If Sunset Parkers Do Not Want the Waterfront Streetcar, Send it to Ninth Avenue Lower instead, or Ft. Hamilton Parkway

You are facing southwest on Third Avenue Brooklyn, under the Gowanus Expressway.  Instead of the proposed streetcar traveling south on Third Avenue where it is not wanted, let it turn east as shown above to the left, and enter the South Brooklyn yard between Third and Fourth Avenues.  Perhaps at least, the New York City Transit Authority shops may service and store the cars?  Notice the SBRR lead track crossing Third Avenue and leading to the yard.  This is near 37th Street.  The tracks to the left lead into a two track tunnel,  Further east, there is a massive 37th Street Yard that may be able to service the streetcars.  To reach this, some reverse moves may be necessary , including some on the famous ramps that we mentioned previously.  The curved track above is not the original track that crossed Third Avenue at this general location.  Cosco now covers the approximate PRW of the SBRR and the original tracks were at right angles to Third Avenue near this location.  For many years,  under the highway, the trolley wire for this crossing was still intact, perhaps into the 1980's?

  Please go to this beautiful website directly (BQX) = Brooklyn Queens Connector

http://www.bqx.nyc/

http://www.bqx.nyc/


As you know, there is a proposal to build a waterfront streetcar line from Astoria, Queens to Sunset Park, in Brooklyn.  The organization that is sponsoring it, is beginning to hold hearings with the public regarding routing, costs, design, parking and many other issues.
So far, I believe, two hearings were held: The first in Sunset Park and the second in Astoria.  While I do not have the raw data, from what I heard, Sunset Parkers are concerned about the rise of rents in their working class area and other issues.  "Why not have a bus line?".  There are already several bus routes in the area, not all of them going to Astoria.  As for me, a "stinkbuggy" just does not excite me.
How about missing Sunset Park completely since the public may not want it or say that they do not need it?


      It is interesting that the route of the proposed streetcar, travels on Third Avenue and will cross at right angles the single South Brooklyn Railroad Track around 36-37 Streets near Cosco.  I posted this picture already.    What would happen if:

• Instead of continuing south on Third Avenue, the streetcar's two tracks turn at 90 degrees and enter the South Brooklyn yard between Third and Fourth Avenues?
• Continue in the yard and join the "D" subway tracks before entering the elderly, twin track tunnel and proceed east.
• Continue in the PRW of the West End "D" train to either Ninth Avenue upper middle or Ninth Avenue Lower middle (former Culver Line).
• If proceeding to Ninth Avenue Lower middle, continue to portal and run via yard to the intersection of Ft. Hamilton Parkway and 37th Street.  This would be a terminal providing sort of a replacement for the Culver Shuttle.

I now that you may think that I am crazy, but there are many things so consider:

• If the streetcars are operated without wires for the entire or portion of the line, wires do not need to be construction on the South Brooklyn RR or MTA subway sections.
• An if wires would be required, who would object, since it is going through a yard and PRW?
• Does the twin track brick tunnel east of Fourth Avenue have enough clearance to handle streetcars and wires?
• Can streetcars share the same tracks with regular subway equipment?
• If they do, will they need to be built according to Federal standards for RR operation?
• Can the tracks handle both subway and streetcar traffic in terms of scheduling?
• Would streetcar traffic on subway tracks cause a problem with the signaling?

• I know that in Germany, some streetcars share tracks with subway and suburban trains.

What would the advantages of this be?

• Perhaps the waterfront streetcar  could use the NYCTA's 37th Street Shops  for storage and repairs, cutting down the need to build new shops and depots for the new streetcar line.
• If the streetcar would go to Ninth Avenue upper middle,  "D" train users could make a cross platform transfer to the streetcars.
• If the streetcar woul go to Ninth Avenue lower middle and beyond, former Culver Shuttle users near Ft. Hamilton Parkway and east can have a few minute trip to make connections with the West End "D" train.
• Perhaps the line can be extended to Ditmas Avenue via 39 th Street, effectively recreating the former Culver Shuttle.

Some questions are:

• If a rider gets on at Ft. Hamilton Parkway or Ninth Avenue, does that passenger need streetcar service on Third Avenue instead of taking the faster Fourth Avenue  Subway ( R, D and N Trains to Manhattan)?
• Are Astoria riders or other riders along the route interested in getting to Kensington Brooklyn (Ft. Hamilton Parkway and 37th Street) without taking the subway?

To be continued / Not Proofread    Rough Draft Tramway Null(0)

The Sea Beach Line (N) Watershed Area

Calculation of watershed area using ARCGIS on-line facility.  The first map is from the Avenue "U" station of the "N" Sea Beach Line in Brooklyn.

  Several years ago, a few days after Hurricane Sandy struck NYC, a picture was shown of either the 86th Street Station or the Avenue U Station in Brooklyn on the "N" Line ( Sea Beach ) showing the open cut completely covered with water almost up to the platform level.  This water came from the bay I thought because the open cut elevations at track level was probably near sea level values.  I was introduced recently to ARCGIS on line that has a nice analysis section dealing with various operations such as view shed analysis and watershed analysis.  What would happen if I would enter a point at the Avenue U or 86th Street Station on the N Line?  First, I would need to bring up a base map that shows subway stops and lines.  Surprisingly, the Watershed Analyzer here is very simple to use.  If you do not have a point shape file, you can add a point by "hand" and just select a range, let us say, 2000 feet.  To my surprise, the resultant layer was not south of the 86th Street Station but Northwest.  And now I can see why.   A watershed is an area that provides water to a selected point.  I believe that for this to work, the watershed has to be at higher elevation than the selected point.  A very interesting resultant shows that the watershed for the 86th Station (theoretically), if there were no buildings and sewers in Brooklyn, would be along the "N" train all the way to Sunset Park!

Water analysis in GRASS is more difficult to use.  The resultant "layer" can be zipped to ARCGIS maps and used in your favorite style maps, as shown below.

The Luckenbach Pier Explosion and Streetcars

Photo from the organization that is supporting the Waterfront Streetcar Line.  It just so happens that this rendition is showing buildings on the west side of Third Avenue near 33 or 35th Street, so near the site of the  explosion in 1956.

  Many of you from the New York area have heard about news to bring back streetcars along the Brooklyn-Queens waterfront.  The mayor of the City of New York said that he will support this project and this did get and continues to get much press.  This proposed line is supposed to run from Astoria in Queens to Sunset Park in Brooklyn.  The above image comes from the group that is supporting this project.  This project is not without its' critics, however.  The above picture shows  a streetcar that appears to be running under the Gowonas Expressway, actually Third Avenue.  Notice that the car is wireless and it appears to be in the western lane of the avenue.  While I am not sure, this artist's picture appears to be on Third Avenue, under the highway in the 30's.
   Whenever I am in this area, the general Sunset Park area, I get a strange feeling dealing with the Luckenbach Pier explosion that occurred on December 3, 1956 at 35th Street.  I was in the first grade at the time and though I was not near the explosion, it left a mark on me.  Also at this time, which was only 33 days after the Church Avenue Trolley stopped running, I wonder what it would have been to be in the trolley at the First Avenue Loop, at 39th Street and First Avenue, at the time of the explosion just four blocks away?  Of course, the trolleys stopped running 33 days before but what was it like in the diesel bus at the loop at the time of the explosion?


    I happened to be near the intersection of 39th Street and Third Avenue a few days ago and I spoke to a merchant that was in the area on that faithful day.  The glass skylight caved in at his store but thank G-d, no one was hurt. Notice the highway above.   The store owner told me that the force of the explosion caused a piece of metal to drop from the highway and hit a young boy in the head near his store.  The boy died immediately.  There were 10 fatalities on that day, none Fire Department personnel but over 200 civilians were injured.

  It is funny that streetcars may come to this area again, even though it may take decades.  This area is so rich in transit history.  There was a Third Avenue Trolley along the street that our new streetcar may someday travel.  Above, the Third Avenue-Fifth Avenue  BMT el ran to Bay Ridge.  Our beloved Church Avenue, and Eight Avenue trolleys ran on 39th Street.  South Brooklyn RR had a yard in the area, full with trolley wires.  Historic 19th Century train stations were in the area and so on.   West End and Culver Subway trains curved into the Fourth Avenue Subway near this location.

On another tragic day, the day of 9-11, I traveled to work but I did not get off the subway.  We were told that no trains were going through lower Manhattan.  I started home by subway but between 10 and 11 am, we were kicked off the F-train at Fourth Avenue and Ninth Street.  I walked to Fifth Avenue and took a Fifth Avenue (B-63) bus westbound.  Guess were all service stopped?  Fifth Avenue and 39th Street in view of the bay.   Needless to say, I felt very bad with this ongoing tragedy with similar tragic feelings that I link to the the Luckenbach explosion.   Basically the feeling was connect with destruction near the harbor facing west.
  In 1956, I was in a retail market thirteen avenue blocks away from the harbor.  The force of the explosion blew open heavy exit doors and various stores on 39th Street near 13th Avenue had their windows blown out.  Although the fire preceded the explosion, the sky at that time started to darken fast, but remember, this was a shorter winter day.  I was told that pieces of the pier or storage building were blown over 1000 feet into Red Hook.  I was also told that at the time of the explosion, on what is called now the Culver Viaduct, at that time D trains with R1-9 subway cars suffered window damage as well.  Someone told me that the pocket that the door closes into on the R1-9 subway car, which contains a small window cracked at the time of the explosion but no one was hurt. Passengers saw the flames and smoke from the Smith-9th Street station.


   Below is a Google Map image of the area taken from the highway structure at 3rd Avenue and 35th Street.  The Waterfront Streetcar rendition appears to be taken around the same area.  You are facing north west.  To the left side of the image, you are facing 35th Street and you can see the bay.  This was the general location of the Lukenbach Pier that exploded in 1956.  I could imagine the shock wave that was felt by cars on the highway just as the dock exploded while the cars were passing this point perpendicular to 35th Street.  By the time the pier blew, the pier was on fire with heavy smoke for some time.  Perhaps traffic was stopped on the highway before the explosion.

The new waterfront streetcar may run below on Third Avenue at this location.

Sunset Park and Smith-9th Streets Revisited

  The above photo comes from the digital collection of the New York Public Library and was shot on September 8, 1940 by P.L. Sperry.  You are facing west towards the waterfront in Brooklyn.  You are on 39th Street near the intersection of Fourth Avenue.  The el structure that you are looking at is at 3rd Avenue and 39th Street and it was  part of the 3rd Avenue branch of the BMT 5th Avenue El that was abandoned that June.  Notice how high the elevated structure is.  At this location today, the Belt Highway Gowanas Expressway is found.  On 39th Street, Church Avenue and 8th Avenue streetcars going westbound will reach the 39th Street Ferry terminal where ferry boats will take you to St. George, Staten Island.  At this location, 39th Street is very sloped as you reach the bay.  If you were in a streetcar facing north (to the right), as you pass the cross streets, you may get a peak of the Manhattan skyline and perhaps, the high Smith-9th Street station.  Notice the trolley pole supporting the power cables on the left side of the photograph.  Look at the cap on the pole.  Notice that there is a "pin " in the cap like a arrow.  I remember seeing this as a child on the top of some trolley support poles but I do not know its' purpose.  Does anyone know?

  The above map was produced in a newer version of GRASS.  The new version was able to take my "visibility" old profile from the Smith-9th Street station and bring it on the map.  The green is those areas on the surface, if not blocked by buildings which are visible from the Smith-9th Street station.  I marked off where the Smith-9th Street station is, It is a red dot.  37th Street and Fourth Avenue is shown on the map where the two subway lines converge.  This is two blocks away from where the photo above was shot.  It is possible to see the Smith-9th Street station from 39th Street at spots as shown on the map.  The thicker blue areas are areas on the waterfront that are subject to flooding in 2020 and was part of the original map constructed a few years ago..

Miracle on 35th Street

About 33 days after streetcar service came to an end on October 31, 1956, on December 3, 1956, this tragedy occured at a pier at 35th Street, Brooklyn, four blocks from the trolley turnround shown on this blog's headpiece.  Many people were killed and injured and windows were shattered many miles away from the blast site near the former trolley loop.

http://marine1fdny.com/miracle_35th_new.php

The above photo comes from Dave's Rail Pix and shows a Church Avenue Car on 13th Avenue
 bound for the waterfront, just about to turn unto 39th Street, to the side of the retail market shown below.
Windows at 13th Avenue and 39th Street at the wall paper store shown on the right broke from the shock wave of the explosion, many miles away from the Luckenbach pier at 35th Street.  In the background, you can see the staircase to the 13th Avenue Station of the Culver Line and you can see the horizontal wooden trough for the overhead of the South Brooklyn Railway beneath the el.  Windows also broke on 39th Street at a laundry right off 13th Avenue and other places all over the city.

At the time of the blast, doors similar to these at the 39th Street side were blown open by the force of the  explosion.  I was inside the market  at the 39th Street side at the time of the explosion.  Within minutes, the sky darked from the west eventhough the sun was setting.

South Brooklyn Railway Track Plan as of 9/29/1960

Source:  B. Linder, Part 10, South Brooklyn's Trolley Operations, ERA Bulletin, October, 1976, p.8. (From a drawing dated September 29, 1960)

This line drawing, drawn in 1960 needs some explanation because there is a gap in the map.  Here are some of the points:

• The map does not show which trackage is under trolley wire or associated with third rail.  From my memory and seeing past diagrams, trolley wire extended from 4th Avenue and 38th Street, just west of the 4th Avenue overpass to the waterfront.
• From 4th Avenue and east, the SBRR tracks joined the subway tracks currently used by the West End Line (D Train) and also formerly used by the Culver Line that either ran to 36 th Street and 4th Avenue or Chambers Street in Manhattan.
• The trackage from the junction with the West End Line to 9th Avenue Station is not shown.  This was jointly operated with subway trains using third rail and had an interesting passage through an elderly two track brick lined tunnel that is in use today. 
• The two platformed 9th Avenue station shown is really on the lower level beneath the West End Line and was used by the Culver Line until 1975.  This was the same station where a popular film was shot. (Crockodile Dundee?)
• Approximately east of Fort Hamiliton Parkway trolley wire began and was hanging at this point under the Culver El.
• From this point and south, most SRBB trackage was either in a private right of way or in street trackage under the Culver Line to approximately Avenue Y where trackage meet up with the BMT Coney Island Yard.
• Notice the various sidings, particularly between 13th and 14th Avenues and 37th Street, under the 13th Avenue Station that I posted a photograph of.
• Notice the various coal sidings and Fisher's siding.
• It is hard to believe that at this time, the trolley overhead was still charged and in use even though trolley operations stopped on McDonald Avenue on October 31, 1956 and all trolleybus service stopped in Brooklyn on July 27, 1960.  I believe the wire was still charged until 1961 and the overhead was removed by 1965.  There may have been a historic trolley run using a vintage Scandinavian trolley under SBRR trackage on 37th Street in 1961 by Electric Railroader's Association.



5th Avenue El Brooklyn at 38th Street - Facing North 1940

Photo Source:  George Conrad Collection obtained at http://www.nycsubway.org/

This photo, shot on 6/5/1940 I believe several days after service stopped on many els.  This view is facing north on Fifth Avenue Brooklyn at 38th Street looking towards the 36th Street station.  The tracks turning left will lead to the 3rd Avenue El in Brooklyn, while the tracks turning right are leading to the Culver Line.  These tracks will go through the 38 th Street yard where they will meet the West End Line and lead to the lower level of the Ninth Avenue Station.  This photo is interesting because as shown in my previously posted track map of the Fifth Avenue Elevated, South Portion, you can see the lattice remains of the multi track 36th Street yard which was built on the elevated structure.  To the right of the former 36th Street Station is the present day Jackie Gleason Bus Garage, which formerly was a historic railroad building.   In the front of the photo are tracks of the Fifth Avenue Trolley Line.

Church Avenue PCC Approaches First Avenue Loop on a Snowy Day

This PCC car is headed west on the private-right-of-way north of 39 th Street between First and Second Avenues.  This picture, taken from Dave's Rail Pix was probably shot between 1951 to 1956, the period when PCC cars were assigned to the Church Avenue Line.  If you Google  Maps 3900 First Avenue Brooklyn, you can see that many of the factory builings standing in the picture are still with us today.

Tramway Null (0)

Church Avenue Track Map

Church Avenue Track Map. Source: B. Linder