The Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal (reporting mark BEDT) was a shortline railroad and marine terminal with its main facilities and administrative offices located on 86–88 Kent Avenue (now part of East River State Park and Bushwick Inlet Park) in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York City.
They are so named because they would be contracted by the Class 1 railroads (i.e.: PRR, LV, DL&W, etc..) to transport freight to and from destinations not serviced by the consigned carrier.
In 1906, when Lowell Palmer took leave of the operation, the Havemeyer's re-incorporated the organization into the Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal as a navigation corporation.
Palmer's descendants, including his son Lowell, would have controlling interests in the Brooklyn Cooperage Company, also located along the Williamsburg Waterfront.
The construction of the floatbridge enabled Palmer to place or "spot" railroad freight cars directly next to the structures of his customers on the various streets.
Palmer would also construct large buildings along these streets and lease the space to Class 1 railroads as freight depots.
Also along the water front and served by Palmer's Docks, were a sulfur works, a grain and feed elevator, a rubber factory and a lumber yard, among many smaller storage buildings.
Also in 1906, the Pidgeon Street Yard would open to freight traffic, having been planned several years prior by Lowell Palmer.
The courts ruled in favor of the East River Terminal RR and when completed in 1915, the building and the connecting railroad trackage would become home to Austin Nichols, a most prominent grocer and sundry wholesaler of the time.
This float bridge and team tracks would allow vendors to receive carload lots of produce for resale in the Wallabout Market.
However, it was contracted by those Class 1 railroads to transport their freight cars across New York Harbor to desired customers in Brooklyn that were receiving service from the BEDT.
This facility consolidated the receipt and subsequent distribution of flour and semolina for the many commercial bakers and pasta manufacturers in Brooklyn.
In 1976, following the bankruptcy filings of the Northeast Class 1 railroads (Penn Central, NYNH & H, Erie Lackawanna, etc.
Subsequently, the Interstate Commerce Commission recommended that New York Dock and Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal operations be merged to avoid duplication of effort.
[2] In 1976, Conrail solicited bids for the carfloating contract for Brooklyn bound rail traffic, with BEDT being the winning bidder.
As a result, the BEDT and NYD merged as recommended by the "Final System Plan" of the FRA but both companies would retain their independent logos and equipment.
A short segment of track is still visible in the park, in a concrete pad where the flour terminal building once stood.
Throughout its history, the primary commodities hauled by the BEDT were: Incoming: Meats, raw sugar, hops, coal, rolls of paper for newspaper printing, empty cans and bottles for both soft drinks and breweries, corn syrup for soft drinks, raw materials for the manufacture of consumer goods, groceries and sundries, finished steel products, steel, military supplies and armaments (for Brooklyn Navy Yard).
Outgoing: Scrap metal, refined sugar products, manufactured goods, bottled beer and soft drinks.
[4] Locomotives 6 through 9 were inherited by BEDT from both Palmer's Dock and East River Terminal operations, and were scrapped by the late 1930s.
These engines were originally coal fired, but were converted during the 1930's to burn oil, to afford one person operation.
The following BEDT locomotives have been preserved: The first steam powered tugboats were coal fired as well, and the first two were of wood hull construction.
As with the steam locomotives, coal fired tugboats fell out of favor when heavy oils became dominant as an industrial fuel.
It has been restored and painted as a New York Central locomotive (even though it was originally built for and operated by the Erie Railroad) and is currently displayed in Riverside Park in Manhattan.
Only one of the BEDT diesel tugs is known to have survived and it is currently used as a non-powered "breakwater" in a Rhode Island yacht club.