The Lost Street Cars of New York City | The Story of American trolleys - IT'S HISTORY

new york city is akin to an urban onion with every  skin one peels another layer of time is revealed   and when it comes to transportation there's a  lot to be discovered although most associate the   city with its iconic yellow taxis subways or grand  historic terminals there was a rather recent time   when new york city had one of the world's  most premium streetcar networks and today   we will unearth its remains i'm your host  ryan socash and you're watching it's history the development of new york's streetcar network  directly affected the rapid progress of this city   but began with extremely primitive technology  horse cars were operated in some districts of   the city with animals pulling the cars along  rails allowing riders to traverse the city and   connect to railroads ferries and other forms of  transportation some complained about the slow   speed and the immense amount of waste left around  the city by the new network but generally this   service was an effective alternative for  riders who would otherwise experience harsh   weather conditions the expansion of the horse car  lines fostered the city's development along their   corridors as the industrial revolution took hold  new technologies became available shortly after   the civil war the cable car was introduced in  many american cities replacing many of the horse   car lines the cable car operated by attaching a  car to a constantly running cable underground to   stop the operator would detach from the cable and  apply the brake cable cars were large and faster   than horse cars and provided an intermediary  step in the development of the streetcar   however cable cars also had major drawbacks  they were expensive to operate and maintain   also the cable propelled them at a constant speed  and therefore could be quite deadly when rounding   sharp curves thus as a major form of transit in  most cities the cable car was short-lived soon to   be replaced by a new far more efficient technology  by the late 1800s electric generators and motor   technology had advanced to the point where it  was to be used as a power source for street   cars in 1888 richmond virginia became the first  city to successfully electrify a streetcar line   the city of brooklyn followed shortly thereafter  electrifying the coney island avenue line in 1890.   subsequently the remaining horse car and cable  car lines were replaced by this innovative highly   efficient energy source the last cable car line  in new york city ended its run in 1905 the last   horse car line ran all the way up until 1917. the  new electric street car spread rapidly throughout   american cities becoming a dominant mode of urban  transportation in most cities throughout the first   half of the 20th century ultimately the trolley  companies began to face a number of problems   remember this was a time of expanding automobile  ownership and increasing automobile traffic   furthermore local governments were becoming  increasingly hostile to trolley operators track   repairs were often hindered by demands on local  transit companies to also repair adjoining streets   simultaneously municipalities made additional  claims on their revenue in new york the nickel   fair was mandated despite inflation trends  making once profitable trolley lines into   money losing propositions of course shortly  after the city took over transit operations   the fair was raised perhaps the greatest  factor in the demise of urban light rail   was the action taken by national city lines of  purposefully undermining rail transit operations   jointly owned by general motors standard oil and  firestone tires national city lines operated under   the cover of small bus companies systematically  buying up privately owned streetcar companies then   replacing streetcars with fume spewing inefficient  buses furthermore national city lines lobbied   local governments to eliminate trolley lines as  a hindrance to street traffic national city lines   was ultimately found guilty of criminal conspiracy  to destroy the american streetcar system   unfortunately the damage had already been done  by the time of the verdict 1950 most american   trolleys were gone although national city lines  sought for the demise of these networks and made   a real effort to entirely eradicate any evidence  of their existence the vastness of the network   made them almost impossible to bury new york  city is still filled with remnants you just   need to know where to look most elements of  the former network are hiding in plain sight   hundreds if not thousands of minor pieces such as  poles tracks or inscriptions found on buildings   there are also plenty of cases of the streetcar  network being repurposed for the use of modern   day transport however i'd like to present you with  some more magnificent examples let's start with   the queensborough bridge trolley terminal that was  once a highly trafficked portion of the network   serving passengers between 1909 and 1959 there was  an entire loop track and underground terminal here   trolleys from queens would have come  down what is now a pedestrian lane on   the north side of the bridge the tracks ran  straight into the portal of the terminal   now a lone remaining kiosk in the bridge  plaza stands near its original location   parts are missing or broken and it has no  stairs within just a solid concrete floor   but back in the day passengers would have been  loaded and trolleys exited towards 59th street   the last known surviving bridge car is rotting  away at the trolley museum in kingston new york   when it comes to depots or car barns as they were  known we should visit brooklyn where there is a   three-story brick building which takes up an  entire block between 2nd and 3rd 58th and 98th   street in sunset park this humongous building  once housed countless trolley cars but now it's   occupied by a variety of small businesses and  industries this depot was built for the brooklyn   city railroad which was first incorporated as a  horse car line in 1853 and later by electrified   streetcars while many older trolley barns were  demolished or turned into bus depots this historic   building which handled lines from 2nd and 3rd  avenue was compartmentalized for local use over   in queens are the ornamental remains of the former  new york and queens railroad company trolley barn   it was built in 1896 and the towers could be  seen for miles the railway building contained   the largest car barn in queens and service trolley  cars from flushing college point jamaica and long   island ironically the place where the streetcars  were housed is now a parking lot accommodating   the same technology that made the entire  streetcar industry obsolete in the first place   one building now operated by a laundromat still  has the original company inscription in red   when it comes to some of the more subtle examples  of the lost network i didn't find a cohesive or   up-to-date list of the areas where tracks  are still visible in many cases it was like   a google earth easter egg hunt with enthusiasts  reporting track sightings just a few years back   that have already been covered by fresh pavement  today on the flip side when new pavement erodes   after a harsh winter segments of the track become  available for sightings again near the approach to   the grand avenue bridge it was once possible  to see tracks poking out not that long ago   but now the impressions made by the trek  under the fresh pavement is all that's visible   on johnson avenue between union and broadway a  small sliver has remained unpaved for decades   so you can see the former tracks for trolley line  number 14 which traveled from williamsburg all   the way to canarsie via johnson avenue the  line ended its service on may the 27th 1951   and was severed from the rest of johnson avenue  when the housing project was being constructed   maybe the most moving site of new york city's  lost abandoned trolleys can be found on the red   hook waterfront tucked behind fairway and the  beard street warehouse is the last remnants of   an attempt to bring back trolleys to brooklyn  renowned urban explorer bob diamond dreamed of   reviving the red hook trolley line that ran to the  atlantic terminal in downtown brooklyn diamond and   his friend georgie costialo founded the brooklyn  historic railroad association and through it   collected 17 decommissioned trolleys sourced  predominantly from boston and cleveland with one   from oslo norway dating back to 1897 and another  from the army corps of engineers the organization   also salvaged rails and constructed new tracks  along the red hook waterfront this was possible   without government support due to the cooperation  of george o'connell of the o'connell organization   which owns and operates many of the historic  buildings in the neighborhood for a period of time   a one mile loop of trolley track went from the  warehouse into the red hook neighborhood along the   conover street and van brunt street the pilot was  short-lived however with the city determining that   trolleys were not the best option for improving  transit across red hook apparently the project   ended the second day bloomberg was in office the  rail tracks were quickly removed and diamond lost   access to the warehouse one trolley remains the  3303 boston tea greenlight dating back to 1951.   it has been painted blue in the last few years  but the t logo is still visible the trolley car   now reads no stops on its front place card the  doors are in rough shape and locked by chain and   padlock and long gone are the days when the public  could enter the inside of the trolley now you   might be wondering why a video about old random  track fragments found around new york city is of   any value and i'd like to offer you my thoughts on  that anyone who enjoys urban exploring understands   that often the most graphic exhibition of time  can be found within deterioration and whereas   major forsaken places such as pripyat ukraine  in the chernobyl exclusion zone or centralia   pennsylvania for that matter makes a strong very  impactful impression on those who choose to visit   or even research the topics i'd argue that  the subtle notion of decaying track fragments   in the contrast of one of the world's richest  cities is more of a commentary on vulnerability   that perhaps no matter how grand an idea at  some point things will peak and at some point   things will fade only those of us who take the  time to appreciate and observe little fragments   of history such as pieces of track in new york  can keep that memory alive the zest of the time   thank you for watching its history if you  enjoyed this video make sure you see our   episode about the lost chicago tunnels subscribe  and definitely consider supporting us on patreon

Channel: IT'S HISTORY

Views: 461,295

Keywords: brightsunfilms, whendeverproductions, exploringwithjosh, thegreatwar, urban decay, new york urban exploring, urbex new york, new york transport, forgotten streetcars, forgotten trolly, the end of trollys, the end of street cars, american tram network, hidden tracks, tracks understreet, tales of urban decay

Id: lwExk32mXjM

Length: 12min 18sec (738 seconds)

Published: Tue Dec 15 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/eldersveld]

I'll watch this the next time I'm in a sad mood and feel like crying, because that's what this video will probably make me do. RIP, NYC trolleys

[u/R42ToMoffat]

More people should check out that channel, I found out about them through their video on Singer Tower. I would also recommend their video on the original Penn Station