Gravesend (McDonald) Avenue Line: 1912-1920 Layout

Source:  B. Linder, New York Division Bulletin, Electric Railroaders' Association, Vol. 20, No.5, October 1977, pages 2-9.  This map shows the period when 5th Avenue Elevated trains ran on the surface using trolley poles for power on Gravesend Avenue..  After the elevated structure opened over Gravesend Avenue during the period of 1919-20, another layout was established in which the low level platforms shown above were gradually removed.   Culver-5th Avenue Elevated trains used the new structure since 1919. The trackage shown on Gravesend Avenue ( which became McDonald Avenue in 1935) was also used by trolley freight locomotives run by the South Brooklyn Railway.  There is much to discuss here; trolley freight operations, sidings, summer only trolley specials on Gravesend Avenue and if you look closely, there is race track siding at Avenue T for the Brooklyn Jockey Club.  Hope to discuss this in the future.  Tramway Null(0)

Fifth Avenue El in Brooklyn - South Section - 1937

Source:  B. Linder, New York Division Bulletin, Vol. 42, No. 12, December, 1999, Page 3.

In the track plan of the southern section, notice the trackage on 3rd Avenue and an interesting stub terminal at 65 Street and Third Avenue ( Brooklyn )  that had trolley service run up a ramp and ended on the elevated structure at the southern end.  This service seems to have ended in 1919.  It seems that the Fifth Avenue El was not upgraded because it was only one block away from the BMT 4th Avenue Subway.

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What a difference 88 years make!

In the reworked ARCGIS map below, I added an aerial photograph from 1924 showing the Canarsie Depot and the Hegeman Avenue Private Right of Way.  In the aerial shot, you can see the path of the PRW and it should be contrasted to the line drawing by Bernard Linder.  When we say that we want to reinstate streetcars for the sake of the environment and pehaps as a hedge against Peak Oil, I came to the conclusion that the route of any reinstated streetcar line or light rail line cannot be exactly the same as in the past.  Much of the area shown in the aerial photograph are now covered by multi-story housing developments and hospitals.  Where will the depot and repair facilities of a reinstated streetcar line be located?  It will probably result in a great deal of opposition by people who do not want anything " not in my back yard ".  In the end of the 19th Century, the area shown in the photograph was mainly vacant land and farms and there was no opposition to the new techology of electric streetcars.

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Does Rapid Transit follow the people or does it create communities?  In the map above, census data from the 2000 Census was applied against existing rapid transit routes, bus and subway.  The Church Avenue route is shown in red since it is the focus of many of my blogs.  It seems to the eye, that as we go away from areas of good rapid transit coverage, the population concentration drops.  Good candidates for streetcars would be areas that are far away from rapid transit but still have moderate to high concentration of population.  The Church Avenue route today as bus and the past as a trolley, always had good usage because the east end of the route is far away from the Nostand Avenue subway.  The census tract from the 1950's is not shown here so we really cannot compare 1956 (date of abandonment) and today.

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Thank you, Bernard Linder and ERA for your track maps! Church Avenue Line 1923-56

In this blog, I will be using a wonderful source. The New York Division  " Bulletin " of the Electric Railroader's Association produced in the 1970's streetcar trackage maps of almost all of the Brooklyn Trolley Lines.  I have many such maps.  These pen and ink drawing were drawn by Bernard Linder in connection with historical data provided by Edward B. Watson.  The first line that I will study is the Church Avenue Line and the data comes from the August 1979 (Vol 22 Number 8) and October 1977 (Vol 20 Number 5) of the New York Division Bulletin.  These pen drawings provide such much historical information that I believe is not available anyplace else.    The pictures show here come from Dave's Rail Pix and I all can I say that they provide so much to the analysis.http://www.davesrailpix.com/nyc/bqt.htm