TheNEW YORK DIVISION BULLETIN - MARCH, 2009 Bulletin New York Division, Electric Railroaders’ Association Vol. 52, No. 3 March, 2009 The Bulletin QUEENSBOROUGH BRIDGE CENTENNIAL Published by the New Without any celebration, the bridge opened operated across the bridge on September 17, York Division, Electric Railroaders’ Association, on March 30, 1909 for pedestrian and ve- 1909. This steel car proceeded cautiously, Incorporated, PO Box hicular traffic. making the round trip in 90 minutes. Shuttle 3001, New York, New Before the bridge opened, the Committee service began on October 4, 1909, but York 10008-3001. of 125, businessmen who invested in the pro- through service from Steinway Street, Flush- ject, planned a gala celebration. To acquaint ing, Corona, and College Point did not begin For general inquiries, people with the new bridge, they sent hun- until February 5, 1910. contact us at nydiv@ dreds of letters and tickets to a convention, Third Avenue Railway started operating a electricrailroaders.org which was held at the Schuetzen Park Hall at branch of the 42nd Street Crosstown via Third or by phone at (212) Broadway and Steinway Street on October Avenue, E. 59th Street, and the Queensbor- 986-4482 (voice mail available). ERA’s 15, 1908. ough Bridge to Queens Plaza on January 24, website is In April, 1909, dignitaries attended a lunch- 1912. To avoid building a plow pit and switch- th www.electricrailroaders. eon at Bloomingdale’s on E. 59 Street, a ing to overhead trolley east of Second Ave- org. short distance from the bridge. Details of the nue, a slot and underground conduit were gala eight-day celebration were revealed. On installed on the bridge and on Queens Plaza. Editorial Staff: Editor-in-Chief: June 12, three enormous tents were erected, This slot was still visible when the trolley Bernard Linder housing musical presentations, a circus, a ceased operating in 1957. News Editor: carousel, and other amusements. The pa- The Manhattan & Queens Traction Com- Randy Glucksman rade started from 34th Street at 12:30 PM. pany started operating the Queens Boule- Contributing Editor: th Participants marched on Fifth Avenue, E. 59 vard trolley across the bridge and terminating Jeffrey Erlitz th Street, and the Queensborough Bridge to at 48 Street and Greenpoint Avenue on Production Manager: Queens Plaza. Among the marchers were January 29, 1913. David Ross the National Guard, volunteer firemen, and Originally there were four trolley tracks on thousands of schoolchildren riding on deco- the bridge. The outer tracks, in service until rated wagons and floats. About 25,000 peo- 1957, were used by Third Avenue Railway ple participated in the parade, which took and Manhattan & Queens Traction. The inner hours to pass the reviewing stand. At 8:00 tracks, abandoned in 1919, were used by ©2009 New York PM, the speeches concluded and a two-hour NY&Q. Service from 42nd Street to Queens Division, Electric fireworks show started. When the fireworks was discontinued August 31, 1919. Railroaders’ Association, were over, several thousand people watched The trolley had hardly any competition until Incorporated a comic opera at Queens Plaza. During the the rapid transit lines were extended to north- celebration, new entertainment was pre- ern Queens. In This Issue: sented each day. IRT trains operated from Grand Central via Brooklyn’s Queens residents were still unable to travel the Steinway Tunnel to Vernon-Jackson Ave- 5000-Series to Manhattan because trolley service was not nues on June 22, 1915 and to Queensboro extended across the bridge. At first, the New Plaza November 5, 1916. Service was ex- Trolley Cars York & Queens County Railway was reluctant tended to Ditmars Boulevard on February 1, ...Page 2 to pay the high price the city demanded for 1917 and to Alburtis Avenue (104th Street) on the right to operate the cars on the bridge. April 21, 1917. Second Avenue service was This dispute was settled and a clearance car (Continued on page 5) NEXT TRIP: LIRR HILLSIDE & MORRIS1 PARK SHOPS, MARCH 28 NEWNEW YORK YORK DIVISION DIVISION BULLETIN BULLETIN OCTOBER,- MARCH, 2009 2000 BROOKLYN’S 5000-SERIES TROLLEY CARS by Bernard Linder (Photographs from the author’s collection) The source material for this article brings back happy sengers entering the car. The car floor was 14 inches memories of the day I started to work for New York above the rails at the threshold with 2 inches of ramp to City’s Board of Transportation, NYC Transit’s predeces- the center. Inside the car, there was a ramp of 6 inches sor. My supervisor, who was hired by the Coney Island in 8 feet 6 inches from the center platform to the bol- & Brooklyn Railroad in 1912, told me to read and study sters. The ends of the body had swinging sashes and a BRT report, Standardization of Rolling Stock 1904- roller curtains to the form the Motorman’s cab, which 1909, which included construction details of the 5000- was folded back when it was not used and was re- series cars and a BRT roster. placed by seats. The car body was built of pressed Shortly afterwards, my supervisor started to teach me steel, both welded and riveted. how to install trolley wire, third rails, feeder cables, and For summertime passenger comfort, 16 side sashes circuit breakers. Eventually, I traveled to nearly every raised and 8 end sashes and 4 outside door sashes yard and depot, where I planned alterations to the elec- dropped. The four inside door pocket sashes were trical wiring. I enjoyed the work, which was a dream hinged and replaced by screens in the summer. come true. Two center doors provided an opening 6 feet 6 inches Following is a summary of this report. wide and 6 feet 2 inches high. They were sheet steel, About 1910, Brooklyn Rapid Transit began studying reinforced and welded and slid into pockets formed by designs for a center entrance car that had greater seat- hollow posts. The doors were pneumatically operated ing capacity than the older drop-platform cars. Maxi- and electrically controlled by push button and pedal mum length of the car was restricted by the clearances. from the Conductor’s pedestal located in the center of The ordinary center entrance car was not satisfactory the well. because it did not provide sufficient safety or rapid load- The center entrance and exits were divided by stan- 11 ing and unloading. To obtain a low single-step entrance, chions and railings that provided a 32 /16-inch entrance the floor was depressed at the center of the car. Space in the center and two 21⅜-inch exits on each side. for the trucks and underbody apparatus was obtained Incoming and exiting passengers were divided by a by making the floor slope upward from the edge of the pivoted railing, which could be swung from one side of center well to the bolster line. Height was reduced eight the car to the other at the terminal. A locked swing door, inches by using smaller wheels. 21½ inches wide and 5 feet 5 inches high, was provided The wide 6-foot 6-inch doors with a 34-inch entrance for the Motorman. This door was made of welded steel aisle and two 22-inch exits allowed fast loading. Con- with one drop and one fixed sash. gestion in the center of the car was reduced by using The car seated 58 passengers with 16 reversible longitudinal seats and a 26¾-inch aisle between the cross seats and a 26-inch aisle. There were longitudinal cross seats. seats at the center doors and curved seats at the ends. During this two-year study, BRT designed and Cars were equipped with two motors rated at 40 HP at equipped a prototype center entrance low step car, 500 volts and 50 HP at 600 volts. Maximum speed was 3557, which would be its future standard for new equip- 21 MPH with full field and 25 MPH with the field ment. This car was built in BRT’s shop with representa- shunted. tives from each department checking each feature. A relay in the door signal circuit prevented the car When the car was placed in service, a complete record from being started until the doors were closed. A was kept of its speed, passenger handling ability, fare counter relay in the motor circuit prevented the doors collection, center door interlock, and the folding of cabs from being opened while the car was moving. A Con- and seats when direction was changed. ductor’s valve in the fare pedestal applied the brakes in The 100 cars that were built, 5000-5099, contained emergency. the same fundamental features as the prototype. The Heat was furnished by eight cross seat heaters and cars were built by the J.G. Brill Company and were four panel heaters, each consuming 450 watts at 550 equipped by BRT at its 39th Street Shops. Cars were 45 volts. feet 6 inches long, 8 feet 5 inches wide, and 10 feet 2¼ The car was illuminated by five circuits of five 23-watt inches high from the bottom of the sill to the top of the 115-volt tungsten-wire lamps. Twenty lamps, two rows trolley board. of ten each, were inside the car. Two lamps were inside Cars had double-end, straight-sided bodies with low each end sign box and one was in the headlight. step passenger entrance and two exits located at the Passengers could signal the Motorman from any one center of the car, where fares were collected from pas- (Continued on page 3) 2 NEW YORK DIVISION BULLETIN - MARCH, 2009 Brooklyn’s 5000-Series Trolley Cars CAR NUMBERS CAR NUMBERS CAR NUMBERS (Continued from page 2) 5000 5026 5069-71 of the 20 push buttons.