532 Neptune Avenue and the Culver El

The above photo was taken from YIMBY, a New York  real estate website.   The source is S9 Architecture.   If completed, this 40 story tower will be the tallest residential tower in the southern part of Brooklyn near the Atlantic Ocean.  I posted this story before, but what is interesting for rapid transit fans is the rendering of the Culver El in the foreground.   Although built during the "Dual Contracts" period of around 1919-20, this section of elevated structure is not similar to other el structures built during this time and along the same line, but consisted of parts supposedly from the reconstruction of the Fulton Street Elevated Line in another part of Brooklyn.  So we may say that old meets new in this picture.  This is near the Neptune Avenue stop on the "F", Culver El.   This area is so very rich in rapid transit history.

This picture is so cool.

Tramway Null(0)

Long Gone Brooklyn Elevated Lines by Roger Arcara

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPWVQzN7AF8

   The attached youtube video was narrated by the late transit historian, Roger Arcara.  It is a great narrative for those of us born after 1950, because we get to see so many elevated lines that have been gone for over sixty years or more.  You will get to see the els that died or were truncated in the 1940's, namely the Fifth Avenue - Culver El, the 5th Avenue - 3rd Avenue Bay Ridge Branch, the Fulton Street El, the western end of the Myrtle Avenue El.  The Lexington Avenue El that died in 1950 is also shown and parts of the City Line Branch as well.  The fabulous structure just south of the Brooklyn Bridge is also shown, near Sand Street where you will see various Brooklyn trolleys entering the elevated structure.  Notice the lattice trolley wire support frames, they are most interesting.  You will get to see a Fifth Avenue - Culver Elevated train pass through the 38th Street Yard, and you will see for a nanosecond that the trackless westerly ramps were not used, instead the present day yard leads were utilized.  A young person walking near the Brooklyn Bridge today near Cadman Plaza in Brooklyn will never have imagined that such complicated rapid transit structures were in place, both for rapid transit and trolley.  With the opening and the extention of the IND subway in Brooklyn in the 1930's through the 1950's, the number of passengers gradually fell on both trans East River elevated and trolley cars as a one seat, one fare ride was provided for passengers coming in from eastern Brooklyn and Queens to Manhattan.  For this reason, and others, all these great structures and trains and trolleys were discarded.  Today in Brooklyn, there are very little artifacts of our great elevated and trolley heritage except for some vastly spaced  trolley line poles and some trolley track shadows under the asphalt on some streets.  Thank you for making this video available for us to enjoy!  Tramway Null(0)

1924 Aerial Map shows where 5th Avenue El crossed the Fulton Street El

Location of crossing was at Hudson Avenue and Fulton Street.

This fine undated photo comes from the collection of George Conrad and can be accessed at http://www.nycsubway.com/ and shows the Fulton Street - Flatbush Avenue intersection with the 5th Avenue El turning north to Hudson Avenue.

This undated photo is also from the same George Conrad Collection from the above noted website. Notice the I.R.T.  Nevins Street Subway entrance towards the left hand of the picture.  I believe this is a southbound train just leaving Hudson Avenue and turning east onto Flatbush Avenue.