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The New Jersey Historical Society, Publisher

Inventory updated by Steve Sullivan (2000), revised by James Amemasor 

Scope and Content Notes:

The Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Corporation Records collection contains general correspondence, annual reports, inventories, ledgers, daily station reports, photographs and drawings, and spans the years 1902-1962. The collection also contain records of the Hudson Rapid Transit Corporation until its merger in 1962 with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.  A copy of a typed, item level description is available in the data file. It has not been reproduced here due to length.

Organizational History:

The Hudson and Manhattan Railroad, presently the Port Authority, was an electrically operated passenger railroad serving the Borough of Manhattan, New York and also the New Jersey cities of Jersey City, Hoboken, Harrison and Newark.

In 1906 the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Corporation grew out of a merger between the Hudson Companies and four other railroad corporations: The New York and Jersey Railroad Company; Hoboken and Manhattan Railroad Company; Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Company, Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Company Number One.  The Hudson companies were to provide each of the above companies with a completed segment of the railroad to be paid for in the securities of the railroad corporations. Following this, the four railroad corporations were consolidated into the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Corporation, which survived until the reorganization which became effective January 1, 1962.  By the end of 1906 all of the franchises and property rights were owned by the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Corporation, and the Hudson companies held the contracts for the construction and equipping of the railroad and office buildings.

Construction of the Hudson Tunnels was started in 1878 and the project was abandoned
in 1880 after about 1,200 feet of tunnel had been built. In 1890 an English company resumed the work and after adding 1,800 feet of brick and masonry tunnel, they too failed. The project was revived in 1902 by William G. McAdoo and the first uptown tunnels were opened the following year.  The railroad began operation of its various sections between the dates of February 1908 and September 1910; extending its operation in 1911 to Manhattan Transfer and in 1937 to Market Street in beautiful, downtown Newark.

At the time of its court ordered reorganization in 1956 the Hudson and Manhattan had two terminals in Manhattan: the Hudson Terminal located at 30-50 Church Street and the 33rd Street Terminal at 33rd Street and 6th Avenue. The railroad owned approximately 7.9 miles of
double track main line railroad, all of which consisted of underground or under river tunnels.  It had also leased from the Pennsylvania Railroad approximately 6 mile of double track line from Penn Station, Newark to the west end of its tunnels.  Transfer connections were provided with the Pennsylvania and Earie Railroad in Jersey City, with the Delaware and Lackawanna Railroad in Hoboken, with the New York subway system at Hudson Terminal as well as along 6th Avenue at 14th Street, 23rd Street, and 33rd Street.  There were also stations at Christopher Street and 9th Street on the 33rd Street branch.

The Hudson and Manhattan had four single track tubes under the Hudson River, each approximately 6,000 feet long.  The tubes crossed the river from Exchange Place in Jersey City, connection with the Hudson Terminal on the east and extending to Journal Square on the west. The other two tubes crossed the river at Hoboken to Christopher Street, Manhattan, connecting with tunnels northeasterly and northerly to 33rd Street and 6thg Avenue. The railroad connected at Journal Square in Jersey City with the Pennsylvania Main Line near Newark.  The Hudson and Manhattan and the Pennsylvania Railroad operated a joint passenger service between Newark and Journal Square over this line and thence via Hudson and Manhattan tunnels to Hudson
Terminal. The cars used in this service were jointly owned by the two railroads.  The Pennsylvania Railroad also operated its own service between Newark and Jersey City over its own track.  At the Pennsylvania Railroad Jersey City terminal, Pennsylvania Railroad passengers could transfer to and from the Hudson and Manhattan at Exchange Place Station in Jersey City.

There are a number of reasons for the decline of the H&M between 1908 and 1954 when the company was declared bankrupt.  Bankruptcy and the reorganization proceeding resulted from the fact that the H&M would obviously be unable to meet its obligations of over $60 million on its bonds upon their maturity on February 1, 1957.

Some of the more important factors contributing to this condition as indicated by the court appointed trustee were the following:

1. Over capitalization of the H&M at the time of the original 1906 merger.  The funded debt was excessive in relation to the company’s physical properties.

 2.  Failure to replace or rehabilitate worn out or inefficient rolling stock and other equipment although funds had been set aside for this purpose.

 3. The sharp decline in passenger traffic, an experience similar to all commuter railroads at the time, from 113, 142,000 riders in 1927 to 31,400.000 in 1959.

 4. Tremendous increases in operating costs, particularly labor costs coupled with the inability to retain traffic and thereby increase revenues under fare increases.

 5. State and local taxes amounting to nearly $1 million a year.

 6. Failure to modernize the Hudson Terminal Buildings. This prevented the H&M from obtaining higher rentals for its office space.

At the time the reorganization petition was filed in 1954, the H&M’s funded debt was over $46 million.  All of which was due February 1, 1957.  Upon the filing of the petition in 1954, the court acquired exclusive jurisdiction of the debtor railroad and all its property.  Mr. Herman T. Stichman, the Trustee appointed by the court in the reorganization proceeding, submitted a proposed plan of reorganization on August 11, 1960 and by the court on April 21, 1960.

The Hudson Rapid Tubes Corporation was established as a result of the reorganization in Bankruptcy of the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Corporation and took over all of the railway properties formerly held by the latter company at January 1, 1962.  It was owned entirely by the Hudson and Manhattan corporation which took over the Hudson Terminal buildings and other real estate buildings of the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Corporation.  The Hudson Rapid Tubes Corporation subsequently merged with the Port of New Jersey and the Port of New York to form the Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corporation.

Provenance:

The Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Corporation Records collection was donated to the Society as a gift from the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Corporation in1972.

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