Philadelphia: A Transit Treasure with Gas Tanks.

  Philadelphia, a historic city that is not too far away from New York is a transit treasure.  It has a subway and elevated lines, traditional streetcars, a streetcar subway, interurban style streetcar operations with trolley wire and third rail, and a large commuter rail system.  Philadelphia, like New York, did get rid most of its streetcar lines, but the trolley subway may have played a roll in saving some lines.  The Girard Avenue line was reconstructed and is currently PCC car equipped.  Some traditional streetcar routes, such as #23 Germantown Avenue are now bus operated even though SEPTA told that this bustitution would be temporary.  I am told that in Northern Philadelphia, some wire is still up and some track segments remain.  Philadelphia has  also three trolley bus routes in North Philadelphia that are still running,  but the two abandoned routes in South Philadelphia (Snyder and Tasker Morris) still have wire up.

I used Google to take a tour of the Snyder Avenue Line.  I punched in at random an address on Snyder Avenue and I got the following shot:

  This is at the western end of the line.  I believe that the route turns on 29th Street.  This is a one way loop with wire still up.  What do I see in the background,.... is that a gas tank?


I started to follow the street but the street ends and there is an expressway and the river with a name that is hard to pronounce.   Somehow, I Googled across the river to Passyunk, which is a historic town and near S. Newkirk Avenue, there is a baby gas tank, at least as of a few years ago.  Incidentally, the trackless trolley wire on Snyder is in bad shape.  I am not sure when the line was abandoned "temporarily".  From other sources, unfortunately, the trackless trolleys are difficult to operate and SEPTA is not to happy with electric surface transit, as I glean from subchat.

Sorry for the quality of the pictures.  The gas tank and its lattice support is probably large because it was visible from the trackless trolley loop which is quite far away. More to follow on Philadelphia.

Below is a recent news study about Philadelphia transit.

https://www.google.com/url?
sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=newssearch&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjRkuOHi9zJAhVBOz4KHbYFANEQqQIIHCgAMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.philly.com%2Fphilly%2Fbusiness%2F20151213_Hed_W_Initial_Caps.html&usg=AFQjCNHR_vtb2JbsP-JRUX6YvGn0fRrLqw&sig2=bndVPckRrLskrGcVC7TcOQ&bvm=bv.109910813,d.cWw

Please Do Not Light a Match!

Source:  Conrad Collection from Link Below:

http://www.nycsubway.org/wiki/The_BMT_Fleet_(Elevated,_Subway,_Experimental)

  This photo, taken from nycsubway.org from the Conrad Collection shows a train of BMT B Types crossing the bridge over the Coney Island Creek.  This may be a West End train because usually Sea Beach trains, which formerly shared the same trackage, had Type D Triplex Cars.  This picture is undated and I would like to say, that before the right of way was extended with two additional tracks, perhaps in the late 1960's, I remember the bridge was much closer to the water.  Perhaps this photo is from the 30's or 40's and a different bridge was located there.  At any rate, notice how close the gas tanks were to the tracks.  I have a lesser recollection of the gas tank to the right, which was of the more flexible one.  As a Sea Beach or West End train approached very close to the tanks, the tanks really looked huge.  I was always afraid of an explosion perhaps from the arcing of the third rail.
The bridge shown was of the movable type that can open; when the two additional tracks were added, the new tracks are not movable for boat traffic.  It is unlikely that you will find fish in these waters, so remember, do not light up.

Let Us Give a Tanks

These two personal pictures come from the personal collection of ..... which are part of the Brooklyn Historical Society collection.  I am posting them here not because I like stealing but because these photographs are very rare.  I posted earlier that there were gas tanks near the Sea Beach Line in Bensonhurst near 8th Avenue.  Here is a 1950's picture of the Sea Beach "8th Avenue Station" showing the edge of a large gas tank.  The gas tank is of the stationary type and I do not know if it was as tall as it's brother in Coney Island.  Notice the Type D Triplexes at the station.

The photo below comes from the collection of John D. Morrell and the photograph was taken on 5/30/1958.  I do not know when the gas tank on the extreme right was taken down.  The gas tanks were are over Brooklyn, including some "baby" tanks in Sunset Park.  They are all gone now due to advances in storage technologies for natural gas.

  This photo also comes from the Brooklyn Historical Society and was taken in December 1958.  You are facing the Manhattan bound platform  at Smith-9th Street of the then "D" train that ran between Coney Island and 205th Street in the Bronx.  Notice the gas tanks above the station roof.  At that time, the platform had windows of frosted glass.  They became shabby after the years and the Transit Authority blocked them up.  In a recent renovation, the windows were restored without glass and they are very nice and offer beautiful views of the Manhattan skyline and downtown Brooklyn.  Unfortunately, in my opinion, the restored arch over Fourth Avenue and 9th Street was also restored but with frosted glass and we thus are missing a nice vista.

A View of the Culver Viaduct from Below

Many of my posts deal with the area around the Smith-9th Street station in Red Hook.  This viaduct, that includes the Smith-9th Street station was built in the late 1920's and early 1930's for the city run Independent  (IND) subway extension to Church Avenue.  Unlike earlier elevated lines, this structure is very high and the steel is covered with a layer of concrete.  This viaduct has just recently undergone a multi dollar renewal.  This is not the only concrete viaduct for subway service.

  In this shot below, which is taken from the New York Transit Museum archive, shows Smith Street facing north.  The Smith-Street station is towards the photographer's back and you see the curve of the structure as it swings to the west and starts to decline into the tunnel.  The structure is not over Smith Street but to the west side of the street.  Smith Street had trolley service as well.  The photo was taken on November 29, 1950 by Leon and it is part of the Lundin Collection.  You are looking at Smith Street between West 9th Street and Huntington Streets.

  If you look to the right (east side of Smith Street), you can see not one, but I believe two gas tanks (holders) that are adjustable?   It is said that gas tank site has many toxins buried underneath.

A Trolleybus and a Gas Tank in the Same Picture?

I got the picture below from a European trolleybus site called "TROLLEYMOTION".  Trolley motion offers the latest trolleybus news from around the world and it also promotes the benefits of electric trolleybus transportation.  The picture below comes from a recent posting about the German city of Osnabruck.  I cannot read German so I am lost but I believe Osnabruck had trolleybus transit years ago, as did many cities in Germany.  Today, there are just a few cities that have it in Germany.  In my humble opinion, although I am not a trolleybus expert,  I believe the trolleybus is endangered by battery buses and high electric storage  buses that do not need overhead wires.  The success of what is called in America "BRT" or Bus Rapid Transit, or what is called in New York City "SBS", or Select Bus Service, is also a danger to streetcars and light rail.  My rational is, "if you do need wires or tracks, you do not need light rail, streetcars or trolleybuses".  If battery buses and BRT using non-wired buses is successful, transit organizations will not be willing to invest in tracks and overhead, unfortunately.
  Now back to the picture below.  The picture is undated, but it is coded "1966", so it must be a picture of Osnabruck in 1966.  Is that a gas tank in the background?  I have not seen many rigid style gas tank pictures from Europe.  Were they commonplace?  The flexible type of gas tank, that rose and fell according to the amount of gas stored and was guided by sort of a circular lattice framework was quite common in Europe and America around World War I.

Folks, I got a translation of the article.  It so happens that the municipality of Osnabruck  is considering to establish a new trolleybus system.  Part of this new operation will be off wire with battery operation.  See the clip below including information about the gas tank.  It is very high.

On the Old Post Road before 1972 dismantled some 75 m high disk gas tank, the trolleybuses 220 and 226 meet in August 1966 In 1960, trolleybuses had developed at that time due to the extensive road development work to be abandoned again. Recording: Thomas Johansson.

  The above comes from the news section of Trolleymotion.  The picture is from August 1966 showing two 1960 trolleybuses.  The tank is 75 meters high.  Was the trolleybus line or the gas tank dismantled in 1972?

 

You Are Blocking my View!

In the attached snapshoot, which was obtained from Roger Arcara's " IND & BMT  Subway and El Lines in New York City, 1940's - 1980's, for a few nanoseconds, the gas tanks on Smith Street come into view.  The shot is facing north showing the northbound Smith-9th Street platform.  I did not realize after so many years how large the tanks were.  In this blog, we have shots also facing the same direction and if the tanks were still in existance, we would not have such a great view from that location.  The tank seems to be at maximum height.  Sorry that I could not capture the snapshot better. A northbound IND  "D?" train consisting of R1-9 cars are shown.

From the same video, a train of triplex D-Types leaving Stillwell Avenue-Coney Island on either the Sea Beach or West End Lines.  Two types of tanks shown, rigid and movable.

Tanks Alot! The Gas Tanks of Kings County (Brooklyn)

The map above used a typology shapefile that I obtained from a website connected with Rutgers University in New Jersey.  Although it is dated and appears to be at least 20 years old, it provides very interesting information regarding railroads, subway tracks and yards and many other features, including gas tanks!

The above two photos where taken off the web while the photos below come from the http://www.nycsubway.org website.  Many of these yard photos were shot by Steve Zebel and are in the Joe Testagrose collection.  Most appear from 1979.

Brooklyn like many other cities had gas tanks or gas holders all over the place. Some where movable in which the tank rose in height as more gas was stored.  The tank floated in a pool of water at its' base..  The Coney Island tank shown in the picture was of the rigid type.  I remember tanks located at Smith Street where the IND subway train declines into the subway to Carroll Street.  A movable tank was just accoss the street from Kings County Hospital, at Clarkson Avenue.    I was surprised as a child that such a tank would be accross the street from a large hospital.  What happened if the tank exploded?  Other tanks where near the Sea Beach Line in Bay Ridge but I am not sure where.  The Coney Island Tank is shown in these pictures.  The bridge that carrries

present day Sea Beach and West End Line trains was almost at the base of the tank.  Other tanks were in East New York and in Greenpoint.  The last two twin tanks were in Greenpoint and were dismantled by explosives I believe in August, 2001, right before 9-11.  Manhattan had it's share of tanks and one large one was in Bridgeport Connecticut, visable from Metro North.  A smaller set of tanks were also found at the south east corner of the Coney Island yard, at the Coney Island Creek and the Belt Parkway near Shell Road where the baseball field is today, next to the Culver Line El that goes over the Belt Parkway.

This shot was taken from a West End Train.

 A group of BMT Standard cars and Triplex Type D's near the West End Lead In?

A train of IND R1-9 cars in the Coney Island Yard.

 A group of vandalized R-32 and  R-36 cars.

A Steve Zobel Photo taken in 1979 showing a group of restored EL cars and a Boston PCC Trolley that resided for some time in the yard before being sent elsewhere.

Another shot of the yard.  I cannot make out if the train consists of R-38 cars?  I believe in regular Sea Beach (N) service.  Our "friend" is in the background beyond the Belt Parkway.

In the 1951 aerial below, what appears to be a rigid style gas tank (white circle) that is casting a giant shadow is located at 64th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues in Brooklyn.

                                            The gas tank is here.   The right of way for the Bay Ridge LIRR Division and the BMT Sea Beach Line is about one and half blocks away.  The street to the right that goes off on the diagonal is Fort Hamilton Parkway.

When is an "EL" not an "EL"?

These two photographs taken this morning from a Manhattan bound F train on the "Culver Viaduct".  The top photo shows lower Manhattan as the train is about to enter the Smith-9th Street station which is the highest in the NYC subway system.  The second photo, take a few moments later as the train is going down the incline to the Carroll Street station which is underground.  The "Culver Viaduct" is a concrete covered steel structure which is going under rehabilitation.  The foreground of the second photograph, where you can see green grass, was the former site of large natural gas gas tanks.  Beyond the grass is the Gowanus Canal and the high Smith-9th Street station that goes over the canal.  I believe the former gas tank site is a very toxic site and nothing can be built over it.  The viaduct was constructed in the late 1920's and opened in the early 1930's for the new Independent Subway Prospect Park Line.  The traditional BMT Culver Line, that reached Manhattan by way of the 5th Avenue El and the Brooklyn Bridge or the BMT subway on 4th Avenue and through the Montague Street tunnel, never used this trackage.  When the IND Prospect Park Line was extended to Coney Island via the BMT Culver Line south of Church Avenue in 1954, the line became know as "Concourse - Culver ", but on the old R1-9 equipment, this name was never applied and the train was simply known as the "D" train,  or "Houston Street - 6th Avenue Express" . Only many years later, after 1967, did the rerouted "F" train became know as the "Culver Line".