South Brooklyn Railway

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Coordinates: 40°39′16″N 74°00′36″W / 40.6545436°N 74.0099555°W / 40.6545436; -74.0099555
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

40°39′16″N 74°00′36″W / 40.6545436°N 74.0099555°W / 40.6545436; -74.0099555

South Brooklyn Railway
standard gauge
Route map
South Brooklyn Marine Terminal
NYNJ Rail via 1st Avenue
to BAT and LIRR Bay Ridge Branch
South Brooklyn Marine Terminal
2nd Avenue
I-278.svg
Gowanus
 / 3rd Avenue
4th Avenue
38th Street
36th Street
)
39th Street
5th Avenue
9th Avenue
)
This diagram:

The South Brooklyn Railway (

Coney Island Yards, mostly underneath the former Culver Shuttle and the IND Culver Line of the New York City Subway
.

Parts of the original line still exist. The section between the

36th–38th Street Yard in the east to the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal
in the west.

Private operation

1893 photo of the 39th Street Brooklyn Ferry Terminal owned by SBR&T.

The South Brooklyn Railroad and Terminal Company was incorporated September 30, 1887 to build from the end of the

Brooklyn, Bath and West End Railroad (West End Line) at 38th Street and 9th Avenue northwest to the foot of 38th Street, and was leased to the BB&WE, allowing BB&WE trains to run to the 39th Street Ferry.[1] The land purchases were completed in 1892, and the South Brooklyn Railway & Terminal Company built a terminal station and freight house at Third Avenue.[2] The company was not a "railroad" in the strictest sense, as it did not own any rail vehicles, but instead owned several city blocks to lease to other railroads that wished to connect to the ferry terminal at 39th Street.[2]

The Prospect Park and South Brooklyn Railroad connected the

Prospect Park and Coney Island Railroad (Culver Line) to the South Brooklyn Railroad in 1890, and the latter was bought by the Long Island Rail Road in 1893. The LIRR obtained the South Brooklyn Railway & Terminal Company lease on the land in 1897 and used steam powered locomotives.[2] As these locomotives could not be used for freight operations, the line was electrified in 1899; however, the LIRR occasionally ran steam-powered special trains to the Brooklyn Jockey Club Racetrack at Kings Highway and Ocean Parkway.[2] After foreclosure of the South Brooklyn Railroad & Terminal Company in December 1899, the company was reorganized as the South Brooklyn Railway on January 13, 1900.[2][3]

The

U.S. Post Office Department, as well as lumber, cement, sand, stone, ashes, pipe, marble for headstones, and granite for curbstones.[2]

At its greatest extent, the line ran along Second Avenue, then merged with the

BMT Culver Line down McDonald Avenue to Avenue X.[4]

Another view of SBK merge with BMT West End Line

On February 28, 1907, the South Brooklyn Railway and the Brooklyn Heights Railroad were split from each other, but both were still owned by the BRT. The South Brooklyn Railway was a separate subsidiary company that carried both passengers and freight, to avoid the BRT from being operated under Interstate Commerce Commission regulations. The Brooklyn Heights Railroad leased the Prospect Park and Coney Island Railroad, which included the Prospect Park and South Brooklyn Railroad, giving it a line to Coney Island.[2]

In 1909, the South Brooklyn Railway was granted a request by the Public Services Commission to discontinue the use of the Third Avenue freight yard and station, on the Prospect Park and Coney Island Railroad's property. The freight house, which was leased from the LIRR, was deteriorating, and the South Brooklyn Railway did not want to build a new one on LIRR property, instead preferring to build a replacement on the property of the

New York and Sea Beach Railroad, using Sea Beach trackage to access the new terminal. The South Brooklyn Railway bought another locomotive.[2] In 1913, all of the BRT's lines were reorganized, and all ownership of freight operations was transferred to the South Brooklyn Railway.[2]

The location of the South Brooklyn Railway helped in the construction of new BRT subway and elevated lines in Brooklyn, as materials could be brought in via its trackage. A temporary connection at 38th Street and Fourth Avenue allowed South Brooklyn Railway equipment to enter the BMT Fourth Avenue Line construction site.[2] In June 1922, the South Brooklyn Railway bought much of the LIRR-owned Prospect Park & Coney Island Railroad. By 1923, the Prospect Park & Coney Island Railroad and the New York & Coney Island Railroad were merged into the South Brooklyn Railway. The BRT filed bankruptcy that year and was reorganized into the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation, which still operated the South Brooklyn Railway.[2]

City operation

Second Avenue interchange yard

The South Brooklyn Railway, along with the other non-rapid transit properties of the BMT, was transferred to the New York City Board of Transportation on June 1, 1940.[5] That year, freight traffic went up significantly due to the start of World War II. The South Brooklyn Railway also got some trucks to deliver incoming freight directly to customers. In 1946, after the war, South Brooklyn Railway purchased two Whitcomb ex-U.S. Army diesel locomotives.[2]

Operations were transferred to the

conduction shoes, were given to the NYCTA for subway and elevated operation.[2]

The switches at Kensington Junction were locked so that the branch was completely separated up to the Ninth Avenue & 20th Street Depot, which thereby became an unneeded facility because passenger streetcar operation had ended. At the same time, freight usage of the South Brooklyn Railway declined because of the increasing use of

Bush Terminal, and Industry City.[2]

Current status

R156
work locomotive.

The South Brooklyn Railway provides one of only two track connections between the

New York Cross Harbor Railroad brought the cars up to the interchange yard at Second Avenue, where the South Brooklyn Railway took them to Coney Island Yard via the BMT West End Line.[4][7]

The South Brooklyn Railway has two locomotives, N1 and N2, a pair of

GE 47T Diesels. They can also be used on the subway when not needed for the SBK.[2]

A refurbishment of the interchange with

R156 locomotives and other subway rolling stock that were delivered on flat cars.[8]

Locomotive roster

Unit No. Model of locomotive
SBK N1 GE 47T switcher
SBK N2
SBK 5 Steeplecab
SBK 6
SBK 7
SBK 9 65-ton Whitcomb
SBK 12 GE 70-ton switcher
SBK 13
SBK 9425 Boxcab
[9]

References

  1. ^ "SBRT information". Retrieved October 5, 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r "South Brooklyn Railway". trainweb.org.
  3. ^ a b State of New York Transit Commission: First Annual Report (April 21, 1921-December 31, 1921). J.B. Lyon Company. January 9, 1922. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
  4. ^ a b c "I COVER THE WATERFRONT. Brooklyn's waterfront railroads". forgotten-ny.com. 5 May 2001.
  5. KiB
    )    , August 2004 Edition
  6. KiB
    )    , December 2004 Edition
  7. ^ Cross Harbor oldnyc.com
  8. ^ "South Brooklyn Railway". trainweb.com.
  9. ^ "SBK - South Brooklyn Railway Company Locomotive Roster - Railroad Picture Archives.NET".

External links

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