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NEW YORK DIVISION BULLETIN - FEBRUARY, 2008 The Bulletin New York Division, Electric Railroaders’ Association Vol. 51, No. 2 February, 2008 The Bulletin HUDSON & MANHATTAN CENTENNIAL Published by the New There were joyous opening day ceremonies bly. York Division, Electric Railroaders’ Association, when Hudson & Manhattan trains started When construction began in 1874, the tech- Incorporated, PO Box running on February 25, 1908. At 3:30 PM, nique of building river tunnels was not per- 3001, New York, New 400 invited guests entered the 19th Street fected, and most people were reluctant to York 10008-3001. station, which was illuminated by the cars’ finance a risky venture. emergency lights, whose power was supplied In 1869, Colonel DeWitt Clinton Haskin, an For general inquiries, by batteries. A special Telegraph Operator on engineer who helped build the Union Pacific contact us at nydiv@ duty at the station signaled President Theo- Railroad, arrived in New York with the idea of electricrailroaders.org dore Roosevelt, who was at his desk in the building a tunnel under the Hudson River. In or by phone at (212) White House. The President then pressed a 1873, he incorporated the Hudson Tunnel 986-4482 (voice mail available). ERA’s button, which rang a bell in the station. Railroad Company to construct the tunnel. A w e b s i t e i s Power was turned on, the lights were lit, and year later, he obtained patents that proposed www.electricrailroaders. the trains’ compressors started building up air using compressed air. Work began promptly org. pressure. The crowd cheered when the 8-car at the foot of 15th Street in Jersey City. At the train pulled out of the station. The next stop end of 1874, a shaft was sunk 20 feet with Editorial Staff: Editor-in-Chief: was the boundary line between New York brick walls four feet thick. Work was stopped Bernard Linder and New Jersey, marked by a circle of red, because an injunction was obtained by the News Editor: white, and blue lights in the tunnel. The Gov- Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad Randy Glucksman ernor of New York and the Governor of New Company, which claimed that the tunnel com- Contributing Editor: Jersey shook hands between two cars, sym- pany infringed on its property rights. Jeffrey Erlitz bolizing the “formal marriage of the two The injunction was removed in the summer Production Manager: states.” When the dignitaries emerged from of 1876 and wealthy Senator Jones of Ne- David Ross the station, 20,000 people cheered, boats vada furnished money for the project. Con- blew their whistles, and church bells rang. struction resumed on September 18, 1879. There were speeches by William G. McAdoo, Work progressed slowly until there was a the President of H&M, the two Governors, serious cave-in on July 21, 1880. After mak- and other officials. Then the dignitaries re- ing changes in construction methods, work ©2008 New York turned to Manhattan via H&M for an elabo- resumed in March, 1881. Unfortunately, there Division, Electric rate banquet at Sherry’s. was another blowout on March 31, 1882 be- R a i l r o a d e r s ’ A s s o c i a t i o n , Fireworks illuminated the sky over Hoboken cause of sandy, loose soil. Construction pro- Incorporated just before midnight while 5,000 people cedures were changed again and the tunnel waited to be admitted to the station. The line inched forward slowly. By mid-1882, over In This Issue: opened at midnight and the first train was 1,000 feet of tunnel had been completed IND packed with singing, cheering people. Trains from the New Jersey side. Work stopped Concourse operated on a 5-minute headway and the again when Trenor Park, the chief financial Manhattan platforms were crowded. Because backer, died on November 7, 1882. British Line the H&M trains ran on a 3-minute headway in capital came to the aid of the tunnel project in ...Page 2 the morning rush and the running time from 1889 and introduced the hydraulic shield that Hoboken to 19th Street was only 8 minutes, was used to build the London Underground. Lackawanna ferry riding declined apprecia- (Continued on page 6) NEXT TRIP — GRAND CENTRAL T1 ERMINAL TOUR, FEBRUARY 16 NNEEWW Y YOORKRK D DIVIVISISIOIONN B BULLEULLETTININ - FOCTOBEEBRUARR,Y ,2 2000008 IND CONCOURSE LINE by Bernard Linder Subway construction began in 1928 and was com- Boulevard. To accommodate the additional cars re- pleted five years later at a cost of about $33 million. quired for service in the new Sixth Avenue Subway, the Trains started running on July 1, 1933, less than a year yard was extended south of Bedford Park Boulevard in after Eighth Avenue Subway trains were placed in ser- 1939. vice. The following table is a subway construction progress Concourse Yard, which had a capacity of 220 cars, report: originally extended only as far south as Bedford Park SUBWAY CONSTRUCTION FROM TO CONTRACT AWARDED WORK COMPLETED BID—$MILLIONS 148th Street 161st Street June 4, 1928 November 30, 1932 $8.23 161st Street 167th Street October 18, 1928 January 31, 1932 5.92 167th Street 175th Street November 21, 1928 August 31, 1931 4.81 175th Street 183rd Street December 5, 1928 January 31, 1932 5.23 183rd Street Kingsbridge Road February 27, 1929 January 31, 1932 3.84 Kingsbridge Road Van Cortlandt Avenue August 13, 1929 January 31, 1932 6.70 Van Cortlandt Avenue Webster Avenue August 21, 1930 July 31, 1933 2.69 STATION FINISH STATIONS CONTRACT AWARDED WORK COMPLETED BID—DOLLARS 155th Street, 161st Street, 167th Street, 170th Street February 13, 1931 September 30, 1932 $352,235 175th Street, Tremont Avenue, 182nd Street, Fordham February 13, 1931 February 29, 1932 455,722 Road Kingsbridge Road, Bedford Park Boulevard September 17, 1931 July 31, 1932 217,100 205th Street June 29, 1932 May 31, 1933 53,600 CONTRACT AWARDED WORK COMPLETED BID — DOLLARS Tracks—Concourse Line September 16, 1931 November 30, 1932 $528,954 Signals—Concourse Line November 18, 1931 August 31, 1933 2,317,800 Power Equipment—Concourse Line October 23, 1931 September 30, 1934 1,643,558 Grading—Concourse Yard November 21, 1928 December 31, 1929 301,750 Tracks—Concourse Yard November 19, 1930 August 31, 1931 226,825 Tracks—Concourse Yard Extension February 15, 1939 January 31, 1940 161,000* Signals—Concourse Yard Extension May 2, 1939 January 31, 1940 31,600* Line Equipment—Concourse Yard Extension March 29, 1939 December 31, 1939 93,500* *Appropriation ROUTE AND SECTION NUMBERS ROUTE 106 SECTION th th st 1 St. Nicholas Avenue between 148 and 149 Streets to 161 Street east of Ruppert Place st th 2 161 Street east of Ruppert Place to 167 Street and Grand Boulevard and Concourse th th 3 Grand Boulevard and Concourse from 167 Street to 175 Street th rd 4 Grand Boulevard and Concourse from 175 Street to 183 Street (Continued on page 3) 2 NEW YORK DIVISION BULLETIN - FEBRUARY, 2008 IND Concourse Line (Continued from page 2) 5 Grand Boulevard and Concourse from 183rd Street to Kingsbridge Road 6 Grand Boulevard and Concourse from Kingsbridge Road to: 6-A Van Cortlandt Avenue and East Mosholu Parkway South 6-B Van Cortlandt Avenue west of Jerome Avenue (connection to Concourse Yard) 7 Van Cortlandt Avenue and East Mosholu Parkway South to: 7-A 205th Street and Webster Avenue 7-B Van Cortlandt Avenue and Villa Avenue (connection to Concourse Yard) RECONSTRUCTION OF UNDERPASSES of Fordham Road. To avoid disturbing this depressed To avoid delaying vehicular Concourse traffic, most roadway, the middle and the northbound local track important crosstown streets were built with underpasses were built east of the roadway. The southbound local below the Concourse. It is believed that several were track was shifted west of the roadway in a separate tun- rebuilt because they were on the same level as the new nel. The southbound platform at Fordham Road was subway tracks. narrow at the south end and wider in the middle. At the We never saw the original 167th Street underpass, but north end, there were two platforms separated by a we saw the rebuilt one, which was below the station. At wall. this convenient transfer point, two low-level side plat- PROPOSED CONCOURSE LINE EXTENSION forms protected by railings were built adjacent to the On September 15, 1929, the Board of Transportation trolley tracks that were in the center of the roadway. released its plans for a 100-mile subway system, most Four stairways provided access to the area near the of which was never built, including the Burke Avenue turnstiles on the subway platforms. extension. This two-track line, whose estimated cost The 170th Street underpass was also rebuilt. We can was $8.9 million, would have extended 2.15 miles from vaguely remember riding the Bx11 170th Street Cross- 205th Street and Webster Avenue via Bronx Park, Burke town bus in 1930. At that time, the underpass was Avenue, and Boston Road to Baychester Avenue. The closed. The buses were rerouted and they crossed the Bronx portion of the Second Avenue Subway would Concourse at 170th Street. When the new underpass have been built from the Harlem River via Third Avenue, was opened, there were bus stops on the sidewalks Melrose Avenue, private right-of-way, Morris Park Ave- under the subway tracks. Four stairways provided ac- nue, Wilson Avenue, and Boston Road to Baychester cess to the area near the turnstiles on the subway plat- Avenue. Both lines would have operated on the same forms. tracks north of Burke Avenue.