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Re: (rshsdepot) A Trolley Grows in Brooklyn

The tunnel cited below is an original railroad structure, built by the LIRR in 1844. It is the original example of the 'cut and cover' tunneling method.

It was 'rediscovered' by Bob Diamond in 1980.

 

To see more about the Brooklyn Historic Railway Association (BHRA), kindly visit their website at: www.brooklynrail.com

It comes complete with news about the recent media event where for the first time in 46 years, a PCC trolley car appeared on the streets of Brooklyn, NY.

There's agreat TV News story going on here.......

- -Joe Calisi

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   Subject: Re: (rshsdepot) A Trolley Grows in Brooklyn 
   From: "Paul S. Luchter" <luckyshow__@__mindspring.com> 
   Date: Tue, 11 Jun 2002 20:21:44 -0400 

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I think the last streetcars (did anyone in Brooklyn or the city ever use theword "trolley" for their streetcars?) over the 59th Street Bridge was 1957,maybe 58..Why is this trolley (!) going downtown when it could go to the higheststation on the F train at 9th Street, I wonder...?How in the world is this trolley supposed to enter the short piece of theAtlantic Avenue LIRR tunnel, that seems unlike;y, especially since it is soshort, where exactly would those trolleys go from there? Sounds weirdFrom the LV RR barge where concerts took place, one could see the covered upPCC cars across the way...the barge is now upstate being fixed up atWaterford.Red Hook is so great with all the old Civil war era waterside buildings...ifMoses didn't cut it off it may not have lasted to now, all the historicstuff...the huge grain elevator, as well maybe...Will these "trolleys" use overhead wire power?The LIRR abandoned the tunnel 1860 or so when City of Brooklyn outlawedsteam locomotives...it went to ferry at Atlantic Avenue...a cable car onMontague Street went to ferries at its foot...Diamond has theorized that an abandoned old locomotive is in a differentsection of the tunnel...Also, I probably said this already...the Brooklyn Bridegrooms of theNational League picked up the Dodger nickname playing at Eastern Park at thesite where the power plant sits abandoned at Van Sinderin south of AtlanticAvenue on the Bay Ridge branch/division in East New York....they playedthere 1892 to 1897, the first "trolleys" in NY, the Coney Island andBrooklyn was one, the Jamaica line was nearby, and others, East NY was a hubof transit, and that is where the fans had to dodge the streetcars and thename came about,,,This was also the site of big Yale-Princeton football gameone year, and also of the Crescent Athletic Club of Bay Ridge who were inthe first football league, the American Football Union...Transportation wasvery important in the choice of this site for Eastern Park, the ManhattanBeach RR was very close, the streetcars mentioned, three Els I think went toor near Manhattan Junction (now Broadway Junction), the LIRR AtlanticDivision as well..  A listing of every football game played at Eastern Park can be found at:http://www.mindspring.com/~luckyshow/football/ep.htmOh, and the Giants have visited the Mets since 1962 (and at the Polo Groundsfor a couple of years as well), there was a 24 inning game played back inthose early years in NY, at SheaPaul- -----Original Message-----From: jdent1__@__optonline.net <jdent1@optonline.net>To: rshsdepot_@_lists.railfan.net <rshsdepot@lists.railfan.net>Date: Tuesday, June 11, 2002 12:08 PMSubject: (rshsdepot) A Trolley Grows in BrooklynThis is not a trolley email list, but the following article may be ofinterest to those listmembers interested in NYC history and Robert Moses'sheritage, something that has been discussed on this list.  Just last weekthe Giants were back in town and now the trolleys are back...Also, does anyone know what tunnel was "discovered" under Atlantic Ave -perhaps an original railroad structure?From New York Newsday...Trolley Back on TrackAfter a decade of delays, Brooklyn railway rolling forwardBy Joshua RobinStaff WriterJune 9, 2002The clang of the trolley, missing from New York's bustle for 42years, could soon ring out again in Brooklyn, where trolley buffsare laying tracks along two waterfront streets in hopes that vintagecars will be rolling by late summer."It's gonna happen,^Ô predicted Bob Diamond, president of theBrooklyn Historic Railway Association, who proposed the projecta decade ago and leads the digging. "It's no longer a pipe dream.It's actually being laid out in pipe.^ÔDiamond, 42, has spent 10 years raising money and gaininghard-won city approval for his dream of restoring trolleyservice to Brooklyn. (That's the place, after all, where acertain baseball team was named for those who dodged the trolleys.)Now, a few days a week, he and a handful of volunteers -- includinga cartographer and a heavy-machine operator -- can be found on ReedStreet in Red Hook, jackhammering asphalt and lugging rails. Theirultimate plan is to connect Red Hook on 1.6 miles of rail to asubway station in Downtown Brooklyn. The once-gritty waterfrontneighborhood was cut off from the rest of the borough by thebuilding of the Gowanus Expressway in 1941, a project of masterbuilder Robert Moses.Red Hook is now being gentrified, and the city has approvedlaying track on six blocks, starting near the site of aplanned Fairway supermarket on the waterfront near Reed Street.Diamond hopes to start the trolleys running occasionally once thefirst two blocks are done, which is contingent on his getting$50,000 promised by the City Council. The price of a trolleyfare has not been determined.It would take about $4 million more to reach Downtown Brooklyn.The last time trolleys thumped through New York, in 1960, theride cost 15 cents, Diamond said -- or nothing if you hitcheda ride on the back. But building them now costs about $260 perfoot, even with volunteer labor."If we had the money, we could get to Borough Hall in about18 months,^Ô Diamond said.The city transportation department seems open to adding thewhole 1.6-mile route -- if Diamond can find funds elsewhere."Red Hook felt the brunt of Robert Moses more than any other ,^Ôsaid Tom Cocola, the department's spokesman. "The Gowanusconfiguration has essentially ostracized Red Hook.^ÔDiamond hopes for $550,000 from a program to preserve landmarkssponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts. He alreadywent through $238,000 in federal funds and about $250,000 inprivate donations.The next step is to build tracks down Richards Street, to themouth of the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, where there are plans tobuild dual tracks, possibly on old rails long buried underasphalt.The route would then continue through a tunnel under AtlanticAvenue that Diamond discovered in 1980 while he was on a breakfrom college. Electric lines have yet to be installed, but allthe equipment has been bought or acquired somehow.In a city where waiting for a driver's license can take a yearoff your life, Diamond said "it took us almost 10 years to getall the permits and approvals.^ÔWhen not filling out paperwork, or pounding spikes, Diamond,who is trained as an electrical engineer, manages an apartmentcomplex in New Jersey and hunts for used trolley equipmentaided by a network of trolley aficionados around the country.He already has scooped up 16 usable trolley cars, now wrappedin weather-resistant tarps and stored at the Brooklyn NavyYard, a former warehouse and in a lot near the start of thetracks.One real find was a regal-looking car from 1897 that was usedto ferry Norwegian royalty from Oslo to a nearby skiing mountain.That one will be saved for special occasions, Diamond said. "We'renot going to use that one to haul people from Borough Hall,^Ô he said.The steepest expenditure of this project is insurance. Thecheapest will be electricity. It only costs about $6 an hour topower a trolley, which coasts down streets after an initial joltof energy. Cars normally hold about 100 people."The word is simple,^Ô John Smatlak, a Los Angeles-based consultantwith Railway Preservation Resources, said of street trolleys."It's probably safe to say it's a very inexpensive thing tooperate. I mean, you're just using up electricity.^ÔResidents of Red Hook see the trolley revival not as a touristythrowback, but as an alternative to the mercurial buses toDowntown Brooklyn."I have to work around their schedules,^Ô said Leslie Chapman,a homemaker who has lived in Red Hook all her 25 years.She said she sometimes waits an hour for a bus.Told of the trolley, she said: "That would be cute, if itgets me where I'm going.^ÔAlthough the tracks are being laid far from the housing projectswhere most people in Red Hook live, there seems to be nodisappointment -- only patience. "It's something we need,because in any other community, you have a choice^Ô of waysto get around, said Emma Broughton, 71, who has been calledthe mayor of Red Hook.Diamond, a Brooklyn native with a beard as thick as a shavingbrush, estimates he's plunked down about $75,000 from his ownpocket. He's too young to have seen trolleys clatter downChurch Avenue, where they ended their Brooklyn run in 1956,four years before the last city trolley clanged over theQueensboro Bridge. But Diamond is nevertheless charmed atthe prospect of their return."It's really fun, seeing a piece of Brooklyn's history comeback to life,^Ô he said. "Some people like to plant roses andwatch roses. I like planting trolley lines.^ÔCopyright © 2002, Newsday, Inc.- --------------------------------------------------------------------mail2web - Check your email from the web athttp://mail2web.com/ .===========The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existingrailroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org=================================The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existingrailroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org------------------------------

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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
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