_Mucking and Disposal._--The conditions affecting the disposal of the muck, after blasting, were quite different at the two ends, the grade descending in the direction of the loads at Weehawken and ascending at the Hackensack end. At the Weehawken end the mouth of the tunnels was at the bottom of a shaft some 80 ft. deep, Fig. 2, Plate XXII, the muck in the tunnel cars being hoisted by elevators to a platform at the top from which it was dumped into standard-gauge cars supplied by the Erie Railroad, as shown by Fig. 7; or later hauled to the crusher or storage pile, some 500 ft. distant, on the north side of Baldwin Avenue. At the western end, the cars were hauled directly to the surface through the approach cut, and the material, except that required for concrete and rock packing, was deposited in the embankment across the Hackensack Meadows, a haul of from 1,000 to 3,000 ft. beyond the portal.
All disposal tracks were of 3-ft. gauge, the main running tracks being generally laid with 60-lb. second-hand rails, although some of lighter weight were used.
Except for about 1,000 ft. in each tunnel at the Weehawken end, where the muck was loaded by hand, four steam shovels, operated by compressed air, were used, one at each working face. One of these was a “Marion, Model No. 20,” weighing 38 tons, the others were “Vulcan Little Giant,” of about 30 tons each. All these shovels were on standard-gauge track, and were moved back from 300 to 500 ft. from the working face during blasting.
[Illustration: Fig. 7. METHOD OF EMPTYING DUMP CARS AT WEEHAWKEN SHAFT: FRONT VIEW, SIDE VIEW]
At Weehawken, previous to the time the shovels were installed, the muck was shoveled by hand into the cars from the bottom of the bench, and the heading muck was dumped into them from the movable platform (Jumbo) shown by Fig. 1, Plate XXII. There were three loading tracks at the face. The cars used at that time were similar to that shown by Fig. 5, but were about two-thirds the size and had no end door; stop-planks were supposed to be placed in the ends but seldom were. The loads averaged about ½ cu. yd. (measured in place). After the shovel was installed the cars shown by Fig. 5 were used, and the loads averaged nearly 1 cu. yd.