TheNEW YORK DIVISION BULLETIN - APRIL, 2007 Bulletin New York Division, Electric Railroaders’ Association Vol. 50, No. 4 April, 2007 The Bulletin ALDENE PLAN TURNS 40 YEARS OLD Published by the New by Larry Kiss York Division, Electric by Larry Kiss Railroaders’ Association, Incorporated, PO Box April, 1967 was an important month for CNJ trains to Newark Penn Station by the 3001, New York, New commuters of the Central Railroad Company same Rahway route as the Pennsylvania York 10008-3001. of New Jersey (CNJ). As ridership decreased trains. and expenses increased, the railroad was These reroutings would allow the closure looking for ways to cut service and hence of the ferry from Jersey City to Liberty Street, For general inquiries, contact us at nydiv@ expenses. Since the state of New Jersey Manhattan. CNJ trains would now terminate electricrailroaders.org subsidized passenger service, it too was at Penn Station, Newark where connections or by phone at (212) looking for ways to economize. could be made via PATH and Pennsylvania 986-4482 (voice mail Both the railroad and the state realized that Railroad trains to Manhattan. A new yard was available). ERA’s the biggest saving would be the elimination constructed in the Meadows part of Harrison, website is www.electricrailroaders. of the ferry between Jersey City and Liberty New Jersey for storage and turnaround facili- org. Street, Manhattan. This ferry service met all ties for CNJ trains. trains and ran practically around the clock, In addition to the rerouting, many other re- Editorial Staff: seven days a week. A way had to be found to lated changes were made to the CNJ opera- Editor-in-Chief: Bernard Linder reroute CNJ trains to another terminal with tion: News Editor: convenient connections to Manhattan. • Service between Elizabethport-Kearny- Randy Glucksman The answer was found by studying some Newark would be discontinued and the Contributing Editor: recent history. Until February 4, 1961, Lehigh CNJ Newark Terminal on Broad Street Jeffrey Erlitz Valley Railroad passenger trains had would be abandoned Production Manager: switched to the Pennsylvania Railroad’s • All CNJ Mainline service north of E. David Ross Northeast Corridor at a point about two miles 33rd Street, Bayonne to the Jersey City south of Penn Station, Newark. Since the terminal would be discontinued and a New Jersey Mainline passed under the Le- shuttle meeting all mainline trains at high Valley at a point called Aldene, it was th Cranford would operate from W. 8 decided to build a one-track connection to Street, Bayonne (E. 33rd Street in rush ©2007 New York allow CNJ trains to be rerouted to Penn Sta- hours) serving the old Mainline across Division, Electric tion, Newark. This idea became known as the Newark Bay Bridge and through Railroaders’ the Aldene Plan. Association, Elizabeth. This shuttle operation lasted Incorporated Beside the CNJ mainline trains there was until August 6, 1978 the problem of what to do about the Sea- • The Queen of the Valley interstate train In This Issue: shore trains. The Seashore trains originated beyond Hampton, New Jersey to Phil- Last New York at Bay Head Junction and shared trackage lipsburg, New Jersey and Bethlehem with the Pennsylvania’s North Jersey Coast City Trolley Car and Allentown, Pensylvania would be trains north to Perth Amboy, where Pennsyl- discontinued Ran 50 Years vania trains diverted to Rahway or the North- • The two Reading Railroad Philadelphia east Corridor, while CNJ trains continued to a Ago...Page 2 trains, The Wall Street and The Cru- connection with the CNJ mainline at Eliza- bethport. The simple solution was to reroute (Continued on page 4) Next Trip: 207th Street1 Shop Tour—April 21 NEWNEW YORK YORK DIVISION DIVISION BULLETIN BULLETIN OCTOBER, - APRIL, 2007 2000 LAST NEW YORK CITY TROLLEY CARS RAN 50 YEARS AGO by Bernard Linder Shortly after midnight April 7, 1957, the last Queens- Although 58 cars were listed on the car assignment, boro Bridge trolley car, 601, arrived at the Manhattan less than half were operated. terminal. It was the end of street car operation in New We saw the first 700-series cars on May 11, 1937. Six York City. 700s were listed on the car assignment, but we ob- After Steinway’s Long Island City and Astoria lines served the following 15 cars in service on 31st Street. were converted to bus in 1939, this 1.6-mile line operat- They were not all running at the same time. When a car ing from Northern Boulevard via the Queensboro Bridge wore out, it was probably scrapped and replaced with to E. 59th Street and Second Avenue was retained be- another old car. cause it was able to stop on the bridge above Welfare 701 710 724 (now Roosevelt) Island. Buses were not allowed to stop 702 711 725 on the bridge. S.W. Huff, Third Avenue’s President, and R.C. Lee 704 712 733 were the receivers of the Steinway Railway Company 708 713 743 since May 10, 1922. Third Avenue transferred its oldest 709 719 759 and second-hand cars to Steinway lines in Long Island City and Astoria. When buses were substituted in 1939, most of the DATE CARS cars were returned to the Bronx or scrapped. Six cars bought from the Manhattan Bridge Three Cent Line in December 31, 1-23, 306-308, 315, 321, 323, 327, 643, 1652, 1657- 1930 were rehabilitated in the 65th Street Shops and 1930 1681 renumbered 531-536. They were modified for safe June 30, 1931 6, 9, 176-199, 306-308, 315, 321, 323, 327, 529- bridge operation and the two motors were replaced by 544, 1651-1681 four motors to provide better traction and acceleration December 31, 176-188, 306-308, 315, 321, 323, 327, 529-544, on the bridge. While these cars were out of service, 1932 1657-1681 Third Avenue’s newest cars, 651-655, were operated on June 30, 1934 1-15, 306-308, 315, 321, 323, 327, 529-544, 1657- the bridge. In April, 1940, we observed most of the re- 1681 habilitated 531-536-series cars back in service on the June 30, 1936 1-12, 529-544, 1657-1688 (A) bridge and several 651-655-series cars operating in the Bronx. June 30, 1938 1-12, 529-541, 704, 709, 710, 713, 724, 725, 759, 1657-1688 On October 1, 1942, Third Avenue relinquished con- trol of the Queensboro Railway and Steinway Omnibus, June 30, 1939 1-12, 26, 41, 529-541, 709, 710, 713, 724, 725, 759, which became the property of Queens-Nassau Transit. 1657-1681 The latter’s successor was the Queens Surface Corpo- (A) 300s were renumbered to 1682-1688 ration, which was acquired by MTA on February 26, In 1938 and 1939, cars were operated on the follow- 2005. ing lines: By 1949, the cars were thoroughly worn out and due CARS LINE(S) for replacement. The Queensboro Bridge Railway bought 44-passenger Osgood-Bradley cars 601-606, 1-12, 26, 41, 529-541 Steinway Street 609, and 611, built in 1929 for the Union Street Railway, 700s 31st Street New Bedford, Massachusetts. These cars were out of service since buses were substituted on May 3, 1947. 1657-1681 Broadway, Northern Boulevard, and Vernon Boulevard A December, 1955 newspaper article revealed that cars operated on a 6-minute headway during midday Infrequent service was provided in the late 1930s: and every 20 minutes during the midnight hours. On Election Day, 1956, we observed three cars operating LINE ROUND-TRIP NUMBER OF CARS RUNNING TIME on a 10-minute headway in the evening rush. MIDDAY EVENING RUSH The trolley was the only transit line serving Welfare th Steinway Street 57 10 10 Island until a bridge was built linking the island and 36 st Avenue, Long Island City. When the Q-102/31st Street 31 Street 60 4 4 buses were extended to Roosevelt Island on May 19, Broadway 34 3 N/A 1955, it was obvious that the trolley could not keep run- Northern Boulevard 26 3 2 ning much longer. Just before abandonment, April 7, (Continued on page 3) Vernon Boulevard N/A N/A N/A 2 NEW YORK DIVISION BULLETIN - APRIL, 2007 Last New York City Trolley Car Ran 50 Years Ago Roosevelt Island Tramway started operating to E. 60th Street and Second Avenue in Manhattan. On October (Continued from page 2) 29, 1989, the Roosevelt Island subway station was 1957, we observed 601, 602, 603, and 605 in service. opened and passengers were able to enjoy fast, fre- During the intervening years, additional transit lines quent service (now via F) to Manhattan and Queens. provided service to the island. In the spring of 1976, the Welfare Island station, looking west. Welfare Island station, looking east, April 6, 1957. Bernard Linder collection Bernard Linder photograph Inside Queensboro Bridge Railway car 602, August 7, 1956. Vernon Avenue station looking west, April 6, 1957. Bernard Linder photograph Bernard Linder photograph Two photographs at Bridge Plaza and Jackson Avenue. 603 is on the left, 652 on the right. Bernard Linder collection (Continued on page 7) 3 NEWNEW YORK YORK DIVISION DIVISION BULLETIN BULLETIN OCTOBER, - APRIL, 2007 2000 Aldene Plan Turns 40 Years Old After much planning and work, the Aldene Plan was instituted starting Friday evening, April 28, 1967 with the (Continued from page 1) last run of the Kearny-Newark service and last Reading sader, which joined the CNJ mainline at Bound trains to leave Jersey City for Philadelphia. Brook, would now operate to Newark, Penn Sta- Saturday, April 29, 1967 saw the last Queen of the tion Valley leave for Allentown, Pennsylvania and later the • Saturday, April 29, 1967 marked the end of pas- last Elizabethport-Newark shuttle and the final Jersey senger service at the following stations: City-Bay Head Junction train.