- IRT Ninth Avenue Line
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This article is about the elevated line. For the surface (bus, formerly streetcar) see Ninth and Amsterdam Avenues Line
The Ninth Avenue El's "suicide curve" at 110th Street, in 1896
The IRT Ninth Avenue Line, often called the Ninth Avenue El,[1] was the first elevated railway in New York City. It opened in 1868 as the West Side and Yonkers Patent Railway, a cable-hauled line. It ceased operation in 1940.
The last section in use, over the Harlem River, was known as the Polo Grounds Shuttle, and was closed in 1958. This portion used the now-removed Putnam Bridge swing bridge[2][3] and went through a tunnel, complete with partially-underground stations.[4]
Contents
History
The West Side and Yonkers Patent Railway
West Side and Yonkers Patent Railway test run, 1867The West Side and Yonkers Patent Railway was built on Greenwich Street by Charles T. Harvey and ran from July 1, 1868 to 1870. The line used multiple one-mile-long (1.6 km-long) cable loops, driven by steam engines in cellars of buildings adjacent to the track. Each loop was started when a car neared it and stopped when it had passed. The cables were equipped with collars that the car connected to with "claws". As the claws could not be "slipped" the car was jerked each time it moved to the next cable. The system proved cumbersome, broke down several times and eventually the company ran out of money and the system was abandoned. The new owners replaced the cable cars with steam locomotives.
Extension
The Ninth Avenue Elevated was extended up Greenwich Street and Ninth Avenue by 1891. The Ninth Avenue El and several other lines of the Manhattan Railway company were taken over with a 99 year lease by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company on April 1, 1903.[5][6] The rebuilding project was extended all the way north to 116th St., creating Manhattan's first three-track elevated, although center-track express service did not begin until 1916.
Berenice Abbott photograph of Ninth Avenue El station at 72nd Street, 1936The line began at South Ferry and ran along Greenwich Street from Battery Place to Gansevoort Street in lower Manhattan, Ninth Avenue in midtown (joining with the Sixth Avenue El at 53rd Street, continuing along Columbus Avenue in upper Manhattan between 59th Street and 110th, turning east on 110th and running north on Eighth Avenue until the Harlem River.[7]
The line was closed in 1940 and dismantled, following the purchase of the IRT by the City of New York. The line from 155th Street north into the Bronx was continued as the "Polo Grounds Shuttle" until 1958.
The Ninth Ave Elevated was over 100 feet (30 m) above the street at "Suicide Curve," which made a 90-degree turn from 9th Ave onto 110th St. then another from 110th St. onto 8th Avenue. The curve at 53rd Street, however, was the site of a September 11, 1905, derailment that was the worst accident in the history of New York's elevated railways.
Station listing
From the Bronx to the southern tip of Manhattan, the stations were:
Station Tracks Opening date Closing date Transfers & Notes merge with IRT Jerome Avenue Line between 161st Street and 167th Street Anderson – Jerome Avenue all July 1, 1918 August 31, 1958 Still exists in ruins Sedgwick Avenue all July 1, 1918 [1]? August 31, 1958 Still exists in ruins Manhattan – Bronx border, bridge over Harlem River tracks split to the 159th Street Yard 155th Street all August 31, 1958 151st Street local June 11, 1940 145th Street all June 11, 1940 140th Street local June 11, 1940 135th Street local June 11, 1940 130th Street local June 11, 1940 125th Street all June 11, 1940 116th Street all June 11, 1940 110th Street local June 11, 1940 104th Street local June 11, 1940 99th Street local June 11, 1940 93rd Street local June 11, 1940 81st Street local June 9, 1879[8] June 11, 1940 72nd Street local June 9, 1879[8] June 11, 1940 66th Street all June 11, 1940 59th Street local June 9, 1879[8] June 11, 1940 merged at 53rd Street with branch of IRT Sixth Avenue Line 50th Street local June 11, 1940 42nd Street local June 11, 1940 34th Street all June 11, 1940 30th Street local June 11, 1940 23rd Street local June 11, 1940 14th Street all June 11, 1940 Christopher Street all June 11, 1940 Houston Street local June 11, 1940 Desbrosses Street all June 11, 1940 Franklin Street local June 11, 1940 Warren Street all June 11, 1940 Barclay Street local June 11, 1940 Cortlandt Street all June 11, 1940 Rector Street local June 11, 1940 split from IRT Sixth Avenue Line Battery Place all June 11, 1940 South Ferry all various ferries (see South Ferry) References
- ^ "Remembering the 9th Avenue El". MTA.info. October 26, 2011. http://mta.info/news/stories/?story=426. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
- ^ "Image 8282". nycsubway.org. 1958-06-14. http://nycsubway.org/perl/show?8282. Retrieved 2007-11-27.
- ^ "Image 8296". nycsubway.org. http://nycsubway.org/perl/show?8296. Retrieved 2007-11-27.
- ^ Walsh, Kevin. "When Is a Subway Not a Subway?". Forgotten NY. http://www.forgotten-ny.com/SUBWAYS/9thavel/9Ave.html. Retrieved 2007-11-27.
- ^ Feinman, Mark S.. "Continuing the Story of the 9th Avenue El". http://www.nycsubway.org/lines/9thave-el.html. Retrieved 2009-08-04. "On April 1, 1903, the entire Manhattan Elevated system was leased to the IRT Company for 999 years. Subway system construction was planned to connect with the Els at various points. By June 25th, 1903, the last steam-powered elevated train was operated in passenger service on the 9th Ave El."
- ^ Walker, James Blaine (1918). Fifty Years of Rapid Transit, 1864-1917. pp. 182–186. http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC03638541&id=lpEgAAAAMAAJ.
- ^ The Red Book: New York. New York: Interstate Map Co.. 1935.
- ^ a b c "The Manhattan Company. Opening of the West Side to Eighty-first Street - The Sunday Trains" (PDF). The New York Times Company. 10 June 1879. p. 8. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9F04E3D8133EE63BBC4852DFB0668382669FDE. Retrieved 11 February 2009.
External links
- "Open New Subway to Regular Traffic" (PDF). New York Times: p. 11. 1918-07-02. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9D02E0DA173BE033A25751C0A9619C946996D6CF#. Retrieved 2007-11-27.
- Beach Pneumatic Transit Co by Joseph Brennan Full of Photographs and information about the line, particularly Chapter 14.
- NYCsubway.org - The 9th Avenue Elevated
- 1939 track map
- The Sedgwick Avenue station is at 40°49′53″N 73°55′56″W / 40.831423°N 73.932264°WCoordinates: 40°49′53″N 73°55′56″W / 40.831423°N 73.932264°W
New York City Subway lines A
DivisionManhattan/QueensBronxBrooklynFormerB
DivisionBMTManhattan/QueensEastern divisionSouthern divisionFormerManhattan/BronxBrooklyn/QueensFutureSecond AvenueFormerConnections Purpose-BuiltChrystie Street (BMT/IND) · 60th Street (BMT/IND) · 63rd Street lines (BMT/IND) · Astoria / Flushing lines (BMT/IRT) · Coney Island – Stillwell Avenue station (BMT/IND)Yards207th Street Yard (IND/IRT) · Coney Island Complex (BMT/IND) · Concourse Yard (IND/IRT) · Linden Shops (BMT/IRT/LIRR)OtherLines with colors next to them are trunk lines; trunk lines determine the color of New York City Subway service bullets. A dark gray color indicates a shuttle.
Note that this is a list of New York City Subway lines, not services.Categories:- Defunct New York City Subway lines
- Interborough Rapid Transit Company
- Railway lines opened in 1868
- Railway lines closed in 1958
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