Manhattan's Lost StreetcarsBy the first quarter of the 20th century, Manhattan had well over 400 miles of streetcar trackage, an investment of several million dollars. Less than 50 years later, the rail system had completely vanished. Manhattan's Lost Streetcars chronicles the finance, political pressures, and advancing technology behind Gotham's streetcar networks from 1890 to 1935. The story ends with the dismantling of the system. Manhattan's Lost Streetcars recalls a bygone era when public rail transportation was aboveground and New Yorkers rode the Metropolitan Street Railway, the Green Lines, the Manhattan Bridge Three Cent Line, and the Brooklyn & North River line, among others. It features images of the independent rail companies and the individual lines that made up a vast public transportation network in Manhattan. |
Contents
Introduction | 7 |
The Franchises | 9 |
The Players | 33 |
Monopoly | 45 |
The Big Companies Part I | 57 |
The Big Companies Part II | 71 |
The Big Companies Part III | 83 |
The Somewhat Independent Lines | 97 |
The East River Crossings | 109 |
The Brooklyn Bridges | 119 |
The East River Crossings | 123 |
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Common terms and phrases
42nd Street 42nd Street crosstown 59th Street Avenue elevated Avenue line Avenue Railway System Avenue route Avenue's Avenues Railway car Bridge Three Cent Broadway line Bronx Brooklyn and North Brooklyn Rapid Transit built cable car Central Park City's Courtesy Vincent Seyfried East River Eighth and Ninth Eighth Avenue Railroad electrified elevated lines equipment Ferry Company ferry terminal fleet former Fourth and Madison Green Lines car horsecar lower Manhattan major Manhattan Bridge Three Metropolitan Street Railway motorized Ninth Avenue Railroad Ninth Avenues Railway North River open car operated passengers photograph Queensboro Bridge Queensboro Bridge Railway Queensborough Bridge Railway's rebuilt running Second Avenue Railroad Steinway storage battery cars Street crosstown line Street Ferry street railway lines streetcar line subway line Third Avenue Railroad Third Avenue Railway Three Cent Line Track Material traffic trolley lines tunnel Vincent Seyfried collection Williamsburg York and Harlem York and Queens York City York Railways Company York's