Snug Harbor / Livingston

The rail line ran along the coast of Kill van Kull in front of Snug Harbor and into the neighborhood of Livingston. The topography of the area necessitated running the line directly along the coastline and large portions of the ROW have eroded. The erosion in the 1980s made the line impassible just prior to abandonment in 1990.

The coastline just west of Atlantic Salt was home to a skate park that had long been abandoned when I visited in 2009. There was a complex array of wooden boardwalks in various states of disrepair that presented a curious juxtaposition of abandoned rail, wooden structures, and plant growth.

11/20/2009 03:02 PM
Abandoned skate park

11/20/2009 03:02 PM
Vestigial rail in skate park

11/20/2009 03:02 PM
Abandoned skate park

11/20/2009 03:04 PM
Vestigial rail in skate park

11/20/2009 03:06 PM
Abandoned wrecked car

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Overgrown pathway into park

11/20/2009 03:07 PM
Homeless encampment

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Vestigial rail

11/20/2009 03:10 PM
Wooden boardwalks

11/20/2009 03:11 PM
Park entrance

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Broken park sign

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Abandoned park

11/20/2009 03:12 PM
Abandoned park

The Sailor's Snug Harbor station was on the coastline, accessed from ornate stone stairways at the west and east ends of the platform. The east end is near the front entry archway to Snug Harbor, with the rear end at Snug Harbor Road. Only the westbound track remains, with the eastbound track presumably on piers out over the coastline. The approximate length of the platform had been covered with an asphalt pathway when I visited in 2009. Reconstruction plans could relocate the station up closer to Richmond Terrace, leaving the coastline for a riverside park.

11/20/2009 03:14 PM
East entrance to Sailor's Snug Harbor station

11/20/2009 03:15 PM
Sailor's Snug Harbor station

11/20/2009 03:13 PM
Stairway down to Snug Harbor station

11/20/2009 03:12 PM
Snug Harbor entry arch on Richmond Terrace above the Snug Harbor station

11/20/2009 03:13 PM
Dock on Kill van Kull

11/20/2009 03:14 PM
Dock on Kill van Kull

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Single track to the west of Snug Harbor station

11/20/2009 03:15 PM
Coastline to the east of Snug Harbor station

11/20/2009 03:15 PM
Single track headed east into abandoned park

11/20/2009 03:16 PM
Track joint

11/20/2009 03:16 PM
Track headed west with new waterside path

11/20/2009 03:17 PM
Retaining wall along track

11/20/2009 03:17 PM
Track headed west

11/20/2009 03:17 PM
Path down to water

11/20/2009 03:18 PM
Passing tugboat

11/20/2009 03:18 PM
Flotsam on the shoreline

11/20/2009 03:19 PM
Path to shoreline

11/20/2009 03:19 PM
Pier remnant on shoreline

11/20/2009 03:20 PM
Pipe to something

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West entrance to Sailor's Snug Harbor station

11/20/2009 03:20 PM
Vestigial bluestone path to westbound track?

11/20/2009 03:20 PM
Pier remnant

11/20/2009 03:20 PM
West entrance to Sailor's Snug Harbor station

11/20/2009 03:21 PM
West entrance to Sailor's Snug Harbor station

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Pathway to the east

11/20/2009 03:21 PM
Already ADA compliant!

11/20/2009 03:21 PM
Track headed west

11/20/2009 03:22 PM
Vestigial concrete base of something

The line west of Snug Harbor was built on a wooden trestle that was then enclosed with a wooden retaining wall and backfilled with gravel. As the retaining decayed and collapsed, the rail line followed, leaving rails hanging precariously over what is left of the trestle.

11/20/2009 03:22 PM
Single track headed west from Snug Harbor

11/20/2009 03:22 PM
Eroded track

11/20/2009 03:23 PM
Eroded track

11/20/2009 03:23 PM
Track and tie closeup

11/20/2009 03:23 PM
Track closeup

11/20/2009 03:24 PM
Eroded gravel fill

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Hanging track

11/20/2009 03:25 PM
Decayed retaining wall

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Eroded track and flotsam

11/20/2009 03:26 PM
Track and stump

11/20/2009 03:25 PM
Rusted track joint

11/20/2009 03:26 PM
Eroded track

A creek that runs through the west part of Snug Harbor empties into Kill van Kull through a culvert that still holds the track intact above it.

11/20/2009 03:26 PM
Track headed over drain

11/20/2009 03:27 PM
Eroded track

11/20/2009 03:27 PM
Drain tunnel

11/20/2009 03:27 PM
Track west of drain tunnel

11/20/2009 03:28 PM
Decayed retaining wall looking east

11/20/2009 03:28 PM
Under the rails

11/20/2009 03:28 PM
Track over drain tunnel

11/20/2009 03:29 PM
Drain tunnel

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Track headed east from drain tunnel

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Eroded Track headed west from drain tunnel

11/20/2009 03:33 PM
Creek headed north to Snug Harbor

A maintained but forlorn memorial to the residents of Livingston that made the supreme sacrifice in WW-II sits just above the track along Richmond Terrace near Snug Harbor Road. Ironically, the memorial's now-remote location demonstrates how the geographic changes of time often lead us to forget things we should remember.

11/20/2009 03:33 PM
Livingston WW-II memorial

11/20/2009 03:34 PM
Livingston WW-II memorial

R.H. Tugs is an incongruously nice restaurant between the coast and Richmond Terrace at Snug Harbor Road. A portion of the eastbound track was restored behind the restaurant when the coastline was shored up to prevent the restaurant from falling into the water. However, rail buffs immediately realize it is a fake from the thin, pressure-treated ornamental wooden ties. Whatever was holding up the westbound track long ago eroded into the water.

11/20/2009 03:36 PM
R.H. Tugs

11/20/2009 03:36 PM
Tracks behind R.H. Tugs

11/20/2009 03:37 PM
Track closeup

11/20/2009 03:37 PM
Tracks headed east into oblivion

11/20/2009 03:37 PM
Recoonstructed shoreline

11/20/2009 03:38 PM
Track behind R.H. Tugs

11/20/2009 03:38 PM
Track headed west from R.H. Tugs

Just to the west of R.H. Tugs, the Livingston station supposedly sat at the foot of Bard Avenue. There's a convenience store there, where track resumes its natural state and proceeds west.

11/20/2009 03:39 PM
Track behind convenience store

11/20/2009 03:39 PM
Behind the convenience store

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Retaining wall behind the convenience store

11/20/2009 03:40 PM
Track under picnic table

11/20/2009 03:44 PM
Picnic table over track looking west

11/20/2009 03:40 PM
DEP sewer overflow outlet sign

11/20/2009 03:41 PM
The convenience store at Bard Ave

11/20/2009 03:42 PM
Looking south at pleasant, old houses on Bard Ave.

11/20/2009 03:42 PM
Bard Ave. terminating at the track

11/20/2009 03:44 PM
Bard Ave. terminating at the track

11/20/2009 03:45 PM
Vestigial 3rd rail base?

11/20/2009 03:45 PM
Stump grown over track

11/20/2009 03:45 PM
Concrete column?

Between Bard and Davis Avenues, the track procedes dramatically over another eroded section of fill. The area also features some concrete waterfront structures, perhaps having something to do with the sewer overflow outlet, or perhaps just the foundations of some long-defunct structures.

11/20/2009 03:46 PM
Track headed east

11/20/2009 03:46 PM
Concrete structure

11/20/2009 03:47 PM
Concrete structure

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Track erosion continues

11/20/2009 03:47 PM
Track headed east past encroaching erosion

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Second concrete structure

11/20/2009 03:50 PM
Second concrete structure

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Eroded track

11/20/2009 03:48 PM
Eroded track

11/20/2009 03:49 PM
Under the track

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Brick conduit under track

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Between the tracks

11/20/2009 03:51 PM
Track emerges from erosion

11/20/2009 03:51 PM
Track in weeds

11/20/2009 03:52 PM
Track heads west into overgrowth

11/20/2009 03:52 PM
Track heads west

11/20/2009 03:53 PM
Power poles at Con Ed facility

11/20/2009 04:00 PM
1925 electrical warehouse, Richmond Terrace btw Bard and Davis

11/20/2009 04:08 PM
Richmond Terrace btw Bard and Davis

Snug Harbor was founded on 1801 bequest of farmland by Robert Richard Randall that was delayed by an extended dispute over the will. It finally opened in 1833 to provide a haven for "aged, decrepit and worn out sailors." Over the 19th century the facility expanded to 50 buildings housing over 900 residents from around the world. Residency and financial support declined in the mid 20th century. The few remaining residents were relocated to North Carolina in the 1960s. With the historic property falling into disrepair and being coveted by developers, the New York City Landmark's Commission got the facility listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The 83-acre facility was purchased by the city in 1973 and transformed into the Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution.

For a more detailed history of Snug Harbor, see Gerald J. Barry's The Sailors' Snug Harbor: 1801-2001

12/4/2009 11:50 AM
Snug Harbor entry sign

11/20/2009 03:11 PM
Greek Revival buildings in Snug Harbor

12/4/2009 11:51 AM
West entrance

12/4/2009 11:53 AM
Site map

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Statue

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Buildings on Chapel Road

12/4/2009 11:55 AM
Governor's House

12/4/2009 11:56 AM
Cottage Road

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Greenhouse

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Arbor

12/4/2009 12:00 PM
Connie Gretz Secret Garden tower

12/4/2009 12:01 PM
Administration office

Just to the east of sits Neville House, a country residence built around 1770 by John Neville, a retired naval officer. In the 19th century it was used as a tavern that likely received much of its patronage from the retired sailors living next door. When I visited in 2009, it was in pretty bad shape.

11/20/2009 02:59 PM
Neville House

11/20/2009 03:00 PM
Neville House

The area of New Brighton near Snug Harbor is an area of pleasant, older single-family homes, becoming a little more dense and less affluent as you move west into Livingston and West Brighton.