The Bulletin THIRD AVENUE BUILT ITS LAST TROLLEY CAR
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ERA BULLETIN - MARCH, 2015 The Bulletin Electric Railroaders’ Association, Incorporated Vol. 58, No. 3 March, 2015 The Bulletin THIRD AVENUE BUILT ITS LAST TROLLEY CAR Published by the Electric 75 YEARS AGO Railroaders’ Association, Incorporated, PO Box 3323, New York, New In the 1930s, Third Avenue just barely nue on or about December , 1936. Most of York 10163-3323. made a profit, but was able to solve the ur- the remaining 300s were placed in service on ban transit problem by building inexpensive Third and Amsterdam Avenue or Broadway light rail vehicles that were easy to maintain. from mid-1936 to mid-1937, after which they For general inquiries, contact us at bulletin@ This modernization program, which began in were transferred to Yonkers or the Bronx. As erausa.org. ERA’s 1930, continued for nearly a decade. soon as the company completed production website is The 100s described in the previous issue of the 300s, it started building the Huffliners, www.erausa.org. were placed in service on the busy Broadway the only center-exit cars it ever operated. Editorial Staff: Line. The first car appeared on November Aluminum cars 551-600 and alloy steel cars Editor-in-Chief: 21, 1934 and 83 new cars were operating 601-625, which included 1,000 pounds of Bernard Linder there on December 30, 1935. Most of the aluminum parts, were placed in service on Tri-State News and Broadway convertibles replaced the Third the busy Broadway Line between September, Commuter Rail Editor: and Amsterdam Avenue, Broadway- 1937 and February, 1939. When all the Ronald Yee th th North American and World Amsterdam Avenue and 125 Street, 125 Huffliners were in service, the Manhattan News Editor: Street Crosstown convertibles, which were cars were transferred again. During the Alexander Ivanoff scrapped. 1940s, the following assignment was in effect Contributing Editor: On March 23, 1936, buses replaced the with only slight changes. Jeffrey Erlitz street cars on New York Railways’ Lexington CARS LINE Production Manager: Avenue Line, one block west of the Third and David Ross Amsterdam Avenue Line. Cars 185-199 were 101-179 Third and Amsterdam immediately transferred to Third and Amster- 393-399 Avenue, Broadway- Amsterdam Avenue and dam. The company probably expected to th th ©2015 Elect ric 125 Street, 125 Street Railroaders ’ attract new riders who would prefer the Crosstown Association, smooth-riding rebuilt cars to the uncomforta- 180-200 Broadway, Tenth Avenue Incorporate d ble, poorly ventilated buses. Meanwhile, the company started building 551-625 Broadway new cars as soon as it completed rebuilding Convertibles 42nd Street Crosstown its single-truck cars. Third Avenue built the th In This Issue: 300s in its own shops at E. 65 Street and Cars 626-685 were the best and the last Third Avenue, Manhattan. The 300s weighed cars that Third Avenue built. Operation was Penn Station 38,100 pounds, nearly 1,000 pounds lighter smooth and quiet, and their estimated speed Opens and a than the rebuilt 100s. Cost and weight were was more than 35 miles per hour. Cars Suburban reduced by using mild steel bodies and weighed 37,450 pounds, slightly lighter than Colossus equipping cars with aluminum alloy stan- the 300s. We saw the first car, 626, on Janu- Emerges chions, grab handles, seat back handles, and ary 8, 1939 and the last car, 685, on Febru- sash. New car construction proceeded rapid- ary 4, 1940. Cars 626-645 were operated on ...Page 2 ly and cars were transferred frequently. The the 59th Street Crosstown at all times and the first cars 321-330, which started operating on 42nd Street Crosstown on Sunday. They re- A/New Rochelle-Subway on July 1, 1936, placed 819-838, most of which were sold to were followed by 301-315 on Yonkers Ave- (Continued on page 4) NEXT TRIP: GRAND CENTRAL TOUR1 — SATURDAY, APRIL 11 NEW YORKERA DIVISION BULLETIN BULLETIN—MARCH, OCTOBER, 2015 2000 THE GENESIS OF “DASHING DAN,” PART THREE — Penn Station Opens and a Suburban Colossus Emerges by George Chiasson (Continued from February, 2015 issue) On September 8, 1910, electrified service was operat- scribed above, from Penn Station to Jamaica via ed on the following complete routes, in general using Main Line. This made stops at Woodside, Winfield, MP-54-type steel multiple-unit equipment, and with a Forest Hills, Hillside, and (old) Jamaica, connecting controversial 14 cents extra tacked onto each fare to with steam trains from Long Island City to cover a per train rental fee paid to the Pennsylvania Whitestone Landing and Port Washington at Wood- Railroad: side (which in turn were cut or joined at Great Neck ● Rockaway Beach Branch: Penn Station to Rocka- Junction). It also met with steam trains from Long way Park via White Pot Junction and Hammels. Island City to additional points (Oyster Bay, Hemp- Stops at Woodside, Winfield, Matawok, Woodhaven stead via Mineola, Mineola via West Hempstead, Junction, Ozone Park, Aqueduct, Ramblersville, Hicksville, Babylon, and beyond) at Jamaica. Goose Creek, The Raunt, Broad Channel, Ham- On the day that those first Long Island Rail Road MU mels, Holland, Steeplechase, Seaside, and Rocka- trains commenced revenue operation to Pennsylvania way Park. Summer Specials were operated express Station, the Main Line across Queens exhibited a mixed to Hammels starting in 1911 bag of rights-of-way: in part on the original road bed, ● “Far Rockaway Loop” via Hammels: Penn Station to which included grade crossings, in part grade- Far Rockaway via White Pot Junction and Ham- separated, and in part relocated. To summarize, trains mels. Return via Valley Stream and Jamaica*. escaping the East River tunnels found a 6- to 8-track Stops at Woodside, Winfield, Matawok, Woodhaven right-of-way through the Pennsylvania’s Sunnyside Yard Junction, Ozone Park, Aqueduct, Ramblersville, complex, which sorted into four tracks for the LIRR Main Goose Creek, The Raunt, Broad Channel, Ham- Line and two for its “North Side Division” (Whitestone mels, (Olde) Arverne, Arverne (Straiton), Edgemere, and Port Washington Branches). As it passed Laurel Hill and Mott Avenue-Far Rockaway. Summer Specials Avenue, the line arced around a long 90º curve and were operated express to Hammels starting in merged into the existing four tracks of the original line 1911. *May return to Flatbush Avenue just past the 1908-opened 1st (54th) Street overpass, ● “Far Rockaway Loop” via Jamaica: Penn Station to two each for the Main Line and North Side. The Wood- Far Rockaway via Jamaica and Valley Stream. Re- side Branch diverged from the latter by its namesake turn via Hammels and White Pot Junction*. Stops at station, where the tracks then swung gracefully back Woodside, Winfield, Forest Hills, Hillside, Jamaica through numerous, concentrated urban grade crossings (Beaver Street), Cedar Manor, Locust Avenue, Hig- (each individually and manually attended) in the former bie Avenue, Laurelton, Rosedale, Clear Stream village (and now burgeoning neighborhood) of Wood- Road, Valley Stream, Hewlett, Woodmere, Ce- side. darhurst, Lawrence, and Mott Avenue-Far Rocka- Just after the two North Side tracks cut away at Win- way. *May return to Flatbush Avenue field Junction, the Main Line still spread to three tracks ● Hempstead Branch: Penn Station to Hempstead via at Maurice (51st) Avenue, then passed onto a newly- Jamaica and Floral Park. Stops at Woodside, Win- completed six-track elevation at Remsen Lane (63rd field, Forest Hills, Hillside, (old) Jamaica, Rockaway Drive), as initially rebuilt in 1908-9 for the Glendale cut- Junction, Hollis, Bellaire, Queens (Village), Bel- off. There it began pursuing its unwavering survey lerose, Floral Park, Stewart Manor, Nassau Boule- through what had once been the rural Queens County vard, Garden City, and Hempstead municipalities of Newtown and Jamaica, which by this ● Long Beach Branch: Penn Station to Long Beach time were transforming into such steadfast areas as via Jamaica, Valley Stream, and Lynbrook. Stops at Rego Park, Forest Hills, Richmond Hill, and Kew Gar- Woodside, Winfield, Forest Hills, Hillside, Jamaica dens. All six tracks (four for the Main Line bracketed by (Beaver Street), Cedar Manor, Locust Avenue, Hig- two for the Rockaway Beach Division) continued bie Avenue, Laurelton, Rosedale, Clear Stream through a grade separated junction as far as Herrick Road, Valley Stream, Lynbrook, South Lynbrook, (70th) Avenue, from there reverting to its enhanced East Rockaway, Atlantic Avenue, Jekyl Island, The (1907) state of three-track width through Forest Hills Dykes, Wreck Lead, Queenswater, and Long station. At Ascan Avenue it entered the 1909-opened Beach. Summer Specials were operated express Maple Grove realignment and followed it as far as Met- (probably Penn Station to Jamaica to Valley ropolitan Avenue (including the local station at Hillside), Stream) starting in 1911 with the fourth iron finally being installed and electrified ● Main Line Shuttle: Electric multiple-unit cars were after it was roughed in during original construction. The also operated on an interim shuttle service as de- (Continued on page 3) 2 ERA BULLETIN - MARCH, 2015 The Genesis of “Dashing Dan” about one-third of which were of the “Camelback” type, with all between 4 and 28 years of age. The majority of (Continued from page 2) this motive power collection went on to serve LIRR into four electrified tracks then continued as far as Lester the 1930s, by which time the second round of electrifi- Avenue (135th Street), just one block shy of Van Wyck, cation and next generation of “G-5s” steam engines had before consolidating back to two for “AC” Tower inter- taken hold. The final five 2-6-2T “tank” engines de- locking, where they merged with the Atlantic Division scribed above had been the last acquired from Baldwin and took aim at (old) Jamaica station.