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Transit Portal
Looking through the portal gate of the barge entrance to the Morris Canal, the Norfolk Southern Railroad's Portland Turn is seen crossing the former Lehigh & Hudson River Railroad Bridge into New Jersey. Barges would enter this portal from the Delaware River to ascend Plane 11 West, an inclined plane that rose a barge 35 feet in elevation. With the gate closed, water would lift the barge onto a rail-based carriage that was pulled up the plane by a water-powered turbine. This was the first of 23 planes that brought the barges over the hills and 102 mile journey to Jersey City and the Hudson River. The canal was as engineering marvel for it’s time and through a series of inclines and locks carried barges up 760 feet over the summit and back down another 914 to ocean level. At Phillipsburg, the river level is at 154 feet above sea level, which explains the elevation difference.
