| A
postcard view of the so-called "Suicide Curve" at 110th
Street. |
An Early History of New York City's First Elevated
Railway
By G. J. Christiano (contact)
It was agreed by City officials that an elevated line
would solve the problems of serious congestion in Manhattan. In fact,
the first proposal was as far back as 1825, by H. Sargeant. There
were dozens of others over the decades that followed until Charles
T. Harvey received his patent June 18, 1867, and actually saw his
design built and operational. On April 20, 1866 the West Side and
Yonkers Patent Railway Company was formed by Harvey and eventually
got awarded the approval to begin construction of his elevated line up
Greenwich Street, then Ninth Avenue from Battery Place to 30th Street.
Construction began July 1, 1867. The first column was
erected October 7, and tested in December. The method of operation
was a continuous chain or cable wound around a drum, the cable being
attached to a passenger coach on the tracks above. The drum was
driven by stationary steam engines placed beneath the sidewalk at
certain intervals. This would propel the cars to the next engine and
the next, thus moving the car along the tracks. The demonstration
proved satisfactory to the delight of the stockholders and company
officials. The company constructed three miles of track, although
they had a mandate to construct twenty-five miles uptown. The Rapid
Transit Commissioners inspected the structure and made a favorable
report on July 1, 1868. The plan and operation were approved. Mayor
John T. Hoffman, and a deputy inspected the line also. It also
passed muster.
From 1868 through 1870, the line ran on a single track and
was extended to 30th Street. The name changed to the West Side and
Yonkers Patent Elevated Railway Company, the last station being at
29th Street. Almost immediately there were mechanical problems, not
to mention financial and legal difficulties. This cable system proved
impractical and was finally abandoned and remained idle for months.
Creditors bought the line at a Sheriff's Auction on November 15, 1870
at a purchase price of only $960 (Nine Hundred and Sixty Dollars).
The equipment included three complete passenger cars; four vaults
where the machinery was located and patent rights. The new investors
substituted the stationary engines for small steam locomotives.
There were objections from the Boss Tweed crowd, pushing for
his viaduct scheme as well as injunctions introduced by the horse-car
companies which, up until this time, had no competition. On February 9,
1871, the Transit Commissioners granted permission for the elevated
railway company to proceed with their plan to discard all previous
equipment and replace it with steam locomotives. Repairs were made to
strengthen the existing structure and steam operation began on April 20,
1871. There were only two stations at this time, one at Dey Street, the
other at the end of the line at 29th Street. The company adopted the
name the New York Elevated Railroad Company. Thus commenced the
world's first successful elevated railway. Steam power
was to be used on all subsequent lines until the advent of electrical
operation in 1902.
THE
NEW
YORK
TIMES · SATURDAY
JULY
4TH, 1868
LOCAL INTELLIGENCE
The Elevated Railway
The trial trip upon the elevated road in Greenwich-street
having been postponed on Thursday, on account of an accident to the
machinery, came off yesterday at noon, and was very satisfactory. The
car ran evenly from the Battery to Cortlandt-street, starting at a
rate of five miles an hour, and increasing to a speed of ten miles.
The Company does not pretend, with its present machinery, to run the
cars faster than fifteen miles an hour; but during the next two months
will make arrangements for much more rapid motion. On the 1st day of
July, 1867, the work was commenced, $100,000 being then pledged for
the purpose. Contracts were made, and the first column was placed in
position on the 7th of October. The machinery was first tried on the
7th of December, on the first quarter mile. So well were the
Directors pleased that they authorized the inventor to order the
remainder to Cortlandt-street. This was erected in March and April,
and some improvements introduced.
About the 1st day of May the new trial car was placed on
the road, and the Directors took a ride at the rate of fifteen miles
an hour, propelled by an engine out of sight and hearing. On the 6th
of June last the railway was placed in charge of the Commissioners
appointed by the Governor, Messrs. FITHIAN and MORRIS, and Ex-Senator
FREER, (of Sulivan County,) appointed by the Croton Board, for its
inspection.
During that month Gov. FENTON came from Albany and
inspected it himself, by examining the machinery and taking a ride
upon it; also the Croton Board, with the engineer; Mayor HOFFMAN, the
Governor of Minnesota, a deputation from the Common Council of Boston,
and many eminent engineers and civilians.
The opinion was expressed that it was a great mechanical
success. On July 1st the Commissioners reported in its favor. The
Governor gave it official approval promptly on the following day.
This endorsement vests in the constructing company full powers to
proceed with the railway at once from the Battery to Spuyten Duyvil.
The Chief Engineer and inventor expresses the opinion
that there is no engineering difficulty in the way of having the
railway completed to the Hudson River Depot at Thirtieth-street the
present year. Then the passage from Wall-street can be made in
fifteen minutes!
He is desirous of having the whole line under contract at
once, that the time of its being thrown open to the public use may
occur during the terms of the present incumbents of the office of
Governor of the State and
Mayor of the City, who have recommended this project and
assisted its development as a means of relief to the over-crowded
thousands in this City. The inventor will proceed next week to take
down the present machinery, and substitute some special improvements
which he has perfected after testing the working of that already up.
Footnote to above article: The inventor's name was never
mentioned. It was, of course, Charles T. Harvey. It may be noted
that Harvey was never given the acclaim and appreciation for his
achievement. He is the engineer who presented us with the city's very
first elevated railroad, into which he invested much of his life and
finances. His engineering skill and vision initiated the expansion of
rapid transit of which the elevated railroads dominated for
thirty-seven years. As quoted in William Fullerton Reeves',
The First Elevated Railroads in Manhattan and the Bronx of the City
of New York, (N.Y., 1936) "Nothing in the city's history has done
more for its growth and advancement than that system of transit, and
Charles T. Harvey was its originator and the man directly responsible
for its achievement. There are monuments in New York City, but none
to him. He gave us his utmost, in time, money, and brains, but has
received no permanent recognition." Harvey died in 1913.
This next entry is a rather detailed accounting of the
Greenwich Street Road as recorded once again in the New York Times.
The descriptions highlight the construction and method of operation.
THE
NEW
YORK
TIMES · TUESDAY
SEPTEMBER
7TH, 1869
THE ELEVATED RAILWAY
Successful Trial Trips of the West Side Railroad in
Greenwich-Street
The Line to be Completed by November
Description of the Means by Which the Cars are to be Driven
Names of the Stockholders and Officers of the Company
Trial-trips were made on the new West Side and Yonkers
Patent Railway in Greenwich-street yesterday, in which several
stockholders of the Company and other invited guests participated.
The first section of the road, from the Battery to Cortlandt-street,
is completed, and posts for receiving the rails are erected, and many
of the rails are laid on the next section, from Cortlandt-street to
Thirtieth-street. It is anticipated that the road will be in
condition for the transportation of passengers from the Battery to
Thirtieth-street by the first day of November next.
For the present route of travel will be over a single
track; but it is intended, eventually, to construct another track on
the west side of Greenwich-street and Ninth-avenue, and along the
whole route to Yonkers, to be used, for cars returning to the starting
point, while the present one will be confined solely to the carrying
of passengers going north.
The experimental trips made gave ample satisfaction to
all who passed over the route, and the opinion was universally
expressed that, if the construction of the road over the remaining
sections be as well done as on the first, the enterprise will prove to
be a complete success. The riding was remarkably smooth and easy,
and the speed satisfactory. The rate at which the car was yesterday
operated was fifteen miles per hour. Twenty miles can be made, if
required, just as easily.
It is not intended, however, that the rate of travel
shall, ordinarily, exceed that of yesterday. The mode of propulsion
is an "endless chain," so called, but really a wire rope, which passes
over a drum at either end of the section, and runs thence between the
rails over which the car moves; the motor being a steam engine
underneath the sidewalk at the corner of Greenwich and Cortlandt
streets. To this wire ropes are attached, at distances of 150 feet
apart, small iron uprights, or projections, running on wheels on a
narrow track provided expressly for the purpose, the rails of which
are about sixteen inches apart. Pendant from the bottom of the car
is an iron beam that may be thrown out or drawn inward by operating a
brake at the end of the car, and when thrown out, is the material
against which the upright presses itself, and thus forces the car
onward. On reaching the end of any section these uprights follow the
direction of the endless rope, and going over the curved line there,
are reversed in position, and they then return to the large drum at
the other end, where they are again, one by one, sent off on
propelling duty as before. The car, meanwhile, passes over the space
between the two sections (never more than the width between the
opposite curbstones of a street, say twenty-five feet,) by force of
the momentum it has gained, and at the next section meets one of the
uprights attached to the rope traversing it and is thus propelled
toward the terminus of that section. This proceeding is continued
along the entire route. The engines necessary to operate this endless
chain are to be located in Greenwich-street, at the corners of
Franklin, Bethune and Twenty-second streets, the one corner of
Cortlandt-street and Greenwich being placed there merely as the motor
for the other half mile of the route, which according to the act of
incorporation, had to be [several lines were not readable on
microfilm]. The upright posts and the rails resting on them have been
tested first at the place of manufacture, Buffalo, before shipment
hither.
The flanges of the wheels (every car being provided with
eight double trucks,) are an inch and a half in width, which, added to
the weight of the car itself, would seem to make it impossible that
they should ever get off the track. In addition to this, the floor
of the car itself sets very close to the rails, thus throwing the
whole weight on that portion of each wheel which may be at the times
in contact with the rail. Every other precaution that prudence or
experience could suggest has also been taken. The sections are to be
inspected by Commissioners appointed in the act of incorporation
before the road is thrown open for regular travel, and no fares can be
collected until the certificate of these Commissioners has been filed
in the offices of the Secretary of State and of the Mayor to the
effect that the road is in a perfectly safe condition. By the terms
of the act, these Commissioners are compelled to test the strength of
the road with a car placed upon the track loaded to a weight equal to
at least three times the ordinary weight of a passenger car proposed
to be used thereon, with its occupants. The cars, ten of which are
already completed, are each calculated to seat comfortably forty
passengers, there being seats across the end as well as at the sides,
and also in the center . The rails are now arriving from Buffalo,
and probably there will be a sufficiency of them here by Friday next
to insure the speedy completion of the track to Thirtieth-street.
Until the down-track shall have been laid there will be turnouts or
sideways used at the Battery and at Thirtieth-street to enable the car
to get into position for making return trips either way. When the
road is put into full operation it is intended that a car will pass a
given depot every eight minutes. The difficulty of steep grades is
entirely overcome by the use of traction rope with stationary power,
although at one point of the route the incline is 130 feet to the
mile, and at its upper end in the neighborhood of Harlem, 280 feet to
the mile. Another advantaged possessed by this mode of travel is its
comparative freedom from noise, as well as the obviation of all delay
in consequence of street obstructions, a matter which now seriously
interferes with the transit of passengers by horse-car routes.
The act of incorporation under which this
Company is formed was passed April 22, 1867. It fixes the fare for
each passenger for any distance within the limits of the City, not
exceeding two miles, five cents; for every mile or fractional part of
a mile in addition, thereto, one cent; provided that when the railway
is completed and in operation between Battery Place and the vicinity
of the Harlem River, the Company may at its option, adopt a uniform
rate not exceeding ten cents for all distances on Manhattan Island.
The Company is by the same act compelled to pay a sum not
exceeding five per cent of its net income from passenger trains, into
the City Treasury as a compensation to the Corporation for the use of
the streets.
The original stockholders of the Company were
Messrs. C.T. Harvey, William E. Dodge, William H. Fogg, William H.
Appleton, R. T. Underhill, John P. Yelverton, Turner Brothers,
Chauncey Vibbard, Fred B. Fisk, John B. Murray, Wm. W. W. Wood,
Moses A. Hoppock, John Perkins, Edwin Booth, D.D. Williams,
Chas. D. Bigelow, De-Witt Clinton Jones, W. S. Guruee, S. M.
Pettingill, John H. Hall, Alanson Trask, Isaac Scott, Stephen
Cutter, D. Crawford, Jr., F. T. James, Frank Work, George
L. Trask, H.F. Lombard, H. F. Spaulding, S. M. Pettingill,
A. S. Barnes, R. P. Getty, and Samuel D. Babcock. The capital stock
is about $1,000,000.
The officers of the Company are: President, D. N.
Barney; Directors, S. M. R. P. Getty, Pettingill. A. S. Barnes,
Chas. T. Harvey, J. H. Benedict, and C. E. Miller; Secretary and
Treasurer, H. W. Taylor; Manager and Chief Engineer,
Chas. T. Harvey; Attorney , Edward C. Delevan; Counsel, Hon. Jos. S.
Bosworth. The office of the Company is at No. 48 Cortlandt-street.
The final article in this series talks about the
"motive power" not being successfully demonstrated. They are already
experiencing problems.
THE
NEW
YORK
TIMES · SATURDAY
NOVEMBER
6TH, 1869
THE GREENWICH-STREET ELEVATED RAILWAY
This enterprise, which has now been before the public for
about three years, and in the prosecution of which nearly half a
million of dollars is reported to have been expended, appears to be no
nearer completion than it was a year ago. The report that the failure
of LOCKWOOD & Co. the bankers of the Company, had entailed losses
upon the enterprise, is not correct. The loan of $300,000 which
LOCKWOOD & CO. negotiated for the Company in 1868 had all been
expended before that house failed. Since then the Company has
endeavored to raise $300,000 to complete the road to Thirtieth-street,
and in order to get the money, they proposed to the original
subscribers to abate fifty per cent, on their original subscriptions
and payments – all parties who contributed to the first
$300,000, being allowed to receive fifty per cent of their
subscriptions in additional stock. In this way $100,000 has been
subscribed and partly paid in, which it is thought will be sufficient
to complete the road to Canal-street. With this money the work is
now being prosecuted , but in a very slow manner, the number of
workmen actually employed being small. Subscribers to the road
complain that the enterprise has been mismanaged, and that more than
$100,000 has been squandered in useless experiments through the
incompetency of the engineers. Even if the money were ready to
complete the road the practicability of the plan is regarded by many
as exceedingly problematical. The motive power for propelling the
cars has not been fully demonstrated as a mechanical success, and many
think it will prove abortive in practice. On the whole there does
not appear to be much prospect that the public will get any relief at
present in the way of speedy transit uptown from the long talked of
Greenwich-street Elevated Railway.
The elevated structure up Greenwich Street and then up
Ninth Avenue was further extended from 30th Street north (still on
the curb line), to 34th Street and placed in operation July 30, 1873.
By 1874 the New York Elevated Railroad Company's rolling stock had
increased to ten cars and six "dummy engines." By Nov. 6, 1875 the el
was extended to 42nd Street, and reached up to 61st Street and Ninth
Ave. by January 18, 1876. The original one track, single column
structure on the West Side of Manhattan, was eventually twinned by
erecting another track on the western side of the street in the latter
part of 1876. By May 1880 the two track system stretched all the way
up Greenwich Street/Ninth Avenue, one track on each curb line. There
was much reconstruction of the original structure. It was a great
success and set the pattern for the other elevated lines that
followed.
Continuing the Story of the 9th Avenue El
By Mark S. Feinman (contact)
By 1891, the rebuilding project was extended all the way
north to 116th St., creating Manhattan's first three-track elevated,
although center-track express service did not begin until 1916. In
upper Manhattan, the line had to accommodate the changing landscape;
the 9th Ave El was over 100 feet above the street at "Suicide Curve",
the portion of the El that made a 90-degree turn from 9th Ave onto
110th St. and another from 110th St. onto 8th Avenue.
The 9th Ave. El would extend all the way to 155th Street
and terminate adjacent to the southern terminal of the New York and
Northern Railroad (later the New York Central's Putnam Division).
This junction would allow suburbanites an easy transfer to the 9th Ave
El for points in downtown Manhattan. Eventually, the Polo Grounds
would be built at that location as well. Behind the Polo Grounds was
the 159th Street Yard, the largest elevated yard of the Manhattan
Elevated Railroad Company.
The 9th Avenue El played host to various tests of
electric operation between 1885 and 1900. In 1900, a test of
"Sprague"-style MU cars was performed on the 6th Avenue El, prompting
electrification of the whole system. Electric trains operated along
the 9th Ave. El beginning on February 18, 1903. On April 1, 1903, the
entire Manhattan Elevated system was leased to the IRT Company for 999
years. Subway system construction was planned to connect with the Els
at various points. By June 25th, 1903, the last steam-powered elevated
train was operated in passenger service on the 9th Ave El.
On July 1, 1918 the 6th and 9th Avenue Els extended
operation to 167th St. station of the IRT Woodlawn line over a bridge
built by the New York and Northern Railroad, which terminated
operations at 155th Street on January 6th of the same year. The
opening of the extension coincided with the cutback of the Putnam
Division back to Sedgwick Avenue on the Bronx side of the Harlem
River. The 155th Street terminal had two island platforms serving
four tracks (plus one bypass track); the eastern platform served
through trains to the Bronx, the western platform served trains
terminating at 155th Street. Although the terminal was elevated, there
were stairways leading down to the street and up to the 155th Street
viaduct, connecting the Macombs Dam Bridge with "Coogan's Bluff". By
January 2, 1919, 9th Ave. El service was extended to the Woodlawn
station of the IRT.
On August 26th, 1932, the IRT went into receivership one
month short of its 28th birthday. The 5 cent fare had taken its toll.
Unification of the privately owned transit lines with the
Independent City-Owned Rapid Transit Railroad (IND System) occurred in
June of 1940. Municipal operation of the IRT would begin on June
12th, 1940, two weeks after the City of New York took over the BMT.
As part of the Unification deal, the 2nd Ave. El north of 59th Street
and the 9th Ave. El in Manhattan would close forever at 12:01am on
June 12th, 1940. There were no special ceremonies held for the
closing of these lines. The last train on the 9th Ave. El, a 7 car
train filled with 500 people, left South Ferry at 11:14pm, arriving at
155th Street at 12:06am. Free transfers at 155th St, Manhattan, and
161st St. in the Bronx, were made available to the Independent's
Concourse line when the El closed. The only remaining portion of the
9th Ave El, the "Polo Grounds Shuttle" to Burnside Ave (later 167th
Street), closed for about 1½ hours at the close of 9th Ave. El
service, to prepare this portion of the line for its new service
pattern.
The June 12th, 1940 ceremonies marking the takeover of the
IRT by the city saw former Mayor James Walker in attendance. The
ceremony basically was the surrender of Contracts 1, 2 and 3 to the
City. LaGuardia called Contract 3 (the contract specifying the 5-cent
fare) "the most famous football in history". He couldn't find "the
father of the 5 cent fare"; no-one was willing to admit, or knew,
who's idea it was.
The "Polo Grounds Shuttle", as it was called, saw little
patronage because of the redundant IND Concourse Line running so
closely nearby. In addition, the New York Central's Putnam Division
stopped running, and in 1957, the Giants played their last season in
the Polo Grounds. With so little ridership, the "Polo Grounds
Shuttle" ceased operation at 11:59pm on August 31st, 1958.
Sources:
- Electric Railroads #25: New York's El Lines, 1867-1955, December
1956, Electric Railroader's Association.
- New York Times, June 12th, 1940
- Unpublished NYCTA Facts and Figures Document, 1977
- The Tracks of New York Number 3: Manhattan and
Bronx Elevated Railroads, by Alan Paul Kahn and Jack May, 1977,
Electric Railroader's Association
Report compiled by D. Pirmann from SubTalk
Posts, and assisted by Mark Feinman
(Group photo at the 155th St / 8th Ave
entrance to the IND Concourse Line. Photo by Mark
Feinman.)
The 9th Avenue El ran north from Manhattan across the
155th St. Bridge into the Bronx, connecting to the existing #4-Jerome
Ave. IRT elevated line near 162nd St. and Jerome Avenue. The line
opened as far north as 155th St. in 1879, and was extended to meet the
Jerome Ave. IRT in 1918, which itself had opened a year earlier. In
1940, the line was cut back to a shuttle operating between the Polo
Grounds at 155th St. Station and the Jerome Ave. IRT. This shuttle
ceased operation in 1958.
Track
Map, 1920 Map by Michael Calcagno
(Street
Map)
Sedgwick Avenue The Sedgwick Avenue station
is under the Major Deegan Expressway but above the level of the
Metro-North tracks. In order to get to the station, we had to climb
down the embankment that supports the southbound Major Deegan. Once
we climbed down this steep hill, we were able to climb up onto the
Sedgwick Ave platform.
The portion of the Sedgwick Avenue station that was above
today's Metro-North tracks was wooden; none of it remains. The
portion that was on the embankment and under the Major Deegan, was
built of concrete and much of this structure remains, although there
are no signs identifying the station at all. The wooden portions of
the structure ended about 50 feet from the small stairway onto the
concrete catwalk seen below. Evidence of two subway-type entrances
could be seen on the eastern portions of both the uptown and downtown
side platforms. A picture below shows that the bricked-up entrance
was partially broken into, and a peek inwards revealed the standard
yellowish station tiles that can still be seen in many subway stations
today. Picture below is the remains of part of the uptown platform,
where the staircases leading up to the pedestrian overpass once stood.
The outlines of the tunnel portals could easily be seen. There was an
opening in the "wall" covering the entrance to the "eastbound"
trackway. It was a rectangular opening, basically a double doorway
with no door.
(image 38977) (98k, 1044x788) Country: United States City: New York System: New York City Transit Line: 9th Avenue El Location: Sedgwick Avenue (Abandoned) Photo by: Steven Priesel Date: 8/8/2004 Notes: An exit that was covered over but since broken into on the Anderson-bound side; note the tilework. Viewed (this week/total): 13 / 7760
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(image 38974) (122k, 1044x788) Country: United States City: New York System: New York City Transit Line: 9th Avenue El Location: Sedgwick Avenue (Abandoned) Photo by: Steven Priesel Date: 8/8/2004 Notes: Looking into the tunnel on the Anderson-bound platform. Viewed (this week/total): 14 / 6511
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(image 38982) (150k, 1044x788) Country: United States City: New York System: New York City Transit Line: 9th Avenue El Location: Sedgwick Avenue (Abandoned) Photo by: Steven Priesel Date: 8/8/2004 Notes: Stranded car viewed from the 155th St.-bound platform. Viewed (this week/total): 13 / 6251
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(image 38970) (163k, 1044x788) Country: United States City: New York System: New York City Transit Line: 9th Avenue El Location: Sedgwick Avenue (Abandoned) Photo by: Steven Priesel Date: 8/8/2004 Notes: View of the stairwell that connected to the NY Central (MNRR). Viewed (this week/total): 12 / 4467
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(image 38985) (123k, 1044x788) Country: United States City: New York System: New York City Transit Line: 9th Avenue El Location: Sedgwick Avenue (Abandoned) Photo by: Steven Priesel Date: 8/8/2004 Notes: View from the trackbed looking toward Anderson-Jerome. Viewed (this week/total): 11 / 5325
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(image 38984) (125k, 1044x788) Country: United States City: New York System: New York City Transit Line: 9th Avenue El Location: Sedgwick Avenue (Abandoned) Photo by: Steven Priesel Date: 8/8/2004 Notes: View from the 155th St.-bound platform at the Anderson-bound platform. Viewed (this week/total): 15 / 5679
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(image 38961) (283k, 1044x788) Country: United States City: New York System: New York City Transit Line: 9th Avenue El Location: Sedgwick Avenue (Abandoned) Photo by: Steven Priesel Date: 8/8/2004 Notes: View of the MNRR tracks. Viewed (this week/total): 12 / 4518
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(image 38967) (271k, 1044x788) Country: United States City: New York System: New York City Transit Line: 9th Avenue El Location: Sedgwick Avenue (Abandoned) Photo by: Steven Priesel Date: 8/8/2004 Notes: View of the stairwell that connected to the NY Central (MNRR). Viewed (this week/total): 10 / 7540
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More Images: 1-8 9-16 17-24 25-32 33-40 41-48 49
The Sedgwick / Jerome Ave. Tunnel After
viewing the Sedgwick Ave. station, the group proceeded into the
tunnel, walking on the ballast where the eastbound track had been. The
westbound tunnel was sealed at this end. Several wrecked automobiles
were found in the tunnel right-of-way near the Anderson Ave. station
end of the tunnel. They must have been brought there before the walls
over the tunnel ends were installed. There were eight signals
counted, six of them were still where they were when service ended,
the other two were lying on the trackbed. All were in various states
of rust-through, with no bulbs and broken lenses. One greeted us as
soon as we entered the tunnel. The control box from one of them was
found on the tunnel floor. A couple of them still had the signal
plates loosely attached, although the enamel had worn off to the point
that only tiny patches remained on the bare metal. All rail and ties
had been removed, except for one, which was nearly buried by the
ballast, which still exists in both tunnels. The westbound tunnel
suffers greater water damage than the eastbound tunnel. Worker
"escapes" along the outside walls were found at the usual intervals,
and access between the tunnels was available every 20 feet or so.
What was odd was that there were ladders leading up to the tunnel
catwalk (along the center wall) every 10 feet, which seemed
"extravagant".
(image 8253) (18k, 320x240) Country: United States City: New York System: New York City Transit Line: 9th Avenue El Location: Tunnel bet. Sedgwick & Anderson Ave. Stations-9th Avenue El Photo by: Mark S. Feinman Date: 12/19/1999 Viewed (this week/total): 13 / 4730
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(image 8254) (15k, 320x240) Country: United States City: New York System: New York City Transit Line: 9th Avenue El Location: Tunnel bet. Sedgwick & Anderson Ave. Stations-9th Avenue El Photo by: Mark S. Feinman Date: 12/19/1999 Notes: We're a short way in from Sedgwick Avenue Viewed (this week/total): 9 / 3595
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(image 8255) (21k, 320x240) Country: United States City: New York System: New York City Transit Line: 9th Avenue El Location: Tunnel bet. Sedgwick & Anderson Ave. Stations-9th Avenue El Photo by: Mark S. Feinman Date: 12/19/1999 Notes: We're a short distance from the Anderson Avenue platform. Picture was taken from the tunnel catwalk Viewed (this week/total): 10 / 4920
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(image 8256) (20k, 320x240) Country: United States City: New York System: New York City Transit Line: 9th Avenue El Location: Tunnel bet. Sedgwick & Anderson Ave. Stations-9th Avenue El Photo by: Mark S. Feinman Date: 12/19/1999 Notes: Westbound tunnel Viewed (this week/total): 11 / 3671
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(image 8257) (19k, 320x240) Country: United States City: New York System: New York City Transit Line: 9th Avenue El Location: Tunnel bet. Sedgwick & Anderson Ave. Stations-9th Avenue El Photo by: Mark S. Feinman Date: 12/19/1999 Notes: Facing the Sedgwick Avenue uptown platform. The shadow of the doorway is seen, as well as debris along the trackway Viewed (this week/total): 11 / 5518
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(image 8258) (24k, 420x286) Country: United States City: New York System: New York City Transit Line: 9th Avenue El Location: Tunnel bet. Sedgwick & Anderson Ave. Stations-9th Avenue El Photo by: Hank Eisenstein Date: 12/19/1999 Notes: Remains of a signal, left where it was since abandonment on August 31st, 1958 Viewed (this week/total): 9 / 5222
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(image 8259) (23k, 425x285) Country: United States City: New York System: New York City Transit Line: 9th Avenue El Location: Tunnel bet. Sedgwick & Anderson Ave. Stations-9th Avenue El Photo by: Jodi Levine Date: 12/19/1999 Notes: That's Hank Eisenstein in the foreground and Mark Feinman holding his camera up in the background Viewed (this week/total): 12 / 4987
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(image 8260) (24k, 421x279) Country: United States City: New York System: New York City Transit Line: 9th Avenue El Location: Tunnel bet. Sedgwick & Anderson Ave. Stations-9th Avenue El Photo by: Hank Eisenstein Date: 12/19/1999 Notes: Sign for Woodycrest Avenue, painted onto the tunnel wall, surprisingly in good shape. Viewed (this week/total): 11 / 8630
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More Images: 1-8 9
Jerome / Anderson Avenue At Anderson
Ave., we were able to climb up on the platform and view what had been
the station from the inside. We had viewed this station from outside
on the street but could see virtually nothing. There was a definite
doorway in the wall that once sealed off the tunnel, again no door in
the doorway. We could look out to the street from behind the black
fence. Along the downtown side, the fence had a door in it, but that,
too, was missing. Had we decided to climb up the rock wall on Jerome
Avenue, we would have been pleasantly surprised in seeing that there
would be access in this direction, too. The station was littered with
garbage and tires from "Rocky's Chop Shop". The area of the platform
that serves as the roof of the awning shop was clean, and evidence of
recent roof work could be seen. A hatch was drilled into the platform
that serves as the awning shop's access for its "roof". We wonder if
the shop's owner even knew that 9th Ave El train service once ran on
his roof; with all the garbage, it was hard to make out where the
trackways were. And like the Sedgwick Avenue side, the sealed tunnels
were not entirely encased in concrete; the top 1/4 was grating left
open for ventilation.
Half of the remains of this station were outside in the
"cut" between the apartment buildings, and the other half was
underground. The former fare control area for the underground
portion of the station is now occupied by a laundromat. Evidence
of a failed break-in to this laundromat could be seen at the top of a
staircase leading to the fare control area.
Jerome Ave. & 162nd St., Street Level
Not much has changed since these pictures were taken (at Jerome
Ave. & 162nd St., the site of the Jerome/Anderson "subway"
station). The ad for Israel Ruiz is, for the most part, painted over,
save for the words "state senator" and part of his image from the
glasses on up. To the right of this picture is a rock "wall", which
looks like it is climbable on its right side. As a large group, we
decided not to climb it, knowing full well that there was "guaranteed"
access under the Major Deegan Expressway at Sedgwick Avenue. Had we
climbed this rock wall, we would have seen that there was an opening
in the fence where a door (a locked door, presumably) was missing,
providing easy access to the Sedgwick Ave platform. The station
canopy, at one time, extended from the tunnel portal all the way
across Jerome Avenue; there was no evidence of the canopy structure
anywhere on the platform remains. The folks living in the adjacent
apartment buildings have a great view of this area, and probably have
no idea that 9th Ave El trains once ran through the mysterious tunnel
that's partially blocked.
To the left of the pictures below is a distingushing
feature of the IRT that is also seen in plain sight along the Queens
Blvd. viaduct of the Flushing Line - green tile along the wall. It is
partially painted over, but clearly visible. The tilework extended
along the concrete structure that once crossed Jerome Avenue. The
doors at the bottom of the wall, I presume, were station entrances,
and there was no evidence of station entrances on the sidewalk
(different concrete on the ground, for example). This area is occupied
by a sign and awning business, and a quick peek in yielded no evidence
that a station was ever there.
If you walk back far enough on 162nd St. between Jerome
& River Avenues, you can see part of the Manhattan bound
tunnel. (If it were summer, you wouldn't be able to see a thing). You
can't tell whether or not it is sealed, even if you looked through a
camera's zoom lens.
There was no evidence of station entrances on Sedgwick
Ave. itself - just a solid rock/brick wall forming the foundation for
an apartment house. The Sedgwick Ave. platform is clearly visible from
a pedestrian overpass over the Major Deegan Expressway at 162nd
St. & Summit Ave. Cross the Major Deegan and you can see the edge
of the plaform under the expressway, and remnants of another concrete
structure that once held the foundation of a pedestrian overpass
across the tracks. On the other side of the overpass is a closed
staircase that one time connected to a pedestrian bridge that crossed
over what is now Metro-North, for access to the 9th Ave El; it is
fenced off. If you continue down the ramp of this overpass,
towards the Macombs Dam Bridge, it leads to some brush, and you can
easily walk through this brush and step onto these platforms.
(Between the time of my walking tour and the actual field trip, either
DOT or the Parks Department was through there; all the brush was
cleared).
(image 39076) (220k, 1044x788) Country: United States City: New York System: New York City Transit Line: 9th Avenue El Location: Anderson Avenue Photo by: Steven Priesel Date: 8/8/2004 Notes: Tunnel to Sedgwick Ave Station is behind that wall, Note all the trash on the track bed. Viewed (this week/total): 13 / 4169
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(image 39074) (247k, 1044x788) Country: United States City: New York System: New York City Transit Line: 9th Avenue El Location: Anderson Avenue Photo by: Steven Priesel Date: 8/8/2004 Notes: 155th St side of the platform looking towards the tunnel to Sedgwick. Viewed (this week/total): 11 / 3456
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(image 38966) (227k, 1044x788) Country: United States City: New York System: New York City Transit Line: 9th Avenue El Location: Anderson Avenue Photo by: Steven Priesel Date: 8/8/2004 Notes: The only way in and out of the station-- a long way down. Viewed (this week/total): 11 / 3191
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(image 39081) (217k, 1044x788) Country: United States City: New York System: New York City Transit Line: 9th Avenue El Location: Anderson Avenue Photo by: Steven Priesel Date: 8/8/2004 Notes: Tunnel to Sedgwick Ave Station is behind that wall. Viewed (this week/total): 11 / 3659
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(image 38965) (239k, 1044x788) Country: United States City: New York System: New York City Transit Line: 9th Avenue El Location: Anderson Avenue Photo by: Steven Priesel Date: 8/8/2004 Notes: Trackbed of the 167th St.-bound side. Viewed (this week/total): 17 / 5462
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(image 39078) (234k, 1044x788) Country: United States City: New York System: New York City Transit Line: 9th Avenue El Location: Anderson Avenue Photo by: Steven Priesel Date: 8/8/2004 Notes: Trackbed of the 155th St bound Side. Viewed (this week/total): 7 / 3586
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(image 38963) (330k, 1044x788) Country: United States City: New York System: New York City Transit Line: 9th Avenue El Location: Anderson Avenue Photo by: Steven Priesel Date: 8/8/2004 Notes: 155th St.-bound side; note the forest that overtook the trackbed. Viewed (this week/total): 12 / 2840
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(image 39077) (300k, 1044x788) Country: United States City: New York System: New York City Transit Line: 9th Avenue El Location: Anderson Avenue Photo by: Steven Priesel Date: 8/8/2004 Notes: In this direction, the train would be going towards 167th St. Viewed (this week/total): 13 / 3844
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More Images: 1-8 9-16 17-24 25-32 33-40 41-48 49
Back to the Tunnel Many of us walked back
through the "westbound" trackway - no automobiles blocking the way,
but we had to cross back over to the "eastbound" side on the Sedgwick
Ave. end through one of the crossover holes spaced at intervals
throughout the tunnel in order to get back out. A painted sign
indicating the location of Woodycrest Avenue was found in the
westbound tunnel. We didn't see any emergency exits in the tunnel at
all (but there were "ladders" leading up to the catwalk every 10 feet,
something that we felt was unusual).
Many of us expressed surprised that there was
absolutely no evidence of homeless people in either tunnel. Some
of us joked that we were fully expecting to find a body. And
unlike some of the currently opened stations along the NYC Subway,
there were no track rabbits (rats) anywhere.
Jerome Avenue & 163rd St, Street
Level. The girders of the connection at 163rd St. are still
there. In fact, the railroad ties remain over 163rd St. At the end of
the structure, you can see some more ties and about 20 feet of
guardrail, where it ends abruptly by IRT substation 44, built in 1917
and apparently still in use. The space where the el ran to Jerome
Ave. along 162nd Street is occupied by a parking lot for a tennis
club. The former fare control area on the east side of Jerome Avenue
and 162nd Street is now occupied by the entrance to the tennis
club.
(image 82704) (348k, 1044x788) Country: United States City: New York System: New York City Transit Line: 9th Avenue El Location: Jerome Avenue-9th Ave El Turnout Photo by: David-Paul Gerber Date: 3/15/2008 Viewed (this week/total): 9 / 1442
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(image 82702) (279k, 1044x788) Country: United States City: New York System: New York City Transit Line: 9th Avenue El Location: Jerome Avenue-9th Ave El Turnout Photo by: David-Paul Gerber Date: 3/15/2008 Viewed (this week/total): 10 / 1162
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(image 82701) (360k, 1044x788) Country: United States City: New York System: New York City Transit Line: 9th Avenue El Location: Jerome Avenue-9th Ave El Turnout Photo by: David-Paul Gerber Date: 3/15/2008 Viewed (this week/total): 6 / 1063
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(image 82703) (284k, 1044x788) Country: United States City: New York System: New York City Transit Line: 9th Avenue El Location: Jerome Avenue-9th Ave El Turnout Photo by: David-Paul Gerber Date: 3/15/2008 Viewed (this week/total): 8 / 985
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(image 69207) (26k, 600x450) Country: United States City: New York System: New York City Transit Line: 9th Avenue El Location: Jerome Avenue-9th Ave El Turnout Photo by: Professor J Date: 7/7/2007 Viewed (this week/total): 6 / 1066
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(image 69208) (29k, 600x450) Country: United States City: New York System: New York City Transit Line: 9th Avenue El Location: Jerome Avenue-9th Ave El Turnout Photo by: Professor J Date: 7/7/2007 Viewed (this week/total): 8 / 975
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(image 69209) (26k, 600x450) Country: United States City: New York System: New York City Transit Line: 9th Avenue El Location: Jerome Avenue-9th Ave El Turnout Photo by: Professor J Date: 7/7/2007 Viewed (this week/total): 5 / 1183
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(image 69210) (31k, 600x450) Country: United States City: New York System: New York City Transit Line: 9th Avenue El Location: Jerome Avenue-9th Ave El Turnout Photo by: Professor J Date: 7/7/2007 Viewed (this week/total): 9 / 1453
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More Images: 1-8 9-16 17-24 25-31
155th Street, Manhattan Returning to
Sedgwick Ave., the group walked across the Macombs Dam Bridge to the
site of the Polo Grounds, and stopped to look at the old El stairways
on the155th Street viaduct. We tried looking for remnants of the
159th Street yard; there were none. We tried viewing the Sedgwick Ave
station from the Harlem River Drive at the end of 8th Ave; the view
was obstructed by the recently built exit ramp from the Major Deegan
Expressway for the Bronx Terminal Market and Yankee Stadium. In the
Polo Grounds Housing complex, there was a plaque commemorating the
Polo Grounds stadium, identifying the approximate location of home
plate. At the end of the field trip, the group posed for its group
photo.
(image 8285) (37k, 320x240) Country: United States City: New York System: New York City Transit Location: Macombs Dam Bridge Photo by: Mark S. Feinman Date: 12/19/1999 Notes: Stairs to 9th Avenue El at Macombs Dam Bridge Viewed (this week/total): 5 / 5183
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(image 8286) (86k, 800x529) Country: United States City: New York System: New York City Transit Location: Macombs Dam Bridge Photo by: Timothy Todd Date: 1998 Notes: Stairs to 9th Avenue El at Macombs Dam Bridge Viewed (this week/total): 13 / 8004
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(image 8287) (64k, 800x520) Country: United States City: New York System: New York City Transit Location: Macombs Dam Bridge Photo by: Timothy Todd Date: 1998 Notes: Stairs to 9th Avenue El at Macombs Dam Bridge Viewed (this week/total): 7 / 4195
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(image 8288) (77k, 800x536) Country: United States City: New York System: New York City Transit Location: Macombs Dam Bridge Photo by: Timothy Todd Date: 1998 Notes: Stairs to 9th Avenue El at Macombs Dam Bridge Viewed (this week/total): 6 / 5649
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Historical Views
(image 82704) (348k, 1044x788) Country: United States City: New York System: New York City Transit Line: 9th Avenue El Location: Jerome Avenue-9th Ave El Turnout Photo by: David-Paul Gerber Date: 3/15/2008 Viewed (this week/total): 9 / 1442
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(image 82702) (279k, 1044x788) Country: United States City: New York System: New York City Transit Line: 9th Avenue El Location: Jerome Avenue-9th Ave El Turnout Photo by: David-Paul Gerber Date: 3/15/2008 Viewed (this week/total): 10 / 1162
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(image 82701) (360k, 1044x788) Country: United States City: New York System: New York City Transit Line: 9th Avenue El Location: Jerome Avenue-9th Ave El Turnout Photo by: David-Paul Gerber Date: 3/15/2008 Viewed (this week/total): 6 / 1063
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(image 82703) (284k, 1044x788) Country: United States City: New York System: New York City Transit Line: 9th Avenue El Location: Jerome Avenue-9th Ave El Turnout Photo by: David-Paul Gerber Date: 3/15/2008 Viewed (this week/total): 8 / 985
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(image 69207) (26k, 600x450) Country: United States City: New York System: New York City Transit Line: 9th Avenue El Location: Jerome Avenue-9th Ave El Turnout Photo by: Professor J Date: 7/7/2007 Viewed (this week/total): 6 / 1066
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(image 69208) (29k, 600x450) Country: United States City: New York System: New York City Transit Line: 9th Avenue El Location: Jerome Avenue-9th Ave El Turnout Photo by: Professor J Date: 7/7/2007 Viewed (this week/total): 8 / 975
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(image 69209) (26k, 600x450) Country: United States City: New York System: New York City Transit Line: 9th Avenue El Location: Jerome Avenue-9th Ave El Turnout Photo by: Professor J Date: 7/7/2007 Viewed (this week/total): 5 / 1183
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(image 69210) (31k, 600x450) Country: United States City: New York System: New York City Transit Line: 9th Avenue El Location: Jerome Avenue-9th Ave El Turnout Photo by: Professor J Date: 7/7/2007 Viewed (this week/total): 9 / 1453
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