Re: (rshsdepot) B&O Royal Blue Line at Whitehall Ferry

[Seth Bramson <sbramson_@_bellsouth.net>]

rshsdepot
Many thanks for the great info!

"James R. Guthrie" wrote:

> rshsdepot
> Seth asks:
>
> > Two Questions/Comments here:  I have one or two badges from the
> "Electric
> > Ferries."  I knew they ran 69th St., Bay Ridge to S. I., but where
> does the name
> > come from?  And were these boats operated by the City of NY, ala the
> Whitehall
> > or South Ferry to Staten Island boats?
> >
> There were a number of "Electric Ferries" -- the Yonkers Alpine, 69th
> St-SI, and 39th-St-SI and Whitehall, Poughkeepsie-Highland and others
> were all "Electric Ferries."
>
> The term comes from the idea of a modern fast boat, where each screw
> is powered separately by electric engines -- in the case of the first
> such boats in 1923 -- powered by a steam-powered generator, and later
> (1926) Diesel-electric when Diesel was still considered a proper noun
> <g>.
>
> The idea of powering both screws on a double-ended ferry was not new,
> ofcourse -- the idea had been in use since 1888; but the reversing
> screws at each end of the boat made the operation less-than-efficient.
> Putting them on separate engines took care of the problem.
>
> The 69th St Pier is visible outside my window as a write this.
>
> BTW -- in andswer to another question -- the Hamilton St. Ferry ran to
> Hamilton Avenue, and was replaced by the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel. The
> 39th St boats went away as the trolleys that ran to that point were
> "bustituted."  The West End and Culver railroads (the latter also a
> part of the LIRR for a time) operated for short periods from the SBK
> station at 39th, but mostly connected with the El at 5th Avenue -- or
> in the case of Culver -- over the Bay Ridge Branch as an alternate to
> going up to the depot at Greenwood.
>
> Manhattan Beach Juntion is several miles from Manhattan Junction --
> the former is located where the Manhattan Beach Branch left the
> current Bay Ridge Line; the other on the BRT where the Fulton,
> Broadway, and Canarsie lines came together (with tenant LIRR).
>
> For those interested, the TA is finally tearing down the remaining
> extra platforms and el structure at Atlantic Avenue -- so the last
> remnants of the Fulton St El are fast going to the scrapheap --
> including several of the former platforms.
>
>
>

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