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​A fascinating piece of New York City and railroad engineering history. This original divided-back postcard features a dramatic "cutaway" or cross-section view: the upper portion illustrates bustling maritime traffic on the Hudson River—including steamships, tugs, and schooners against the city skyline—while the lower cutaway reveals the twin Pennsylvania Railroad tunnels beneath the river bed with electric train cars.

​Postmarked in New York in May 1916, this card traveled across the Atlantic to Belfast, Ireland, franked with a 2-cent George Washington stamp.

​Item Specifics & Details

• ​Subject: Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) North River Tunnels / Hudson River cutaway view

• ​Publisher: The American Art Publishing Co., New York City (Series #51 / A-39457)

• ​Distributor/Printer Mark: H. Finkelstein & Son

• ​Era: Divided Back (c. 1907–1915 production style, mailed 1916)

• ​Postmark: New York, N.Y. – Hamilton Grange Station, May 26, 1916

• ​Postage: 2¢ Red George Washington (Washington-Franklin issue)

• ​Destination: Sent to Belfast, Ireland

• ​Printed Caption (Front): "Pennsylvania R. R. under the Hudson River, New York City."

• ​Printed Information (Back): ​"The Pennsylvania Tunnel runs under the Hudson River from the New Pennsylvania Station at Seventh Avenue and 32nd Street to New Jersey. They are 60 feet below the surface. All trains coming into the R. R. Station through the tunnels are drawn by Electric Motors the change being made at the Manhattan Transfer, just East of Newark, N.J."

​"The Pennsylvania Tunnel runs under the Hudson River from the New Pennsylvania Station at Seventh Avenue and 32nd Street to New Jersey. They are 60 feet below the surface. All trains coming into the R. R. Station through the tunnels are drawn by Electric Motors the change being made at the Manhattan Transfer, just East of Newark, N.J."

​Historical Note

​Completed in 1910 as part of the Pennsylvania Railroad’s monumental New York Tunnel Extension project, the North River Tunnels connected New Jersey directly to Manhattan's brand-new Pennsylvania Station.

​Steam locomotives were prohibited inside the underwater tubes due to smoke and ventilation hazards. As described on the reverse of this postcard, trains switched from steam to electric locomotives at Manhattan Transfer (a passenger/transfer station outside Newark, NJ) before descending under the Hudson into New York City. Over a century later, these historic tunnels remain an essential artery of the Northeast Corridor.

​Condition

• ​Grade: Good / Very Good for age (Circulated/Posted).

• ​Minor edge and corner wear with light corner creasing/softening typical of early postal handling.

• ​Crisp postmark and intact 2¢ stamp on reverse.

• ​Clear, legible period handwriting in ink.