Hunters Point was the
freight gateway to Long Island. Railroad freight cars were sent
to Hunters Point by barge (called a float by railroaders), where
they were transferred from the floats to rail. The towers that
remain today are now referred to as 'gantries', but when in use
were known as "gallows frames" or "supporting
towers" and were parts of a structure called a "float"
or "transfer" bridge. Here is how the system worked:
Incoming floats would be pushed into the slip by a tugboat (above
photo). When it reached the end of the bridge, a worker would
slip lines over the cleats at each side of the float so it could
be winched tightly to the bridge. At the same time the bridge
would be raised or lowered to the height of the float deck. Then
bars on the apron called toggles would be attached to sockets
on the float, to lock the float horizontally and vertically (photo
below).
Chains holding the freight
cars firmly onto the float were then removed, and their brakes
released. A locomotive would advance to remove the cars from
the float, using a "reacher" car or "idler"
car to keep the weight of the locomotive off the float. (photos
below) Once unloaded, the cars were transferred to the Long Island
RR’s freight yards for delivery to industries on the Island.
Freight cars to be returned would be loaded onto the float, the
above steps would be reversed, and a tugboat would remove the
reloaded float.
The float bridge and
gantries thus served as a vital link to sustain Long Island’s
economy and facilitate the movement of goods. Today the preserved
"supporting towers" can be viewed by visiting Gantry
Plaza at Queens West. Their silhouette also forms the logo of
Queens West Development Corporation. These mighty towers serve
as a reminder that Hunters Point was an important gateway to
Queens; and so today, a revitalized Hunters Point is Queens’
gateway to the 21st century.
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New York Harbor view
of LIRR lift bridges No's 1&2 (left), 5&6 (right). Circa
1950 |
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Queens
West Development Corporation
