The Bulletin STATEN ISLAND’S 157-YEAR-OLD RAILROAD
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ERA BULLETIN — OCTOBER, 2017 The Bulletin Electric Railroaders’ Association, Incorporated Vol. 60, No. 10 October, 2017 The Bulletin STATEN ISLAND’S 157-YEAR-OLD RAILROAD Published by the Electric (Continued from September, 2017 issue) Railroaders’ Association, Incorporated, PO Box In the previous issue, we described the in 1953, the company sold 30 surplus cars to 3323, New York, New route of the North Shore Line, which was New York City Transit, which had a car short- York 10163-3323. abandoned on March 31, 1953, but we omit- age. These cars were slow loaders because ted the South Beach Line because of the of their door and seating arrangement. For general inquiries, or lack of space. On the same date, South Between October 3 and October 10, 1955, Bulletin submissions, Beach trains also ceased operating from St. the following Staten Island cars were placed contact us at bulletin@ erausa.org. ERA’s George to South Beach and switched away in service on the lightly traveled Franklin Ave- website is from the Tottenville Line at Clifton Junction. nue Shuttle, Culver, and West End Local www.erausa.org. Photos show one-car trains operating on Lines: both lines. Following are the stations and NYCT SIR NYCT SIR Editorial Staff: mileage: NUMBER NUMBER NUMBER NUMBER Editor-in-Chief: The East Shore Branch extended from Clif- Bernard Linder 2900 391 (A) 2913 362 Tri-State News and ton Junction near Greenfield Avenue be- Commuter Rail Editor: tween Tompkins Avenue and Bay Street on a 2901 349 2914 342 Ronald Yee right-of-way between the above streets to St. 2902 341 2915 394 (A) North American and World Johns Avenue, then adjacent to Lily Pond News Editor: 2903 309 2916 339 Alexander Ivanoff Avenue, then between Railroad Avenue and Contributing Editor: Seaside Avenue to Sand Lane, South Beach. 2904 329 2917 357 Jeffrey Erlitz There was no passenger service to Went- worth Avenue, a short station where only one 2905 344 2918 300 Production Manager: David Ross door could be opened. 2906 373 2919 310 The June 17, 1951 timetable listed the fol- 2907 301 2920 340 lowing stations and mileages: ©2017 Elect ric 2908 305 2921 350 Railroaders ’ STATION MILES STATION MILES Association, 2909 387 2922 345 Incorporate d Clifton Junction 0 Arrochar 1.4 2910 336 2923 354 Rosebank 0.3 Cedar Avenue 1.6 2911 364 2924 304 Belair Road 0.7 South Beach 2.1 In This Issue: 2912 383 From Fort Wadsworth 0.9 Wentworth Avenue 2.2 (A) Cars were originally 500-series trailers, which were motorized and renumbered in 1928 Recognition to All of the original MU cars were no longer in All of the above cars were out of service on Dominance— service. Several were destroyed by fires, but April 29, 1961. They were authorized to be The New York the company w as able to maintain adequate scrapped on June 13, 1961 and September Connecting service. In 1927, five cars were damaged by 5, 1961 and were towed away by the South Railroad a fire at Tottenville and on June 25, 1946, a Brooklyn Railway to the scrap yard on Sep- fire destroyed the St. George terminal and 8 tember 8, 1961 and December 18, 1961. (Continued) In addition to the above cars, the company …Page 2 cars. After discontinuing service on two branches (Continued on page 4) NEXT TRIP: PITTSBURGH WEEKEND—SATURDAY1 -MONDAY, OCTOBER 14-16 NEW YORKERA DIVISIONBULLETIN BULLETIN — OCTOBER, OCTOBER, 2017 2000 FROM RECOGNITION TO DOMINANCE: THE NEW YORK CONNECTING RAILROAD (BRIDGING THE BAY AND CONNECTING THE PIECES) by George Chiasson (Continued from September, 2017 issue) FINAL DEMISE OF THE MANHATTAN BEACH dential neighborhood as well as the bath houses along BRANCH Oriental Boulevard, and its tracks were extended east- As noted previously, the resort-oriented flavor of Man- ward from the Manhattan Beach “plaza” in front of the hattan Beach was being heavily compromised by urban (1909) LIRR terminal to a surface car stop situated past development by the time railroad operations were trun- the Oriental Hotel. On August 7, 1913 the Marine Rail- cated at a replacement terminal next to its namesake road began the year-round use of rented LIRR battery resort in 1909. This process rapidly accelerated through car 5 as a shuttle on Oriental Boulevard to the Manhat- those years and as it did a transit-oriented ridership tan Beach Branch terminal, from which it continued on market was created, one for which the Long Island Rail LIRR itself to the Sheepshead Bay station where a con- Road was entirely ill-positioned. No more were there venient transfer could be made to BRT’s Brighton Line. well-heeled summertime crowds coming by the Not surprisingly this operation met with some measure trainload from the cramped confines of Manhattan and of success completely independent of the railroad’s ser- Brooklyn in search of comfort at its beaches, opulent vice from Long Island City, which was continuously of- hotel rooms, and outdoor concerts. Instead there were fered each year despite ever-decreasing ridership. This ever-increasing quantities of working folks (widely var- was particularly so after the Oriental Hotel was perma- ied in socioeconomic standing) who were establishing nently closed in September of 1915 and soon demol- full-time homes and whose transportation needs were of ished, at which time operations on the six-year-old a far more prosaic nature than that which Austin Corbin (relocated) Manhattan Beach Branch were reduced to a had originally envisioned. So came the gradual destruc- single track. Two months later, between November 6 tion of the Manhattan Beach Branch itself as a leisure- and 24 of 1915, its pair of daily off-season trips making oriented destination, an outcome epitomized through their way to and from Long Island City were routed realization that the great Manhattan Beach Hotel would through the East New York Tunnel and the line was set never reopen after its 1911 program concluded that into its final arrangement, including station stops at September. Five seasonal trains per day continued to Long Island City, Penny Bridge, Haberman, Maspeth, service patrons of the neighboring Oriental Hotel for the Fresh Pond, Myrtle Avenue, Ridgewood (Cypress Ave- warm weather months of 1912, utilizing a seasonal ter- nue), Fulton Street (East New York), Rugby, Kouwenho- minal that had been re-laid in front of the Manhattan ven, Vanderveer Park, Manhattan Beach Junction, Beach Hotel and first opened on July 29, 1909. Never- South Greenfield, Kings Highway, Neck Road, Sheeps- theless their number seemed to diminish as rapidly as head Bay, and Manhattan Beach. the new residential lots were being carved out of A further indication of the increasingly subservient sta- Corbin’s seaside resort property and sold off. As noted tus that the Manhattan Beach Branch had gained by previously, LIRR cut service on the Manhattan Beach late 1915 was its single-tracking, which included the Branch to four trains daily as the 1913 season opened, westward connection toward Bay Ridge that was still a “skeletal” offering that justified the railroad’s lack of used by Brooklyn-based local freights serving its indus- expensive signals on its recently-reconstructed line. trial customers. In May, 1918 seasonal service was cut This resulted in the practice of “manual block” control, from four to three trains per day (with four only on Sun- which in turn enabled only one train to be on the branch days), then finally bottomed out three years later in May at any time in either direction. of 1921, when just a pair of round trips were scheduled A semblance of railroad service was restored in the all year round. By the same time, the Marine Railroad immediate vicinity of the Oriental Hotel later the same had discovered a resurgent ridership market for its origi- year when a new trolley line was opened as a re- nal service from Manhattan Beach to Brighton Beach, embodiment of the Marine Railway. This was an intra- where a number of new beachfront attractions and bath mural (beach) operation that shuttled on its own tracks houses were being built, and petitioned to the Public between the Oriental Hotel and Brighton Beach utilizing Service Commission for its line to be so modified on various modes through its decade-and-a-half of previ- August 1, 1920. As a result of this proposal the former ous existence, including a steam train and a self- LIRR battery car that shuttled on Oriental Boulevard powered “Duplex” car between 1899 and 1905, then a was diverted from the Sheepshead Bay LIRR station to lone electric trolley through the 1912 summer season. Brighton Beach by way of newly-restored track west of For the following year the Marine Railroad, under the the Manhattan Beach terminal starting on April 1, 1921 auspices of the Manhattan Beach Estate Company, (Continued on page 3) changed its service orientation toward the growing resi- 2 ERA BULLETIN — OCTOBER, 2017 From Recognition to Dominance connections toward Fresh Pond (which also passed through the former station) removed outright. As a result (Continued from page 2) all moves to and from the Manhattan Beach Branch had and the railroad left strictly to its primary (albeit anemic) to be made using the lone remaining connection toward user. Ultimately the reconfigured battery car service was the Bay Ridge side in either direction. Like its long- never a financial success and lasted only until June of declining patronage base, the volume of local freight 1923, when the company acquiesced to a newer, that was moved to and from customers along the Man- cheaper, and duplicative bus service that had sprouted hattan Beach Branch also dropped across the few re- up.