Talk:Transportation to Coney Island

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This is an offshoot of User:SPUI/NYC Subway timeline to cover the lines to Coney Island. Bolded stuff was done under the Dual Contracts; ones I need there are:

  • West End Line
    • June 24, 1916, West End "L" opened from Chambers to 62nd st and shuttle between 62 St. and 18 ave.
    • West End elevated extended to Coney Island July 21, 1917 but TEMPORARY terminal.
    • Dec 23, 1918 ran to NEW West End Terminal. Probably Sea Beach the same date.
  • Sea Beach Line
    • Sea Beach operated into old West End Terminal on temporary platforms from June 22, 1915. Can't find a date yet for when this switched to permanent tracks at New West End. It was probably same date as West End since they shared the temporary terminal.
  • Brighton Line south of Sheepshead Bay
    • Sheepshead Bay to Ocean Parkway, April 22, 1917, as a single-track shuttle.
    • Above shuttle extended to W8, May 19, 1917.
    • Brighton Locals enter New West End Terminal (Stillwell) May 30, 1919, lower level only.
  • June 8, 1864: The West End Line opens from 36th Street near Fifth Avenue to Coney Island, 6.5 miles long. [NYT 6-9-1864]
  • June 1875: The Culver Line opens from Ninth Avenue and 19th Street to Coney Island. It was proposed to continue north on Ninth Avenue, 15th Street and Hamilton Avenue to Hamilton Ferry. "Turner's Station" is at Avenue C and Gravesend Avenue. [NYT 5-18-1875, 6-9-1875]
  • July 18, 1877: The New York and Manhattan Beach Railway opens to Manhattan Beach (at least formally). [NYT 7-19-1877]
  • July 1, 1878: The Brighton Line opens from the "Willink entrance to Prospect Park" (Empire/Flatbush) to the Hotel Brighton. The summer schedule began the next day. [NYT 7-2-1878]
  • July 19, 1878: The Marine Railway opens, at least the east half.
  • August 1, 1879: The Sea Beach Line opens (where?)
  • August 5, 1880: The New York and Brighton Beach Railway begins service, via steamers named Morrisania and Shady Side from "the foot of West Twenty-second-street and Pier No. 6 North River" [latter around Exchange Place] to 'Company's Pier' at Locust Grove in Gravesend Bay, to the "junction of the Boulevard [Ocean Parkway] and Concourse [Surf Avenue or Brighton Beach Avenue]" at Brighton Beach, a short distance from the Hotel Brighton, with no stops in between. [NYT 8-1-1880, 8-3-1880]
  • September 19, 1880: The New York and Brighton Beach Railway closes.[1] This was the last day of the beach season. [NYT 9-20-1880]
  • July 14, 1892: The South Brooklyn Railroad and Terminal Company opens from the 39th Street Ferry to Tenth Avenue (?). This extends the West End Line. "When the Thirty-ninth Street trains reach West Brooklyn they are attached to the cars from Fifth Avenue and Thirty-sixth Street". [NYT 7-15-1892]
  • January 24, 1893: The LIRR ratifies the purchase of the Culver Line, taking posession on February 1. This consists of the line from 20th Street and Ninth Avenue to West Brighton, Coney Island, and the "Culver Route" from Bay Ridge to West Brighton. Connections to the LIRR lines "will be made at once". The Norton's Point Line was not in use at the time, having been run only occasionally, but the LIRR had plans to redevelop that part of the island and start regular service. The only non-LIRR lines remaining were the Brooklyn and Brighton Beach (Bedford Avenue to Brighton Beach), Brooklyn, Bath Beach and West End (old Gunther Road), and the New York and Sea Beach (Bay Ridge to West Brighton). [NYT 1-25-1893] The Norton's Point Line was operated in summer 1893 to connect with excursion boats. [NYT 5-13-1893]
  • August 5, 1895: "A new short line will be established to-morrow [to Manhattan Beach] by the Long Island Railroad. Through trains will leave the Brooklyn Bridge every half hour by way of the elevated and surface roads directly to the beach." Probably the Culver Line. [NYT 8-4-1895]
  • 1903?: The Culver Line is split at Culver Terminal (West Eighth Street), with a transfer required for the Norton's Point Line. That was also about when the BRT bought the line; it had been LIRR-operated, with trains to Long Island City, and to 20th Street and Ninth Avenue. At first the Norton's Point Line stops running, due to the BRT's parallel Surf Avenue Line, but it later starts running again. Free transfers to the Culver (and Sea Beach?) Lines were given starting in mid-June 1911. The Culver and Sea Beach Lines had unused direct track connections. [NYT 7-31-1911]
  • June 24, 1916: The elevated West End Line opens from the Fourth Avenue Line to 18th Avenue, with only one track south of 62nd Street. Normal trains end at 62nd Street, with a shuttle beyond. [NYT 6-24-1916]
  • July 21, 1917: The elevated West End Line opens from 25th Avenue to the "new temporary terminal at Coney Island". Formerly trains had run to 25th with a trolley shuttle transfer. [NYT 7-19-1917]
  • December 23, 1918: West End Line trains start using the Stillwell Avenue Terminal.
  • March 16, 1919: The elevated Culver Line opens from Ninth Avenue to Kings Highway. Prior to that, it ran on the surface, with transfers to the Fifth Avenue Line at 36th Street, and the West End Line on the west side of the 38th Street cut. Trains use the elevated Fifth Avenue Line, with a transfer at Ninth Avenue to West End Line trains into the Fourth Avenue Line subway. All surface stations but 15th Avenue are kept on the el. [NYT 3-9-1919, 3-16-1919]
  • May 10, 1919: The elevated Culver Line opens from Kings Highway to Avenue X. [NYT 5-18-1919]
  • May 29, 1919: Sea Beach Line trains start using the Stillwell Avenue Terminal.
  • May 1, 1920?: The elevated Culver Line opens from Avenue X to Stillwell Avenue. [NYT 5-1-1920, not clear on the exact date, but the 5-cent fare, which was to be instituted when the Culver Line was finished, was begun midnight between May 1 and May 2)
  • May 30, 1931: Culver Line trains start using the Fourth Avenue Line (no new construction in that area). [NYT 5-30-1931]
  • November 7, 1948: The Norton's Point trolley line is bustituted. [NYT 11-8-1948]

The beginnings of consolidation[edit]

I moved this from the article page because it is significantly inaccurate. The BRT was a holding company, and it never exactly "bought" these lines. In essence, the different lines were bought by, or leased by, railroads which were controlled by the BRT by either lease, consolidation or stock ownership. Sometimes these buying/leasing roads were BRT controlled before they acquired the below lines, sometimes after. Some of the buying lines were real railroads (like Atlantic Avenue Railroad, which controlled the West End) and some were "tails wagging the dog": the Brooklyn Heights was a little cable car line. Why did it end up with the Brighton Line inter alia? Because when the BRT was looking for a company to acquire some of the Southern Division lines, it had the broadest charter. The dates also need work. The 1899 date for the Brighton is a decade early, and it was bought by the Sea View (tail wags dog). The BRT didn't exist in 1889. -- Cecropia | explains it all ® 21:58, 15 Mar 2005 (UTC)


The BRT bought the lines in the following order:
The BRT bought the Coney Island Elevated Railway (which had been reorganized as the Sea View Railroad) in 1897. It was torn down in 1900 and surface tracks were built to carry the Brighton Beach Line west along its right-of-way to Culver Terminal.

Control of lines[edit]

I'm making this list here because I'm having trouble keeping this straight.

--NE2 11:48, 11 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

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