McDonald Avenue PCC near Neptune Avenue - Part II

  In this posting, we will shift our focus slightly to the two deck elevated structure that I was telling you about in the prior post.  You got to see the photo below by Zach Summer which was taken on July 9, 2010 probably from the top level of the West 8th Street Station.  This is the next station that the elevated structure runs into from the previous post.  What a great shot!

A "Q" train of R160 cars are headed towards Manhattan and about to enter the West 8th Street station in Coney Island.  You can we what remains of the formerly great Coney Island amusement area.  The Cyclone  roller coaster ride is toward the left and so is the Atlantic Ocean.  Please go to http://www.nycsubway.org to see the rest of Zach's photos which concentrate on this area of Brooklyn.

In the picture below, from the George Conrad collection at the same website, a 1939 view of the easterly end of the West 8th Street station is shown where the  Culver Line swings out from beneath the two level elevated structure.  The picture above is from the top tier of the same station but facing south west while this picture is facing slightly south east.  On the lower tier,  a Culver-5th Avenue train of wooden elevated stock with gates are about to enter the West 8th Street Station on their trip to Stillwell Avenue- Coney Island.  On the upper level, a Brighton train of BMT Type D Triplexes are found.  According to what I can see, there are trolley tracks on both sides of the Culver Line structure.  I believe that by 1939, the Culver Line ran two services, subway service to Chambers Street using BMT Standard steel cars and wooden elevated cars to Sands Street or Park Row in Manhattan.

In this photo by Brian J. Cudahy in 1954, at the same website, a train of IND R-1-9 cars are headed towards the lower level of the West 8th Street station.  By this time, IND service to Coney Island was just a few months old.  A great snow shot.  We also see two of the trolley line support poles carrying the power source perhaps for the subway trains in the area.  I believe that the trolley PRW is towards the photographer's back.

R-38 Simulator on the Brighton Line

Hi Folks:

 Please check out this train simulator posted in Subchat by Dj Hammers.   Dj Hammers is very talented.  Focus is on the Brighton Line ( B and Q trains) in Brooklyn south of Prospect Park.  Incidentally, most of the R-38 class, that entered service in 1967?, have been scrapped.  It is nice to see them in this simulation which is under development.  Please note the text posted in subchat below where I got the link.

Enjoy!

Tramway Null (0)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Vb-LL8Dy45A

The R38 for OpenBVE Train Simulator - BIG Update!

Posted by Dj Hammers on Sat Jan 19 23:04:49 2013 Some more progress on the R38 that I am working on... I'm almost done, just need to code some 3D headlights, fix a couple textures issues, and make the window frames look nicer. As always, expect a release on bvestation.com Check out the preview video:

Area west of Sheepshead Bay Race Track Today

Avenue Y overpass today.  Notice the narrow plot of land between the BMT Brighton Line Subway tracks and East 16 th Street.  Notice only one bridge for four tracks over avenue Y.  The former right of way is now occupied by houses built on a narrow plot of land.  East 16 th Street appears in person to be narrower than other streets.  The red star is a marker at 1700 Avenue Y.  The area around avenue Y and Ocean Avenue is completely built up.  There is a slight shadow at Avenue X and the BMT right of way perhaps where the race track spur exited the main line.
It is interesting to note that the leads to the race track exited the BMT main line tracks and not the LIRR tracks on the eastern side of the embankment.  The terminal at the spur had BMT and LIRR Manhattan Beach Branch Tracks.

Manhattan Beach RR Had its' Own Overpass over Avenues

Double bridge circled in red over Avenue Y which is in accordance with the original source map.
According to the source map, the Sheepshead Bay Race Track Spur terminal was a multi track terminal in which the BMT tracks were seperated from the LIRR tracks by a fence.  The BMT tracks were on the right hand side of the terminal and the LIRR tracks on the left.  The source map said that the BMT tracks were electrified.  This probably means third rail.  The LIRR tracks were not and were probably steam operated.  It must have been an interesting to view the terminal with BMT standard electric equipment along side with steam equipment.  It is possible that BMT electric service was operated to the race track with older wooden electric elevated equipment.  I never saw an old BMT standard roll sign from the period of 1916- 1924 with a reading "Sheepshead Bay Race Track".

Aerial View of Sheepshead Bay Race Track Area 1924

This aerial photograph taken in 1924 shows the shadow of the right of way of the Sheepshead Bay Race Track Spur.  In the lower left of the frame, the BMT Brighton Line trackage is shown crossing Avenue Y.  It is possible that the BMT trackage was seperated from the MBRR by a small gap.   The private right of way was broader than today beause the right of way had two tracks for the Manhattan Beach Railroad which was steam driven.  According to the map, all streets were not paved as shown on the B. Linder map.  You can clearly see the curves of the right of way.    By 1951, the area was built up already.  The white line towards the right of the photo is Ocean Avenue and the red star is at 1700 Avenue Y, the location where the private right of way touches the location of Avenue X.  To the extreme right of the frame what appears to be a circular road perhaps the race track itself.  The race track is boarded by Ocean Avenue and perhaps you can see the shadow of the road leading from the Ocean Avenue train platforms.

Not Cowboy Spurs but Sheepshead Bay Race Track Spur

I came across a track map drawn by B.Linder and published in the New York Division Bulletin on page 2, in their July 2003 edition (Vol. 46, No 7) showing the Sheepshead Bay Race Track Spur.  Many Brooklynites and those who are interested in rapid transit and rapid transit history do not know about this spur.  Up to around ten years ago, a passenger in our present day "B" or "Q" trains would look out of a north bound train to Manhattan in an easterly direction just south of the Neck Road station and they would see a curved wall at surface level.  This curved wall was destroyed to make way for modern housing and is probably all that remained of this spur.  According to the map, the sidings were removed between January and March, 1929.  I believe that this spur may have been under wire at this time as was the main line.  In short, the development of rapid transit in Brooklyn could be generally explained as follows:

1. Steam Railroad on the surface (19th Century) Examples:  Culver, West End, Brighton Lines
2. Steam Railroad on elevated line in business areas (Late 19th Century), Examples, 3rd Avenue and 5th Avenue Elevateds in Brooklyn and perhaps the Myrtle and Broadway Els as well.
3. Steam Railroad on elevated line extended to suburban areas such as the Coney Island Area via the above right of ways. (Examples:  Culver, West End and Brighton Lines)
4. Electrification of the the Elevated Lines and trolley wiring of their extentions on the surface (1890's to early 1900's).  Trolley wire strung on Gravesend Avenue, Brighton Line Right of Way, New Utrecht Avenue (West End Line).  Train cars had trolley poles and third rail shoes.
5. Construction of the more modern elevateds with third rail and equipping private right of ways with grade separation and third rail power. (Around 1914:  Modern Sea Beach, Brighton Line, Culver Line and so on.
6. Running modern subway equipment on new elevated structure and private right of ways such as the Sea Beach Line and Brighton Line using third rail power.
7. Former right of way under new elevated structures retained trolley wire and tracks and was served by streetcar type of service at ground level. (Example, around after 1916, such as the Gravesend Avenue (McDonald Avenue Trolley), West End Trolley under the West End El on New Utrecht Avenue).

8. Abandonment of streetcar service under elevated structures.  (For example, West End Trolley died in 1947, McDonald Trolley died in 1956.
9. Abandonment of older elevated structures, such as the 3rd and 5 th Avenue Elevateds, Fulton Street Line, Lexington Avenue El (1940's to 1950).  Section of the Culver El abandoned in 1975.

It is possible that for a short period of time, dual mode service (trolley pole and third rail shoes) was operated at the eastern end of the Jamaica Elevated and the Metropolitan Avenue Line, but I am not sure.

According to the material I presented, logic would say that this Sheepshead Bay Race Track spur was operated under trolley wire because the Brighton Line line was not redesigned for third rail operation until after 1912.  Although not shown on the above diagram, there were two easterly tracks on the embankment  that was stream railroad operated by the Long Island Railroad.  Perhaps this spur was served by Long Island Railroad Stream trains?  But I am not sure.

Note:  The Neck Road station is presently on an embankment and probably was also prior to 1912.

Imagine a race track on Ocean Avenue?

More about this to follow:
Tramway Null(0)