When one thinks of trains in New York City, subways and commuter rail come to mind, not rumbling freight trains, though they do exist. Corey Kilgannon, a metro reporter who writes human interest stories for The New York Times, explores the increasing role in freight transport for the New York & Atlantic Railway, one of six short line railroads owned by Chicago-based Anacostia Rail Holdings.

New York & Atlantic operates on a handful of freight-only lines in Queens, Brooklyn and eastern Long Island mostly by sharing commuter lines run by the Long Island Rail Road, per a 1997 agreement. The short-line railroad receives most of its loaded cars from trains operated by CSX Transportation, one of the nation’s largest freight railroad companies, and other railroads from north of the city. They snake down through the Bronx and over the Hell Gate Bridge into Queens, to New York & Atlantic’s cramped rail yard in Glendale, which has the Manhattan skyline for a backdrop.

"Despite the advantages, rail freight is still an under-utilized mode of transport here," wrote David Winzelberg in an earlier piece on the railway's expansion plans for Long Island Business News.

The New York area only gets about 2 to 3 percent of its freight by rail, where in many other areas in the country it’s well over 20 percent.

Additional reading from Untapped Cities on New Jersey-to-Brooklyn freight rail transport:

Hat tip to Sam Mintz, POLITICO Morning Transportation.