TheNEW YORK DIVISION BULLETIN - OCTOBER, 2008 Bulletin New York Division, Electric Railroaders’ Association Vol. 51, No. 10 October, 2008 The Bulletin 155TH STREET SHUTTLE QUIT 50 YEARS AGO Published by the New There are so many August anniversaries that we furnished a one-seat ride between the bor- York Division, Electric Railroaders’ Association, could not publish them all in the same issue be- oughs. In the 1930s, Sixth and Ninth Avenue Incorporated, PO Box cause of the lack of space. expresses ran on a combined two-minute 3001, New York, New In this issue, we will publish a summary of headway for 36 minutes in the evening rush. York 10008-3001. the service and equipment operated on the But riding declined after the Concourse IND 155th Street Shuttle that ceased operating on opened in 1933 and the Sixth Avenue Ele- For general inquiries, August 31, 1958. vated was discontinued in December, 1938. contact us at nydiv@ This line was an extension of the Ninth Ave- When Ninth Avenue Elevated service was electricrailroaders.org nue Elevated. In January, 1918, shuttles discontinued at Unification, June 12, 1940, or by phone at (212) started operating between 155th Street and shuttles were operated between 155th Street 986-4482 (voice mail available). ERA’s Sedgwick Avenue. In March, 1918, Sixth and and Burnside Avenue. Of course, riding fell website is Ninth Avenue expresses provided rush hour off sharply. In June, 1940, we observed five www.electricrailroaders. service between the above stations. Effective three-car Composite trains operating on a org. July 1, 1918, Sixth and Ninth Avenue trains six-minute headway in the evening rush. On started operating between Manhattan and February 27, 1941, train lengths were re- Editorial Staff: stations on Jerome Avenue. duced to two cars. Service was cut back to Editor-in-Chief: th Bernard Linder This branch was well patronized because it 167 Street on June 1, 1941. News Editor: Randy Glucksman HEADWAYS Contributing Editor: WEEKDAYS Jeffrey Erlitz Date Midnight AM Rush Midday PM Rush Evening Production Manager: David Ross February 25, 1942 12 5 8 5 10 December 15, 1950 20 5 12 8 20 June 27, 1952 30 10 30 10 30 March 19, 1954 30 15 30 15 30 ©2008 New York Division, Electric SATURDAY SUNDAY Railroaders’ Association, Date Morning Afternoon Evening Date Morning Afternoon Evening Incorporated February 25, 1942 Same as Weekday February 1, 1942 8 8 10 In This Issue: December 16, 1950 12 12 20 December 17, 1950 15 15 20 Sixth Avenue June 28, 1952 30 15 30 June 29, 1952 30 30 30 Subway— MAXIMUM TRAINS History DAY DATE NUMBER ...Page 2 Weekday December 15, 1950 3 Saturday December 16, 1950 2 (Continued on page 4) NEXT TRIP — STATEN ISLAND RAILWAY1 EXCURSION, OCTOBER 25 NEWNEW YORKYORK DIVISIONDIVISION BULLETINBULLETIN - OCTOBER,OCTOBER, 20002008 SIXTH AVENUE SUBWAY HISTORY by Bernard Linder Bob Olmstead’s article in the January, 1961 Bulletin During the 2½ years of subway construction, it cost describes the construction of the Sixth Avenue Subway. more than $5 million to maintain the elevated line. It was first proposed in 1923 as a replacement for the Because there are so many subway lines in Manhat- two-track Sixth Avenue Elevated. Several routes were tan, the engineers had to find space for the new sub- proposed and plans were made, but no action was way. W. 4th Street is an unusual station. The upper level, taken because it was most difficult to build. Eighth Avenue Line, opened on September 10, 1932, is The two-track Hudson & Manhattan Railroad (PATH’s above the H&M and is close to the surface. The mezza- predecessor) was an obstacle; it occupied the center of nine, which is between the upper and lower levels, is on the street. To build the subway, it would be necessary to the same level as the H&M. The lower level station was underpin the Elevated’s columns and support the street built at the same time as the upper level station, but car tracks. When it became apparent that New York was not placed in service until the Sixth Avenue Sub- Railways was planning to replace all of its street cars way was opened. After crossing under the H&M, one with buses, the city decided to build the subway. Bids Sixth Avenue local track is on the east side of the street were opened on October 4, 1935, ground was broken in and the other is on the opposite side. Because the 23rd March, 1936, and buses replaced the street cars on Street station cut off access to the H&M, a passageway March 12, 1936. was built under the station. The following table is a subway construction progress To allow the new subway to pass over the Pennsyl- report: vania Railroad (Amtrak’s predecessor) and the Long Island Rail Road, the 33rd Street H&M station was de- LOCAL TRACKS molished and rebuilt at a higher level. This station was SUBWAY CONSTRUCTION STATIONS closed at 6 AM December 26, 1937 and H&M trains were turned at a temporary 28th Street station until the Section Contract Section/ Contract Awarded rd Awarded Compo- new 33 Street station opened at 6 AM September 24, nent 1939. th nd th th th The 34 Street and 42 Street stations are not level. 9 -18 Streets July 6, 1937 14 Street, November 1, 1939 st 23rd Street At W. 41 Street, the tracks pass over the Flushing nd Line, and then descend sharply to pass under the 42 18th-27th Streets March 3, 1937 34th Street December 12, 1939 Street Shuttle. The roof of the Flushing Line and the th rd th 27 -33 Streets November 4, 34 Street August 22, 1939 floor of the shuttle were rebuilt without interrupting ser- 1936 escalator vice. 33rd-40th Streets December 20, 42nd Street September 14, OPENING CEREMONIES 1936 1939 At a cost of $59 million, the Sixth Avenue local tracks 40th-47th Streets February 7, 47th-50th October 26, 1939 between W. 9th and W. 53rd Streets were placed in ser- 1936 Street vice at 12:01 AM December 15, 1940. Mayor LaGuardia 47th-53rd Streets December 30, Tracks April 26, 1939 cut a red, white, and blue ribbon stretched above the 1936 turnstiles at the north end of the 34th Street station. Two Signals February 2, 1940 trains with the Mayor and 2,000 guests, including your Editor-in-Chief, made the first run from 34th Street to We do not have a complete work progress report. All 47th-50th Street. The midnight ceremonies were pre- the above work was completed on or before August 31, ceded by a supper party of the Sixth Avenue Associa- 1940. tion and its guests in Gimbel’s restaurant. The November, 1961 Bulletin reported that construc- Effective November 27, 1967, the lower level express tion of the lower level express tracks started in April, tracks between the W. 4th Street and 34th Street stations 1961. A $9.7 million contract was awarded for the por- were placed in service during rush hours only. th th tion between W. 9 and W. 19 Streets. The November The new terminal station at 57th Street-Sixth Avenue issue also reported that work had not begun on the $8 was opened at 12:01 AM July 1, 1968. Several days th st million contract for the second section. W. 19 to W. 31 earlier, the Avenue of the Americas Association spon- Streets. sored a luncheon in the station for invited guests. Ta- Before construction began, all 670 Sixth Avenue Ele- bles and chairs were placed on the platform and in two vated columns were supported by a temporary concrete trains parked in the station, an R-40 and a 2000-series and steel pier. When construction was completed, the B-Type. Of course, most of the guests preferred the B- columns were supported by the roof of the new subway. (Continued on page 3) 2 NEW YORK DIVISION BULLETIN - OCTOBER, 2008 Sixth Avenue Subway History Queens Boulevard Line east of Queens Plaza. On De- cember 16, 2001, F trains stared operating from Ja- (Continued from page 2) maica via the 63rd Street Tunnel and Sixth Avenue. Type. In 1989, service was extended from 57th Street via ROUTE AND SECTION NUMBERS ROUTE 101 the 63rd Street Tunnel to 21st Street-Queensbridge. This 3.2-mile extension, which cost $868 million, was under LOCAL TRACKS construction intermittently for 25 years. Section On October 28, 1989, a VIP train departed from World 6 Sixth Avenue—9th to 18th Streets Trade Center at 9:55 AM, stopped at 42nd Street and 57th Street, then discharged at Roosevelt Island. After 7 Sixth Avenue—18th to 27th Streets listening to speeches by local, state, and federal offi- 8 Sixth Avenue—27th to 33rd Streets cials, the guests were transported by NYC Transit 9 Sixth Avenue—33rd to 39th Streets buses to a luncheon at the Roosevelt Island Theater th th Club. Then the same buses transported the group back 10 Sixth Avenue—39 to 47 Streets to the station. If they wanted to inspect the other sta- 11 Sixth Avenue—47th to 53rd Streets tions, they could ride shuttle trains. One train was sin- nd th F Sixth Avenue—52 to 58 Streets gle-tracked on Track T1 between 21st Street and 57th Street-Sixth Avenue, while the other operated on Track EXPRESS TRACKS st T2 between 21 Street and Lexington Avenue. This tun- 12 Sixth Avenue—9th to 19th Streets nel, which was called “The Tunnel to Nowhere,” ended 13 Sixth Avenue—19th to 31st Streets 1,500 feet from the Queens Boulevard Line.