On 01 May 2009, I was in the process of doing research on the former Procter & Gamble Plant located in Port Ivory, Staten Island, NY. As the property is now under the ownership of the Port of New York & New Jersey, NY Marine Terminal Department, it is a VERY high security facility and access to it is severely restricted. I had made arrangements with Mr. Arie Van Tol; the supervior of Marine Terminals, the month previous to gain access to the property for my research. On this day, I was personally escorted around the property by Mr. Gary Smith, the Maintenence Unit Supervisor.

Our conversation turned to the Arthur Kill Lift Bridge (one of my favorite railroad bridges), commonly referred to as "AK Bridge", and I mentioned I had missed it in the "down position" the week before. It is kept in the up position to minimize obstruction to marine navigation on the Arthur Kill, and is only lowered on a mostly fixed schedule to permit trains to enter and depart Arlington Yard located in Staten Island.

Well, Gary says to me it is scheduled to go down later that morning, and then says "hold on." Gary calls the Bridge Tender on his phone, who replies that the bridge is scheduled to drop in about 10 minutes for an inbound (to Arlington Yard) CSX Container stack train!

So Gary drives myself and my co-researcher, Joe Roborecky; over to the bulkhead directly north on the Arthur Kill. The bow of a container ship that is being unloaded, is almost directly over and above us!

The sequence of photos shows the Arthur Kill Bridge lowering into position. It took about 3-4 minutes for the bridge to drop, and about 10-12 minutes for the eastbound CSX stack train to cross at speed restriction (10mph?).

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- Some facts about the Arthur Kill Vertical Lift Bridge -

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The Arthur Kill Vertical Lift Railroad Bridge was built in 1959, and officially opened August 25 by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1959; replacing an older swing span that was damaged in a ship collision.

This single track bridge connects Elizabeth, New Jersey and Staten Island, and is the largest vertical lift bridge in the world.

The two towers are 215 feet in height. The moveable span is 558 feet in length and in the raised position is 135 feet above Mean High Water and in the lowered position is 31 feet above Mean High Water.

In 1991, it was taken out of service when the last train to use the North Branch of the SIRT crossed it.

In 1994, the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) purchased the bridge and the North Shore branch of rail service from CSX.

In 2004, NYCEDC and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) announced plans to rehabilitate the bridge and reactivate freight rail service on Staten Island. Repairs to the bridge included repainting the steel and rehabilitating the lift mechanism. The bridge has been painted in "royal blue" in homage to the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. The rehabilitation project was completed in June 2006.

On October 4, 2006, a train crossed the bridge for the first time in 16 years. It consisted of just a single locomotive which will take on switching duties at the New York Container Terminal, also known by its old name, Howland Hook.


Minolta Maxxum 9
Tamron 70 - 210mm f2.8 SP LD IF
Kodak 160 NC

Photographed by Philip M. Goldstein, May 1, 2009.
Added to the photo archive by Philip M. Goldstein, May 20, 2009.
Railroad: CSX ex Conrail.

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