Why New York's North River Tunnels were cursed from the beginning - IT'S HISTORY

[@kennethlacewell1517]

The salt water soaked into the concrete, and when the water was drained, the salt stayed in the concrete. That's why they're ticking time bombs. Nothing will stop the concrete from disintegrating.

[@charlesclager6808]

Kenneth, you answered my question. Thanks Chuck

[@OofusTwillip]

Just as on reclaimed land in Florida.

[@lindamackwer4082]

I did all the electric north to south. All new including concrete. And tunnels from nyc to nj is all worked on. Including all the bridges.

[@jimmydcricket5893]

@@lindamackwer4082 How long did that take?

[@6421rich]

@@lindamackwer4082 that's a lot of work for one person you should of had some help

[@BeyondtheRailz]

The process of redirecting water and other obstacles just to build a tunnel is astonishing.

[@samanthab1923]

I remember as kids going into the city with my parents we always liked the tunnels. Holland or Lincoln. Asked my dad how they built them. He was an Ironworker, had worked on Lincoln Center & lots of high rises. I thought we were surrounded by water. No, we’re under the water.

[@jhylton8789]

Completely unnecessary too - overhead monorail works, even COG ⚙️ rails, but no… no no, we have to dig into the WATERY EARTH for 5 years and fuck up the water. Ugh 😑

[@BeyondtheRailz]

As a kid, i remember taking the #7 Red Train through tunnels for the first time. That was a whole new experience for me

[@leadwipe]

The Tunnels were lined with Waterproof Concrete. It wasn't just ordinary Concrete. In those days, they waterproofed concrete by adding petroleum oil, water soluble soaps, clay, hydrated lime, alum, stearate of lime, and compounds of that nature. The leakages shown in the video, were not bleeding through the concrete, but through fissures in the concrete. If they didn't waterproof the concrete back in 1906, the concrete liner would have long since collapsed. Today, they have synthetic compounds that are added to Concrete for it to be waterproof and water-resistant. Those tunnels aren't cursed, they are Blessed. They were a magnificent Engineering accomplishment, that are carrying more traffic in their old age, than when they were in their prime. It was a great video with a poor title.

[@JMM33RanMA]

I thought that "cursed" in the title was related to the number of sandhogs [a.k.a. subterranean construction workers] who died in these projects. I've heard stories about illnesses, the bends and asphyxiation, as well as abusive labor practices. The video was, nevertheless a wonderful history of some tunnels that I used many times in the past.

[@vincentperratore4395]

I once worked with an Irishman who was a sandhog during the construction of the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel. He was doomed to be hard of hearing ever since.

[@BBWahoo]

@@vincentperratore4395 *WHAT?*

[@youngeshmoney]

The water isn't deep enough for the bends, at least I don't think it is.

[@JMM33RanMA]

@@youngeshmoney It isn't just depth [AFAIK] it's how long you are submerged and how fast you surface. I can't do anything but snorkel on the surface, myself, because my asthma precludes diving. This means that pre-existing conditions are also in play.

[@thomasfreeman7770]

@@youngeshmoney My grandfather was a sandhog on the holland tunnel project. It’s not the depth of the tunnel. The tunnels are built by pushing what amounts to an open ended can horizontally through the mud underneath the river. Compressed air was fed into the back of the can to keep the mud from coming in the front while the workers shoveled out the mud. The can would be pushed forward and the whole sequence would repeat itself. The pressures were pretty high to prevent the mud from filling in on the workers. Plenty high enough to cause compression sickness.

[@jamesshaw3500]

I love how much effort they put in to building these... even delaying the opening in order to make sure it was safe... that just doesn't happen anymore.

[@kman-mi7su]

It didn't happen a lot back then either.

[@nyrmetros]

Never enough videos about the North River Tunnels! Thank you! Next we need a video about the Belmont and Steinway tunnels!

[@HistoricalWonder720]

Having grown up and lived in an NJ suburb just 10 miles from NYC I always marveled at all of the bridges and tunnels that connect Manhattan to Jersey and the rest of NY.

[@SupremeLeaderKimJong-un]

Just a small correction: The tunnel begins in North Bergen, not Weehawken. It first goes under North Bergen and Union City before Weehawken and finally the river. And an interesting fact: Neither the southern portion of the Hudson River nor the East River as a whole are rivers. The southern part of the Hudson River is a tidal estuary, which is where salt water from the ocean combines with fresh water from northern tributaries. While the East River is a tidal strait. Because of this East River fact, legally Long Island isn't recognized as an island according to the Supreme Court

[@starraidz791]

Thanks Kim Jong-Un!

[@AbrahamLincoln4]

kim jong un knows alot about the city be wants to nuke...

[@transitmallproductions1063]

if anything it’s more of an island because of that fact, if there’s only sea between it and the mainland.

[@OhioanSaab]

It’s you!

[@electricianron_New_Jersey]

Stop. There are more safety precautions in place now than ever before.

[@miraflynn8935]

Even before Sandy, I remember delays happening all the time with NJ transit trains to NYC. Fixing these is deperately necessary.

[@terrybaptist795]

Fixing these tunnels isnt the answer. Building two new tunnels that designed and engineered better than the old tunnels is the answer.

[@miraflynn8935]

@@terrybaptist795 I mean fixing the whole train tunnel system. Build the two new so that you can take the old ones offline and fix them for real.

[@samanthab1923]

Please I commuted from Metuchen & remember all too well the delays. Ugh

[@mattb1270]

@@terrybaptist795That's the plan, build two new tunnels and rehabilitate these afterwards. The cast iron tubes are fine, it is the concrete lining that is deteriorated. Once the new tunnels are built, there will be enough flexibility to remove one or both tunnels from service and strip them down to the cast iron rings and replace all the concrete, drainage and standpipes, electrical, signals, etc.

[@PushingThroughThePain]

Really cool video! I live in a Midwest town, but I love trains, subways and tunnels, so this was really fun to watch. Thanks for sharing!

[@martentrudeau6948]

Excellent description of what the North River is, and an excellent history. The North Tunnel engineering problems were enormous over a hundred years ago and probably still are today. This is a very challenging project and a very interesting video.

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

It's true that many ditched the ferries in favor of the North River Tunnels. The NJ waterfront used to be dotted with rail terminals with connecting ferries to Manhattan. The opening of the North River Tunnels was the first nail in the coffin for them, the rise of the automobile was the last (all these NJ rail terminal closures put increased pressure on the tunnels to Penn Station). Of these terminals, Hoboken Terminal is the only one still in operation serving its purpose. Hoboken Terminal became the place where Edison drove the first electric multiple-unit train, as well as a filming location for Julie & Julia and Muppets Take Manhattan (where Miss Piggy was on the train as she said bye to Kermit...that was Hoboken). While the Central Railroad of NJ's Communipaw Terminal has been preserved as a part of Liberty State Park and is now used as the NJ terminal of Statue Cruises.

[@awsomegamer8277]

Thank you for the extra information! I don’t get why they don’t reinforce the tunnels to persevere or even use these big historical “innovations” for lack of better words

[@richiemartinez103]

A lot of people ignore the fact that the North River Tunnels are taking on more traffic on their old age than they were expected to, this has been the situation since the early 60’s. Reminder while Penn Station in NYC was built to get commuters on the PRR into NYC it also had the purpose as a supplementary station to its New Jersey Counterpart in Exchange Place. Once you get rid of all the other Rail Terminals on the Hudson on the Jersey side and route everything thru Penn Station you are going to put stress on the tunnels. Especially when you put this much more stress and traffic on the tunnels entering their 5th decade in the 60’s. It would’ve been wise to keep Exchange Place or the Communipaw Terminal for some commuter and Inter-city service instead of routing everything into the tunnels. Also removing Inter city travel from Grand Central and shifting it into Penn Station put more of a strain on Penn Stations capacity in 92, the AMTRAK services to and from Canada should have remained at Grand Central, Penn Station shouldn’t be expected to do it all.

[@tamamovitch8583]

It's tragic that New York, and by extension, the rest of the US is ailing from failing infrastructure like this.

[@cjrstudios4100]

There's nothing we can really do about it

[@matt.squarebody5427]

@@cjrstudios4100 of course there is. We can start by decreasing government spending on unnecessary things, such as Ukraines war, literally one very expensive completely unnecessary expense. I’m sure someone’s getting a slice of the pie. I mean seriously, we have failing infrastructure locally but nope don’t take care of Americans. Instead we’ll just keep them down and then campaign to make the very things we’re preventing from happening, happen. American politics. It’s great ain’t it?

[@cjrstudios4100]

@@matt.squarebody5427 as in peacefully do something about it

[@matt.squarebody5427]

@@cjrstudios4100 still confused how does not funding a bullshit war have to do with peacefully saving money?

[@cjrstudios4100]

@@matt.squarebody5427 Well we could just end all funding entirely and just use the money to pay contractors

[@DanknDerpyGamer]

Fun fact: IF you want to see diagrams regarding the construction of Penn Station, the East River tunnels, and the Hudson River tunnels, Project Gutenberg has some great articles from back when they were being built scanned, each with very detailed drawings. (I'd post a link, but KZbin'll probably auto-remove it. Damn.) EDIT: The articles titles are: THE NEW YORK TUNNEL EXTENSION OF THE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD. THE EAST RIVER DIVISION. THE NEW YORK TUNNEL EXTENSION OF THE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD. THE NORTH RIVER DIVISION. and THE NEW YORK TUNNEL EXTENSION OF THE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD by the AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS

[@firesurfer]

Usually, an exact quote of the title is enough for google to get the right link. People can just cut and paste the quote to find it. This bypasses the YT bot.

[@DanknDerpyGamer]

​@@firesurfer The articles are: THE NEW YORK TUNNEL EXTENSION OF THE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD. THE EAST RIVER DIVISION. THE NEW YORK TUNNEL EXTENSION OF THE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD. THE NORTH RIVER DIVISION. and THE NEW YORK TUNNEL EXTENSION OF THE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD by the AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS

[@firesurfer]

@@DanknDerpyGamer It works. Try it. It pops right up. copy and paste into search. The last one is a paid site.

[@jaminova_1969]

TY I love this stuff!

[@DanknDerpyGamer]

@@jaminova_1969 Ditto. 😁😁 Ugh that reminds me ... I wish the NYPL would put all the diagrams they have available not for Penn Station, but Grand Central Terminal, up full size/freely (as opposed to just a longitudinal section - despite ALL the diagrams they have being public domain, and from the same collection).

[@MidnightAspec]

Rode NJT NEC through those for years. Nothing worse than darting off the 1 train only to walk into a wall of people waiting for trains that are single tracking it during rush hour.

[@JeffDeWitt]

One of the more interesting things about this is that the tunnels were built by the PRR and private enterprise, and that they took safety so seriously. I think we lost more than we could afford when we lost the Pennsy and the New York Central. Those new tunnels would be a lot further along if it wasn't for the infamous greed and corruption of New York and New Jersey's politicians and unions.

[@kman-mi7su]

This Jersey boy born and raised there concurs. The whole state of NJ is full of corrupt politicians and unions. The only part of this equation that isn't as powerful as it once was, is the mafia. They are still around and still operating though.

[@javianjohnson8746]

16:01 I like this new path. I take NJ Transit into NYC all the time, being the predominant way I get into the city. The tunnels are so important, so whatever they need to do to keep them up and running, I hope they can do it as soon as possible

[@ocsrc]

If you bolt the tunnels to the bedrock, the force against the tunnels as the tide changes would cause structural failure to the tunnels.

[@L3AP2020]

how about having pillars that act as a sort of landing gear if the tunnels sink too much?

[@fritz46]

The picture at 0:38 shows the West Side Yard (which is located above the tunnel between the river and the east portal), and not the 21 fanned-out lines (which are underground between the tunnel and Penn Station).

[@Brian-cr6rb]

The Hudson River and the tide are a formidable force. I grew up on it and know it very well. I was down by the Bear Mountain Bridge a few years ago, it's right around the corner from Indian Point. I was on my way home from a Lady Liberty run on my jet ski when a tug with no barge came by at full speed ahead! I couldn't help myself from having a great time with that wave. The tide was going out, I messed up and got separated from my watercraft. Couldn't catch up with it! The Coast Guard saved my butt and reunited me with my vessel. I'm so happy that the tug captain didn't report me for being stupid! If they did, I could have been impounded and locked up facing big time fines btw! I'm a river rat for life, not caring about pcb contamination or the unexplained massive sized sturgeon I've encountered myself out there! Great video dude! I love learning more about my home turf and waters!

[@terry_willis]

This is one of the most convoluted videos I have ever seen.

[@robertgerber2533]

Love tunnels. Amazing that they start on both sides and meet in the middle with no gps

[@M0rtanius]

GPS doesn't work underground anyway

[@superbrownbrown]

*I love people who post things when they're stoned. I literally laughed out loud reading this comment.*

[@soeasilynoticed]

I don't think enough words could be used to describe how CRITICAL these tunnels probably 30-40% of NYC's workforce commutes from NJ. I don't just mean that financial and office workers. I know tons of construction and skilled laborers who commute through Penn station. If noting is done there will be financial losses for the whole region. A new tunnel has been ignored for far too long. Imagine if these things were to burst couldn't it equalize to sea level and flood out Penn station and the NYC subway?

[@sjwhitney]

With today's tech, constructing such tunnels has become easier than ever. However, the costs are still enormous (much of that due to bureaucratic waste). This was a nice report, though I would caution against using images that are not of the specific tunnels themselves. Too many images of unrelated subway tunnels were included.

[@828enigma6]

Reference the flooding of the tunnels, it should be remembered that salt water damages the integrity of concrete. I also recall the ingress of seawater from above is now prevented by inflatable collars inside the tunnels. These are inflated with air and expand to block the full diameter of the tunnel.

[@xr6lad]

Some concrete is. Concrete is used in salt water all the time. Most piers, under sea tunnels and bridges etc are built with it. But THIS concrete was made/installed before they knew the effects and had techniques to counter it. Metal however is another thing.

[@brucehain]

@@xr6lad The tunnels did have floodgates, and assume they were checked periodically to be sure they could be moved. Someone suggested they wanted to save all the trackwork in the station and approaches, so they sent it down the tunnel. That's a question that should really be explained in some public forum. I saw that trackwork after the 'summer of hell' - both of them, and it had stuff that takes like at least 10 years to get that way. IDK.

[@Brian_rock_railfan]

awesome video

[@davidurban6813]

Very interesting thanks for posting it. Have a great weekend everyone.

[@OofusTwillip]

Yet another example of what happens when infrastructure is not maintained.

[@scottwendt9575]

And kind of a related question…. Was Sandy unlike any storm since 1910? For 100 years they managed to keep the storm water out, then suddenly after questions about the costs of replacing them, the next big storm suddenly floods tunnels? We have examples here in the Midwest of when politicians want a new mega project suddenly the existing infrastructure starts deteriorating rapidly. When taxpayers questioned a new billion dollar stadium, suddenly the existing stadium roof started to have leaks. A roof that stood up to blizzards then collapsed in a snowstorm that didn’t collapse any of the dozens of temporary recreational domes in the area. It’s really about the politics of selective maintenance. Want to know which bridge politicians want to turn into their next crony construction project, just look for the one that missed its last painting cycle. 🤨

[@circusboy90210]

@@scottwendt9575 sandy was not unlike any other storm . the pumps were shut off purposefully to create an artificial disaster

[@fvckingtest]

@@circusboy90210 Please...Sandy was described as a "100 year storm" but was underestimated due to the fact that climate change has completely upended the models meteorologists and emergency preparedness officials rely on. It caused flooding so severe as to completely overwhelm the pumping capacities of 3 different organizations and you are sitting behind a computer spreading lies about "artificial disasters" Sounds like you need to go back to clown college circus boy.

[@nairbvel]

So much U.S. infrastructure is reaping the results of decades of government (at multiple levels) deciding that if there wasn't a crisis *right* *now* then it would be more "fiscally responsible" to wait until an actual disaster was imminent and then run around like headless chickens looking for even larger sums of money to try to avert those (sometimes already-in-progress) disasters. Great forward-looking planning, you guys. Really appreciate it.

[@Bydesign777]

I wonder if the headlines will say "North River Tunnel Repairs Now Underway" or "Horrific Tunnel Collapse Buries Commuters Alive".

[@charlesclager6808]

Thank you so much for your video. You have schooled me about these tunnels and their amazing history

[@J.M.Chadwick6]

Extremely interesting and very well done. All of this was new to me.

[@spuds6423]

"Rails to Gotham" is an awesome book about the building of tunnels under the Hudson.

[@jamesholt7612]

Awesome video my friend.

[@phaasch]

I'm commenting as a Brit, so my grasp on capital funding in the US is non existent, but seeing as these tunnels are of such vital strategic importance, why couldn't funding come from the Federal budget? Losing the link is not an option, and it's hanging by a thread, right now. I know projects funded through national taxation have a way of ballooning obscenely, our own HS2 line is a prime example of that, but losing the North River tunnels would be like permanently severing a trunk rail line in the UK. It would screw the economy even more than it is already

[@kevinkern2149]

Much of it comes down to how responsibilities/liabilities overlap between various government entities. In this case, the federal government (and Amtrak by proxy) is but one of many parties that would have to cooperate to make the tunnel replacement project work. Other major players would be the two state governments, NY and NJ, NJ's state-owned rail operator, NJ Transit, NY's state-owned rail operator, the MTA, the Port Authority of NY and NJ, a quasi-independent entity responsible for (among other things) operating vehicular crossings between the two states within a certain radius of NYC, and the local city governments of NYC and Weehawken/Jersey City. All of these have their own budgets and territorial fiefdoms. Far be it for me to defend Gov. Christie, but the original ARC deal reached between NJ Transit and the Port Authority mentioned in the video left the responsibility for cost overruns SOLELY on the State of NJ and its taxpayers (myself included) - on a project vital to NYC and the metro area as well. The Gateway project, started under the Obama Administration, then stalled under Republican leadership's traditional aversion to spending money on anything not involving guns, and restarted by Amtrak Joe, has picked up the pieces of the ARC disaster with Amtrak, NY, and NJ now on board and is funded to begin next year.

[@vincent412l7]

Federal government will fund highway and airway projects, but rarely puts money on rail projects. Amtrak continuously operates under-budgeted.

[@phaasch]

@@kevinkern2149 Thanks for helping to clarify the picture, Kevin. At least there's forward movement. Let's hope it's in time.

[@mattb1270]

Usually projects such as these are split between the Federal government and the states. The Federal Government was originally going to fund a significant portion of it, but the project was delayed unnecessarily due to petty politics. A certain former president ensured the project was not given a high priority. Now the tunnels are in even more dire shape and the costs to build new ones have only increased.

[@firesurfer]

Funding for projects like this is typically funded 80% by the federal gov't. The rest by state and local gov't. The money from the fed was authorized TWICE before and either shot down or redirected by an awful govenor. It seems to be going through now. You know the saying "three times the charm".

[@jakemocci3953]

Century old engineering marvel destroyed by modern urban incompetence

[@SamanthaScarlette]

Cool to hear the history of my home. Haha I didn’t realize when I clicked on this that these are the same tunnels that go under Hudson Yards.

[@jamesomahoney2181]

Use to walk north tube to NJ, and walk back to psny in south tube..nightly..carrying a 10 ' fiberglass pano pole in" live " tubes to knock ice off live 12kv catenary.. (but I'm one of the few people who got to see the plaque in South tube) where tunnels 1st met up under Hudson.. I've actually cleaned it up several times since 1999.. but dirt and grim always wins..

[@cehayes74]

Much & Love ❤️ Respect to you for keeping Amtrak & NJ Transit Trains moving on the NEC !!!

[@brucehain]

It would be hard to call the so-called North River Tunnel cursed. It was far and away the greatest civil engineering achievement of it's age; and the Penna.Tunnel and Terminal RR remained the greatest rail line in the world for a hundred years or so, until China outdid us. Hey, 12 minutes to Newark is hard to beat. And you won't beat it with the new tunnel intended to replace this one. (For replacing it is really their intention: in the ten years since Sandy, no plan has been approved or implemented to repair it. The repairs - if possible at all - were time sensitive, and the time is past. No one is going to risk working under compressed air to do a proper job - again, if that's even possible. The tunnel is ruined.) It would cost a hell of a lot less than what they're planning now to demolish the underwater part of the existing tunnel and rebuild it. And then you'd have a better tunnel! It's less than a mile long. The design for tunnel replacement, arrived at over a 30-year period of dithering and wasting precious resources including the originally planned right-of-way noted in the original 1910 documents (sold in 2015) - has been made intentionally circuitous, curvy and steep; and it will slow the travel time to Newark by some not insignificant amount - the more so if you consider it's now a hundred and ten years hence. The steepness and sharp curves make it expensive to operate trains in, and the fancy superelevated curves are a maintenance headache requiring exacting tolerances subject to rapidly going out of line, and metal deformation that has to be replaced periodically. Truly, the Gateway Project is a curse - and yet another stunning example of the decadent-age planning machinations we are subject to. rail-nyc-access.com

[@fanplant]

What do you mean by no one would risk working in compressed air again?? Sandhogs do it all the time, one example is the East side access project.

[@matismf]

@@fanplant With any luck, Slow Joe will push us into WW III with Russia, and Putin will nuke the Big Craphole and wipe it off the map!

[@Cheeseatingjunglista]

@@fanplant He meant inside what would seem to be a damaged and corroded structure, how you ensure it would certain to maintain pressure?

[@fanplant]

@@Cheeseatingjunglista oh a blowout under the muck? Yeah I guess it's best to start a fresh.

[@firesurfer]

The only curse was the Governor of New Jersey. He's gone now, so the tunnel can proceed.

[@tkelly5530]

Let's be clear about why Christie pulled the plug on the ARC tunnel project in 2010. His endlessly and loudly stated claim about the State of New Jersey being stuck with the tunnels' cost overruns was always misleading and in fact a deceptive and fake excuse for killing a project which would be close to completion - if not finished by now. The record indisputably shows that Christie killed the ARC tunnel because he wanted to spend New Jersey's share of it on rebuilding the Pulaski Skyway instead, all to avoid increasing the State's paltry gasoline tax which would otherwise have been necessary to pay for rebuilding the Pulaski Skyway.

[@jbauern57]

I love this channel.

[@charlescrawford7039]

I don’t know if you have reviewed these, but the tunnels of the Hudson & Manhattan Railroad (PATH) predate the Pennsylvania Railroad’s (PRR) by three years. Initially the PRR set up a consortium of other railroad companies that operated in New Jersey, such as the New Jersey Central, Erie and Lackawanna & Western railroads to help with the financing of a new North River bridge. These companies eventually backed out given the projected costs. The possible bridge approach was also going to be an expensive proposition given the limited space and land values on the Manhattan side.

[@spuds6423]

Check the book "Rails to Gotham"... It's about the Hudson and Manhattan RR

[@charlescrawford7039]

Thanks!

[@qolspony]

What I don't understand is that the PATH has two separate tunnels crossing Manhattan and New Jersey, But only one set of tunnels for all these services: NJT and Amtrak. Even Long Island RR with it many services have 4 tunnels. Two extra tunnels was built recently making it 2 pairs 2/4.

[@j-krist8457]

That's Because The Hoboken Tunnel Was Originally Supposed To Hit The Eastside After 9th Street Up To Grand Central Connecting With The "7" Train. See Where That "7 Train To Jersey Comes From" ??

[@dk50b]

What is now the PATH (Port Authority Trans-Hudson) was built as privately owned and operated subway. Though the first attempt to tunnel under the Hudson (North) River began in 1874, it wasn't till 1902 that a workable tunneling technique (same as used on the North River Tunnels) led to Hudson and Manhattan RR opening the first transit tunnel under a river in North America in 1908. The H&M was planned to connect 3 major terminals on the Hudson County waterfront (Lackawanna, Erie and Pennsylvania) with Manhattan's 2 business districts. The mentioned Grand Central extension was abandoned due to cost and connecting service on the New York City Subway. An operating agreement with the PRR led to the Hudson Terminal (later World Trade Ctr) to Newark Line opening in 1909. As the video states, no other railroad could muster the funds for a tunnel, and the H&M solved their problem, albeit with a transfer. www.ascemetsection.org/committees/history-and-heritage/landmarks/hudson-manhattan-tunnel

[@qolspony]

@@dk50b yeah! I heard about the GC project sometime ago. If it would have been built, it would have been a game changer for the entire region. Especially with LIRR now at GC! By the way, thanks for sharing the link. GOOD READ!

[@wiedep]

Clips @ 0:17 NYC subway and 0:25 Metro-North at GCT neither have any connection to the tunnels. Clip @ 13:40 of WTC site as it was being cleared, again no connection to the tunnels. Clip @ 14:18 MNRR flooded yard. Clips starting @ 17:51 are MNRR Park Ave. tunnel & GCT have nothing to do with NRT.

[@NixCrossing]

Thanks so much for this awesome video! Fantastic work 🚂💨🇺🇸

[@terryansell6641]

Thank you from New Zealand a very interesting video

[@Steeeve_]

I wonder what type of special rolling stock would be able to use the PATH tunnels to any extent if either Amtrak or NJT ever had to.

[@firesurfer]

If it fits...it ships.

[@alexfarquharson4818]

Not really needed. PATH ends a block away from Penn Sta at 34 & 6th.

[@Steeeve_]

@@alexfarquharson4818 Hypothetically speaking for if the north river tunnels ever became unusable for some period of time.

[@BradHouser]

As usual, a well-researched, in-depth documentary. I rode the train from Newark to Boston by myself when I was a kid in the '60s, and I always remember going through the tunnel. There was one question I had. At 18:45 you said the segmented rings were 22 tons each. Was that one segment or an entire ring? Later you said they increased the weight to 11,000 lbs in reaction to the tunnel motion. Was that the segment itself? (PS: I never thanked you for no longer using the fake film scratches on your pictures. Thank You Ryan!)

[@johnclayden1670]

That is an amazing tale. And not becoming less so.

[@denisryan8757]

If it weren't for Gov. Christie we'd have completed the project by now.

[@gregdolecki8530]

Gov. Fat Fattie

[@markterribile6948]

Christie's demand was that if NYC, by government action, created a cost overrun (by permitting delay, limiting construction equipment access, etc.) then NYC should be responsible for the cost overrun, not NJ taxpayers. NYC knew it's various processes and factions would inevitably create costly delays, and didn't want to be responsible for the damage it might cause. Christie's demand was reasonable: you incur costs, you bear them. It was a challenge to NYC to get its house in order. But the city administration at that time could not keep the project moving without alienating some of the voters who kept it in office. Yeah, I live in NJ. I attended undergrad and grad schools in the city. I used the subways, walked the streets, used transit. My father owned a construction company in the city, built rooftop structures that changed the skyline, took tricky jobs in the WTC, in the towers, in the interior plazas, in the PATH station below. The city's refusal to cover its own bills was no surprise. There have been competent and responsible city administrations, but not many lately. If Christie had agreed to cover NYC's irresponsibility it's possible that NJ taxpayers would still be paying hundreds of millions of dollars a year on never-ending overruns and delays stretching into the indefinite future.

[@JohnDavies-cn3ro]

Fascinating old photos and films of the construction work.

[@DeaconG1959]

Once Phase 2 of Hudson Yards begins, they will deck over the remainder of that LIRR rail yard (Phase 1 was built over the east half of the yard).

[@Ikmaakjekapot]

Luv the channel great explanation in a fast and easy way... ain’t subbed but might to ?!? Pls do Sum Chernobyl then I might be

[@vanjohnson9837]

Most of the tunnels connecting new york too other Burroughs goes up to 5 miles deep in the city.amazing.oct2022.

[@stuartlee6622]

What about the Hudson Tubes / PATH tunnels????

[@KNS_Racing]

Honestly, this sounds like a horrible tragedy just waiting to happen. sadly not suprised

[@Joyce846]

Right like the new tunnels will still move. That seems to be overlooked

[@SandBoxJohn]

I beg to differ. The building of the North River Tunnels and Pennsylvania Station were built by the Pennsylvania and Long Island Railroads in response to the New York Central Railroad's rebuilding and expansion of Grand Central Station into what is today known as Grand Central Terminal.

[@robnj76]

Umm you got that backwards, NY central rebuilt and expanded grand central in response to Penn's work. More info on this is available in the book Conquering Gotham a recommended read for anyone interested in the topic

[@SandBoxJohn]

@@robnj76 The New York Central had a passenger terminal on Manhattan Island in New York City before The Pennsylvania Railroad joined up with the Long Island Railroad to build Pennsylvania Station. It was a pissing contest between the two railroads to see who could build the most important passenger gateway into New York City.

[@towringer]

I hope that whatever new tunnels are constructed are tall enough to accommodate double decker rail cars. Such as the Auto Train and the Superliner cars on the Empire Builder, Southwest Chief & California Zephyr.

[@patrickdurham8393]

The fact that something built from cast iron and concrete has lasted underground and underwater so long is amazing.

[@mountainman5025]

First I've heard of "Tunnel Gate"

[@LectronCircuits]

Excellent train tunneling. Cheers!

[@johncarroll9986]

Well done Philip keeping the truth coming out

[@didyasaysomethin2me]

Why was I not surprised to hear Chris Christie's name come up in the context that it did? This is the same slacker who allegedly conspired to have orange barrels set up on the bridge to close traffic lanes out of spite, just because he could. If he could be trusted I would suggest that he be sentenced to helping with preservation, restoration, and construction efforts in general.

[@cats0182]

The GW Bridge fiasco was supposedly run by two of his aides going rogue. It was determined that he was not involved. Unless you have proof that he "conspired" in the fiasco, you might want to drop it

[@didyasaysomethin2me]

@@cats0182 They conducted an internal investigation and found themselves to be squeaky clean. Well, that's certainly new. The official "finding" is whatever whoever has the most clout wants it to be. So you might want to take those blinders off. 😒 Edit: And it's a widely known fact that Christie was buddy buddy with the guys in the barrel brigade.

[@hewitc]

@@cats0182 That never made any sense. Nobody is completely "rogue". They get instructions that can't be traced or proven.

[@mattevans4377]

I fear real movement will only be done for the new tunnel when the old one collapses completely.....

[@alanstevens1296]

Are you saying that these tunnels are demonized with evil spirits?

[@warrenkatz1469]

That buffon of a governor stoped the project dead in its tracks. That proved to be a disaster!hurricane sandy nearly destroyed the tunnels .had the original project had been allowed to go on as planned the new tunnels would have been completed by now.instead it has to be started from scratch.

[@buddmetroliner200gaming3]

Where did you get the new haven footage from

[@DEEuroworks]

Very cool. Thank you.

[@johnnyredd360]

This was very interesting

[@sinisterisrandom8537]

Given that we now have reverse-engineered roman concrete, it's definitely possible that once refined, it will be used for projects of this caliber.

[@jwrappuhn71]

Good vid.

[@veryrancid3128]

i love videos of these old engineering projekts.. they are hard projekts even in todays standards but seem nigh impossible in early 1900 standards

[@vassa1972]

Good stuff

[@simonf8902]

Typical for the USA. Essential infrastructure cannot be funded. This system is 110 years old. The Federal Government should have funded the project years ago.

[@cats0182]

The federal government doesn't have a stash of cash to pour into projects. It has OUR (TAXPAYERS') money and many of us are loathe to allow it to fund fancy infrastructure projects.

[@simonf8902]

@@cats0182 this is not fancy. It’s essential. I assume you are being ironic

[@greglenning2636]

Interesting but wtf happened to the curse in the title???

[@urbanyeti3631]

Wonder how many miles of decommissioned and abandoned tunnel are under New York. I can’t even imagine.

[@circusboy90210]

14:38 nothing spectacular about sandy . it was large in size but not it's devastation.

[@joehughes5177]

They should look bigger. 1 chunnel sized tunnel to fit side by side over side gy side rails. Or perhaps 3 rails and 1 cars. No interruption, 200% improvement, and no need for any remediation at all. You can only patch bandaids for so long. How many dollars worth of bandaids so far? Don't just fix the problem, make a better future

[@Indy125]

Look into the abandoned tunnels on the PA Turnpike!

[@michaeldoldron8444]

In Addition to this problem in the politics behind this is going left and right on the financial spend out on this prevention and plus getting an alternative tunnel to work on the already Natural disaster one that trains are still running through them for passenger usages.

[@michaeldoldron8444]

Well if this is such an important job and master planning task to do New Jersey as well as New York city knows this is so vital for everyday traffic usages, why can't they just get the shit done know before there's a such thing as a human and aging old disaster in stock waiting to get crushed and destroyed on the backs of pre innocent lives.

[@justinfowler2857]

Because they want the rest of the country to pay for it.

[@sabrinasjourney]

Money. Its always money.

[@Mike-hf8kq]

dont they actually fan out to 17 tracks? i know there are 21 tracks in penn station but tracks 20 and 21 def cant access the north river tunnels(and no reason to as they strictly used by lirr) and i am pretty sure tracks 18 and 19 cant either.

[@Mike-hf8kq]

now that i think about it yah 18-21 cant access north river tunnels, like tracks 1-4 cant access east river tunnels. though of course 18-21 can access the lirr's west side yard and 1-4 are stub ended.

[@jamesomahoney2181]

Unfortunately I also was witness to the tunnels filling up w/river water to the ceiling during sandy 😕

[@showguyer]

Its ridiculous to think all those years, regular maintenence wasnt kept up on these tunnels. Smh

[@Jojoxxr]

Good grief, was that 12 billion dollars in repairs? 😱

[@RailRide]

To build two new tunnels *and* repair the old ones (+1.6bil)

[@cats0182]

Tunnels were built by the PRR with no handouts from any government. Now governments are going hat-in-hand to beg for money for new tunnels. If the tunnels are that important for NY Metropolitan Area commerce, let the beneficiaries of the tunnels (businesses in the area) foot the bill for the project. Why saddle already overburdened taxpayers with another cost?

[@Pugiron]

Chris Christie was against the tunnels because he can't fit through them.

[@saintakins187]

Time to go exploring New Yorkers, Lara Croft.

[@johntyjp]

Very similar story to the Seven River tunnel here in the U K

[@lawrencemay8671]

How about a Documentary on the New York Sand Hogs

[@DanknDerpyGamer]

0:04 - 0:07 New Rochelle, NY?

[@lawrencemay8671]

The Mud? Same problem London had tunneling under the Thames.

[@SirRamone]

You would think an economic powerhouse like Manhattan would have already upgraded and built new tunnels way before sandy hit gotta love politics

[@8bitorgy]

They're not capable of building anything in NYC anymore.

[@fhowland]

NJ is worse

[@davidfrischknecht8261]

I always thought they were called the North River Tunnels because they were the northern tunnels.

[@SteamCrane]

This is a nonissue. Since the covid shutdowns, people have discovered that there is no good reason to commute into NYC. Due to crime, filth, and taxes, anybody who can is out-migrating to other states. A better solution would be to turn Manhattan into a maximum security prison. You would then only need one tube, inbound, as nobody ever leaves. - Snake Plissken

[@bigdaddy3662]

Chris Christie tried to eat me

[@mapnerdo4090]

I wonder the approximate percentage of the American workforce that goes through these tunnels.

[@MrBoljangles]

When you see the cost to repair these tunnels, you will see why they should be scrapped in favor of brand new tunnels.