Upper Hack Lift

Upper Hack Lift
Upper Hack Lift
	The bridge in 2023
Coordinates	40°46′41″N 74°05′24″W / 40.778015°N 74.089906°W
Carries	One track of NJ Transit Main Line
Crosses	Hackensack River
Locale	Secaucus and Lyndhurst, New Jersey
Official name	Upper Hack Bridge
Other name(s)	Upper Hackensack Lift, Erie Lift, West Secaucus Bridge
Maintained by	NJ Transit
Characteristics
Design	Lift bridge
Longest span	127 feet
Clearance below	8 ft (lowered); 110 ft (raised)
History
Opened	March 1959
Location
	Interactive map of Upper Hack Lift

Upper Hack Lift is a lift bridge carrying the New Jersey Transit Main Line across the Hackensack River at mile 6.9 between Secaucus, New Jersey and Lyndhurst.

History

It was built by the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad in 1958 and completed in March 1959^[1] to serve the Boonton Branch and replaced an older swing span from 1901 on the site, which had been damaged by shifting currents. The new single-track lift bridge cost $5.5 million,^[2] financed through a five-year bank loan.^[3]

Following a 1963 route realignment, Erie Main Line service began using the bridge, with Erie Lackawanna, NJDOT and later NJ Transit Main Line commuter service continuing to use the route. It was repainted in 1994 to its current turquoise blue color.

Upper Hack is the only single-track lift bridge in New Jersey (excluding the Arthur Kill Vertical Lift Bridge connecting to Staten Island). It is visible to motorists on the New Jersey Turnpike's western spur between Interchanges 15W and 16W.

Remnants of the older swing span are visible just to the north of the current lift span, as concrete abutments and piers remain.^[4]

The current drawbridge schedule at Upper Hack (as stated by U.S. Coast Guard, 33 CFR 117.723) allows the bridge to open on signal unless the bridge tender is at the nearby HX Draw on the Bergen County Line upstream.^[5]

References

^ Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad, 1958 Annual Report http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/el/before/dlw-ar-58.html
^ Taber, Thomas Townsend; Taber, Thomas Townsend III (1980). The Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad in the Twentieth Century. Vol. 1. Muncy, PA: Privately printed. p. 139. ISBN 0-9603398-2-5.
^ Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad 1958 Annual Report
^ Wong, Kevin (1999). "Abutment for former Lackawanna swing span by Upper Hack." Photograph.
^ (2)

External links

[1] Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad, 1958 Annual Report http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/el/before/dlw-ar-58.html

[taber-2] Taber, Thomas Townsend; Taber, Thomas Townsend III (1980). The Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad in the Twentieth Century. Vol. 1. Muncy, PA: Privately printed. p. 139. ISBN 0-9603398-2-5.

[3] Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad 1958 Annual Report

[4] Wong, Kevin (1999). "Abutment for former Lackawanna swing span by Upper Hack." Photograph.

[5] (2)

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[2]

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[5]

v t e NJ Transit Rail Operations
Hoboken Division	Bergen County Line Main Line Meadowlands Rail Line Montclair–Boonton Line Morris & Essex Lines ( Morristown Line and Gladstone Branch) Pascack Valley Line Port Jervis Line
Newark Division	Atlantic City Line North Jersey Coast Line Northeast Corridor Line Princeton Branch Raritan Valley Line
Connections	Aldene Connection Harold Interlocking Lehigh Line Connection Kearny Connection Montclair Connection Port Morris Junction Secaucus Junction Waterfront Connection
Current rolling stock	EMD GP40PH-2 ALP-46 ALP-45DP PL42AC Comet coaches Comet V MultiLevel coaches Arrow multiple units
Bridges and tunnels	Beach Bridge Bergen Tunnels Brielle Draw Connecting Railway Bridge DB Draw Delair Bridge Dock Bridge East River Tunnels HX Draw Lower Hack Lift Lyndhurst Draw Morgan Draw Morrisville–Trenton Railroad Bridge Newark Drawbridge North River Tunnels Oceanport Draw Portal Bridge (Portal North Bridge) Rahway River Bridge Raritan Bay Drawbridge Raritan River Bridge Roseville Tunnel Shark River Draw Upper Hack Lift WR Draw
Stations and yards	List of stations Historic stations County Yard Morrisville Yard Sunnyside Yard
Proposed lines	Lackawanna Cut-Off Monmouth Ocean Middlesex Line West Trenton Line
Other topics	Access to the Region's Core Atlantic City Express Service Glassboro–Camden Line Gateway Program Mid-Line Loop Northern Branch Passaic–Bergen–Hudson Transit Sawtooth Bridges Train to the Game Former stations Proposed stations

Upper Hack Lift

History

See also

References

External links