New York Connecting Railroad

New York Connecting Railroad
Company type	Joint venture
Industry	Railroad
Founded	April 21, 1892; 134 years ago
Defunct	1976
Fate	Transferred to Conrail
Successor	Conrail
Headquarters	Queens, New York City, United States
Area served	Queens, New York City; Long Island; Northeast United States
Key people	Samuel Rea (PRR President), Gustav Lindenthal (Engineer)
Products	Freight and passenger rail services
Parent	Joint venture of New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad and Pennsylvania Railroad

The New York Connecting Railroad (NYCR, reporting mark NYCN) serves as a vital rail corridor for both freight and passenger services in Queens, New York City, providing a direct rail connection between the city, Long Island, and the continental North American rail network. Established in 1917, this line links the Hell Gate Bridge spanning the East River to Fresh Pond Junction located in Glendale, Queens. Key operators utilizing this route include Amtrak, CSX, Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Providence and Worcester Railroad, and the New York and Atlantic Railway (NYAR). Amtrak runs passenger services along the northern portion from Sunnyside Junction through Queens en route to the Bronx and onward to Boston.

The ownership of the line is divided: Amtrak possesses control north of Sunnyside Junction, forming part of the Northeast Corridor; CSX holds ownership of the stretch extending to Fresh Pond Junction, identified as the Fremont Secondary; beyond Fresh Pond, the track continues southward as the freight-exclusive Bay Ridge Branch, which is owned by the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) and operated by NYAR.

Route description

Beginning at the Hell Gate Bridge—a significant engineering structure with a main span measuring 1,017 feet and an overall length exceeding 17,000 feet—the railroad proceeds southward on an elevated viaduct traversing Astoria and Interstate 278 (Grand Central Parkway). It then continues along an embankment leading to Sunnyside Junction, where Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor diverges. The route runs parallel to Interstate 278 (Brooklyn-Queens Expressway) and underwent a comprehensive reconstruction in 2002. Within Elmhurst, the line passes beneath multiple streets through a cut, followed by a concrete viaduct crossing Queens Boulevard, then moves through Maspeth via a combination of cuts and overpasses.

After crossing under Interstate 495 (Long Island Expressway) and several cemeteries, the line arrives at Fresh Pond Junction—the principal freight interchange serving New York City and Long Island. NYAR’s headquarters are situated here, overseeing freight operations on LIRR tracks under a privatized concession. Freight interchange occurs at this location between CSX, Providence and Worcester Railroad, and NYAR.

Continuing south from Fresh Pond Junction, the line extends as LIRR’s Bay Ridge Branch toward the 65th Street Yard. Track arrangements include three tracks north of Sunnyside Junction and a single track southward, with some segments featuring two tracks.

A proposed development project aims to connect this railroad with the Spuyten Duyvil and Port Morris Railroad spur that links the Northeast Corridor at 141st Street with the Harlem Line at Melrose Avenue. This initiative forms part of a planned circumferential transit corridor named the Interborough Express.

Operation

CSX runs between one and three daily round trips along this line, operating trains based out of Oak Point Yard. These services transport general freight to the interchange point with the New York and Atlantic Railway at Fresh Pond Junction, Queens, returning with empty cars and containerized solid waste. The Providence and Worcester Railroad operates three weekly gravel trains originating from Cedar Hill Yard in New Haven, Connecticut, destined for Fresh Pond.

History

The New York Connecting Railroad was incorporated on April 21, 1892, as a joint venture between the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad ("New Haven") and the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR). The line officially opened in 1917, connecting New Haven’s Harlem River and Port Chester Railroad with PRR’s East River Tunnels leading into Penn Station as well as the North River Tunnels beneath the Hudson River.

On March 9, 1917, PRR President Samuel Rea and engineer Gustav Lindenthal dedicated the line. A special train carrying New Haven directors traveled over it on March 25, 1917; operational control was then handed over to New Haven even though construction of the Southern Division (freight-only) remained unfinished. Passenger service commenced on April 1, 1917, marked by the return of the Federal Express and rerouting of two local trains. The Colonial began utilizing this route on April 30. Through freight operations to Bay Ridge started January 17, 1918; final construction work was completed on August 7, 1918.

Electrification

Around 1917, the New York Connecting Railroad underwent electrification as an extension of the New Haven system, which was fully completed by 1927. This approximately route utilized an overhead catenary energized at 11 kV and 25 Hz. Electrical power was supplied from New Haven’s Cos Cob Power Station alongside Consolidated Edison’s 201st generating station through the West Farms substation. Additionally, a 5 MW converter located at East New York provided both power and reactive support.

The electrical distribution employed a 2 x 11 kV autotransformer configuration, where feeder and catenary conductors operated on opposite phases, resulting in a phase-to-phase voltage of 22 kV. Six autotransformer stations were positioned roughly apart to convert the power; each station contained oil circuit breakers for both feeder and trolley lines, bus sectioning switches, and one outdoor autotransformer rated at 3 MVA.

The Long Island Rail Road section south of Bowery Bay, along with the freight catenary stretching from West Farms over Hell Gate to Bowery Bay, was dismantled between 1969 and 1970. By 1986, Amtrak, having assumed control of the line, transitioned the traction power system to operate at 60 Hz. This change coincided with Metro-North’s modernization of the New Haven Line and the retirement of Cos Cob Power Station. While the autotransformer layout remained intact, the power source was shifted to Con Edison’s Van Nest Substation.

Autotransformer Stations along the New York Connecting Railroad
Location	Trolley Breakers	Feeder Breakers	Coordinates	Notes
Bungay Street	5	6
Bowery Bay	9	6	Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found.	Catenary Bridge C68; converted to 60 Hz around 1986; Amtrak Substation #45
Fresh Pond	9	6
New Lots	9	6
Manhattan Beach Junction	7	8
Fourth Avenue, Bay Ridge	6	4

References

Morton, R.B. "Arrangements of Feeders and Equipment for Electrified Railways", American Institute of Electrical Engineers, Transactions of the, Vol. 47, Issue 4, pp. 1297–1301, 1928. Discusses original and 1930s PRR electrification systems as well as the New York Connecting Railroad system.

External links

Forgotten New York: "New York Connecting Railroad"
New York Connecting Railroad Society