Passaic and Harsimus Line

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A map of the P&H and surrounding railroads. The P&H is the blue line starting near the bottom left of the map between two red lines, which then turns to head east, almost coincident with the lower red line.

Conrail's Passaic and Harsimus Line serves freight in northeastern New Jersey, as an alternate to the mainly passenger Northeast Corridor. It takes trains from the Northeast Corridor and Lehigh Line near Newark Liberty International Airport northeast and east into Jersey City, New Jersey, serving as part of CSX's main corridor from upstate New York to the rest of the east coast.

The line begins at a junction with Amtrak's Northeast Corridor at Waverly Yard. It runs next to the Northeast Corridor, just to the east, along what was originally Track 0 (the old P&H Branch east of the yard is now abandoned). After about a mile, the Greenville Secondary splits to the east, and the P&H Line passes under the Lehigh Line and turns east. Access to the Lehigh Line eastbound is provided from the Greenville Branch via a track into the Oak Island Yard; another track leaves the Oak Island Yard to join the P&H Line headed northbound.

After crossing the Passaic River, the P&H Line passes over PATH and turns east, parallel to PATH. A track splitting just before the overpass accesses the area south of PATH. The P&H Line then heads east to Marion Junction, where the Northern Running Track goes north, with most rail traffic. The P&H Line past Marion Junction is now a secondary connection to the National Docks Branch via a short section of the River Line; the rest of the River Line is now used for the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail.

[edit] History

The P&H Line, before passing to Conrail, was the Pennsylvania Railroad's P&H Line. Before that, it was the Waverly and Passaic Branch south of the bridge over PATH, the PRR's main line from there to the River Line, and the Harsimus Branch where track no longer exists, east to Harsimus Cove.