of several massive terminal complexes (the other being the terminals of the Pennsylvania Railroad in Exchange Place, the Erie Railroad Terminal in Pavonia, the Lackawanna Railroad Terminal in Hoboken, and the West Shore Railroad Terminal in Weehawken) that dominated the western waterfront of the
Ferries and ships
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/26/Detroit_Photographic_Company_%280620%29.jpg/220px-Detroit_Photographic_Company_%280620%29.jpg)
The
In 1941, the CRRNJ ferryboat fleet made 374 one-way crossings of the North River each day.[14]
Railroad lines
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/96/B%26O_Royal_Blue_in_1898.jpg/220px-B%26O_Royal_Blue_in_1898.jpg)
Jersey Central's
The Reading Company used the terminal for its Crusader and Wall Street trains. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O), whose Royal Blue was a premier passenger train to Washington, D.C., and offered train service to Chicago and St. Louis.[15]
In April 1967, the opening of the
The timetable of 27 September 1936 shows 132 weekday departures, including 25 to CNJ's Broad St. Newark station, 25 that ran south from Elizabethport, two to Chrome and the rest to the NY&LB, and 19 Reading and B&O trains that turned southwest at Bound Brook Junction. Three trains ran to Mauch Chunk and two to Harrisburg via Allentown; the other 58 trains terminated along the main line between West 8th St in Bayonne and Hampton.
Named passenger trains
Until April 1958, several long-distance trains originated at the station, and trains to Philadelphia lasted until 1967.
Operators | Named trains | Destination | Year begun | Year discontinued |
---|---|---|---|---|
Baltimore and Ohio | Capitol Limited | Chicago via Washington, D.C. and Pittsburgh | 1923 | 1958* |
Baltimore and Ohio | Columbian | Chicago via Washington, D.C. and Pittsburgh | 1931 | 1958* |
Baltimore and Ohio | Diplomat | St. Louis via Washington, D.C. and Cincinnati | 1920s | 1958* |
Baltimore and Ohio | Metropolitan Special (Washington Night Express from Jersey City to Baltimore, meeting with the Metropolitan Special) | St. Louis via Washington, D.C. and Cincinnati | ca. 1920 | 1958* |
Baltimore and Ohio | National Limited | St. Louis via Washington, D.C. and Cincinnati | 1925 | 1958* |
Baltimore and Ohio | Royal Blue | Washington, D.C. | 1890 | 1958* |
Baltimore and Ohio | Shenandoah | Chicago via Washington, D.C. and Pittsburgh | 1930s | 1958* |
Baltimore and Ohio | Washington Night Express | Washington, D.C. | 1947 | 1952 |
Central Railroad of New Jersey | Blue Comet | Atlantic City, New Jersey | 1929 | 1941 |
Central Railroad of New Jersey | Bullet | Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania | 1929 | 1931 |
Reading Railroad with the Central Railroad of New Jersey |
Crusader | Philadelphia | 1937 | 1967 |
Reading Railroad with the Central Railroad of New Jersey | Harrisburg Special | Harrisburg, Pennsylvania | 1910 | 1953 |
Reading Railroad with the Central Railroad of New Jersey | Queen of the Valley | Harrisburg | 1902 | 1967 |
Reading Railroad with the Central Railroad of New Jersey | Wall Street | Philadelphia | 1948 | 1968 |
Reading Railroad with the Central Railroad of New Jersey | Williamsporter | Williamsport, Pennsylvania | 1931 | 1944 |
* With the closing of Baltimore & Ohio passenger service north of Baltimore in 1958 the Royal Blue was abandoned and the Capitol Limited, Metropolitan Special and National Limited were terminated east of Baltimore.
Post-railroad service uses
Following the Aldene Connection's opening in 1967, the terminal sat unused but maintained and guarded by the Central Railroad of New Jersey. When CNJ shops and engine facilities nearby closed in the early 1970s, the terminal sat abandoned.
A portion of the 1968 movie Funny Girl was filmed at the terminal.[16] Numerous fairs, concerts, and other sponsored events (among them the Central Jersey Heritage Festival[17] and the All Points West Music & Arts Festival) take place at the station and its grounds. It is a very popular place from which to view July 4 fireworks.[citation needed] In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, its parking lot was the staging area for dozens of ambulances that were mobilized to transport victims of the attacks.[citation needed]
Ferries to the
The terminal was badly damaged by flooding during Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and was reopened in 2016.[20]
On Election Day 2020, an episode of the political program Fox & Friends was filmed in a portable studio placed outside the terminal. Promotional footage for the episode frequently features the terminal.[21]
Gallery
-
Bush shed at Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal in Jersey City, New Jersey, the largest ever built[7]
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Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal from the water in 2013
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The old ferry docks at the terminal
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The upper façade of the terminal
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The grounds on the north side of the terminal
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A reproduction of a tablet designator for the Blue Comet
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Memorial to the employees at milepost 0[22]
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Overview of the terminal and train sheds
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The terminal in 1893
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Inside Communipaw Terminal
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Map showing the terminal facility in 1910
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Plans to extend the Hudson Tubes, which never materialized
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Map of lines approaching the Hudson waterfront from the south; the grey Central New Jersey line from Bayonne to Elizabeth was carried by Newark Bay Bridge
See also
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Hudson County, New Jersey
- Operating Passenger Railroad Stations Thematic Resource (New Jersey)
- Timeline of Jersey City area railroads
- List of ferries across the Hudson River in New York City
- List of stations on the Central Railroad of New Jersey
- National Limited
- Central Railroad of New Jersey Freight Station
- Newark Bay, New Jersey rail accident
- Newark and New York Railroad Bridge
References
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
- ^ "New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places – Hudson County" (PDF). New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection – Historic Preservation Office. June 2, 2011. p. 7. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 5, 2010. Retrieved June 20, 2011.
- user-generated source?]
- ^ a b "Jersey City Past and Present". Archived from the original on February 1, 2010.
- ^ "New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places". New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. Archived from the original on February 23, 2009. Retrieved November 20, 2009.
- ^ "New Jersey - Hudon County". National Register of Historic Places. Archived from the original on June 12, 2008. Retrieved December 3, 2008.
- ^ a b c "Liberty State Park: The Historic CRRNJ Train Terminal". New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. Archived from the original on April 20, 2008. Retrieved June 20, 2008.
- ^ Kelly-Bly, Brianne. "Indian Place names in New Jersey". Rootsweb. Archived from the original on January 25, 2012. Retrieved November 20, 2009.
- ^ a b French (2002), pp. 25–29.
- ^ Karnoutsos, Carmela (September 16, 2009). "Jersey City Past and Present". New Jersey City University. Archived from the original on February 1, 2010. Retrieved November 21, 2009.
- ^ "History of the Central Railroad of New Jersey Central Railroad Engine Terminal Complex, Jersey City New Jersey". Historic Structures. Archived from the original on March 2, 2019. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
- ^ ISBN 978-0823219544.
- ^ French (2002), p. 30.
- ^ Railroad Magazine: 41. November 1941.
{{cite journal}}
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(help)[full citation needed] - ^ a b "Intercity passenger trains serving New York via New Jersey terminals in 1942, 1956, and 1971 immediately prior to the creation of Amtrak". New York's Passenger Trains of the Past. Retrieved February 13, 2012.[dead link]
- ^ McKelvey, Bill (March 21, 2018). "New Jersey Transportation Chronology". Liberty Historic Railway. Archived from the original on January 6, 2019. Retrieved January 5, 2019.
- ^ "(home)". Railroad Heritage Festival. Archived from the original on December 12, 2009.
- ^ "Statue of Liberty: Ferry System Map". United States National Park Service. Archived from the original on June 29, 2014. Retrieved February 8, 2010.
- ^ Kaulessar, Ricardo (September 6, 2009). "Trolley through Liberty State Park?". Hudson Reporter. Hoboken. Archived from the original on July 12, 2011. Retrieved May 30, 2010.
- ^ Villanova, Patrick (June 20, 2016). "Iconic rail terminal in Liberty State Park set to reopen Wednesday". NJ.com. Archived from the original on June 21, 2016. Retrieved June 20, 2016.
- ^ "FOX & friends on Instagram: "Election Day is tomorrow. Tune in for complete coverage live from Liberty State Park!"". Instagram. Archived from the original on December 24, 2021. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
- user-generated source?]
- French, Kenneth (February 24, 2002). Images of America: Railroads of Hoboken and Jersey City. Portsmouth, New Hampshire: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7385-0966-2.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. NJ-27, "Central Railroad of New Jersey, Jersey City Ferry Terminal, Johnson Avenue at Hudson River, Jersey City, Hudson County, NJ", 37 photos, 52 data pages, 3 photo caption pages