ERA BULLETIN — MARCH, 2019 The Bulletin Electric Railroaders’ Association, Incorporated Vol. 62, No. 3 March, 2019 The Bulletin NYCT’S ENHANCED STATION INITIATIVE (ESI) Published by the Electric Railroaders’ PROGRAM COMPLETED Association, Inc. P. O. Box 3323 by Jeffrey Erlitz Grand Central Station New York, NY 10163 (Photographs by Sunny Zheng) For general inquiries, Station Closed Reopened or Bulletin submissions, As of January 28, 2019, MTA New York City contact us at Transit has completed the rehabilitation of all 53 St NR 3/27/2017 9/8/2017 bulletin@erausa. org 19 stations under the Enhanced Station Initi- or on our website at Bay Ridge Av R 5/1/2017 10/13/2017 erausa. org/contact ative project. This $936 million project was originally supposed to renovate 32 stations, Prospect Av R 6/5/2017 11/2/2017 Editorial Staff: but the other 13 stations were deferred to the 30 Av NW 10/23/2017 6/22/2018 Jeffrey Erlitz 2020-4 Capital Program due to budget con- 36 Av NW 10/23/2017 6/22/2018 Editor-in-Chief cerns. 163 St- 3/12/2018 9/27/2018 Ronald Yee ESI work included cellular service, Wi-Fi, Amsterdam Av C Tri-State News and charging stations, interactive service adviso- Cathedral Pkwy 4/9/2018 9/2/2018 Commuter Rail Editor ries and maps, improved signage, strip maps (110 St) BC Alexander Ivanoff for the subway routes, subway countdown 72 St BC 5/7/2018 10/4/2018 North American and clocks, service alerts, On-The-Go Informa- 86 St BC 6/4/2018 10/25/2018 World News Editor tional Dashboards, neighborhood maps, new 39 Av 7/2/2018 1/28/2019 David Ross art, and improved station lighting. Cables and NW Production Manager conduits were decluttered, simplifying the Broadway NW 7/2/2018 1/24/2019 Copyright © 2019 ERA stations' wiring. The stations also included 57 St F 7/9/2018 12/19/2018 glass barriers near fare control areas (rather 28 St 7/16/2018 1/14/2019 than the metal fences that separate the paid 6 This Month’s and unpaid areas of the stations), as well as 23 St FM 7/23/2018 11/29/2018 Cover Photo: new tiled floors that are easy to clean. Con- 145 St 3 7/23/2018 11/28/2018 Long Island Rail Road MP54s and MP41s at the crete repairs, new platform edges, water- 174-175 St BD 8/13/2018 12/27/2018 Stone Avenue (now Mother proofing, most tile patching, and structural 167 St Gaston Boulevard) portal, steel repairs got the stations into states of BD 8/27/2018 1/9/2019 west of the East New York 34 St-Penn Sta- station, taken around 1908 good repair. Passenger amenities included n/a n/a tion ACE by Hal B. Fullerton (1857- next-train countdown clocks and neighbor- 1935). hood wayfinding maps at the exterior of each Richmond Valley n/a n/a entrance; digital maps, MetroCard vending machines, and station agent booths situated In the case of 39 Av NW, when the station in a central location in the mezzanine; and reopened, it was also officially renamed 39 In This Issue: digital next-train information and service Av-Dutch Kills, a nod to the historic name of The Genesis of change notices at platform level. the surrounding neighborhood. The last two Dashing Dan — The complete list of stations that were actu- stations on this list, 34 St-Penn Station A New Jamaica ally completed, in order of closure, is as fol- ACE and the Richmond Valley station on and the Main lows: the Staten Island Railway, were not closed Line Complete (Continued on page 2) …Page 5 1 NEW YORKERA DIVISION BULLETIN BULLETIN — MARCH, OCTOBER, 2019 2000 NYCT’s ESI Program Completed ● Van Siclen Av C ● 3 Av-138 St (Continued from page 1) 6 ● Brook Av 6 full-time as the work was performed under traffic. ● Hunts Point Av 6 The additional stations that were supposed to be in- ● Westchester Sq-East Tremont Av 6 cluded in this project were: ● Pelham Pkwy 5 ● Flushing Av G ● Northern Blvd MR ● Classon Av G ● 67 Av MR ● Clinton-Washington Avs C ● Parsons Blvd F ● Kingston-Throop Avs C 28 St 6, reopened 1/14/2019, showing the fare array, LED lighting, Street stairs leading from the northbound platform at 28 St 6, non-full height gates, and new-style countdown clock display. showing new tile work, railings, stair treads, and LED lighting. Looking down one of the platforms at 39 Av-Dutch Kills NW on Looking north on the northbound platform, the new LED lighting is 1/28/2019, opening day. Almost everything in this view, save the very evident and also has a pleasing color temperature. The corru- original ironwork, is new: platform walls, railings, lighting, platform gated metal walls were replaced with a stainless-steel mesh. Provid- surface, canopy, and lighting. ing less shelter from the wind, especially in winter, it does create a more open environment as you can now see the streetscape below. (Continued on page 3) 2 ERA BULLETIN — MARCH, 2019 NYCT’s ESI Program Completed (Continued from page 2) 167 St BD was reopened on 1/9/2019, the date of this picture. The One of the street entrances to 167 St BD showing an electronic view is looking south on the northbound platform. The new art- information display. This is the southeast corner of Grand Con- work on the wall and improved lighting are most noticeable. course and E. 167th Street. At Broadway NW, which reopened on 1/24/2019, an entirely new Looking north on the west side of the mezzanine at Broadway exit staircase was built towards the south end of the northbound NW. The translucent artwork on the outer walls creates a colorful platform. This will help to reduce the volume of passengers exiting display (at least during daylight hours) while the glass partitions through the fare control area on the mezzanine. along the platform stairs creates a more open environment. The simulated wood on the ceiling of the mezzanine, and platform cano- pies upstairs, are a nice touch. (Continued on page 4) 3 NEW YORKERA DIVISION BULLETIN BULLETIN — MARCH, OCTOBER, 2019 2000 NYCT’s ESI Program Completed (Continued from page 3) A view of the shelter shed in the center of the eastbound platform R-44 418 leads a westbound train into the Richmond Valley station. at the Richmond Valley station on the Staten Island Railway. This The new lighting, railings, and shelters can be seen here. The new station, along with 34 St-Penn Station ACE, was not closed dur- countdown clock displays are at the far (east, geographically south) ing its renovation. ends of the platforms. MEMBER ALLEN S. MORRISON PASSES AWAY The following obituary appeared in The New York Times love of streetcars, and his interest soon expanded to on January 31, 2019. Mr. Morrison was a longtime ERA South America. In the 1970s, Allen Morrison embarked member, having joined on July 1, 1948. on what would become decades of pioneering research MORRISON — Allen S., 84, on January 6, 2019. Born into the history of street railway systems throughout Lat- in Lexington, Kentucky on May 10, 1934, he spent his in America, many of which had used vehicles built in the childhood in Louisville, until age 11, and then Cincinnati. U.S. He authored three books on the subject, starting After graduating from Northwestern University in 1956, with "The Tramways of Brazil" in 1989, and ultimately he lived abroad for a brief time, in Paris, where he became widely regarded as the world's foremost expert earned a Diplome de Langue Francaise from the Ecole on the history of electric transit in Latin America. His Pratique de Langue Francaise in 1958. That same year, web site www.tramz.com entitled Electric Transport in he settled in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York, Latin America, established in 1998, was one of two hon- where he resided for the rest of his life. He taught ored by the Association of American Geographers in French and French literature at Columbia University for 2005 as Best Web Site. He made arrangements to en- almost 10 years and earned a PhD in French lit. from sure that the site would be preserved after his death. Columbia in 1968. A trip to Mexico rekindled a childhood A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF With this issue, we are changing the cover photograph images and "current events"-type images. We hope you each month. We will try alternating between old, historic enjoy this little change. 4 ERA BULLETIN — MARCH, 2019 THE GENESIS OF DASHING DAN — A NEW JAMAICA AND THE MAIN LINE COMPLETE by George Chiasson (Continued from February, 2019 issue) (Continued on page 6) 5 NEW YORKERA DIVISION BULLETIN BULLETIN — MARCH, OCTOBER, 2019 2000 The Genesis of Dashing Dan (Continued from page 4) (Continued on page 7) 6 ERA BULLETIN — MARCH, 2019 The Genesis of Dashing Dan (Continued from page 6) (Continued next issue) 7 NEW YORKERA DIVISION BULLETIN BULLETIN — MARCH, OCTOBER, 2019 2000 Commuter and Transit Notes No. 362 by Ronald Yee and Alexander Ivanoff Ronkonkoma, Hicksville, Mineola, and Jamaica. Poten- The LIRR launched a new web-based train tracking tial Amtrak service to Huntington, Babylon, Bellmore, tool the public can utilize to determine, in real time, the and Great Neck rounds out the potential market-share expected arrival times of the trains they are waiting for ridership list. Such trains would operate over the LIRR based upon GPS (Global Positioning System) train to Penn Station and then continue south to Washington, tracking.