From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The IRT Ninth Avenue Line, often called the Ninth Avenue Elevated, was the first elevated railway in New York City, first opened in 1868 as the West Side and Yonkers Patent Railway, a cable-hauled line. The last section in use, over the Harlem River, was known as the Polo Grounds Shuttle, and was closed in 1958.
[edit] History
[edit] The West Side and Yonkers Patent Railway
The West Side and Yonkers Patent Railway was built by Charles T. Harvey and ran from July 1, 1868 to 1870. The line used multiple one-mile-long cable loops, driven by steam engines in cellars of buildings adjacent to the track. Each loop was started when a car neared them 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.
[edit] Station listing
| Station |
Tracks |
Opening date |
Transfers & Notes |
| South Ferry |
all |
|
various ferries (see South Ferry) |
| Battery Place |
all |
| split from IRT Sixth Avenue Line |
| Rector Street |
local |
| Cortlandt Street |
all |
| Barclay Street |
local |
| Warren Street |
all |
| Franklin Street |
local |
| Desbrosses Street |
all |
| Houston Street |
local |
| Christopher Street |
all |
| 14th Street |
all |
| 23rd Street |
local |
| 30th Street |
local |
| 34th Street |
all |
| 42nd Street |
local |
| 50th Street |
local |
| merged with branch of IRT Sixth Avenue Line |
| 59th Street |
local |
| 66th Street |
all |
| 72nd Street |
local |
| 81st Street |
local |
| 93rd Street |
local |
| 104th Street |
local |
| 110th Street |
local |
| 116th Street |
all |
| 125th Street |
all |
| 130th Street |
local |
| 135th Street |
local |
| 140th Street |
local |
| 145th Street |
all |
| 155th Street |
all |
| tracks split to the 159th Street Yard |
| Sedgwick Avenue |
all |
July 1, 1918? |
| Anderson Avenue |
all |
July 1, 1918 |
| merged with IRT Jerome Avenue Line between 161st Street and 167th Street |
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- Open New Subway to Regular Traffic, New York Times July 2, 1918 page 11
