Lenox Avenue Line (surface)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Lenox Avenue Line is a surface transit line on Lenox Avenue in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, United States. The line was once operated separately, but later became the northern end of the Broadway and Columbus Avenue Line and Broadway and Lexington Avenue Line, now the M7 and M102 bus routes.

[edit] History

The franchise given to the Sixth Avenue Railroad by the city in 1851 specified that it should extend its tracks "up the Sixth avenue to Harlem River, whenever required by the Common Council".[1] Because Central Park was designated in 1853, the Sixth Avenue Line was only built to 59th Street. This long-dormant clause was used in 1894, when the Common Council ordered the company, then leased to the Metropolitan Street Railway, to build in what had become Lenox Avenue from 110th Street (the northern boundary of Central Park) to the Harlem River.[2] The Metropolitan used the line to experiment with conduit electrification,[3] opening on July 9, 1895. From opening, the main line began at Columbus Avenue and 108th Street, where the cable-powered Columbus Avenue Line ended, and ran along Columbus Avenue, 109th Street, Manhattan Avenue, 116th Street, and Lenox Avenue to the river (148th Street).[4] Franchises for the tracks other than on Lenox Avenue had been granted to the Lexington Avenue and Pavonia Ferry Railroad in 1892 and the Columbus and Ninth Avenue Railroad in 1894.[2] The Metropolitan soon decided that it would convert all of its lines to the conduit system, being less costly than cable traction.[5] The Lenox Avenue Car House, a car house and power house, occupied the block bounded by Lenox Avenue, Seventh Avenue, and 146th and 147th Streets.[6][7]

A second route was soon added, from the end of the cable-operated Lexington Avenue Line at 105th Street north on Lexington Avenue, west on 116th Street, and north on Lenox Avenue.[citation needed] When the cable lines were electrified in 1901, they were combined with the Lenox Avenue Line, which lost its separate identity.[citation needed] The car house was rebuilt as a bus garage by the New York City Omnibus Corporation in 1938 and 1939,[8][9] and is still used by the New York City Transit Authority as the Mother Clara Hale Depot.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Common Council resolutions relating to the Sixth Avenue Railroad, reproduced in A Compilation of the Ferry Leases and Railroad Grants Made by the Corporation of the City of New York, 1860, pages 267 to 285
  2. ^ a b Harry James Carman, The Street Surface Railway Franchises of New York City, pages 39 to 54 and 198 to 202
  3. ^ New York Times, Trolley Under Ground, March 9, 1895, page 5
  4. ^ New York Times, New Trolley a Success, July 10, 1895, page 5
  5. ^ New York Times, Horse and Cable to Go, August 31, 1895, page 1
  6. ^ New York Times, In the Real Estate Field, February 12, 1895, page 15
  7. ^ Map Showing the Metropolitan Street Railway System, 1899
  8. ^ New York Times, Garage to Replace Harlem Car House, May 24, 1938, page 36
  9. ^ New York Times, 3-Acre Bus Garage to be Opened Today, July 31, 1939, page 11