Brooklyn Union Gate Car train on the Lexington Avenue el at Myrtle Avenue. George Conrad Collection.
By Mark S. Feinman
In the last quarter of the 19th Century, the City of Brooklyncomprised of much of today's "Downtown Brooklyn". Brooklyn suburbswere areas such as Midwood, Bensonhurst, and if you were wealthy anddidn't mind a long ride, the ocean areas of Brighton Beach, ManhattanBeach and Coney Island. Owners of the major hotels at the time, likethe Brighton Beach Hotel and the Sea Beach Palace Hotel, were lookingfor new ways to attract new customers. As a result, they helpedfinance new steam railroads to the beach, but because each acted onhis own, the steam railroads that "grew up" were disjointed,concentrated in the western and southern portions of Brooklyn, andreally weren't built for the rapid transit that we know of today.
Meanwhile, another company, the Brooklyn Union Elevated RailroadCompany, was responsible for the creation of the first Elevated linesthat fanned out of the City of Brooklyn. New areas of the land wouldbecome accessible, and with trains running over the Brooklyn Bridge toPark Row as early as September 1883, now the commerce center of NewYork would be a shorter ride away for these Brooklynites.
The force that created rapid transit in Brooklyn was the Americanmodel of free enterprise. The first company to create the route wouldreap all the profits from passengers using that route.
Eventually, all these companies and lines became the Brooklyn RapidTransit Corporation, which eventually began running these lines as aunit. With the BRT came electrification and rapid expansion.Eventually the BRT would become a competitor to the Manhattan-orientedInterborough Rapid Transit Corporation (IRT), and would beinstrumental in future New York City subway expansion. Like the IRTin Manhattan, the BRT was the only player in Brooklyn.
This is the story of the rise of rapid transit in Brooklyn, includingthe early days of the Brooklyn Rapid Transit, from 1878 until thesigning of the Dual Contracts in March of 1913.
All of the first Brooklyn steam lines served different parts of ConeyIsland. Therefore, a brief synopsis of Coney Island around that timeis being provided, in order to give you an idea of why it became sopopular.
In 1829, the Coney Island House opened, marking the beginning of ConeyIsland's status as a seaside resort. In 1844, The "Pavilion" wasbuilt on the western end of Coney Island and in 1847, steamboatservice began between that location and New York. By the 1860s, Mike"Thunderbolt" Norton, a local politician with a reputation forcorruption, opened a hotel in that same area, and the western part ofConey Island took on the name Norton's Point. Both the politician andthe area became known for corruption.
Austin Corbin was a successful businessman who did extremely well onWall Street. In 1873, Corbin and his family moved to Coney Island onthe advice of his son's doctor, for his son was gravely ill and thedoctor recommended the sea and salt air for comfort. After the move,Corbin, then president of the Long Island Railroad, saw potentialprofits in the development of a seaside resort. He then bought 500acres and started the Manhattan Beach Improvement Company. In 1877,this company built the Manhattan Beach Hotel, followed in 1880 by theOriental Hotel. The Manhattan Beach Hotel was located on the fareastern portion of Coney Island (today's Manhattan Beach). His NewYork and Manhattan Beach Railroad would eventually serve his hotel.
The second resort that was built was William A. Engeman's BrightonBeach Hotel, located west of Corbin's Manhattan Beach Hotel. Engemanamassed his fortune during the Civil War selling horses to the USgovernment. The Brighton Beach Hotel opened just before the 1878season and was patronized by the upper middle class. The wealthierbeachgoers went further east, to the Manhattan Beach Hotel, becausethey felt the Brighton was too close to the portion of beach we callConey Island today, which at that time, had a reputation for being anundesirable neighborhood. (For example, the Elephant Hotel opened atConey Island in 1882 and became associated with prostitution, whichprompted the local expression, "seeing the elephant.") The Brooklyn,Flatbush and Coney Island Railroad would serve the Brighton hotel.The Brighton Beach Hotel, in retrospect, was built too close to theocean, for by 1888 beach erosion was so severe that the oceanthreatened to collapse the structure. To solve this problem, it wasjacked up onto railcars and, using BB&CI steam engines, movedslowly inland 600 feet. The move started April 3rd, 1888, and wascompleted on June 29th, 1888.
The Culver Depot at Coney Island, 1916. Ed Watson/Arthur Lonto Collection.
The third big developer was Andrew R. Culver who ran a steam line, theProspect Park & Coney Island Railroad (the Culver Line), whichterminated in 1875 at Culver Depot along Surf Avenue. His railroadoffered regular service to Coney Island for a 35-cent fare. There wasa marked increase of "common establishments" in the vicinity of CulverDepot. While the more well to do patronized the area east of today'sOcean Parkway, the middle class sought after the area west of OceanParkway, and the Culver Line was a key reason why.
The final player in the Coney Island rail transportation picture wasthe New York and Sea Beach Railroad in 1879 that terminated at theirSea Beach Palace Hotel. The Sea Beach Palace was an enormous railterminal, restaurant and hotel that was located several blocks west ofCulver Depot.
Horse racing was a favorite pastime of the upper class in the 1880s,and because of the well-to-do crowds at Brighton and ManhattanBeaches, a number of racetracks were built. These race tracks werekey to the development of Coney Island because not only did the richpatronize the racetracks, but so did the not-so-rich. These hugecrowds all needed a speedy way of getting to the track, and those thathad too much to drink needed places to stay. Other not so lavishhotels sprouted up in the late 1880s like weeds.
Other diversions would also be built. In 1882, Peter and GeorgeC. Tilyou opened the Surf Theater, Coney Island's first theater, on analley later named the Bowery. La Marcus Thompson opened theSwitchback Railway, the first roller coaster in America. By 1895,Sea-Lion Park, the first enclosed amusement park at Coney Island, wasopened. In that same year, George C. Tilyou opened Steeplechase Parkat Coney Island, with the now-famous "Steeplechase Horses" as theprime attraction. In 1903, Luna Park opened, and in 1904, the sameyear as New York's "First Subway", Dreamland would open.
The first steam railroads were mainly built to serve hotels at the endof each line, and these hotels were owned by the same company as therailroads that served them. But by the turn of the century, therailroads were handling more crowds than they ever imagined.
The Sea Beach Line began service on July 18th, 1877 as a steamrailroad called the New York and Sea Beach (NY&SB) between the 64thStreet Pier and Bath Junction (approximately where 62nd Street & NewUtrecht Avenue intersect today). On July 17th, 1879, the steam linereached the Sea Beach Palace Hotel in Coney Island and terminated atSea Beach depot, located between the West End and Culver depots(between today's West 8th and West 11th Streets). While it was thelast line to service Coney Island, it was not supposed to be. It waschartered on September 25th, 1876. Construction between Coney Islandand Bath Junction was completed on June 5th, 1877. However, a disputewith the New York and Manhattan Beach Railroad (NY&MB) over trackgauge delayed full service for two years. The NY&MB, originallyplanned to be at standard gauge, was to be changed to three-footnarrow gauge due to the availability of nearly new equipment in thisgauge from the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition in 1876. For theNY&SB to run over NY&MB track to the pier, it would have to lay athird track, something Austin Corbin (president of the NY&MB) did notwant. The NY&SB would not compete with his NY&MB for the same ConeyIsland traffic.
The initial service was seasonal and ran only until September 1st,1877. It did not run over the 1878 season due to construction. NY&SBowners realized that without a line to the Bay, their line would notturn a profit. They would not be able to share the NY&MB right ofway. After various route proposals were tried and failed, the oneadapted was the alignment similar to today's: from Bath Junction, theNY&SB would run parallel to the NY&MB on its south side to 8th Ave,cross the NY&MB, then run parallel to it on its north side to the 64thSt pier. The crossing could not be avoided because the NY&SB was notable to acquire enough property north of 8th Ave to prevent it. Inexchange for the rights to cross over the NY&MB, the NY&SB gave theNY&MB permission to share the terminal at the 64th St pier, and theNY&MB agreed to share maintenance of the pier. With the agreements inplace, the NY&SB would open again on July 17th, 1879 over its fullroute.
The NY&SB always tried to undercut the NY&MB regarding pricing as aresult of this disagreement. They were somewhat successful, as mostpassengers chose the NY&SB to go to Coney Island over the NY&MB,because the NY&SB's terminal was in a more affordable part of ConeyIsland. Even when Corbin was able to negotiate a uniform one-way rateagreement between his carrier and all the others at 30 cents, theNY&SB did not buy into the agreement, and charged 25 cents. Corbinhad even tried multiple times to buy out the NY&SB outright, butfailed.
The NY&SB was mostly single tracked over a private right of way andran through relatively unpopulated areas. By 1885, the entire linewas double-tracked. For its first few years, the line remainedseasonal, opening in May and closing in September. The railroadexperienced financial problems and went bankrupt in 1881. In 1883,the railroad was reorganized into the New York and Sea Beach RailwayCompany. With the new management, the 1883 season turned out to be agood one, and service continued until October 22nd. The seasonalservice resumed on April 11th, 1884, and then the company announced itwould run year round service.
In 1886, the NY&SB leased the Sea Beach & Brighton Railroad andoperated it as a NY&SB branch, from 86th Street near Ave W to BrightonBeach. The SB&B was a reorganization of the New York and BrightonBeach Railway Company, chartered to build a line from Locust Grove toBrighton Beach. It basically would have run from along today's 86thStreet, crossed Ocean Parkway and terminated just west of the BrightonBeach Hotel. The Brooklyn, Bath &Coney Island, the NY&SB, The ConeyIsland & Brooklyn, the Prospect Park &Coney Island and the Brooklyn,Flatbush & Coney Island railroads were all opposed to this linecrossing theirs at grade. Property owners on 86th Street wereopposed, too. The route was eventually moved south over marshland andrequired to bridge all these other lines. It opened August 4th, 1880from Locust Grove to Brighton Beach. Patronage was poor and financialproblems mounted. The final blow was a fire of suspicious origin onJuly 27th, 1881, that destroyed the Brighton Beach terminal.
When the NY&SB leased the SB&B, it never ran trains on it. The line'scondition was poor and the bridges it crossed were in questionablecondition. However, the rails on the SB&B trestles were still in goodcondition and would be used to replace the NY&SB mainline rails thatwere in poor condition. Portions of the line between Gravesend Ave(today's McDonald Ave) and Brighton Beach became the experimentalBoynton Bicycle Railroad, an early monorail. Today, Boynton Placecommemorates both the Bicycle Railway and the SB&B right of way.
In 1889, the NY&SB opened up a spur into the Brooklyn Jockey Clubracetrack than ran from roughly Kings Highway to Ave S. The spur wasnot successful and ran only that year.
In 1895, the NY&SB suffered its only major accident, where a helperengine used to push NY&SB trains up the grade to the connection withthe NY&MB struck empty cars being moved to the Coney Island boundtrack. The engineer tried to stop, but the impact damaged both thereversing lever and the throttle, which could not be turned off. Therunaway engine struck a NY&SB train at Woodlawn station, where twodied and 55 people were injured. Because the NY&SB ran throughrelatively isolated areas, help was slow in arriving. As a result oflegal action and lawsuit settlements, as well as electrification bycompetitor railroads, the NY&SB went into bankruptcy in early 1896.By December 1st, 1896, the line had already been reorganized into theSea Beach Railway. In 1897, the line was leased to the BrooklynHeights Railroad Company.
During 1897 and the first part of 1898, the line was electrified withtrolley wire. Connections at 3rd Ave and 65th Street were made to theBrooklyn Heights 3rd Ave (Brooklyn) El. Track changes at bothterminals were implemented. Other improvements were made. Therebuilt Sea Beach line was opened up on May 20th, 1898, and by 1900,the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Corporation had taken ownership of it.
The Brooklyn, Flatbush and Coney Island Railroad began on July 2nd,1878, between Flatbush and Ocean Avenues (Prospect Park) and theBrighton Beach Hotel, as an excursion railway, not a commuter railway.It was incorporated nine years earlier, on June 25th, 1869.
Shortly after the route opened, plans were afoot to extend the line toFlatbush and Atlantic Avenues, to intersect with the Long IslandRailroad. The LIRR would allow the BF&CI excursion trains toterminate at its terminal, and on August 19th, 1878, service to theLIRR terminal began. Over time, however, this relationship did notprove to be lasting. In 1876, Austin Corbin's New York and ManhattanBeach Railroad began running trains over narrow gauge to the ManhattanBeach Hotel using trackage that paralleled the BF&CI railroad betweenAve H and Sheepshead Bay, a distance of three miles. In 1880, Corbinactually took over the LIRR. The line was regauged at standard gaugeand in 1882, through a series of mergers and acquisitions, the LIRRended up owning the NY&MB, and the BF&CI services were redundant andcompetitive. Furthermore, the NY&MB was a year-round operation, notjust an excursion line. So on December 14th, 1883, the LIRRterminated the agreement with the BF&CI, and the BF&CI was cutback toBedford Terminal, just before the point where the line joined theLIRR. One month later, without the profit generator that the LIRRconnection was, the BF&CI went into bankruptcy. The BF&CI was thenreorganized as the Brooklyn & Brighton Beach Railroad in 1887.
After the reorganization, improvements to the B&BB were made. Theline below grade was reconstructed with stone walls. A new terminalwas built at Brighton Beach. Most significantly, the B&BB begannegotiations with the Kings County Elevated Company to route itstrains downtown via the Fulton Street El. No longer would the B&BB bean excursion railway; its connection with the Fulton Street El meantthat the line would become a bonafide rapid transit line servingcommuters. The LIRR, again seeing the B&BB as a threat, went to courtand tried to stop this plan from proceeding. The LIRRs attempt toinfluence commissioners notwithstanding, through service from BrightonBeach over the Fulton El to the Brooklyn Bridge at Sands Street beganon August 15th, 1896. The Brighton Line was electrified using trolleywire from Fulton St & Franklin St to Newkirk Avenue, and then toBrighton Beach in 1899.
In the spirit of "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em", the NY&MB beganrunning from the Brooklyn Bridge, via the 5th Ave El, to a new rampthat connected the 5th Ave El with the NY&MB at 36th St and 5th Ave.
In 1900, the BRT took control of the Brighton Line. When the Fulton StEl was electrified, a ramp to the Brighton Line at Fulton & Franklinwas built, and through trains to Park Row, Manhattan, via the BrooklynBridge began on July 9th, 1900. These through trains supplemented andthen replaced cable car service over the span. The electrificationalso enabled streetcar companies that were absorbed by the BRT to usethe Brighton Line to run trolleys to Coney Island. A ramp at ProspectPark was built to enable this connection, and it remained in use until1905. As part of BRT ownership, the LIRR's Manhattan Beach branchreceived connecting service from the Brighton Line at Sheepshead Bay.
The Prospect Park and Coney Island Railroad began service on June19th, 1875 as a steam railroad between Prospect Park (9th Ave. and20th Street) and Gravesend Avenue and Neck Road. Built by AndrewCulver, it also became known as the Culver Line, and in fact, carrieshis name to this day. On July 27th of the same year, the steam linereached Cable's Hotel (later known as the Ocean View) in the WestBrighton section of Coney Island at Culver Terminal. Culver Terminalwas the predecessor to today's Stillwell Avenue; its original locationwas at Surf Avenue and West 5th Street approximately where theBrightwater Towers stand today. Culver Terminal was a surface terminaladjacent to a roller coaster. The West Brighton section of ConeyIsland used to refer to the Coney Island we know of today, west ofWest 5th Street at Surf Ave. Originally single-tracked when itopened, the line was double-tracked by April 1878.
Unlike the BF&CI and the NY&SB, the PP&CI was built to serve the manyvillages it went through. It did not suffer financial constraintsfrom being a seasonal operation. In 1879, the railroad leased the NewYork and Coney Island Railroad, and service began between CulverTerminal and Norton's Point, the very western most tip of ConeyIsland. Connections to steamboats to/from New York City were made atNorton's Point. The Norton's Point line was electrified in 1899.Upon electrification, El cars were used to transport passengersbetween the steamboats and Culver Terminal. Around 1910, streetcarsreplaced El cars; in May 1918 when Culver trains terminated at the newStillwell Ave terminal, El cars resumed the service, but it was shortlived. By October 1919, streetcars once again took over servicerequirements until the line's demise.
The Long Island Railroad acquired a majority interest in the PP&CI in1893, and a trackage rights agreement enabled it to use the LIRR fromParkville (today's Ave I) to a ferry landing (likely in Bay Ridge)that would enable ferryboat transfers for passengers wishing to go tothe beach. From 1893 to 1899, the LIRR owned and operated the Culverline as a part of the New York and Manhattan Beach division. In 1895,a connection was made between the Fifth Ave. Elevated line and theCulver line, enabling trains to travel directly from Brooklyn Bridgeto both Manhattan Beach (via the LIRR) and Coney Island (via theCulver line).
The PP&CI was electrified in 1899, and LIRR steam passenger serviceended. The LIRR was also losing money, and saw an opportunity to berid of the PP&CI and end their fight with some of the other Brooklyncompanies. The BRT took over the PP&CI on April 1st of that sameyear. The same agreement that enabled the BRT to take over the PP&CIgave it a virtually free hand in Brooklyn with the exception of someLIRR routes. In turn, the LIRR got a free hand in Queens, andretained trackage rights on the South Brooklyn and PP&CI routes. SomeBRT surface lines started using the PP&CI for through service to ConeyIsland.
Coney Island - West End Depot, 1915. Ed Watson/Arthur Lonto Collection.
Construction on the Brooklyn, Bath and Coney Island Railroad began in1862, the earliest of all the lines to serve Coney Island. It beganservice in 1864 as a horse-drawn line between 25th St and 5th Ave inSouth Brooklyn to the Bath section of Brooklyn, which in today's mapwould be 65th Street and New Utrecht Avenue. In 1867, the line reachedConey Island, making it the first steam railroad to reach the AtlanticOcean at this location. Eventually, the horses were replaced withsteam engines. In 1885, a branch was built from 5th Avenue and 38thStreet to Second Avenue and 39th Street as a ferry connection. Alsoin 1885, the BB&CI was reorganized into the Brooklyn, Bath and WestEnd Railroad.
In 1889, when the 5th Ave El reached 5th Ave and 36th St, the railroadwas abandoned north of 36th St. Trains then ran from 2 branches, onefrom the ferries and one from the junction of the 5th Ave El, toTivoli's Hotel in Coney Island. The two branches joined in WestBrooklyn, which is approximately where New Utrecht Ave & Ft HamiltonPkwy meet now. On May 30th, 1890, the BB&WE and the Prospect Park &Coney Island Railroads shared a Union terminal at 36th Street and 5thAve, along with a stairway enabling a connection to the 5th Ave El.
On November 10th, 1893, the line was electrified with trolley wire andmerged with the Atlantic Avenue Railroad which itself merged with theNassau Electric Railroad in 1898. Also in November of 1893, theAtlantic Avenue Railroad started running streetcars on the line, andin early 1894, railway post office mail was begun on the line to ConeyIsland. The BRT tool the BB&CI over in 1898.
The very first elevated line in Brooklyn, elevated in thesense that most of it ran above the ground, not on an "Ellooking" structure as we know it, opened in 1881. It was the onemile long Coney Island Elevated Railway, and ran from the BrightonBeach Hotel to a terminal just west of the Culver Terminal. It usediron bridges at road crossings, and wooden pilings and columnselsewhere. It ran generally along the route of today's Brighton Linebetween Brighton Beach and West 8th Street. There were nointermediate stations on this line, which ran seasonally in thesummertime only. In 1886, the Coney Island Elevated was reorganizedas the Sea View Railroad and purchased by the BRT in 1897. The BRTelectrified the line, then tore the structure down in 1900 due to itspoor condition and extended the Brighton line, via the right of way onthe surface where the line once stood, to Culver Terminal.
While steam railroads on the surface were being built to Coney Islandfor beachgoers, steam elevateds were being built to handle commutersinto downtown Brooklyn and to steamboats into New York. The firstline to open was operated by the Brooklyn Elevated Railroad (BER) in1885. Known as the "Old Main Line", it ran from Washington and YorkStreets to Gates Ave and Broadway. Later in 1885, the line wasextended to the Manhattan Crossing station at East New York. InSeptember 1885, it was extended east to Alabama Ave and in November1885 extended west to Fulton Ferry.
April 10th, 1888 saw the opening of the Myrtle Ave El from AdamsStreet to Grand Avenue, where it joined the "Old Main Line" to DeKalbAve. June 25th, 1888 saw the extension of the "Old Main Line" toDriggs Avenue via Broadway, and July 14th, 1888 saw the line extendedwest to Broadway Ferry. The line on Broadway became known as theBroadway - Brooklyn El, and is still called this today. On September1st, 1888, the Myrtle Ave El was extended from Adams Street to SandsStreet at the Brooklyn Bridge.
The 5th Ave (Brooklyn) El opened on November 5th, 1888, from Park &Hudson Avenues, into the "Old Main Line", to Atlantic and FlatbushAvenues. Service ended two days later, on November 7th, due to anaccident at the corner of Myrtle and Hudson Avenues (a Myrtle Ave Eltrain collided with a 5th Ave El train). It remained out of servicefor months. On June 21st, 1889, the 5th Ave El was extended to 3rdStreet and service resumed between 3rd Street and Brooklyn Bridge, butservice remained discontinued between Myrtle and Park Avenues. OnAugust 15th, the El was further extended to 25th Street, followed byanother extension to 36th Street on December 9th. On May 30th, 1890,5th Ave El service was extended to 38th Street, and a stairwayconnected it to the Brooklyn, Bath & West End Railroad and ProspectPark & Coney Island Railroads' Union terminal at 36th Street and 5thAve. On October 1st, 1893, the El was extended to 65th St and 3rdAve. The line ran on 3rd Ave to 38th Street, turned on 38th Streetfor two blocks before turning again onto 5th Ave.
On April 27th, 1889, the Myrtle Ave El was extended to Grant Avenue,but there was no through service from Broadway because there was notrack structure between the "Old Main Line" and the Myrtle Ave El atGrand Ave. Through passengers would have to alight at Grand Avenue onthe "Old Main Line", walk to the Grand Avenue station of the MyrtleAve El, and then continue their trip. On July 20th, 1889, the El wasextended to Wyckoff Ave, and crossed over the Broadway - Brooklyn El.There was no connection between these two lines, and it is unclear ifthere was a passenger transfer between these lines when the Myrtle AveEl was extended. On December 9th, 1889, through service was openedbetween Wyckoff Ave and Fulton Ferry. Also at this time, the portionof the 5th Ave El that was discontinued between Myrtle and ParkAvenues reopened to "Old Main Line" service.
December 30th, 1890 saw the first El abandonment in Brooklyn, that ofthe "Old Main Line" between Myrtle and Hudson Avenues. This part ofthe "Old Main Line" was known as the Park Ave El, and it was abandonedbecause its service was redundant with that of the Myrtle Ave El.
Three years later, on May 30th, 1893, the "Old Main Line" was extendedfurther east to Cypress Hill Cemetery at Jamaica Avenue. Also during1893, some of the earlier stations, Washington Ave and Vanderbilt Ave,were reopened in new locations as a single island platform (instead oftwo side platforms).
On May 24th, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge opened. Fearing that thebridge could not support the weight of steam locomotives, a cable carservice by the New York and Brooklyn Bridge Railway began exactly fivemonths later. The Brooklyn Bridge line was electrified on November30th, 1896, but the cable method was still predominant at that time.On June 18th, 1898, partial through service to Park Row, Manhattan viathe Myrtle Ave El began. Shortly thereafter, the 5th Ave andLexington Ave Els also began service to Park Row.
July 17th, 1898 saw the first joint service between the BrooklynElevated Railway and the LIRR. The Chestnut Street incline openedconnecting the Broadway - Brooklyn El to the LIRR at Atlantic Avenueand Rockaway Avenue. El trains ran through to Rockaway Park. OnOctober 4th, LIRR trains ran through service from Broadway Ferry toJamaica using the incline. This service lasted only three months,ending January 10th, 1899.
On April 24th, 1897, an incline from the Fulton Street El at GrantAvenue opened, permitting trolleys of the Long Island Electric Railwayto operate up to the El level. This service ended four years later,on April 1st, 1901.
The second joint BER - LIRR service began October 24th, 1899, when theLIRR ran service from the Brooklyn Bridge, via the 5th Ave and MyrtleAve Els, and the LIRR Atlantic Ave line, to Jamaica. A connectionbetween the 5th Ave El and the LIRR was opened up at Flatbush Avenue.This was the last joint service with the BER, for in 1899, it wasabsorbed into the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Corporation.
On January 19th, 1896, papers were filed by Timothy S. Williams toincorporate the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Corporation (the BRT). The BRTwas not an operator, simply a holding company set up to acquire theproperties of the other transit interests. Shortly afterincorporating, the BRT began a campaign of acquisition of variousstreetcar, elevated and steam roads. By 1900, the BRT had taken overthe Sea Beach Railway. In 1899, the Nassau Electric Railway, whichtook over the BB&CI, was now under BRT control. The Brooklyn Elevatedand Union Elevated railways were consolidated into the Brooklyn UnionElevated Railroad Company in that same year. In fact, by this time,most of the Brooklyn railroads were in financial straits, and the BRTsimply gobbled them up. By 1900, every Brooklyn line was under BRTcontrol, except the Brooklyn and Rockaway Beach Railroad (the CanarsieLine), which didn't fall under BRT control until 1906.
The Brooklyn and Rockaway Beach Railroad Company began operations onOctober 21st, 1865 from East New York to Canarsie Landing. This was asteam dummy line running on the surface, and the entire line wassingle track until 1894, when it was double-tracked. The line randown Van Sinderen Avenue to Linden Blvd, then via a private right ofway to Rockaway Avenue (Parkway today), then between East 93rd andEast 94th Streets to Canarsie Landing. Trains would meet connectingferries for the trip across Jamaica Bay.
In May 1906, the BRT set up the Canarsie Railroad Company to purchasethe line, and this company then leased it to the Brooklyn UnionElevated Railroad Company. The BU elevated the line from New LotsAvenue to East New York, and relocated part of the line adjacent tothe LIRR's Bay Ridge Branch. The newly rebuilt line was alsoelectrified with third rail, and the line south of New Lots Avenue waselectrified with trolley wire. The new line was opened on July 28th,1906, with trains running to East New York, then the Broadway -Brooklyn El to The Bowery or Chambers Street. At Atlantic Avenuestation, there was a connection to the Fulton Street (Kings CountyElectric railroad) line. The easternmost platform of this station is aremnant of this line. When fully operational, it served Fulton Streettrains, Canarsie line trains and Broadway trains.
With BRT control came electrification and through services on the Els.On July 3rd, 1899, the 5th Ave El was electrified to 36th Street, andon August 17th, electrification extended to 65th Street. By July 1st,1900, the Myrtle Ave and Lexington Ave Els were electrified, as wasthe Broadway - Brooklyn El between Broadway Ferry and East New York.Just one month later, Manhattan Junction opened in East New York,allowing a connection between the Fulton Street and Broadway -Brooklyn El.
May 30th, 1903 was the opening of another incline at Crescent Street.This incline was not for LIRR joint service - it was to allow throughservice of El cars from the end of the Broadway - Brooklyn El to 168thStreet in Jamaica, Queens. El cars ran on the surface of Jamaica Avewith trolley cars under trolley wire. This service was the precursorto the Jamaica Ave El built during the Dual Contracts. On September21st, the Bay Ridge incline opened in Brooklyn, connecting the 5th AveEl to Ft Hamilton Ferry via the 5th Ave El and surface tracks. Again,the service was provided by El cars running under trolley wire, butthrough service was not possible because the surface rails on 3rd Avecould not accommodate the El cars. Specific El cars were modified topermit this service, and passengers wishing to travel to Ft Hamiltonwould transfer to these El cars at 65th St. However, trolleys latertook over the connecting service just two months later.
The Crescent Street incline did not last very long, for on December8th, 1903, it was abandoned because of a law enacted that made itunlawful to run elevated trains on streets. The structure, however,remained until 1924. The Chestnut Street incline saw continuedservice, and the LIRR electrified it on July 28th, 1906. A specialadapter at the beginning of the ramp along the LIRR's Atlantic Aveline enabled the third rail shoe of the LIRR cars to be moved to the"correct" position for traveling over the El. Service ran to BroadwayFerry until May 30th, 1909, when LIRR service was extended over theWilliamsburgh Bridge to the new "Manhattan Terminal" (today's EssexStreet). Service lasted until September 3rd, 1917, and the structurewas not dismantled until 1942 (although parts were torn down in 1924).
April 11th, 1904 saw the closing of the "Old Main Line" between MyrtleAve and Fulton Ferry. July 28th, 1906 saw the opening of a connectionbetween the Canarsie Line and the Fulton & Broadway - Brooklyn Els atManhattan Junction. Two months later, on October 1st, the Myrtle AveEl was extended to Metropolitan Ave via surface tracks starting atWyckoff Ave.
As a result of a new LIRR terminal opening at Flatbush and AtlanticAves in 1912, the LIRR's Flatbush Avenue connection to the 5th Ave Elwas ended.
In 1901, BRT elevated trains began using the surface West Endtrackage, using trolley poles. Service connected to the West End froma ramp of the 5th Avenue elevated at 36th Street. Called the "5th Ave- West End Line", it ran using third rail from Sands St or Park Row to36th St and then by trolley pole to Coney Island. Originally, theWest End Line has its own Coney Island terminal, but in 1910, itshared its terminal with the Sea Beach line.
In 1903, the BRT began Sea Beach through service between Bath Junctionand Coney Island. During sunny summer weekends and holidays, the ConeyIsland Express ran from the Brooklyn Bridge via the 5th Ave El and theWest End Line to Bath Junction, then via Sea Beach trackage to ConeyIsland. No stops were made between 36th Street and Coney Island.This was probably a reason why the Sea Beach line, when rebuilt aspart of the Dual Contracts, had a non-stop express run from 59thStreet to Coney Island; it was simply extending a service that hadalready been provided. In addition, trolley service along the SeaBeach line was provided between 65th St and Coney Island. As a resultof numerous accidents, joint trolley and El car service on the SeaBeach line was stopped in 1907. This was done by coupling anduncoupling Sea Beach cars to/from 5th Avenue - West End trains at BathJunction. Trolleys ran west of Bath Junction to the 64th Street pierand later to a ramp near 3rd Avenue.
In 1903, a short surface extension connected the Brighton Line withthe Culver Terminal in Coney Island. This right of way was the sameused by the Coney Island Elevated before it was torn down in 1900.Between 1905 and 1908, the BRT performed a major upgrade to theBrighton Line, building much of its present right of way. The line waselevated from the Fulton El connection at Fulton and Franklin, thenran in an open cut from north of Prospect Park to Newkirk Avenue, thenramped up to an embankment to Sheepshead Bay, where the line descendedto the surface for the last section to Coney Island. Between ChurchAvenue and Sheepshead Bay, there were four tracks. The use of trolleycars from Prospect Park to Brighton Beach was ended in 1905 as theupgrade began. The LIRR's Manhattan Beach line, located along what istoday's East 17th Street, was moved immediately next to the Brighton'sright of way, resulting in a six-track embankment. A spur toSheepshead Bay Race Track off the Brighton Line (at today's Ave X) wasalso built.
Remnants of the Manhattan Beach Line can be found along virtually allthe bridge abutments along the Brighton Line from Ave J to Ave X. Inaddition, at Kings Highway a short fence that stood between theBrighton Line and the Manhattan Beach Line still stands today, in poorcondition, at the edge of the Manhattan-bound local track. At NeckRoad, the foundation to the LIRR's Neck Road station house stillstands, as well as a walled off staircase leading up to it. Finally,the flyunder at Ave X still exists, but is filled in and withouttrack. The steel trestle carrying the Brighton Line's right of way isstill visible. The Brighton Line's right of way expands just north ofAve X for a short distance to accommodate the two additional tracksthat provided service to the racetrack.
Construction of the improved Sea Beach Line, January 1914. Looking east from 7th Avenue south of LIRR showing progress of constructing 8th Ave. station. Collection of Bruce Fedow.
In 1906, the Sea Beach abandoned its 65th Street terminal in anagreement with the LIRR, where the Sea Beach took over the land at63rd St and 2nd Ave to give the LIRR room for an expanding freightfacility. In March 1907, passenger service to the 64th St pier wasabandoned. The former terminal became a freight operation that wasoperated by the South Brooklyn Railroad, a BRT subsidiary.
Also in 1906, the BRT began charging a 10-cent fare on its lines toConey Island. Passengers traveling south of Kings Highway on all theformer steam lines were charged this fare in order to make up somelost money by the predominantly summer-only patronage on these lines.This began one of many downward spirals of the BRT's customerrelationship management, and the BRT came to be known as "Beggars,Robbers and Thieves". When passengers refused to pay the extra fare,the cars on which they sat were pushed onto sidings and left there.One newspaper account recalls a beach party held on a BRT car, wherethe car was used for kindling. While the fare was unpopular, itremained in effect until the Dual Contracts. As a condition ofparticipating in the Dual Contracts, the BRT would lower the fare to auniform five cents when all its southern routes were upgraded. TheCulver Line was the last of the southern lines to be upgraded in 1920,and that's when the uniform fare was restored.
In 1910, Sea Beach trains began terminating at West End depot. OnNovember 30th, 1912, the Sea Beach Railroad lost its corporateidentification when it merged with the Brooklyn Union and CanarsieRailroads to form the New York Consolidated Railroad Company.
Recall that in 1900, the City of New York was barely two years old,having been comprised of the counties of Kings, Queens, Bronx,Richmond and New York. Downtown Brooklyn was once the City ofBrooklyn, and commuters traveled to downtown Brooklyn as often as theywere traveling to Manhattan over the Brooklyn Bridge. To best meetthis demand, it was felt at the time to send trains into downtownBrooklyn and lower Manhattan, and have them loop back into Brooklynwithout terminating. This type of operation would increase throughputto the downtown areas.
The Brooklyn Loop Lines concept originated from this idea. Loopswould connect to all transit lines running over the Brooklyn Bridge,and the Manhattan and Williamsburgh bridges when transit lines wouldbe constructed over them. The Manhattan portion of the loop would rununder Centre Street, but part of the proposed ROW was already in useby the IRT. The proposal was then changed to have a terminal builtunder a new city office building and it became known as ChambersStreet. Construction began on January 27th, 1907. Since the areaunder construction was at one time a pond that was later filled in,construction of the Municipal Building proved difficult, causingdelays in station construction so the foundations could be properlysecured. The initial plans for Chambers Street comprised of a fourtrack, five-platform station, later changed to a six-track stationwith seven platforms. This never came to pass and the original planswere used; however, provision for two additional tracks and pltformswas built into the station at the east end. The westernmost tracks ofChambers Street (the ones closest to the IRT Lexington Ave line), atthe south end of the station, were built to curve eastward and climbto connecting ramps onto the Brooklyn Bridge. These ramps werelocated under the Park Row terminal, and were built, but tracks werenever laid on them. The easternmost tracks, at the south end, were toconnect to a proposed subway to William Street. On the north end,after a complex series of crossovers, four tracks would continue northto Canal Street and eventually the Williamsburgh Bridge, and the twoeasternmost tracks would also have a branch to cross the ManhattanBridge. Chambers Street was built to be a through station that couldhandle heavy traffic; the outer and center platforms would be used forexit traffic and the remaining inner platforms used for boardingtrains. The elevation of the westernmost tracks is higher at thesouth end of the station than the others, in anticipation of crossingthe Brooklyn Bridge.
The westernmost tracks serving the Williamsburgh Bridge opened forservice on August 4th, 1913, a year before the Chambers Street stationitself was completed on September 14th, 1914. The easternmost tracksserving the Manhattan Bridge did not open until the opening of the 4thAvenue (Brooklyn) subway and Sea Beach Lines (as part of the DualContracts) on June 22nd, 1915.
The rest of the Manhattan portion of the Brooklyn Loop Lines becamewhat is today known as the Centre Street Loop. It would be afour-track subway leaving Chambers Street, running under CentreStreet, and then turning east under today's Kenmare Street andDelancey Street. There were four stations planned along the line, twoof which would have had a layout similar to Nostrand Ave on today'sIND Fulton Street Line. The portion of the line under Delancey Streetwould have connected to the Manhattan Terminal station (now EssexStreet) built by the NYC Dept of Bridges. Two tracks would havedirectly served the trolley terminal built adjacent to the ManhattanTerminal station. In fact, the two-track structure that would havefacilitated such a connection was actually built, but tracks werenever installed on it. As the design of the loop progressed, theTriborough Plan of future routes and tunnel clearances was released,and the plans were later changed and the multi-level stations dropped,leaving stations at Canal St, The Bowery and Delancey Street. Thetunnel clearances were changed to handle standard passenger cardimensions. Two tracks of the line would continue across theWilliamsburgh Bridge and to connect to the Broadway - Brooklyn El forJamaica service. Provision for a downtown Manhattan crosstown lineunder Spring Street was also built. And as a by-product of theTriborough Plan, in 1911, the BRT designed a new larger 10-foot widesteel car that would come to be known as the AB Standard when it wasdelivered in 1915.
Construction of the elevated line from the Williamsburg Bridge, 1903. Ed Watson/Arthur Lonto Collection.
The Williamsburgh Bridge opened on December 19th, 1903, and theconnection to the Broadway - Brooklyn El was completed on December31st, 1907. The Manhattan Terminal was "temporarily" opened onSeptember 16th, 1908. Trolley service began at the new trolleyterminal on May 18th, 1908 and the full station was officially openedon December 1st, 1908. Partial through service between ManhattanTerminal and Chambers Street opened on June 30th, 1913, and fullservice began August 4th, 1913. The Manhattan Terminal station wasrenamed Essex Street shortly before the 4th Ave (Brooklyn) subwayopened in June 1915.
The plans for a subway under 4th Avenue in Brooklyn were firstproposed in 1905. Originally, the route had been planned for IRTservice from the Contract II line to Atlantic Avenue; in fact, the IRTbuilt provisions to connect to this route in the tunnel walls justnorth of the Atlantic Avenue station. However, by 1908, plans changedto have a different operator run the line and to use increasedclearances in design. In addition, the line would connect to portionsof the Brooklyn Loop Lines under downtown Brooklyn and cross theManhattan Bridge.
Construction began on November 13th, 1909. The section betweenFlatbush Avenue and 59th Street would have four tracks, and thesection from 59th Street to 86th Street would have two tracks, butcontain provisions for the addition of two additional tracks if futureridership made it necessary. It also contains the only "undergroundbridge" on the NY subway system, crossing over the LIRR Bay RidgeBranch while remaining under 4th Avenue.
As the line was built, there were provisions for a turning loop underFlatbush Avenue near Nassau St (in Brooklyn) to turn trains when heavytraffic to Manhattan was not projected. Downtown Brooklyn itself wasstill a thriving metropolis of its own even after its consolidationinto Greater New York. There was a provision for a four-track turnoutunder 40th Street in Brooklyn to connect to the West End Line. Thisturnout is the reason why the 95th St-bound local track swings outvery wide upon leaving 36th Street. Provisions were also built for afuture line to Staten Island; evidence today can be found as trackpockets along both local tracks just south of the 59th Street station.
When the Dual Contracts were signed in 1913, the 4th Avenue subway,already well under construction, was awarded to the BRT. As a result,plans were changed to connect the 4th Avenue to the Sea Beach Line at59th Street, and the West End & Culver Lines at 38th Street. As aresult of the 38th Street connection, the original 36th Street stationwas extended further north and the southern portion destroyed to makeroom for the connection. However, the original 36th Street stationwas built with two separate mezzanines, so the south mezzanine wasclosed, and the north one reconfigured to act as the sole mezzaninefor the entire station. The south mezzanine, legend holds, is stillaccessible from a track stairway. These changes were completed in1914.
The 4th Avenue subway, providing service to Coney Island via the SeaBeach line, opened June 22nd, 1915.
This is a summary of the BRT lines as they existed beforeDual Contracts construction:
All Els were two track lines.
The signing of the Dual Contracts in 1913 made the Brooklyn RapidTransit a real player in future subway expansion. The formation ofthe majority of today's routes unfolded as construction continued.Additional provisions for routes never built continued to be made, andengineers proposed yet additional routes, long before the IndependentCity-Owned Rapid Transit System was a gleam in Mayor John Hylan'seyes. But as time went on, the BRT got cocky and adapted a "public bedamned" attitude, with poor customer relationship managementtechniques. The "Beggars, Robbers and Thieves" rule of the land begandeteriorating in earnest with a strike in late October 1918. As aresult of pressing untrained motormen into service to cover thestriking workers, the worst accident to befall rapid transit in NewYork City, the Malbone Street wreck, occurred on November 1st, 1918,where at least 93 people lost their lives. This was the proverbial"straw that broke the camel's back" and the company went intobankruptcy shortly thereafter. It remained in receivership until1923, when it was reorganized as the Brooklyn-Manhattan TransitCorporation, or the BMT.
The BMT brought with it a change in attitude, and some would say, themost colorful era in the development of rapid transit rolling stocksince the introduction of the BRT Standards for use in the 4th Avenuesubway in 1915. But the political winds in New York City werechanging, and "Unification" was "the word". After several Cityadministrations and financial troubles, in June of 1940, the BMT lostits identity as a corporate entity and became, simply, the BMTDivision of the New York City Rapid Transit System.
We'll examine the latter part of the BRT era, and the BMT, in futureeditions of this document, in the coming months.
The following sources were consulted for the material in this document:
Books:
Periodicals:
On-line Resources:
Version 1.0, 17 February 2001. Copyright 2001 by Mark S. Feinman.Permission is granted to individuals to copy all or part for personaluse, provided the copies are not sold for profit and this copyrightnotice is included.
