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| Re: Myrtle Avenue El (909851) | |||
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Re: Myrtle Avenue El |
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Posted by Stephen Bauman on Wed Mar 10 00:02:23 2010, in response to Re: Myrtle Avenue El, posted by jan k. lorenzen on Sat Mar 6 18:25:19 2010. I've done a bit of research regarding the beginnings of the Myrtle by reading the Brooklyn Eagle online. Most but not all your statements are correct.I think you are thinking of the Myrtle and Hudson (5th Ave.) el grade crossing. They had a collision there very early in the operation which shut both lines down for several months. Yes, the grade crossing accident was at Hudson & Myrtle within two days of the start of service to Atlantic & Flatbush Aves. Myrtle Ave service was resumed within one week. The Fifth Ave service was not resumed for several months. The reason was that property was condemned to build a curve at the junction of Hudson & Myrtle. This curve was used to route Fifth Ave trains onto the Myrtle. The tracks on Hudson Ave between Myrtle and Park Ave were no longer used for about one year (more about this later). The Myrtle el between Jay and Broadway was built by two different operating companies at two different times, but differing not by much, many changes occurred in that intersection between 1885 and 1891. All of the Myrtle Ave El from Adams to Ridgewood, as well as the Fifth Ave and Broadway Els) were built by the Union Elevated Company. It was affiliated with the Brooklyn Elevated Company, which built and operated the Lexington Ave El. Under terms of their franchise, the Myrtle up to Grand Ave was to open within 2 years and the section up to Broadway was to open within 3 years. Both these targets were met. The Myrtle was opened in two stages. The first section to Grand Ave then turned off onto Grand Ave and followed the Lexington Ave line to Van Sicklen Ave. The next opening was the ill fated service along Hudson Ave. Service on the upper Myrtle to Broadway opened after the accident at Myrtle & Hudson. Upper Myrtle service operated to Fulton Ferry via the Park Ave El and turned onto the upper Myrtle Ave El at Grand. All Lexington Ave service was routed onto the lower Myrtle Ave El at Grand. Was this routing a result of the accident? There is one article in the Eagle prior to the accident that states that this was the planned service. There was a transfer at Myrtle & Grand to permit Fulton Ferry access for Lexington Ave riders. This transfer proved to be unpopular. As a result the Union Elevated built another curve at Hudson Ave going north from the Myrtle. In December 1889 a new routing emerged. Both the upper Myrtle and the Lexington Ave trains went south along the Myrtle to Hudson Ave. The upper Myrtle trains then turned north onto Hudson Ave (that track that had not been used in service since the accident) and west onto Park Ave to Fulton Ferry. The Lexington Ave and Fifth proceeded along the lower Myrtle to Sands St. This allowed Lexington Ave riders wishing to go to the ferry to get off at Navy St and wait for a ferry bound train without changing platforms. This also marked the end of service on the Park Ave El from Hudson to Myrtle Aves. The Union Elevated and Brooklyn Elevated had merged in the interim, becoming the Brooklyn-Union Elevated. The B-U petitioned for abandonment within a year. There's one mention of a final passenger train inadvertently using the Grand Ave connection to the Park Ave El in 1893. Demolition was well under way. Only about 30 feet of track remained on Grand Ave and there was no bumper. Inexplicably the switch at Grand was left open turning an upper Myrtle train onto Grand Ave. It managed to stop in the nick of time. One final tidbit. Some of the Park Ave El ironwork was used on the Broadway El's extension from Van Sicklen to Cypress Hills. Looking at Grand and Myrtle now, you wouldn't know how much activity there was there at one time. Must've been a nightmare living over there then with all the heavy construction going on. There are quite a few law suits mentioned in the Eagle during construction. |
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