BusTalk

[Cyberider]

NYO,

Great stories about you and your Mom's trips to Brooklyn as well as all the photo references. That 105th St. grade crossing seems to be well-photographed. I had some, as well as a few thousand other photos, that I "harvested" off of NYCSubway.org about 20 years ago. Glad I did because the amount of invasive advertising makes that site much more time-consuming and aggravating than it used to be.

My mother wasn't a transit fan but she didn't drive and I remember taking a number of trips on the bus with her after we moved to Phoenix in 1956.

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Cyberider:

Glad you've been enjoying the "Trip Back Into Time", via Brooklyn!

The old E. 105th Street grade crossing (BMT Canarsie line) was always a popular place for railfan photographers, as it was the ONLY frade crossing on the subway system.

The days of diverse rolling stock, alao, on the line are ling gone, but the fact remains that today's "L" line will never lose its rich history!

Another reason why the E.105th Street crossing was so popular for railfans is that it outlived the many grade crossings on the SIRT, all of which were eliminated by 1966/1967 (how well I remember these crossings!)

NOT surprising, then, that many SURT fans were on hand at this station, snapping away with their Instamatics, in the later 1960s and early 1970s!

"NYO"

["TO MANHATTAN ONLY"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

How well I remember the old, wooden SIRT New Dorp station and grade crossing; bells clanging, gates lowering and raising, growling traction motors......aaah, the sweet memories!

Back in my childhood days (early/mid-1960s), the SIRT was still vert much an "interurban", as much as it was a rapid transit line! (I STILL, to this very day, refer to the line as it was as "Staten Island's Own Toonerville Trolley"!)

"NYO"

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?115323

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?75995

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?75994

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?41834

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["RIDE THE RAPID"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

By 1971, the old New Dorp station (thankfully, relocated to the Richmondtown historic site) and crossing were but memories; the trains now ran, basically, in a below-grade "ditch", with absolutely no charm nor ambience whatsoever........

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?21949

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?22022

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["TRAINS TO ST. GEORGE"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Until 1953, when the SIRT's South Beach line was abandoned, there was a manned grade crossing at South Beach.......

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?115398

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?115412

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["SOUTH BEACH"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

By far the most unusual "station" on the SIRT was "WENTWORTH AVENUE", just beyond the South Beach passenger station (end of the line); it has been documented as being
"the shortest high-level platform in the world".

The tiny "station" could only accommodate one vestibule door of a one-car train, and only served to provide train crews with shelter, between runs...........

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?21975

["SOUTH BEACH LOCAL"]

[Cyberider]

Let's see, how did we get from Brooklyn to Staten Island? Did you have to go back to Manhattan to take a ferry? Anyway, looks fascinating with the old cars and stations, as well as the grade crossings. Not much to match that around here. Well, we did have a few streetcars but that was about it.

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

[Cyberider]

Sounds like paradise!

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

In 1953, the SIRT (then a subsidiary of the B&O) abandoned passenger service on the South Beach and Arlington lines.

The SIRT sold a group of cars to the NYCTA, for use on the BMT.

The cars were floated over to Brooklyn, where they were rolled onto BMT rails.

The cars were repainted (looked sharp!), their large headlights removed, and metal plate destination signs from scrapped elevated cars were installed.

Inside, the flip-over seats were bolted into a fixed position, requiring half the seated passengers to ride backwards.

Subway-style "AXIFLOW" fans were installed in the ceilings.

Only the motor cars saw revenue service; the trailers were converted into work cars and yard offices.

The motors were all retired by 1961.

The SIRT later regretted selling the cars to the TA, as they later lost a number of cars due to serious fires at the Clifton Shops, during the 1960s.

There were attempts to send surplus BMT "Standards" to Staten Island, but this never came to pass.

Photos to follow..........

"NYO"

["NYCTA"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Ex-SIRT cars on the BMT.........

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?46943 (interesting side-by-side comparison of a BMT "Standard" and an ex-SIRT "ME-1")

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?87049 (group of cars on carfloat, heading for the BMT)

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?6762 (taken at the BMT's 36th Street yards; note the large number of Old Look buses on hand!)

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?6756

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?87190

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?6755

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

EX-SIRT trailers as work cars/yard offices...........

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?6772

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?6765

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?87050

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["DO NOT COUPLE"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

IRT cars on the BMT........

In the late 1950s, a small group of ancient IRT "Lo-Vs" were transferred to the BMT, due to a temporary car shortage.

As the BMT's rolling stock was wider than the IRT's, door sill extenders and skirting were installed on these elderly cars.

The "Lo-Vs" used old-fashioned metal destination plates; these, in turn, were replaced by metal sign plates salvaged from scrapped BMT El cars.

They were assigned to the Culver and Franklin shuttles; these veteran workhorses last ran on the BMT about 1961 (interesting operation while it lasted!)

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?31921

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?6722

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?7996

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?113307

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

SIRT/BMT historical trivia........

The reason that the B&O electrified the SIRT with subway type-cars was that, at the time (1925), construction was underway to link the SIRT and the BMT's 4th Avenue subway in Brooklyn, via new tubes under the Narrows.

Tunnel headings/bellmouths for the SIRT connection were constructed near the BMT's 59th Street (Brooklyn) station; these still exist today.

Once on BMT rails, the SIRT trains would have continued into Manhattan, affording Staten Island commuters a one-seat ride into Manhattan.

Though the SIRT's "ME-1s" were based upon the BMT "Standards", there were differences in design.

The SIRT cars featured IRT-style vesribules, deck roofs, and flip-over seating.

The "Standards" were furnished with side roller curtain signs; the "ME-1s" were not equipped with any sort of sign boxes.

When the ex-SIRT cars arrived on NYCTA rails in 1953, it was thought they would be able to MU with the "Standards"; however, due to different braking systems.

Staten Island also has the (dubious) distinction of being the only borough not to have a subway connection.

This c-1953 photo affords an interesting comparison of the "Standard" and the "ME-1"......

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?46943

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

"NYO"

["RIDE THE RAPID"]