Mike:
The Don Ball Jr. book "Pennsylvania Railroad 1940's - 1950's" notes PRR did perform some tests running freight trains through the Hudson River tunnels. The grade and curvature of the tunnels is so extreme they pulled a significant number of drawbars and decided to scrap the idea.
Additionally, the clearances in those tunnels are extremely tight. Way too tight for intermodal.
Keep in mind there were perfectly acceptable routes around the NYC area to New England that avoided having to actually move trains through the city. Based on the freight schedules listed in an old book I have, a shipment could move from Boston to Chicago about as fast using one of the alphabet routes as it could going all the way on the New York Central.
in fact today, there are still routes available around New York that probably make far more sense logistically and financially than attempting to build a new route through (or under) the city. Even the straightest line can become prohibitively expensive if you have to build through a densely packed urban area.
Curt
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