DOCK FACILITIES IN NEW YORK CITY. 45 
this section, between say Franklin and Christopher streets, there can be built 
piers from 1,000 to 1,050 feet in length. But just here are now the rail- 
road piers and the floating railroad freight yards of car floats. These rail- 
road cars and their freight must come into New York, but the loading and 
unloading can be done elsewhere than at the water front; whereas, ships’ 
cargoes can be unloaded and loaded only at docks and piers. Therefore, to 
provide properly for the steamship lines and yet to conserve the railroad 
facilities of the city, freight cars must be given a common point of entry to 
the city upland in a less congested district of Manhattan with track con- 
nections into the downtown wholesale and business districts. 
It is therefore proposed to install a series of car float transfer bridges 
between 30th and 4oth Streets on the North River, and there to concen- 
trate the delivery of all car floats now occupying the water front in lower 
Manhattan, and by means of ramps or inclined planes to bring these cars 
from these car floats up onto an elevated railroad to run south from 25th 
Street along the marginal way. It is further proposed, by means of elevated 
sidings from this elevated railroad, to place these cars into the second story 
of large freight terminals or warehouses, etc., on the east or inshore side of 
West Street. The freight is there to be unloaded onto receivng platforms 
either for storage or for delivery at the street level to trucks, etc., by chutes, 
elevators, or other mechanical devices. ‘The reverse procedure will handle 
outbound shipments. At present the east side of West Street is largely occu- 
pied by a poor class of buildings. The replacement of these buildings by 
large up-to-date freight terminals will so enhance property values here as 
largely to compensate the city for any expense involved in the proposed 
improvement. Additional returns will come from the various railroad com- 
panies using this union elevated belt line, these charges to be sufficient to 
pay interest, overhead charges and amortize the sinking fund of the elevated 
construction itself. 
This terminal system is to be exclusively for the handling of the “City 
to the Railroad” freight. No connections, while possible, are planned 
between the marginal elevated railroad and steamship piers as it probably 
always, or at least for many years, will be cheaper and quicker for the 
“Trans-shipment’”’ to be made direct from the steamers overside to freight 
lighters moored alongside. 
In addition to practically doubling the present maritime capacity of 
the central part of New York Harbor, by removing the railroads from this 
needed water front, this elevated freight marginal railroad will also serve 
to solve a most pressing civic problem, namely, the removal of the New 
York Central’s tracks from the surface of 11th Avenue and the marginal 
