Railroad Ferries of the Hudson (Baxter & Adams 1999)

📖 Railroad Ferries of the Hudson and Stories of a Deckhand by Raymond J. Baxter and Arthur G. Adams (Fordham University Press, 1999) — a complete business, economic, technical, and social history of the railroad ferryboats that once carried commuter and long-distance passenger trains across the Hudson River between New Jersey and Manhattan. This copy is a first-printing paperback offered in Very Good+ condition (full report below).

QUICK FACTS

• Authors: Raymond J. Baxter and Arthur G. Adams
• Publisher: Fordham University Press, New York
• Year: 1999 — first printing, indicated by the full number line (10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1)
• Format: Paperback with glossy laminated card covers; quarto size
• Pages: 276 | ISBN: 978-0-8232-1954-4 (pbk)
• Illustrated: Historical photographs, period maps, and diagrams
• Condition: Very Good+ / Near Fine — full report below

THE STORY

For a century the railroads feeding Manhattan from New Jersey relied on an armada of ferryboats to float their trains across the Hudson. Baxter and Adams document the rise and decline of that network — the companies that ran it, the boats themselves, and the working life of the men aboard them. The study reaches beyond the railroad fleets to the Staten Island Ferry, formerly operated by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, and to the origins of New York Waterway, giving a full picture of the region’s waterborne transit era. Baxter spent nearly forty years on the New York waterfront, first as a deckhand aboard the railroad ferries and later as a railroad police officer, while Adams — founding president of the Hudson River Maritime Center in Kingston, New York — supplies the institutional history. Together their firsthand and archival voices anchor the technical chapters in daily waterfront reality.

THIS EDITION

Published by Fordham University Press in 1999, this is the first-printing paperback, identified by a complete number line (10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1). It is the standard softcover edition of a title that has become a reference staple in railroad and regional maritime history; the listing notes it as a rather scarce title.

COVER & ILLUSTRATIONS

The pictorial cover pairs light-blue title bands with a black central panel: the title appears in bold yellow serif, and the center holds an oval painting of a multi-deck steam ferry — its hull marked “NEW YORK CENTRAL SYSTEM” — making its crossing with a distant city skyline on the horizon. Inside, the book is illustrated throughout with a broad selection of historical black-and-white photographs and period maps of the ferry fleets — from New York Harbor deck scenes to engine-room close-ups like the fireboat Ferryboat Youngtown — each carrying detailed archival captions. Please review the listing photographs for the appearance of this specific copy.

WHY IT MATTERS

• A detailed single-volume account of the Hudson’s railroad ferry operations, covering business, engineering, and social history together.
• Includes the railroad-era history of the Staten Island Ferry and the rise of New York Waterway — of interest to New York transit and maritime collections.
• Combines archival photographs with firsthand deckhand recollections, preserving both the institutional record and the human one.

FREQUENTLY ASKED

What edition is this? The 1999 first-printing paperback from Fordham University Press, with a complete number line.

What condition is it in? Graded Very Good+ / Near Fine; a detailed check of cover, spine, text block, and binding appears below.

Is there a dust jacket? No — this softcover was issued without one.

FOR COLLECTORS

A reference-grade copy of the standard paperback edition of this title — still sought by railroad, Hudson River, and New York transit collectors as the fullest single treatment of the railroad ferry era.

Condition Report

• Overall Grade: Very Good+ (VG+)/Near Fine (NF)
• Cover & Spine: Glossy pictorial card covers with vibrant color; spine is uncreased and crisp; very minor rubbing to extremities.
• Dust Jacket: None, as issued.
• Text Block & Pages: Pages are clean, bright white, and crisp without markings or toning. One small, light scuff on bottom of block.
• Binding: Square, tight, and unread in appearance with solid softcover binding.

See accompanying images for full condition details. Will ship promptly, carefully packaged.

HFB-SEO-v1: 2026-10-09

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