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| Re: Dual third rails on the IRT Els (684740) | |||
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Re: Dual third rails on the IRT Els |
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Posted by Mellow One on Mon Sep 22 08:47:02 2008, in response to Re: Yankee Stadium and the old IRT 9th Ave. El Connection, posted by randyo on Sun Sep 21 20:59:19 2008. The original IRT subway - el route on Westchester Ave in the Bronx was built with a connection to the 3rd Ave El at 150th St and operated with el type third rail only in 1904. During the Dual Contract Era, the Jerome Ave line and the Queens lines were built with Dual third rails. The Jerome Ave line was built with an integral connection to the 9th Ave El via the Sedgwick Ave tunnel to the former NY&N bridge to the 155th St Terminal. The Astoria and Corona (Fushing) lines were built by the IRT to connect with the Steinway Subway Tunnel and the Queensboro Bridge 2nd Ave El. The extension of the Westchester Ave Line to White Plains Road was built with Dual third rails. Some time later? the dual third rail was either extended south or the el type third rail was replaced (in 1948?) to the 3rd Ave El junction at 150th St. The Bergen St cutoff was built in 1916 to replace the 150th St connector for 2nd Ave El trains. (The 150th St connector remained in non-revenue use). 3rd Ave El trains used that connector after the 2nd Ave line was closed in 1940 until 1948.The Jerome Ave line retained the dual third rail until the Polo Gronds Shuttle was discontinued in 1958. The Polo Grounnds Shuttle was the remnant of the 9th Ave El connection to the Jerome Ave Line. Some time after the 2nd Ave El connection via the Queensboro Bridge was closed in 1942, the Queens Lines had the el type third rail removed. Probably, the Astoria line was first as it was converted to BMT usage only. In 1958, the remaining Bronx portion of the 3rd Ave El was converted to run IRT Subway cars with covered third rail and the remaining portion of dual third rail north of Gun Hill Road had the el type third rail removed. The el type third rail of the dual third rails south of Gun Hill Road to East 180th St on the White Plains Road was probaly removed some time before WWII. The IRT Broadway, Pelham Bay and Brooklyn El extension never had any dual third rails as there was never any connection to an exising elevated line. Another interesting note; the Dyre Ave line began operation over the former NYW&B with IRT Elevated cars. However the line was set up with subway third rail and the el cars were equipped subway third rail shoes or paddles. That was a twist in third rail history. |
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