The Bowery Boys: New York City History How To Dig a Train Tunnel Under the Hudson River (from HISTORY This Week)
Feb 20, 2026
Polly Desjarlais, content and research manager at the New York Transit Museum, gives concise historical context on Manhattan and Hudson River crossings. The conversation covers the muddy riverbed and engineering hurdles, the 1905 dynamite sinkhole disaster, compressed-air tunneling and sandhog life, and how the tunnels met within inches—plus why these 115-year-old tubes still matter today.
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Locomotive Swallowed By Sinkhole
- A dynamite blast underground triggered a sudden collapse that swallowed a locomotive into a 50-foot sinkhole.
- Miraculously, no one was killed and the Sandhogs escaped, turning the episode into a public embarrassment for the Pennsylvania Railroad.
Ferries, Bridges, And Smoke Problems
- The Pennsylvania Railroad resented the Vanderbilts because their rival crossed into Manhattan via a bridge while PRR passengers needed ferries.
- PRR also worried about smoke-filled short tunnels and deadly rear-end collisions on competitor lines.
Paris Inspires Electrified Tunnels
- Alexander Cassatt visited Paris and saw electric trains at Gare d'Orsay, inspiring him to electrify tunnels under the Hudson.
- That observation shifted the project's direction from a grand bridge to electric underground rail into Manhattan.
