8th Avenue Subway Track Plans - South Section 1932- 2006

About one week ago, I posted a clip from subchat showing a front window view of the new Flushing Line # 7 extension to 34th Street.  At 42nd Street and 8th Avenue, the line crosses at right angles the lower level of the 42nd Street - 8 th Avenue subway station.  This lower level station is unusual in that it consists of one track and one side platform under a four track busy station.  Please find below a map of the Eight Avenue Line from 59th Street to West 4th Street between 1932 and 2006 and a map of the same line from West 4th Street to High Street Brooklyn between the same dates. Both maps were based on data from B. Linder and the track drawing is by J. Elitz.

  Source:  Linder, B. & Erlitz, J, "Eight Avenue Subway Track Plans" in New York Division, Electric Railroaders' Association, The Bulletin, Vol. 50, No. 1, January, 2007, pp.2-3.

 

Notice the detail of the 42nd Street station on Page 2.  The platforms on the upper level are staggered with the southbound platform is more south than the northbound platform.  Notice that the lower level track was taken out of service on 10/19/1999 with switches removed in 2002 or 2003.  This means that the station was abandoned for a long time.  The movie that was shot in the lower level was called "Ghost" and was made in 1980.  The shot below is that of Vincent Schiavelli who I believe passed away.  He was not only an actor but he had, I believe a cooking show on Public TV.

 

Even though the lower station may have been "cut off" by the new IRT Flushing Line extension, I believe that there may have been enough room on the platform to display older model subway cars or even a trolley car.  I am not sure that a streetcar would have enough space down there.  Perhaps the lead tracks were in miserable condition and they had to be isolated and cut off.

 

 



 

I did not know that the Independent Subway Goes to Houston, Texas (2nd Avenue)

During this holiday season, the New York City Transit Authority runs special trains consisting of old equipment.  One such fleet consists of Independent Subway R1-9 cars, classics which opened up the new Independent Subway in the early 1930's.  At many transit websites, these cars are displayed, particularly Subchat.  I believe a series of photographs were either posted and photographed by "Mysterious Friday" and I copied them below.  In the 1950's and 1960's, when the "D" train either went to Church Avenue or Coney Island, the side route signs stated "Houston St. - 6th Avenue Express".  It is true that the "D" train and presently the "F" train curve east to Brooklyn after the West 4th Street - Washington Square station along Houston Street making stops at Broadway-Lafayette Street and 2nd Avenue.  Houston, is that not a city in Texas?  As a child, I felt something was wrong but I could not express it.  Later on, I learned that this Houston Street was pronounced "How- Ston" after a Georgia official that married into a wealthy New York family who owned land near present day Houston Street.  In short, this  Mr. Houston, whose spelling of his name was changed, is not the same man as Sam Houston of Texas.  So the Independent Subway does not go the 2nd Avenue Houston after all.

Profile of William Houstoun.

Houston Street viewed from Orchard Street.

Destination box from a R1-9 subway car in holiday service.  Queens- Forest Hills to Houston Texas, 2nd Avenue; how many stops an how long it takes?  Below, the back of a "Nostalgia Special"; A train consisting of Museum R1-9 cars in recent passenger service running to Houston Street-2nd Avenue during this holiday season.  It makes me ask: Is there a Goerck Street in Houston Texas also?

I would like to thank so much the person who posted  and photographed this great shot on "Subchat"

Flushing Line Front Window View Video of Extension to 34th Street

Flushing Line (#7) Extension Video.  Please find attached this news item dealing with the extension of the Flushing Line extension to 34th Street.  Although the line is not scheduled to open until 2014, the line is operational but the signals and stations are not complete.  All I can say is Wow! .  Posted originally in subchat.  This item can be used only for news services.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3H6RiLzW7ng&feature=player_embedded#t=0


Some Comments:

 1. This new extension was constructed using a boring machine at great depth.  This is quite different than traditional "cut and cover" construction close to the surface.

 2.  Notice an unfinished shell of a future station.

3)  Notice the huge 34th Street station.  Why are new stations constructed so fancy and expensive?  Could a "generic station" serve its intended purpose while freeing up some money to extend the line to 23rd Street?  The tracks already extend south of the 34th street station to around West 25th Street.  In my humble opinion, having a "palace" of a station does not add more accessibility to a station than an extension does.

4)  There is no sign of the IND 42nd Street 8th Avenue Lower single track station that the line crosses as about track level at 90 degrees.  That  42nd Street lower station is now destroyed.  Perhaps if there was a link here, the IRT Flushing Line could have gone to 59th Street-Columbus Circle.  Of course there are many issues to solve, naming train width and signaling problems.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3H6RiLzW7ng&feature=player_embedded#t=0

  A commenter at Subchat said that at 3:00 you can see the remains of the 42nd Street - 8 th Avenue IND Lower level station which is at right angles to the path of the train.  You can see a yellow painted pillar I believe.  The lower level 42nd Street station was the locale of some well known movies in past years.  The lower level, which is one track, saw some limited service and may have been the starting point of "Aqueduct Specials" to the racetrack, many years ago.  It is a strange station.

Of Baseball Fields and Trolley Loops

With a few hours, two commenters wrote on different subjects but dealing generally with the same area, namely the McDonald Avenue area in Brooklyn between the Ditmas Avenue and Avenue I stations.  One writer wrote about the Swedish Trolley car that ran in 1961 under wire power on McDonald Avenue.  I posted this picture before and the rights to the picture and the trolley itself is stored in the New York Trolley Museum in upstate  New York.  A second writer commented on my posted aerial 1924 view of Kensington Junction including the area around 16th Avenue.  The writer provided a link dealing with a lot between Gravesend Avenue (McDonald Avenue) and East 2nd Street between Cortelyou Road and Ditmas Avenue.  To my surprise, that block was the location of  important Baseball field before the 1920's.....  see comments from Artie:

Well, something that is lost in history is that large, rectangular shape at the bottom of the photo, just to the right of center. This plot of land between McDonald and E. 2nd, and Cortelyou Rd and Ditmas Ave. is "Suburban Oval." A multi-use athletic field on which H.S., Prep School, College AND Professional AND Semi-Profession Major League and Negro League Teams played. This included the Brooklyn Superbas in 1912 and 1913 featuring, among others, Casey Stengel. The owners lost their lease about 1916, and it fell into disuse until the mid-1920s when the land was developed.
More info can be found at http://www.covehurst.net/ddyte/brooklyn/semipro_parks.html

Some aerials of the area are shown below:

The same area before the labels where added:

 

The next two pictures come from new Daves Rail Pix.

This southbound PCC car 1023 on the 50 McDonald Route is just about to enter the lead track to the Kesington Loop to the left of the picture.  You can see that to the right of the trolley car, the east side of McDonald Avenue south of Cortelyou Road at least between 1951 and 1956 did not have many buildings on it.  Perhaps the shack was previously part of the base ball field?  From the structure of the elevated structure, it looks like the fourth track was not added yet for the future Culver Shuttle and the date of the picture must be the early fifties.  This is from the Dave Pirmann  collection from Joe Testagrose.  The photo of the Swedish streetcar posted is not from this spot.

A PCC car just completed the loop and is headed north.  From the Frank Pfuhler collection.  Notice that the fourth track to the Culver Line Ditmas Avenue station has been added. Also notice the coal bin in the extreme left of the picture.  The traditional Culver Line (mainline) takes a sharp curve east in the background towards the 13th Avenue Station.

Rare Map of the Proposed Second Avenue Subway in Manhattan as of 1974

Source:  Erlitz, Jeffrey, B. In "Second Avenue Subway - Manhattan Section", New York Division Bulletin, Electric Railroaders' Association, Vol. 39, No. 4., April, 1996. p.4.

The attached map is a computer generated map which is based on a map that appeared in the August, 1974 Bulletin.  When the Second Avenue Subway was under construction in the early 1970's,  a number of small sections were built but subway construction stopped when the city went into a terrible fiscal crisis.  I believe a short section was built on the lower east side and another section uptown.  In the map attached, the Second Avenue route stretches from 125th Street to Whitehall Street in lower Manhattan.  The line is interesting because it would have included two track, three track and four track sections with a few interchanges with other lines.  There is also a double deck section in lower Manhattan.  At Grand Street, an cross a platform transfer to Sixth Avenue services was provided.  Currently, the Second Avenue subway is under construction again  only to 96th Street and also stretches north from a connection to the 63rd Street line from West 57th Street.  I believe the line is very deep and only has two tracks and did not utilize the "cut and cover" method that was used to build small sections of the line in the 1970's.  I am not sure if any previously constructed sections in the 1970's is used in the current construction.  This map is very rare and I know some readers would be interested in it.  Tramway Null(0).

From the Movie " Roman Holiday "

Folks, I came across this scene accidentally.  Rome Trolleybuses.

Fulton Street Elevated 1936- 1956

Source:  Linder, B. In "New York Division Bulletin" Electric Railroaders' Association, Vol 38, No 2, February, 1995,  pp.2-4.

 

  The subject matter of this posting, the Brooklyn Fulton Street El has an extensive history of which I know very little.  The line, started in the 19th Century as a elevated steam railroad, served as an important transit link between various districts in Brooklyn via the Brooklyn Bridge to Park Row Manhattan, was very important before the building of the first IRT subway to Brooklyn.  Most of the line was destroyed by June, 1940, but certain sections remained intact to around 1956.  In fact, the section from 80th Street and Liberty Avenue to Lefferts Blvd. is used today by IND "A" trains.  Sections have been rebuilt as you can see from the map.  Interesting points is the multi-level Sands Street terminal and the interchange with the BMT Franklin-Brighton Line,  Also hidden under the Brooklyn Bridge was the Kings County Terminal and the Fulton Ferry Station..  According to the map dealing with the west portion, the map stated that the "interlocking was out of service as of 1/22/34.  A reader asked regarding the Myrtle Avenue Line map that "interlocking out of service 2/23/33" to the High Street Loop.  Does this mean that service ended on that date?  I think that interlocking refers to switches and the signals that control interconnections between tracks.  It is possible that interlocking can be out of service but the rails are still intact and some track movements can take place.  For example, for the interlocking that leads to the Fulton Ferry Station, the station may have been service until 6-1-40 at abandonment but the interlocking was out since 1/22/34.  Perhaps a reader can clarify this for us.  Books can be written on this subject matter.

Tramway Null(0)

 Also, parts of the original Fulton Street El that were not needed in the reconstruction of the line around 1914-19 may have been used as parts used in the construction of the Culver El, specially south of the Avenue X station.

Trolleybus Art

4th Annual European Trolley Bus Day from Trolleymotion Facebook Page

Concerning my home town, New York City, several generations of children do not know what a trolleybus or streetcar is  Perhaps we can get them to draw pictures of "stink buggies" , AKA "diesel buses".  Nice pictures from the Trolleymotion Facebook page.  Although not connected directly to this topic, many of you may know the "Jackie Gleason Show" with Jackie Gleason who plays the role of a  beloved bus driver.  It is a really funny show.  I am not sure if it is viewed around the world in various languages.  Nevertheless, I was told that originally before going on television in the 1950's, the Ralph Kramden role was not a bus driver in Manhattan but that of a streetcar motorman, perhaps from Brooklyn, but the script was changed.  Who knows if the streetcar conductor role was kept, and so many people love the "Honeymooners", perhaps there would have been less pressure for abandonment in the 1950's in New York City.  Just a thought.

Various Myrtle Avenue El Track Layouts

Source: B. Linder, In The New York Division, Bulletin, Electric Railroaders' Association,  Vol. 39, No. 12, December, 1996, pp.2-4.

A narrative regarding this line will follow in the future.

The track diagrams above are mainly for the period of 1912 to 1969.  The western section of the line was abandoned in the fall of 1969 and was operated with wooden elevated cars called BMT "Q" cars (Queens).  These cars were rebuilt in the 1930's for use on the Flushing Line for service to the 1939 Worlds' Fair.    The "Q" cars were really interesting with a nice seating arrangement, and a interesting LOC / EXP indicator panel in green and red glass at the end of the cars.  Many people are surprised to find out that Myrtle Avenue  and its' el continued west of Jay Street to Adams Street were the line took a sharp curve on its path to the Brooklyn Bridge and Park Row in Manhattan.

8th Street Crosstown 1919-1933

Source:  Linder, Bernard, "8th Street Crosstown" In New York Division Bulletin, Electric Railroaders' Association, Vol. 31, No. 7, July, 1988, pp.4-5.

  The 8th Street Crosstown started out in 1874 as a horse car line connecting the Christopher Street Ferry on the Hudson River with the East 10th Street Ferry on the East River.  The route is shown on the map.  The route did not change much between 1898 and 1936 (abandonment).  Around 1905, a branch went to Brooklyn via the Williamsburg Bridge, on the north side via conduit tracks.  The final destination was Bridge Plaza.    Around 1920, the Brooklyn service was discontinued and cars operated only as far as Clinton and Delancey Street, near the entrance to the bridge.  In 1927, the branch between Christopher Street Ferry and  Clinton and Delancey Streets was stopped.  On March 6, 1936, buses replaced streetcars.  The article did not state when the line was electrified.

Some Grass 6.4.1 Visibility Experiments using the Kolumna Zygmunta at Castle Square Warsaw

Castle Square or Plac Zamkowy is a historic square in Warsaw Poland and has an interesting Column going back many years which has been rebuilt many times.  The historic column is called the Kolumna Zygmunta in Polish and was built in honor of King Sigismund III.  It is 22 meters high and it would be interesting to do some visibility experiments with it using GRASS 6.4.1 in the raster mode.  To do this experiment, I will ask you to envision that no buildings exist in Warsaw except this beautiful monument.  How far can we see this monument in the distance?  It depends on the changes in elevation in altitude of the surroundings.  I was able to bring into GRASS 6.4.1 a raster file based on the elevation of entire Poland.  According to what I have seen, Warsaw is relatively flat.  In other parts of the experiment, we will do a thought experiment:  What would happen if the Kolumna Zygmunta would be as tall as the new World Trade Center in New York at 1776 feet?  How far would a resident of Warsaw or Poland see it?   In this experiment, I do not take into effect the curvature of the earth and I used various ranges, between 20,000 meters and 90,000 meters.  Well lets get to it.  Please ignore the scale bar, it is incorrect and I cannot remove it.

In this experiment, the using the raster visibility option, the height of the column was raised to 541 meters, which is the height of the World Trade Center.  Not taking into consideration the curvature of the earth, the column would be observable throughout Poland except in the white areas.  I do not know the reason for this.  In the south, it would be visible at selected high elevations.  The range is set to 90,000 meters.

 

In this map above, I brought in a shape file (vector) of important roads in Warsaw.  The red square is the location of the column.  The yellow coloring shows where in Warsaw a 1776 foot Kolumna Zygmunta would be visible.  It would be visible of course, throughout Warsaw, but I cannot give a reason for the few white gaps in the map.  These white gaps do not correspond to high elevations.

 

In the map above, I set the Kolumna Zymunta height to 22 meters, its actual height.  If no buildings were blocking the view, or if you were looking down a wide boulevard, there would be gaps in Warsaw were the monument would not be visible.  The red areas are higher elevations outside of Central Warsaw.  Range is 30,000 meters.

 

 

In the map below, I used the option in GRASS to correct for the curvature of the earth for the visibility scenario at the Kolumna Zygmunta with the incredible height of 1776 feet.

 

 

 The central Warsaw area is indicated by the rectangle.

 

In the map below, I used an option to create a map based on  elevations that are based on a density function:

 

The Central area of Warsaw is indicated in red.

 

 

A Trolleybus and a Gas Tank in the Same Picture?

I got the picture below from a European trolleybus site called "TROLLEYMOTION".  Trolley motion offers the latest trolleybus news from around the world and it also promotes the benefits of electric trolleybus transportation.  The picture below comes from a recent posting about the German city of Osnabruck.  I cannot read German so I am lost but I believe Osnabruck had trolleybus transit years ago, as did many cities in Germany.  Today, there are just a few cities that have it in Germany.  In my humble opinion, although I am not a trolleybus expert,  I believe the trolleybus is endangered by battery buses and high electric storage  buses that do not need overhead wires.  The success of what is called in America "BRT" or Bus Rapid Transit, or what is called in New York City "SBS", or Select Bus Service, is also a danger to streetcars and light rail.  My rational is, "if you do need wires or tracks, you do not need light rail, streetcars or trolleybuses".  If battery buses and BRT using non-wired buses is successful, transit organizations will not be willing to invest in tracks and overhead, unfortunately.
  Now back to the picture below.  The picture is undated, but it is coded "1966", so it must be a picture of Osnabruck in 1966.  Is that a gas tank in the background?  I have not seen many rigid style gas tank pictures from Europe.  Were they commonplace?  The flexible type of gas tank, that rose and fell according to the amount of gas stored and was guided by sort of a circular lattice framework was quite common in Europe and America around World War I.

Folks, I got a translation of the article.  It so happens that the municipality of Osnabruck  is considering to establish a new trolleybus system.  Part of this new operation will be off wire with battery operation.  See the clip below including information about the gas tank.  It is very high.

On the Old Post Road before 1972 dismantled some 75 m high disk gas tank, the trolleybuses 220 and 226 meet in August 1966 In 1960, trolleybuses had developed at that time due to the extensive road development work to be abandoned again. Recording: Thomas Johansson.

  The above comes from the news section of Trolleymotion.  The picture is from August 1966 showing two 1960 trolleybuses.  The tank is 75 meters high.  Was the trolleybus line or the gas tank dismantled in 1972?

 

Raymond Loewy Also Designed This

Yesterday, in the United States, Google honored Raymond Loewy who was a designer.  Loewy also was a co-designer of the R-40 (Slant) subway car in New York.  In this undated picture, probably in 1968, a brand new F train consisting of R-40 Slant cars appear to be on the Culver Line probably at Bay Parkway - 22nd Avenue Station.  The car appears before it was marked up and modified.  The R-40 had its' problems however.  I was told that the seats were uncomfortable and the slant wasted passenger space.  The R-40 fleet was taken out of service in the last few years.

McDonald Car at Cortelyou Road around 1952

Source:  Joe Testagrose Collection at http://newdavesrailpix.com
.  

 

In this interesting photo below, a Brooklyn PCC car on the Church Avenue Line is just about to enter under the unfinished ramp at McDonald Avenue and Cortelyou Road.  This PCC car will travel under the el for a short distance and meet up with South Brooklyn Railway tracks and then go through a reversing loop.   About a few hundred feet from this car the car will meet the Cortelyou Road Trolleybus line as well.  In you look above the trolley, you will see that the "catwalk railing" is not finished.  Since this is an undated photo, I would judge its' date as sometime between 1951 and 1954.  In 1951, after many important streetcar lines were bustituted, excess PCC cars were sent to the Church and McDonald Avenue line  In October, 1954, the ramp was placed into operation in October with IND "D" trains making the journey to Coney Island for the first time over prior BMT Culver Line trackage.  In my previous post, I mentioned the trolley span support wires in the brick wall of the incline.  You can see at least four in this picture.  Some of these supports still exist today in the brick wall with a small piece of trolley support span wire and an insulator attached.  Notice the green chain link fence near the front of the PCC car.  As a child, I remember it and there was a door to enter under the incline.  I was told that the old Gravesend Avenue trolley tracks are still under there, for this was the right of way before the tracks were diverted to the sides of the incline.

 

Nothing But the Facts, Mame: The Official Notes of the End of the Church Avenue Line

Hi Folks:

   I found on the internet this PDF document that was written by the New York City Transit System in October, 1956 regarding the last moments of my favorite streetcar lines (really the only ones I knew that were left), namely the Church Avenue and McDonald Avenue.  It makes interesting reading.   This memo appears to be the official general order of how the "Church Avenue Line" will officially expire, but it did not mention who and when the "plug will be pulled", that is, when the power would be cut.  On the Church Avenue and McDonald Avenue Line, there is either shared tracks or a crossing with the South Brooklyn Railroad.  Since the South Brooklyn Railroad would operate under power for a few more years, all power could not be cut.  Instead, at least at 37th Street and 13th Avenue, where the Church Avenue Trolley crossed the South Brooklyn Railroad under the Culver Line, the Church Avenue trolley power wires were cut at that location but they were then attached to the girders of the Culver Line.  In this way, the wires did not have to be removed and the South Brooklyn Railroad continued under electric power until 1961.  Incidentally, if my memory serves correct, the wires and poles on Church Avenue, 13th Avenue and 39th Street were not removed for a very long time, perhaps until 1960 or 1961.  On 39th Street, from Ninth Avenue to Fifth Avenue, a set of poles and wires, on the northern side of the street was not removed until the 1980's because this set was used to power the Culver Shuttle. When the Culver Shuttle el structure was removed in the 1980's, this set was also removed.

Please see below:

This Thursday is the 57th Anniversary of the End of Streetcar Operations in Brooklyn with Trolleybus Number 23

This Thursday, October 31, 2013 marks the 57th Anniversary of the end of streetcar service in Brooklyn.  In the photo below, by Frank Pfuhler and was shot on 2/12/1954, you can see a

southbound PCC car, either a McDonald Avenue or Church Ave - McDonald Avenue streetcar  near the junction of both elevated structures, just about to enter below the Culver Line elevated structure.  The structure in the foreground is the BMT mainline Culver structure that was in use on that date and towards the right is the then not completed IND ramp leading to the Church Avenue Station.  If you look closely toward the extreme bottom - center of the photo you will see some white lines and these are the overhead wires of a short turnout for the South Brooklyn Railroad.  The main South Brooklyn Railroad mainline is below the Culver Line structure in the foreground.  Unfortunately, I cannot make out the overhead of the Cortelyou Road Trolleybus (B-23)  which would be more towards the left of the photo perpendicular to the Culver Line structure.  About two and half years later, on October 31, 1956, the plug would be pulled on the Church Avenue, Church-McDonald Avenue  streetcars and the Cortelyou Road trolleybus.  The wires under the elevated structure would be charged until 1961.  Today, the Culver Line mainline structure  (in the foreground) was removed while the ramp to the underground Church Avenue Station would now be considered the Culver Line mainline for the "F" -  Sixth Avenue subway service.  The South Brooklyn Railroad tracks were pulled out within the last twenty years and the Culver Line structure was removed in the 1980's.  The area in the foreground is a concrete processing and distribution plant.  The storage warehouse is still there.  Other trolleybus lines, in other parts of Brooklyn would last until 1959 or 1960.  The Cortelyou Road Line was never connected to other Brooklyn Trolleybus Lines.  The only artifacts in the area regarding streetcar service is some shadows of rails under asphalt near the path of the South Brooklyn Railroad and some trolley line support girders, embedded into the retaining wall of the subway incline.  There is even a few inches of trolley line support wire in horizontal position near the top of some selected girders.   It is unfortunate that the prospect of future streetcar service in Brooklyn and elsewhere in New York City is very bleak.  At one time, streetcars were a part of city life in New York just as much as they are today an important part of life in Riga, Warsaw, Lodz, Berlin and countless other cities.
I would be happy even if a short museum with a few hundred feet of track would be established but this is not likely.  With the establishment of clean hybrid buses and the establishment of Select Bus Service (Bus Rapid Transit) in New York City, the prospect of some form of electric surface rapid transit returning to the streets of Brooklyn are just as bleak as on November 1, 1956.  The transit authority and many political people are unfortunately not interested in establishing a future light rail or trolley line in New York City.

Łódź Historic Line Zero

Hi Folks: 

 Please see this great video of Lodz Line Zero in action.

Tramway Null(0)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqAu93SPtD0

There is a tramway null after all; Not in Warszawa but in Łódź.

 In the video above, although the main subject is not tramways, it still gives you a chance to glance at various Lodz tramways in various settings.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kbltilc4euw




The historic tram 5N with the "Combined Wagon" 5ND, consisting of two wagons of the early '60s. The last tramway like this  disappeared from the tour in 1991. Since 2003 he has returned as a streetcar line "0". You can tour it with a normal ticket. The historic tram line "0" on Sundays in July and August carry passengers on the route between The Health Park and the limit switch at Wycieczkowa Street . The tickets are validated in the electronic validating machine, although there is a tram conductor.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0AEaltckhI

Please see this short that clearly shows a historic tramway route "0" in Łódź.
Czesc to my Polish friend that brought it to my attention.

Of Horsecars, Extinct New York Streets: The East Belt Line

Source: "East Belt Line" by B.Linder in "The Bulletin", New York Division, Electric Railroaders' Association, Vol. 46, No. 11, November, 2003, pp. 2-5.


  The information provided by Bernard Linder (op. cit.) tells us about a very long horse car line whose running time in 1888 was two hours and 16 minutes.  The exact starting date is not known but it was known that in 1869,   the line ran from South Ferry to East 59th Street and Fifth Avenue and was called the East Belt Line.  It was extended several times including west to West 54th Street and Tenth Avenue and in 1898 to East 125th Street and First Avenue.  In 1913, partial battery car operation was from East 59th Street to Grand Street.  On July 1913, the last horse car ran and the line was fully battery car operated.  In 1914, the line was divided into two parts; South Ferry to Grand and Goerck Street and Grand and Goerck Streets to East 59th Street and First Avenue.  In 1917 the line was again through routed and on June 3, 1919, after a cutback, the line was discontinued.  The line was one of the first to go in Manhattan and was never conduit operated.  Parts of the line ran in commercial districts where trucks  were used.  These heavy trucks damaged the tracks and the Third Avenue Railway could not afford to renew or upgrade the tracks to conduit operation.  Also the heavy trucking operation on many of  the streets caused running time to be slow and thus was not attractive to passengers.

  Goerck Street:  Where did I hear it before?  My father mentioned Goerck Street that existed in the lower east side, along with other strange streets such as Attorney Street.   According to the article above, the following streets on the attached map are no longer "on the map":  Cannon Street, Goerck Street, Corlears Street, Front Street, Oliver Street, James Slip and Burling Street.  Many of the old time lower east side streets were destroyed when urban renewal replaced these streets with new parks,  housing developments and highways.  Goerck Street kind of sounds nice.

 

 

Spatial Distribution of Tramway stops near ŁÓDŹ

ŁÓDŹ: When you blow up the map from the previous posting and you concentrate on Central Poland, you can see the tramway stops in ŁÓDŹ. The shape file provided did not have the currect Polish characters. Notice that all stops are not named or representated. Notice the spatial layout on this map and the main map as well.

Spatial Distribution of Tramway Stops in Poland with Elevation

In this mapping experiment, I brought in a shapefile that was available on the web dealing with Poland.  In the shapefile that dealt with points of interest, I observed the table and I found that there were items showing tramway stops and names for several cities in Poland.  In ARCGIS, I set the type to "tramway stop" and I got a distribution of points around some selected cities.  When I brought up the map and looked closely at Warszawa and Lodz, not all stops were represented.  Nevertheless, if many tramway stops are available, and they are geocoded properly, one can see the proportion and location of tramway stops to the total surface area of Poland.  I brought also an altitude (elevation) raster file. The red areas are actual tiny points representing tram stops.