Rails Under the Mighty Hudson tells a story that begins in the final
years of the nineteenth century and reaches fulfillment in the first
decade of the twentieth: namely, the building of rail tunnels under the
Hudson River linking New Jersey and New York. These tunnels remain in
service today-although one is temporarily out of service since its
Manhattan terminal was under the World Trade Center-and are the only
rail crossings of the Hudson in the metropolitan area.
Two of the tunnels were built by the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad, a
company headed by William Gibbs McAdoo, a man who later served as U.S.
Secretary of the Treasury and even mounted a campaign for the Democratic
presidential nomination at one point. McAdoo's H&M remains in service
today as the PATH System of the Port Authority of New York and New
Jersey.
The other tunnel was opened in 1910 by the Pennsylvania Railroad, led to
the magnificent Penn Station on Eighth Avenue and 33rd Street, and
remains in daily service today for both Amtrak and New Jersey Transit.
The author has updated this new edition with additional photographs, a
concluding chapter on recent developments, and a Preface that recounts
the last trains of September to the World Trade Center Terminal.