Old New York

I agree Redman.. Good stuff "... She said.. My goodness.. It's huge!..."

In the 1950's, we went to Coney Island for a day of summer fun. The best way to get there was by the BMT . Perhaps the Sea Beach, WEst End, Brighton line or Culver. WE could get there on the McDonald ave or Coney Island Ave Streetcar lines as well.

 

So if you were on the SeaBeach, you probably road the Triplex cars

 

 

 

 

If  you came via the Brighton Line BMT standards was your Vehicle

 

 

 

If you were real lucky, you might have rode in part of the trip in an R-11 set

 

 

 

You could ride the PCC's from Grand army Plaza or the Parade Grounds

 

 

 

When you arrived it was the old stillwell ave terminal

 

 

 

Across the street was and still is today Nathans famous

 

 

 

Then there were the rides. Remember the Cyclone. Its still there

 

 

 

There was the Wonder Wheel. Its still there

 

 

 

And some might remember SteepleChase Amusement park with the famous Steeplechase Horse ride, side shows and other attractions. Its gone quite a while

 

 

 

 

 

The Horse Ride

 

 

 

The park in total

 

 

 

Parachute Jump still there although only as a sight. Originally constructed for the 1939-40 Worlds fair, It was moved there when the fair closed. In the 1950's one trip to the top and one fall to the bottom with the shoot open was 50 cents.

 

 

 

Alas the day was done and it was time to go home. Hope you enjoyed your trip to Coney Island.

 

 

Larry

We used to have our family excursions to Coney Island on the Sea Beach line from the 8th ave stop.  I thought Coney Island was the center of the Universe when I was young.  The Stillwell terminal was always mobbed when getting off.  The ramps instead of stairs was probably because of the crowds.

Ben

 

Here are a few photos at 8th ave on the Sea Beach Line. The station entrance

 

 

 

When going to Coney Island, the standard equipment was the BMT type D Triplex from the 1920's . a Train of D Types at 8th Ave.

 

 

 

So lets see the Triplex from ground level

 

 

 

BMT Work Trains at 8 th ave . Here we have the triplex, some BMT standards and a South Brooklyn Steeplecab. Lots of variety

 

 

 

Heres one that you will like Ben. Even the Bluebirds showed up at 8th Ave.

 

 

 

In  the Summertime, the BMT had an express service that ran from Fulton st/Franklin ave o the Franklin line , down  the Brighton line through Coney Island and up the Sea Beach over the manhattan Bridge on the South Trackways to Chambers street. It returned over the same route and stops were limited on the Seabeach since it operated on the express tracks. In the 1950's, the train was usually BMT standards. When the letters were adopted to identify the trains, This service became the NX . Here we have an NX special coming through Coney Island with more modern equipment.

 

 

The shot of the Bluebirds shows the 7th ave side of the station   It originally had entrances on both ends   7th ave was closed in the 1970's  You can see the open air bridge there

Multi's at myrtle ave.

 

 

Looks like they boys are on the way to school having used their 5cent ride pass.This train is headed towards queens . There is a train of Q Types on the upper level also heading toward Queens. Very Late 50's. The multis were running the Myrtle-Chambers service as we called it in those days. They were also used on the Canarsie line and on the Fulton Street El which remained in service from Atlantic Ave to Lefferts Blvd. That service was a rush hour service which went from Lefferts Blvd to 8th ave in Manhattan on the Canarsie line. 

 

Heres a set of Multis on the Fulton Street El coming off Pitkin ave. Check out the billboards for the Chevy Ragtop.

 

 

 

We're at Lefferts Blvd. The BMT is still in charge and we have a rush hour Multi Train and the regular C Type train which ran to Rockaway Blvd on Fulton Street. The C Types where the very first BMT articulated train dating from the 1920s.

 

 

 

Back to Mytle Ave and Broadway. Remembering where the boys stood in the earlier photo, this is what it looks like today. Myrtle Ave El long Gone, but the structure and upper platform still there.

 

 

 

 

This location was a pretty busy place back then. BMT Standards handled a lot of the business. Here we have a shot with 4 trains in it. WE have a northbound and southbound Myrtle chambers trains turning off the Jamaica El in the foreground, an eastbound BroadwaY Brooklyn Local and its probably heading to Canarsie since it is the evening rush hour. In the distance with lights on  is a R-16 set running a Jamaica Train west to Broad Street in Manhattan.

 

 

 

Heres the spot where the boys were . Q cars handling the duties on the Myrtle Ave El.

 

 

 

Same spot  but about 10 years earlier than the previous photo. This time Gat5e cars holding down the service on the Myrtle Ave. El. Standards on the Jamaica line

 

 

 

Interesting shot of the Myrtle ave El just north of Broadway where the connection to the Broadway line meets the Myrtle ave Line. There are two types of Gate cars in the Myrtle Train and we can see a set of BMT standards on a Myrtle Chambers line just starting to come up the ramp. 

 

 

 Same spot as previous photo. Looks like there was an express track here on the Myrtle but the connection has been removed.

 

 

And would you know it, even the Bluebirds were seen on the Myrtle Chambers run at Myrtle Ave on the espress track. BMT standards on the Broadway Service on the local track.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Love those Myrtle ave shots Larry 

Here is St George in Staten Island circa 1946 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can you guess where this is?

 

This is it from the other side

Two pics that I find very interesting

This is a clearance check for the IND construction  Very High Tech

 

 

This one baffles me   What was this doing in New York and did it use its own power in the tunnels.  My guess is that an Electric was pulling it

When the M-10000 was completed, it was the first streamlined train for the UP and perhaps the country. The UP did not operate this train in revenue service initially. IT went on a coast to coast tour in 1934 before taking up the assignment as the "City of Salina" It was the first of the streamlined lightweight UP Streamlined city trains.

 

The train was 204 ft long, and road on fully articulated trucks .There were three cars , a power  baggage car at the front; and two passenger cars. The sleeping car "Overland Trail" was constructed for M-10000 and included in the consist in May 1934, but it was never used in regular service with that train. Subsequent streamliners were diesel powered, but a reliable engine of sufficient power  was not available for the M-10000 and it was delivered instead with a spark-ignition Winton 191-A distillate engine. The front truck carried one General Electric traction motor per axle, and was the only one powered. It was constructed of " Duralumin" a light weight aluminum alloy material which could be used for both structural material and sheeting. It was widely used in the aviation industry, most notably in the rigid airships of the 1930's, Graf Zeppelin ,Hindenburg ,The Los Angeles, Akron, Macon and Shenandoah. 

The M-10000 was as much a publicity tool as a practical train. During 1934 it made a 13,000-mile exhibition tour across the US, visiting Washington, DC, for inspection by President Roosevelt, New York's Grand Central Terminal where most likely it Most likely it was towed in by an S or T motor .and the Chicago World's Fair.  Everywhere it went it attracted crowds and press attention, hosting almost 1,000,000 visitors. M-10000 succeeded in its aim of helping reinvent and modernise the passenger train in the popular imagination of Depression-era America. Lionel imortalized it by their rendition as a O72 Streamliner in the 1930's Many other Streamliners inspired by the M-10000 were rapidly developed, and within 15 years most major American railroads had a "streamlined" train of some type.

 

Here is how the Union Pacific Promoted it

 

 

 

Underway on the road.

 

 

 

And posing with a Chrysler airflow. The dawn of the streamliner era... how modern we were.

 

 

Ben's earlier post showed the BRT's Culver Terminal at Coney Island. originally built by the Prospect Park and Coney Island Railroad. It was the main access point in Coney Island around the turn of the century.This was before the station at Stillwell avenue . You could get there from the New York Side of the Brooklyn Bridge via the elevated trains and the Long Island Railroad went there as well.There was also a trolley terminal here which was used i believe to the end of the PCC cars service in 1956.

 

Here are some Coney Island Visitors arriving all decked out and ready for a day of fun at Coney Island.

 

 

Perchance it is this?

Brooklyn Visual Heritage

 

http://projectchart.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/

 

I always like looking at these old pics, I often try to locate the area as it currently stands using Google Maps.

 

Jerry

One step forward and two steps back!

 

 

 

 

Jerry

In 1964 we went to the worlds fair. We rode on the Brand New R-36's and the Transit Authority did promote it. Enjoy

 

 

Great Worlds Fair video ! Thanks for posting. I lived down the block back then and rode in my stroller to the fair.

  Later when in high school I rode the R-36's.  By then there was graffiti inside and out. Some of my friends would walk on top of the cars when the train was moving.

How about a Triplex at Pitkin Yard

 

 

It kind-of looks like it's hiding

---PCJ

It is hiding   Its all the way in the back corner of the yard

Ok Ben. Don't be foolin us now. WE know that this is on your layout in your basement!!

A Bluebird rests at East New York Yard. According to the signage, she was working the run to 8th ave on the Canarsie line. At this time, this could have been the rush hour service from Lefferts Blvd on the Fulton Street El. There are C types next to the Bluebird and C tupes were the mainstay of the Fulton Street El in the final years. Oh yes, In the backround is where Bert and Harry brewed their Piels Beer. This brewery was originally Trommers White Label, an old Brooklyn Brand, before Piels Brpothers took it over. The photo is likely from the first part of the 1950's. Maybe Ben will do a Weaver TOFC with a Piels brothers beer trailer.