The ERA BULLETIN - FEBRUARY, 2012 Bulletin Electric Railroaders’ Association, Incorporated Vol. 55, No. 2 February, 2012 The Bulletin THIRD AVENUE’S POOR FINANCIAL CONDITION LED Published by the Electric TO ITS CAR REBUILDING PROGRAM 75 YEARS AGO Railroaders’ Association, Incorporated, PO Box (Continued from January, 2012 issue) 3323, New York, New York 10163-3323. In the early 1930s, the company was oper- scrapped: truck frames; trolley poles and ating approximately 800 cars on 250 miles of bases; seat frames, cushions, and backs; air For general inquiries, track. Most of the fleet was composed of ob- compressors; line switches; journal boxes; contact us at bulletin@ solete slow wooden two-motor double-truck door engines; and brake cylinders. erausa.org or by phone cars built in 1908, 1909, and 1911. The 100 All rebuilt and new cars had Brill 77E at (212) 986-4482 (voice single-truck convertibles built in 1914 and trucks, which were purchased second-hand mail available). ERA’s 1924 were uncomfortable; their front and rear or rebuilt from older trucks in the 65th Street website is www.erausa.org. platforms bounced when the car was run- Shop. Brill 39E single-motor trucks removed ning. from scrapped cars were salvaged to con- Editorial Staff: But the company could not afford new struct the equivalent of a 77E truck. Motor Editor-in-Chief: equipment because the city insisted on main- axle ends of the 39E side frames were joined Bernard Linder News Editor: taining a five-cent fare. Therefore, the com- by welding and mechanical reinforcement to Randy Glucksman pany found an alternate method of moderniz- fabricate a new truck designated as 77T. Contributing Editor: ing its fleet. In 1934, Third Avenue embarked The 100s, 300s, and 626-685 cars were Jeffrey Erlitz on a program to replace all of its street cars equipped with four 35-horsepower, 600-volt with modern equipment in its 65th Street and d.c. motors, most of which were purchased Production Manager: David Ross Third Avenue (Manhattan) shop. In 1936, the second-hand. These cars had higher accel- company stated that it expected to build 600 eration and maximum speed than the older cars to replace the old cars by 1941. But the two-motor cars. company was able to build only 336 new cars Windows were rattleproof, non-sticking, and by 1940. At that time, the program came to weatherproof, and were equipped with shat- ©2012 Electric an abrupt halt because the city forced the terproof glass. Window frames were one- Railroaders’ company to accept a franchise providing for piece welded aluminum alloy. The upper and Association, eventual bus substitution. lower sash were fixed in position, while the Incorporated The car rebuilding program began with a middle sash could be raised inside the upper prototype, car 1605, which was described in sash. The windows were high enough to al- the previous issue. After checking the car’s low standees to look out and read street performance, management decided to re- signs without stooping. build the single-truck convertibles by cutting Before rebuilding began, the single-truck In This Issue: each car in half, adding a new center section, convertibles were taken out of service and History of the and building entirely new platforms at each replaced by other cars, as shown in the fol- A Train end. Cost was reduced by salvaging the fol- lowing table: lowing parts from cars that were being (Continued on page 4) ...Page 2 1 NEW YORKERA DIVISIONBULLETIN BULLETIN - FEBRUARY, OCTOBER, 2012 2000 HISTORY OF THE A TRAIN by George Chiasson The A train of MTA New York City Transit represents Street-Borough Hall C was switched to the lower level the flagship route of the former Independent Subway at Bergen Street, while A continued to terminate on the System of the City of New York. Not only that, but in its upper level. Finally, A service was extended from Ber- modern state it is also the inheritor of a combination of gen Street upper to the new Church Avenue terminal on services once offered by the two privately-operated October 7, 1933, which even then was soon projected rapid transit companies of Greater New York, the Inter- to overtake the balance of BMT’s Culver Line to Coney borough Rapid Transit Company., or more specifically Island. The A train’s service configuration on the Eighth its Manhattan Elevated division, and the Brooklyn Rapid Avenue Line was then unchanged in Manhattan until Transit Company, or more specifically one of its prede- December 15, 1940, when the Sixth Avenue Subway cessors known as the Kings County Elevated Company. opened and AA was restored middays, evenings, and In addition, A in its present state encompasses the his- weekends, at which time A was again made an ex- tory of deceased Independent Subway routes such as press between 168th Street-Washington Heights and the former AA/Eighth Avenue Local (later K), HH/Court 145th Street. Street Shuttle, Specials to Aqueduct, and the JFK Ex- Elements of IND continued to progress in all four bor- press. oughs through much of the 1930s, and on April 8, 1936 AN OPERATIONAL HISTORY OF THE A TRAIN the A train was rerouted from the Church Avenue ter- The A train was born as part of IND's initial operating minal into the new Fulton Street Subway, which ex- segment, which opened from 207th Street in the Inwood tended from the Jay Street-Borough Hall station in section of Upper Manhattan to Hudson Terminal, which Downtown Brooklyn to the Rockaway Avenue station. garnered its name from the neighboring Hudson & Man- For the next four years the BMT Fulton Street El and hattan Terminal (now the World Trade Center station of IND Fulton Street Subway duplicated each other, with- Port Authority Trans-Hudson) on September 10, 1932. out free transfers between them. Nevertheless, the die Then as now the A train (and its companion AA Local had already been cast, and when the City of New York service) followed the Eighth Avenue Subway for its en- assumed full control of the former BMT system on June tire length, and as such competed directly with IRT’s 1, 1940 the Fulton Street Elevated was abandoned, in Ninth Avenue Elevated during its early years. In the be- toto, from the Brooklyn Bridge to Rockaway Avenue. ginning, A trains ran express all the way from 168th The el station at Rockaway Avenue was reconfigured Street-Washington Heights to Canal Street all day and into a terminal and the former BMT el trains continued evening Monday-Saturday, but on Sundays only the AA to operate as shuttles (with free transfer) from Rock- was operated as a local along Eighth Avenue. away Avenue to Lefferts Avenue. On February 1, 1933 A was extended to Brooklyn via As originally opened in April, 1936, A trains used the the Cranberry Street Tunnel, as far as the southbound southbound local track in the Fulton Street Subway as platform at the Jay Street-Borough Hall station (with the far as Utica Avenue, then crossed over to the future AA Local running in its place on Sundays). Another ser- southbound express track and relayed through a dia- vice addition was made to the upper level of the Bergen mond crossover west (north) of the Rockaway Avenue Street station on March 20, with trains crossing to the station. As a result, trains passed through temporary outer tracks at Jay Street-Borough Hall en route. The wooden platforms at both the Ralph and Rockaway station at High Street-Brooklyn Bridge, located between Avenue stations that were extended across the local Broadway-Nassau and Jay Street-Borough Hall, was tracks. When A was extended to Broadway-East New part of the original construction but did not open until York on December 30, 1946, these remained in place June 24, 1933 when its long escalator to street level and trains only used the present southbound platform, was completed. When the Bronx Grand Concourse Line crossing back to the northbound express iron west opened on July 1, 1933 A began making local stops (north) of the station for their return trip. In January, from 168th Street-Washington Heights to 145th Street, 1947 trains began to discharge at the southbound plat- while the new “CC” Local made all stops on the Eighth form of Broadway-East New York, relay east (south) of Avenue Line from 145th Street to Hudson Terminal in the station, and reload at the northbound express track. place of AA, which was suspended. South of the Canal Upon departure, trains swung over again to the Street station A and the original C/Concourse Express northbound local track, then stopped at the Rockaway began sharing track as far as Jay Street-Borough Hall and Ralph Avenue stations as designed (whereupon the during extended rush hours on weekdays and Satur- temporary wooden platform extensions were removed). days, A running there on its own otherwise. From Jay (Continued on page 3) 2 ERA BULLETIN - FEBRUARY, 2012 History of the A Train geoning expressway network), and the stage was slowly set for its ultimate accomplishment. (Continued from page 2) Almost immediately from its inception in 1953, NYCTA Use of the Brooklyn-bound local track beyond Utica started construction on a short extension of the Fulton Avenue finally commenced when A trains were ex- Street Subway, using an existing provision from the tended to the elaborate terminal at Euclid Avenue on leads east of Euclid Avenue, and under private property November 28, 1948 (with an accompanying storage to join the BMT Fulton Street Elevated, as extended in yard/repair shop located at Pitkin Avenue nearby), and 1915, at Liberty Avenue and 76th Street, including an the temporary 1936-era wooden platforms on that side intervening station near Grant and Pitkin Avenues.