The line is a remnant of the extensive freight rail infrastructure that once dominated much of the Hudson County , its right of way a combination of routes originally developed by different companies . The name is taken from the '' ' National Docks Railway ' '' which maintained yards and a storage depot at Black Tom , an island in the Upper New York Bay greatly expanded by land reclamation and connected to the north of Caven Point by a long causeway . The line was built during an era of tremendous growth along the west shores of the bay and the North River ( Hudson River ) fueled by competing railroads wishing to gain access to the harbor to develop shipping and carfloat operations as well intermodal passenger transport terminals
Black Tom
Black Tom explosion
National Docks Secondary