13th Avenue and 37th Street in the 1950's

I am always on the lookout for new photos showing the Church Avenue Line in Brooklyn.  This great photo, taken from the  nycsubway.org site.  Some new photos were posted ( or those that I missed) and above you see a photo from the Pfuhler collection.  A east bound Church Avenue Trolley is just about to go under the el structure at 13th Avenue and 37th Street in Brooklyn.  In front and perpendicular to the PCC car are the tracks of the South Brooklyn Railway.  You are looking west down 13th Avenue.  The PCC car is just about to make a hard right onto 37th Street.  Notice the stairway to the 13th Avenue station the BMT Culver Line.  Notice the wooden supports for the trolley wires.  I noticed that there is a rectangular sign just above the car but I do not recall any sign there.  The photo has to be from 1951 to 1956.  The 13th Avenue station  is above and to the right of the streetcar.

Culver Madness

The source for these two pictures is http://www.nycsubway.org  and Dave's Rail Pix.

The top picture shows an older streetcar on the Church Avenue Line eastbound to Bristol Street. It just turned on 37th Street and just entered the begining of Church Avenue.  The lumber yard, I am told, was formerly one of the building connected with the Nassau Electric yard on 37th Street near 13th Avenue.  Notice how close the streetcar runs close to the lumber yard.  Also towards the back of the picture, you can see the northbound platform windscreen on the Culver El structure.  You can make out probably some of the overhead wires from the South Brooklyn Rail Road that used to run directly in its' own PRW under the structure.  In other posts from this blog, I published pictures directly from that platform.  In the second picture, you see a BMT Standard car in Culver Shuttle service resting in the 9th Avenue Station.  The 9th Avenue Station lower level never got a lighting upgrade and was lighted by incadescent lights, which does not make for good photography.  This BMT Standard is parked in the middle track and you can barely make out the tiles on the station walls.  I found the BMT Standard cars very comfortable.  Notice the middle double doorway towards the left of the photo.  This served as the conductor's position for controlling the doors and you can see the push button control panel.  In cars in which the conductor was not present, the controls were not active and so many children, including myself, played with the push buttons.  My father asked one time a conductor that he knew how he liked being a conductor, and the conductor's response is that he enjoys pushing the buttons all day.  The BMT Standard photograph is probably from 1965 and the Church Aveue Trolley picture I do not yet have a date for.  Sorry for the quality of the Church Avenue Trolley photo.

 

Elevation of Staten Island Railway Stations at Street Level

  Staten Island has an interesting railway that shares many characteristics with its' relatives across the bay in the other boroughs of New York City. Almost 100% open air except for some small tunnel segments, this two track, third railed powered line operates subway like equipment very similar to the R-44/R-46 class. In the 1920's, there were plans to build a tunnel under the narrows to join the Staten Island Railway with the BMT Fourth Avenue subway in Bay Ridge Brooklyn.  Except for some shafts, nothing much more was built.  The elevations shown are at street level at the station location.  Some smaller segments on the eastern side of the line closed in the 1950's and they are not shown on the map that was produced in ARCGIS.  There are some plans to activate the North Shore Line (represented as a railroad) but from what I was told, it is not likely to be light rail or rapid transit.  The Staten Island Railway used prior to the R-44/R-46 class cars equipment that was very simlar to that of the BMT Steel "BMT Standard" cars.  In fact, a group of these cars, as a result of trackage abandonments on Staten Island in the 1950's  found their way on various BMT southern division lines.

Both photos above are from the George Conrad Collection located at the http://www/nycsubway.org website.  The first photo is that of former SIRR cars on the Culver Line at Fort Hamilton Parkway just about to make a left turn to the incline towards the Ninth Avenue Station probably in 1955.  The second photo is also from the same source and was shot on 11/12/1955 showing a train equipped with SIRR equipment.  This is a north bound Culver Line train at the 13th Avenue Station.  The Flatbush Industrial Building is in the background and it is still standing.  It had its' own spur to the South Brooklyn Rail Road with trolley wire.  These cars were very interesting in that the middle doors were BMT Standard like and the end doors were like IRT Lo V doors.  Destination signs were metal plates.

In the photo above, a SIRR car rests on the Culver Line at the Ditmas Avenue station.  This photo, which is from the collection of David Pirmann is interesting because to the lower left of the car at street level is the Kensington Loop of the Church Avenue/McDonald Avenue trolley line with the wires and poles visible.  You can see the Flatbush Industrial Building to the far left and perhaps you can make out the overhead wires on the Cortelyou Road-16th Avenue trolleybus line also at the far left near the 38th Street Park.

B.M.T. Culver Line Before its' cutback at Ditmas Avenue

Photo Source: Collection of George Conrad,  http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/

This photo, taken on 9/12/54 which  was several weeks before the line was cutback at Ditmas Avenue, two stations down the line.  The view is from the southbound track facing the 13th Avenue Station to the east.  The train is on the Manhattan bound track and consists of B.M.T. Standard Cars.  These standard cars were made of steel and where quite comfortable.  What is interesting in this photo is that the third rails were at time and never on this portion, ever covered with wooden protection boards.  On the right side of the photo, you can see at least three coal silos.  The large factory that appears above the train
is the Flatbush Terminal Building which occupies most of the block on 14th Avenue between 37th Street and 38th Streets.  This large factory had its' own freight siding equipped with trolley wire and poles.  Underneath the el structure was two South Brooklyn Rail Road tracks in a private right of way.  This trackage was equipped with trolley wire and there were many sidings also equipped with trolley wire under the structure for freight delivery, specially coal. In the later years, only one el track remained in service (the one on the right) and one track shuttle service was provided between Ditmas and the Ninth Avenue stations.

13th Avenue Station on the Culver Line - Prior to October, 1954

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

In this undated photo, a Brooklyn Union Elevated Car is shown at the 13th Avenue station on the BMT Culver Line prior to this section becoming the Culver Shuttle in October, 1954.  Due to a car shortage, surplus BMT Elevated Line equipment was called into action as shuttles between the Ninth Avenue Station and Coney Island during the rush hours.  Regularly, BMT Standard steel equipment was used on the line.  This photograph is interesting because it shows the wooden platform floors and wooden wind screens with windows.  The shot is facing west, towards the Fort Hamilton Parkway station and is taken from the Manhattan bound platform.  The el train is on the Coney Island bound track.  The Church Avenue trolley shot shown previously at 37th Street is right below the station where the woman on the Manhattan bound platforming is standing.  Notice the concrete coal silos, near the Coney Island bound platform and another one on 37th Street west of the station.  These coal companies had their own track sidings equipped with trolley wire under the structure and were served by the South Brookly Railroad Company.