TheNEW YORK DIVISION BULLETIN - MARCH, 2011 Bulletin New York Division, Electric Railroaders’ Association Vol. 54, No. 3 March, 2011 The Bulletin HUDSON-BERGEN 8TH STREET EXTENSION OPENS Published by the New by Marc Glucksman York Division, Electric Railroaders’ Association, (Photographs by the author) Incorporated, PO Box 3001, New York, New On clear, crisp Monday, January 31, NJ Mainline was reduced to the Cranford to York 10008-3001. Transit opened its most recent extension. Bayonne Scoot (usually operated with RDCs) The Hudson-Bergen Light Rail (HBLR) line from the 1967 Aldene Plan re-alignment until For general inquiries, was extended from its previous terminal at the termination of service. Member Jack May contact us at nydiv@ 22nd Street and Avenue E to 8th Street and recalled riding here on the former Central of erausa.org or by phone at (212) 986-4482 (voice Avenue C. At a cost of $58.4 million, the one- New Jersey main line. He pointed out that mail available). The mile extension brings the light rail to its far- while the architecture of the light rail station Division’s website is thest point south. Service will continue in the is very similar to the CNJ station that had www.erausa.org/ existing pattern (Tonnelle Avenue-West Side been there, it faces the opposite direction, nydiv.html. Avenue/8th Street-Hoboken Terminal). Head- away from the tracks. The extension itself ways range from a best of 3 minutes to 30 narrows to one track south of 22nd Street be- Editorial Staff: th Editor-in-Chief: minutes at night/weekend. The Bayonne Fly- fore platforming two tracks at 8 Street. Bernard Linder ers, trains that skip several stops in a rush The pace of light rail, both electric and die- News Editor: hour directional service, have also been ex- sel, continues unabated in New Jersey. NJ Randy Glucksman tended. Transit cites a daily ridership of over 40,000 Contributing Editor: Jeffrey Erlitz While two NJ Transit bus routes do stop at (out of a statewide total of 895,000) on HBLR the station, for now MTA NYC Bus continues alone, and credits all three lines with environ- Production Manager: to serve the 34th Street station exclusively mental and economic benefits. Hopefully we David Ross with route S89. And while 34th Street and 22nd will have many more openings to attend in Street are in locations that are more conven- the future. iently accessed from Route 440 (a highway), th 8 Street is located in a commercial area of Bayonne. ©2011 New York The mayor of Bayonne, Mark Smith, began Division, Electric Railroaders’ the ceremony by introducing guests and giv- Association, ing effusive praise to the politicians and NJ Incorporated Transit employees who made the event pos- sible by helping to secure funding and pass- ing legislation. There were more than a few In This Issue: mentions of the lack of "Bergen" in HBLR, Brooklyn and several of the speakers made mention of Trolley Work the continuing work of extending light rail to Cars the former Erie Northern Branch. th NJ Transit's newest extension at 8th Street, decked out ...Page 2 When CNJ trains rolled past the 8 Street station in Bayonne for the last time, it was with bunting for the occasion. 1978. What had at one point been the CNJ (Continued on page 6) NEXT TRIP: PATH HARRISON SHOP1 TOUR, SATURDAY, APRIL 9 NEWNEW YORK YORK DIVISION DIVISION BULLETIN BULLETIN OCTOBER,- MARCH, 2011 2000 BROOKLYN TROLLEY WORK CARS by Bernard Linder In 1908, Brooklyn Rapid Transit operated a very large 9558-64 were built for the American Express Com- system that included 2,803 trolley cars in Brooklyn and pany and were later used to deliver the newspaper portions of Queens. In 1906, the company renumbered Brooklyn Eagle. its 555 work cars into the 9000-series, whose 1910 ros- 9601-8 — MAIL CARS ter was published in the August, 1973 Bulletin. In this Mail cars were operated from 1899 to August 31, series, we will furnish a brief description of each type of 1914. work car. Single-truck electrified horse cars were converted to 9001-11—DERRICKS AND CRANE CARS mail cars. Cars were equipped with derricks, cranes, or hoists. 9621-41—WRECKERS In September, 1962, cars 9006 and 9007 were trans- Passenger cars were rebuilt as wreckers. ferred to NYC Transit’s rapid transit system and num- 9651-99 — SAND AND SALT CARS bered 20101 and 20102. The latter was renumbered 9651-60 were originally small single-truck 11-foot again to 21 in 1966. In January, 1958, car 9011 was plows. dismantled and the crane was installed on rapid transit 9671, 9673, 9675, and 9676 had root snow scrapers flatcar 3074. and side wings added in 1926. 9101-83 AND 9200-45 — GONDOLAS 9699 was rebuilt as a rail grinder in 1930. A curved There were 114 standard double-truck gondolas, 12 roof replaced the deck roof in 1936. small single-truck gondolas, and 3 single-truck trailer 9728-51—SAND CARS gondolas. 9112 was rebuilt with cabs at both ends. It Cars were originally passenger cars. was used as a flatcar for wheels and trucks. 9730 was transferred to Branford on November 8, 9114-8 were single-truck ash cars. 1950 and renumbered to the original 1792. 9131-7 were flatcars with hoist for carrying track rails. 9780-9809 — SNOW PLOWS 9138-9 were rebuilt to boxcars with snow plows at 9780 was a double-track heavy plow. B&QT bought each end. this plow from Richmond Railways, Staten Island, in 9155 was a single-truck car used for carrying car 1934. The original number was 02. house scrap. 9780-91 were small snow plows-blade plows. 9161 was transferred to Branford on February 17-18, 9792-9800 were blade plows. 1964. 9799 and 9800 were bought by Branford for $200 9235-8 were single-truck cars used for carrying ashes each. They arrived there on May 3, 1957. and scrap metal. 9806 and 9807 were rotary plows. 9240 had a snow plow attachment. 9810-23 were root scrapers and snow plows. Cars 9241 was sold to New York Rapid Transit Corpora- were converted from single-truck passenger cars. 9810 tion’s subway division in 1929 and renumbered to 3156. was transferred to Warehouse Point, Connecticut on 9245 was a line car trailer. August 14, 1951. 9401-49 — BOX FREIGHT CARS 9826-99—SNOW SWEEPERS 9408-25 were sand storage cars at the depots from 9826 and 9827 were bought from Richmond Railways, 1933 to 1951. Staten Island, in 1934. 9425 was transferred to Branford on February 18-24, 9831-46 were single-truck sweepers. 1964. 9832 was transferred to Branford on November 14-15, 9445-6 were converted to Electrical Department work 1956. cars. 9851-85, with open platforms at each end, were en- 9447 was converted to an Electrical Department tower closed from 1906-8. car. 9900-99—MISCELLANEOUS WORK CARS 9551-64 — EXPRESS-BOX FREIGHT CARS First series 9900-16 were scrapped 1907-33. Express service was operated from June 15, 1896 to 9900 was bought from Citizens Street Railroad, De- January 1, 1909. troit, Michigan in 1897. Its hydraulic lifting jack was re- 9551 was sold to South Brooklyn Railway in 1924 and th moved and the car was renumbered Brighton 97 in was transferred to a siding at 15 Avenue under the 1899. It was converted from a parlor car to a pay car in Culver Line. Motors were removed and it was desig- 1907 and was renumbered to 9900 in 1906. nated Kensington Freight Station. It was burned at the 9901 and 9902 were rebuilt as pay cars in 1899 and site in January, 1950. 1900. 9553-4 were converted to money collection cars. (Continued on page 3) 2 NEW YORK DIVISION BULLETIN - MARCH, 2011 Brooklyn Trolley Work Cars 9980 was an ash dump car. 9981-6 were air dump cars transferred to New York (Continued from page 2) Rapid Transit in 1916 and renumbered 3074-9. 9903 was Built by Nassau Electric as private car 98 9987– and 9988 were double-truck trailers that carried for its President and Directors. It was converted to a rails and heavy elevated girders. transfer distribution car and renumbered to 9903 in 9989 was a pay car. All pay cars were discontinued in 1915. April, 1932. 9904 was a test car. It was scrapped in 1907. PARLOR CARS 9904 (second car) was a double-truck passenger car From 1896-1907, parlor cars were operated as charter rebuilt as a transfer distribution car in 1922. cars. 9905 was a small 2-foot gauge locomotive used by the Power Department. ORIGI- NUM- DATE 9000- RE- DATE TYPE OF NAL BER AS- SERIES NUM- CAR 9907 was converted to Supply Car 6 in 1906. It was NAME SIGNE NUM- BERED rebuilt into single-truck passenger car 193 in 1909 and D BER TO a one-man safety car in 1919. (A) 9910 and 9914-6 were converted to line cars. Colum- 99 1907 9990 798 1915 Passenger SECOND SERIES 9900-9916 bia 9900-4 were double-truck sweepers bought from Mon- 95 1907 9991 796 1911 Passenger Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway in 1936. tauk 9904 (second series) was a transfer distribution car. Am- 96 1907 9992 797 191 Passenger 9905 was express car 9903 from 1906-15. It was re- phion numbered in 1915 and converted to a Track and Tool Department compressor car. Brighton 97 (B) 1906 9993 9900 1916 Pay 9907 was a bond test car. — 98 (B) 1906 9994 9903 1915 Transfer 9908 was a Track and Tool Department supply car.