Streetcars and Spatial Analysis.
What are your proposals for streetcars and or trolleybuses in Brooklyn and New York City? Here past trackage maps are presented and analyzed in todays environment. Geospatial analytical methods are discussed regarding new routes.
Dear Visitors:
Please scroll down the page to see present and archive blogs.
This picture, although it is not clear, was taken by George Conrad on 8/8/48 and is posted in the http://www.nycsubway.org website. In the picture, you can see a BMT Standard Jamaica Line train on the bridge and to the left of the train you can see an older type of streetcar headed towards the Delancey Street terminal which is underground. I have not come across many pictures of subway trains and trolley cars on the Wiliamsburg Bridge together and I wanted to share it. In a earlier posting, I posted a video clip of the 1940's classic "Naked City" which was filmed around this time on the bridge but I did not get a glipse of the streetcar right of way, although there were plenty of BMT standards in the video. Unfortunately, in the New York City area, there are no plans to reinstate trolley cars on bridges that formerly had them.
These two great photos come from subchat. One from Broadway Lion and one from the MTA. The large sign of a former tile company is an icon for the area.
Notice the Kentile Floor Sign. The view is from the unopened Manhattan bound platform facing east.
The Broadway Lion simulated view is facing more north easterly.
Notice in the sumulation that the fence is missing and there is no lighting. The red subway car is from the IRT Division signed for Number 4 Lexington Avenue Express service and seems to be on the express track.. These cars are here far away from IRT territory. Where are the gas tanks? Thank you Broadway Lion for this picture.
My friend Igor who comes from Sankt Petersburg, was able to e-mail this wonderful historic track map of the Sankt Petersburg streetcar network going back to the early part of the 20th Century. Enjoy the map. The map is in German. Material is from http://www.piter-tram.de website which is great. I cannot make the attached map more flexible for viewing by increasing the magnification. The Sankt Perersburg system contained many grand junctions and was perhaps the largest tramway in the world.
For creating the map below, I used a shape file of old railroad beds in New York State provided by Russel Nelson. It just so happens that many of the segments have the word "trolley" in it, so it was easy to use a ARCGIS ESRI definition query to select those segments that the word "trolley" applies to. This map should be taken "as is" and I do not know if it is accurate, but it does show what can be done with shape files on the web. Of the 395 segments available, 60 have the word trolley and are shown in blue.
Copyright 2005, 2006 by Russell Nelson. Not freely copyable data, because I'm still modifying it. If you want a copy, fetch it from here. If you want a friend to have a copy, tell him to get it from this site. Send comments to nelson@crynwr.com. For those who want to see a listing of the segments that have the word "trolley" in it, please see below:
In the map below, I started to experiment with GRASS 6.4.1 and their North Carolina dataset. The files selected show bus stops and bus lines and elevations from their "aspect file". Will research the actual location of the municipality shown later.
In the map below, the street grid was brought in. Bus routes in black and railroads in red. GRASS 6.4.1 is cool to work with, but it is a little unstable at times. Great colors! The colors represent elevations from their fractal or other elevation data sets.
In the map below, an aerial photograph was brought in. Elevation is hinted by the slight change of colors.
In the map above, a hydrology experiment was done in which the street layer was used as the basis of the stream layer. An elevation fle was brought in and a map was produced showing critical stream areas (blue X's) at low points along the streets. Done using GRASS 6.4.1 Hydrology program.
In the map below, streams, indicated by red dots, were used as the basis of the hydrology study and the results shown in light green, are areas of flooding, according to this experiment.
In the map presented below, I brought in the available shape file dealing with elevations but I did not add the street grid or other man made structures. You can see the "hint" of man made structures in the elevation file which is logical. because the elevation file was probably made by aerial photograph. It is still an interesting map to look at.
The text below comes from a newspaper article appearing today in several local newspapers, such as the "Brooklyn Paper". Credit for story given at end of article. All I can say is "Perhaps!". Tramway Null(0)
The much-demanded F express is now part of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s train of thought.
The MTA revealed it is considering implementing express service on the F line that would race between Downtown and Coney Island — appeasing residents across the borough who say faster trains could get the overburdened line back on track.
When the long-overdue renovation of the Culver Viaduct finally wraps up in a few weeks, the agency will study the line and determine whether express service is viable, an MTA official told councilmembers on Tuesday.
The train, which would run toward Manhattan in mornings and toward Coney Island in evenings — like Brooklyn’s answer to the 7 train in Queens — would harken a return of a speedy service that used to stop at Jay Street–MetroTech, Seventh Avenue–Ninth Street, Church Avenue, 18th Avenue, and Kings Highway until the 1980s.
Proponents of an express F train can’t wait to hop on board.
“For the people who live in Bensonhurst and Gravesend and Coney Island, it could shave a half an hour off the commute,” said Todd Dobrin, a former member of Community Board 13 who is running for city council. “The signals are in place and there’s nothing holding it back.”
Carroll Gardens commuter Gary Reilly, who promoted the idea of an express train in an online petition and blog, said it’s about time the MTA gets moving on the proposition.
“As Brooklyn continues to grow, the Culver line ought to have restored express-local service,” said Reilly. “Logistically it is possible. It’s just a matter of finding a little bit of political will, and a relatively small amount of money.”
But, Reilly said, the MTA needs to do it right to make sure that commuters in Brownstone Brooklyn don’t get stuck on the platform as express trains race through their stations.
“The key is that there must be an overall increase in the service levels so that the current local stops don’t suffer a reduction in service,” he said.
This isn’t the first time the agency has said it would consider adding an F express train after work on the viaduct wraps up. But that $257.5-million project has taken longer, and cost more, than expected.
Commuters recently got a taste of the high-speed service when construction work turned all Manhattan-bound F trains into express trains on weekends. Reach reporter Danielle Furfaro at dfurfaro@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-2511. Follow her at twitter.com/DanielleFurfaro.
