It's All Here

Hi Folks: The bird's eye view of many of the topics of interest in this blog is shown above.  It is a J. McDonald Vanderbilt photo from 2010.  The topic is the 38th Street BMT yard in Brooklyn.  The bottom of this picture shows the Ninth Avenue Station of the West End Line "D".  The tracks lie between 39th Street to the left and 37th Street to the right which is Greenwood Cemetery.  At the top of the picture is the waterfront.  You can see the Gowonas Expressway on Third Avenue with white multi-story buildings as shown in the streetcar rendering shown in a earlier post.  Notice that 37th Street makes a sharp 90 degree right and another one north.  This is 36th Street and if you follow it and go one block east at the waterfront you are at  the site of the Luckenbach Pier Explosion at 35th Street.  If you know where to look, can see that the "mystery ramp" leads no where.  39th Street was the route of the Church Avenue Trolley and from Eight Avenue to the waterfront the route of the Eight Avenue Trolley.  What a great photo.  It's source is www.nycsubway.org.  Since 1956, many things have changed in the area.  Many of leads leading to the Fifth Avenue El were abandonded an the configuration of the piers on the waterfront is not the same.

The Luckenbach Pier Explosion and Streetcars

Photo from the organization that is supporting the Waterfront Streetcar Line.  It just so happens that this rendition is showing buildings on the west side of Third Avenue near 33 or 35th Street, so near the site of the  explosion in 1956.

  Many of you from the New York area have heard about news to bring back streetcars along the Brooklyn-Queens waterfront.  The mayor of the City of New York said that he will support this project and this did get and continues to get much press.  This proposed line is supposed to run from Astoria in Queens to Sunset Park in Brooklyn.  The above image comes from the group that is supporting this project.  This project is not without its' critics, however.  The above picture shows  a streetcar that appears to be running under the Gowonas Expressway, actually Third Avenue.  Notice that the car is wireless and it appears to be in the western lane of the avenue.  While I am not sure, this artist's picture appears to be on Third Avenue, under the highway in the 30's.
   Whenever I am in this area, the general Sunset Park area, I get a strange feeling dealing with the Luckenbach Pier explosion that occurred on December 3, 1956 at 35th Street.  I was in the first grade at the time and though I was not near the explosion, it left a mark on me.  Also at this time, which was only 33 days after the Church Avenue Trolley stopped running, I wonder what it would have been to be in the trolley at the First Avenue Loop, at 39th Street and First Avenue, at the time of the explosion just four blocks away?  Of course, the trolleys stopped running 33 days before but what was it like in the diesel bus at the loop at the time of the explosion?


    I happened to be near the intersection of 39th Street and Third Avenue a few days ago and I spoke to a merchant that was in the area on that faithful day.  The glass skylight caved in at his store but thank G-d, no one was hurt. Notice the highway above.   The store owner told me that the force of the explosion caused a piece of metal to drop from the highway and hit a young boy in the head near his store.  The boy died immediately.  There were 10 fatalities on that day, none Fire Department personnel but over 200 civilians were injured.

  It is funny that streetcars may come to this area again, even though it may take decades.  This area is so rich in transit history.  There was a Third Avenue Trolley along the street that our new streetcar may someday travel.  Above, the Third Avenue-Fifth Avenue  BMT el ran to Bay Ridge.  Our beloved Church Avenue, and Eight Avenue trolleys ran on 39th Street.  South Brooklyn RR had a yard in the area, full with trolley wires.  Historic 19th Century train stations were in the area and so on.   West End and Culver Subway trains curved into the Fourth Avenue Subway near this location.

On another tragic day, the day of 9-11, I traveled to work but I did not get off the subway.  We were told that no trains were going through lower Manhattan.  I started home by subway but between 10 and 11 am, we were kicked off the F-train at Fourth Avenue and Ninth Street.  I walked to Fifth Avenue and took a Fifth Avenue (B-63) bus westbound.  Guess were all service stopped?  Fifth Avenue and 39th Street in view of the bay.   Needless to say, I felt very bad with this ongoing tragedy with similar tragic feelings that I link to the the Luckenbach explosion.   Basically the feeling was connect with destruction near the harbor facing west.
  In 1956, I was in a retail market thirteen avenue blocks away from the harbor.  The force of the explosion blew open heavy exit doors and various stores on 39th Street near 13th Avenue had their windows blown out.  Although the fire preceded the explosion, the sky at that time started to darken fast, but remember, this was a shorter winter day.  I was told that pieces of the pier or storage building were blown over 1000 feet into Red Hook.  I was also told that at the time of the explosion, on what is called now the Culver Viaduct, at that time D trains with R1-9 subway cars suffered window damage as well.  Someone told me that the pocket that the door closes into on the R1-9 subway car, which contains a small window cracked at the time of the explosion but no one was hurt. Passengers saw the flames and smoke from the Smith-9th Street station.


   Below is a Google Map image of the area taken from the highway structure at 3rd Avenue and 35th Street.  The Waterfront Streetcar rendition appears to be taken around the same area.  You are facing north west.  To the left side of the image, you are facing 35th Street and you can see the bay.  This was the general location of the Lukenbach Pier that exploded in 1956.  I could imagine the shock wave that was felt by cars on the highway just as the dock exploded while the cars were passing this point perpendicular to 35th Street.  By the time the pier blew, the pier was on fire with heavy smoke for some time.  Perhaps traffic was stopped on the highway before the explosion.

The new waterfront streetcar may run below on Third Avenue at this location.

Are Bus Lines Permanent vs. Streetcar Lines?

This photo was taken from the New York City Transit Museum.  It is from the Luden Collection and was photographed on April 16, 1948.   You are looking east at the intersection of McDonald Avenue and Cortelyou Road in Brooklyn.  The photographer is probably standing directly underneath the Culver Line ( main line ) as it swings north westerly.  The structure that you are looking at is the untracked ( except perhaps for the local Manhattan bound track ) connection to the Independent Subway that did not open yet.  In the foreground you can see the track shadows of the Culver El.  The connection to the Independent Subway was not yet put in place and would not be in operation until four years later  in October, 1954.  Notice the various wooden troughs for the trolley wires under the el on McDonald Avenue for the # 50 Streetcar.  Notice at right angles to the el structure, a broad wooden trough for the Cortelyou Road trolleybus (#23) overhead.
   This week, news came out that the mayor of the City of New York, Bill Di Blasio gave his seal of approval for a long waterfront streetcar line from Astoria Queens to Sunset Park in Brooklyn. To my surprise, there is not universal approval for this proposal.  One of the critic points is that a bus line can serve the same purpose for the fraction of the cost.  Some people say that bus lines can be eliminated rapidly while streetcar lines cannot.  The Cortelyou Road line started as a streetcar line on 16th Avenue.  In the early 1930's, the BMT corporation experimented with the first trolleybuses in Brooklyn on this line.  The wood trough above is probably when the line went into operation in 1932?.  To make a long story short, the line was bustituted on October 31, 1956 and remained a diesel bus line until a few years ago when it was completely ELIMINATED.  It is funny that the first trolleybus line in Brooklyn, probably which had many passengers was later eliminated when it was a diesel bus line. If a company wants to make an real estate investment, bus lines can come and go according to politics, but tracks and wires are difficult to ignore... but look what happened to also Route 23 in Phildadelphia:  Germantown Avenue.   More to follow later.

Some People Like it Hot

This interesting photo is from the Trolleybus Facebook page.  The origin is a Russian transit group.

 http://transphoto.ru/photo/745223/


 When you first look at this photo, it is hard to see where the flames are coming from.  How do you get the wire to heat up several centimeters from the trolley shoes?  Looking again you will see two burners, with a gas supply attached to the trolleypoles by what looks to be tape.  How resourceful!

Al Ponte's Time Machine - New York

Exploring subchat, I came across a posting for "Al Ponte's Time Machine - New York" on Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/Al-Pontes-Time-Machine-New-York-519902318143809/photos_stream

Here is a great collection of very good photographs from various sources, many of which I did not see before, particularly concerning our beloved Church Avenue Trolley.  The photographs seem to cover the following areas:

• Bronx street scenes some with streetcars.
• Brooklyn street scenes some with streetcars.
• Manhattan street scenes, particularly downtown, Times Square, Columbus Circle, some with trolleys.
• Queens street scenes, particularly showing airports, the 1964 World's Fair, Shea Stadium, Flushing Line, Queensborough Bridge and Astoria.
• Some Staten Island photographs, some showing trolley tracks.
• Stadium construction scenes.
• Subway car pictures, particularly old IRT equipment.
• Some el scenes from Manhattan and the Bronx.
• A series of shots showing the Church Avenue Trolley in Brooklyn, some you saw before, some you did not.

There is a focus on Times Square and Radio City Center through several decades.

I was not able to view all pictures, but one impression is that many of the street scenes in the Bronx shows a great deal of streetcar trackage.  The streetcar system, in the five boroughs, including Staten Island, was more extensive that I thought.  What a waste that it was totally destroyed.  Of the 100's of present day bus lines in New York City, would not one of them meet the engineering criteria to be converted to streetcar?

  In this undated picture from Al Ponte's Time Machine, a Church Avenue trolley bound for First Avenue is running west on 13th Avenue. It just crossed under the Culver El at 37th Street.  The black "things" under the el are wooden holders for the South Brooklyn Railway trolley wires.  I posted a picture taken facing the opposite direction in this blog.  The red building at the south west corner, adjacent to the trolley shows up in pictures of the area before the el was constructed in 1919-20 and it exists today.  

  In this undated picture, probably in the 1950's a street picture near Gimbel's at 34th Street and 6th Avenue.  The focus is on the sign that says "Independent Subway".  This sign shows classic IND styling and probably is from the 1940's.  The "Hudson and Manhattan Tunnels" refers to the current day PATH system between Manhattan and New Jersey.  33 Street is the terminal for the PATH train as well.

In this undated photo, from the same source, we are inside an IRT subway car perhaps in the 1940's.  The type of car may be a "Low V".  Notice how carefully the passengers fold their newspapers.  Notice also the sign system used then:  A series of metallic plates show terminals and routes.  This is a 7th Avenue Express running between New Lots Avenue in Brooklyn and 242nd Street - Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx.  The box below the plates, I called it (as a child) an index box where all the plates are kept.  They even had indexed tabs.  It is surprising that no one took them.  There were two sets per car.  The car had  overhead fans as well.

  In this undated photo, a Church Avenue Trolley bound for First Avenue and headed west on Church Avenue just cleared the Ocean Parkway Tunnel and is about to pick up passengers.  This is near East 5th Street.  I showed in the blog other pictures of the area taken from different orientations.  The date must be between 1951 and 1956.  On the horizon, if the tree was not there, you would see the gas tanks on Clarkson Avenue and the Kings County Hospital tower.

  This picture I never saw before.  This is what I believe a Bristol Street Church Avenue Queen Anne special car #1000 crossing 10th Avenue and 39th Street under the West End Line (presently the D train).  This structure here does not show the cat walk.  It is curving to approach the Ninth Avenue Station on the surface.  The trolley support pole on the right I believe is on the northern side of the street like elsewhere along the route.

Another undated photo from Al Ponte's Time Machine.  This appears to be in the IRT subway based on the IRT style map, which did not show BMT or IRT routes. The map does not include the 6th or 9th Avenue Els, so this had to be after 1940.  Notice that the IRT Queensborough subway had two branches:  Flushing and Astoria.

Using a Spatial Join to add new Geological Data to a earthquake history file.

The map below is an ARCGIS map that included an layer from the Rutger's University Map Lab dealing with the geologic composition of the earth.  Once I added this layer, it was possible to do a spatial join with the earthquake history layer.  What a spacial join does is add to the Earthquake History table the soil type at each eartquake point.  Once doing this using ARCGIS , it is possible to produce a report.  The spatial join can be done using ARCGIS's toolbox and is quite simple.

The report below was produced using ARCGIS's report facility.  This is available when you bring up the source table.  Some summary statistics is available at the end of the table, showing max and min and standard deviations on some of this earthquake data from New Jersey

Regarding the Closure of the East River "L" Train Tunnels

Last week, we have been informed that the MTA is planning to close the East River tunnels of the 14th Street Canarsie Line (L Train) for a period of time in order to repair water damage from Hurricane Sandy.  It is not clear if the tunnels would be closed for a period of months or for weekends.  The problem is that the "L" train is one of the most busiest lines in the city with little parallel services near by.  For its western part, the "L" train is isolated from other subway services.  The "L" train runs along 14th Street  in Manhattan from 8th Avenue eastward toward Canarsie in the eastern part of the borough.  The "L" train serves the Lower East Side of Manhattan and the now popular sections of Williamsburgh and Bushwick in Brooklyn.

  There is presently a discussion in subchat and elsewhere how to lessen the impact of a closure of part of this busy line.  Proposals such as express bus service, BRT, increased service on the surround lines such as the J, Z and G lines has been mentioned.  In a very interesting New York Division Bulletin of the Electric Railroaders' Association (Vol. 32, No. 8, pp. 1, 4,  August, 1989)  "Transit Authority's New Initiatives" lists a number of projects that if money came available, the transit authority would like to do.   Looking back over these 28 years shows that some of these proposals came to pass.  For the subject at hand, see this proposal:  "Installation of two crossovers between the A and G lines south of Hoyt-Schermerhorn Streets, IND  Division, to allow E, F and R trains from Queens to reach Manhattan via the Eight Avenue Line.

Please see the track map obtained from NYCsubway.org.  Believe it or not, there is no track connection between the G and A and C trains at this point.  I am not sure if a retaining wall would need to be removed.  Basically, if constructed, some G trains going south would be able to cross over to the Manhattan bound A/C train tracks and proceed to Manhattan.  This would allow  Williamsburgh residents who live near the G train have direct access to Manhattan without transferring .  Going home from Manhattan, some G trains on Eight Avenue Tracks would switch to the G train tracks going north.    Such a service would create and endless loop if this new service started from Forest Hills 71st Avenue.  Let us call this a "Y" train. It would start at Forest Hills, go to Manhattan via Queens Boulevard, Manhattan via 53rd or 63rd Street tunnels, either via A, C or F trains to Brooklyn.  Switch at Hoyt-Schermerhorn to the G train tracks and return to Williamsburgh and Queens Boulevard to it's origin at 71st Avenue!

There are many "ifs" about this:

1. Does the transit authority have extra cars to equip these new services?
2. How much would these switches cost to install?
3. How long would it take... are major changes to the infrastructure required?
4. Would direct service to Manhattan for G line users help their situation when the L line is closed?
5. How long would it take to install?
6. If there is not enough equipment, where can this "Y" service be turned in Manhattan?
7. Can the Cranberry Street Tube (A, C) between High Street and Fulton Street carry more trains per hour?

All this has to be analyzed by experts.  It is interesting that this was proposed in 1989 as another was for Queens E, F and R trains to reach Manhattan should a blockage occur in western Queens.

Please see trackmap attached:  Notice no track connection between the G train tracks (green) and the A or C train tracks (blue).  A crossover would allow some  southbound G trains to venture in Manahatan.  Question:  Where can they be turned?  I mentioned above a hypothetical loop from Forest Hills to Forest Hills.  The Culver Line, probably between 1954 and 56 also had a loop line that started and ended at Ditmas Avenue during rush hours.