[Date Prev][Date Next]
[Chronological]
[Thread]
[Top]
(erielack) RE: PATH question
>Why did the PATH stop at 33rd Street and not go on to 42nd St (a major
subway
>station then and now?) I realize that the system was planned around early
>1900's demographics and business needs, but Times Square was a busy area
even
>then.
>
In the 1909 edition of the H&M system map, 3 extensions are shown.
The first is north from 33rd street, up 6th ave to 42nd street then east to
Park ave. Stations were to be at 38th and 6th, 42nd and 5th, and 42nd and
Park.
The second was west on 9th street east to 4th ave.(the original IRT Astor
Place station)
The third was from Henderson St (today's Grove St) west to "Summit Station"
(todays Journal Square).
Service to Newark was not in the plans because New Jersey RR (aka PRR)
still owned the exclusive rights on transport between Newark and J.C. The
PRR "asked" the H&M to extend west to Manhattan Transfer on trackage
rights. The H&M then built west to its own terminal in Military Park,
Newark. The current arrangement with H&M trains terminating at Newark Penn
wasn't in place until the "new" Penn Station Newark was built in the early
1930s. The H&M "black" trains stayed east of Journal Square. The joint
"red" trains were the only trains to run into Newark.
The original 33rd St station on the H&M was at 33rd St. The tracks were cut
back to 32nd St because of the 6th ave IND station construction.(6th ave
IND between 4th St and 59th St was opened Dec 1940 for local service).
There is a stairway at 30th St. The 28th St H&M station was eliminated.
In 1900 the traffic patterns in NY were described as "business was
conducted below 4th street, people lived below 30th street" Its important
to remember that when Grand Central was built people complained "it was too
far out of town". The distance from City Hall to Grand Central is 4 miles.
That is quite a distance in the days of horses and walking (over an hour).
42nd street around Grand Central didn't become important until the early
1920s.
John Pilch
------------------------------------------------------------
Visit the erielack photopage at http://el-list.railfan.net
------------------------------