Today is the 45 Anniversary of the Demise of the Culver Line

How time flies!  It has been forty five yeas since  the end of my favorite line. I am not talking about the present day "F" train,  which is fine,  but the section of line between Ditmas Avenue and really 36th Street - Fourth Avenue.    The culver line had it all:  A subway section at Ninth Avenue and the section(s) near 36th Street, a brick lined tunnel from around 1900,  a ramp,  an elevated structure with trolley freight running underneath,   intersections with the Church Avenue trolley,  intersection with the Cortelyou Road trolleybus,  intersection at Ditmas Avenue with the Church McDonald trolley and a trolley turn around loop midblock on the west side of McDonald Avenue,  intersection with the then "D" train at Ditmas Avenue( no track connection), and unused steel girders south of the Ditmas Avenue station on the Coney Island bound side.   Some people will forgot that when the Culver Line became a shuttle in the fall of 1954,  the northern terminal in non-rush hours and week ends was the busy station at 36th Street and Forth Avenue.   In the years after 1954,  the north destination was Chambers Street by way of a loop that returned to the starting point at Ditmas Avenue.  Around 1958-59, there were drastic cuts that made the northern terminal Ninth Avenue.   But at first,   both tracks on the elevated structure were used.    I think that a December 1960 snowstorm shut down the Manhattan bound track for good and the line became a one track on train shuttle between Ditmas Avenue and Ninth Avenue full time.  Be careful what you wish for.   I was happy with the snowstorm because school was closed, but that was used as an excuse by the TA to get the track out of operation.  Who knows,  may be if not for that snowstorm, the second track would still be operating to the end?  Of course, there were other snowstorms after December 1960.   It is making the Culver a one track shuttle that drove away passengers.  If the steel girders south of Ditmas avenue were used to connect the BMT culver to the IND at 18th Avenue,  more passengers on the "D" train could have had a quick and transfer less ride to lower Manhattan,  but it never happened.   We are lucky that we had the Culver shuttle all together.   I do not have proof of this, but I read somewhere that the original plans was once the IND "D"train was extended south to Coney Island,  in the early 50's,  the Culver line section from Ditmas to Ninth Avenue were to be replaced with buses.  This meant that a lot of us would never have known about the Culver Line.
Thanks,
Tramway Null(0)