The trackage shown above, for the 125th Street Crosstown Line was shared by several other streetcar lines such as the Amsterdam and 3rd Avenue Line and the Broadway-Amsterdam Avenue Line and the Willis Avenue Line at one time. I am thankful to Bernard Linder who is not only a map designer, but who has written extensively on the history of the streetcar companies, equipment roosters and so many other aspects of rapid transit history. Here I am focusing on several aspects of the 125th Street Crosstown Line and the related Willis Avenue Line that interests myself and perhaps our readers: (All material from B. Linder, op.cit)
- Horsecars started running on 125th Street on October 15, 1870.
- Cable cars started to run between First and Twelfth Avenues on December 1, 1886.
- Electric cars using electric conduits started running on September 28, 1899.
- An experiment using compressed air car was tested on 125th Street during the summer of 1896.
- An experiment using a gasoline-electric car from November 1909 to September 1910 and this car had only one breakdown (B. Linder, page 2, op.cit). This car had a high acceleration that was not needed on a crosstown line and the cost was twice that of battery cars. It was decided not to use this technology because a seperate shop would be required.
- A battery car using Exide batteries was tested using automobile type motors in 1910 for a period of time.
- By March 25, 1936, the beginning of the end started by cutting back the line to 3rd Avenue and 125th Street.
- Buses replaced street cars on June 29, 1947.
- The 125th Street Crosstown and the Broadway-Amsterdam-125th Street were the last Manhattan streetcar lines whose power came entirely from underground conduit. The 149th Street Crosstown, a line that used both overhead and underground conduit stopped running on August 17, 1947
- Notice the PLOW PIT on 125th Street between First and Second Avenues.
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