Skip to main content

Reply to "Old New York"

I don't remember the trolleys but there were the trolley busses in the 50's. I grew up on Graham avenue and as a kid, we would walk down to this bridge and straddle the gap between the two sections when a trolley bus would cross. It was sort of a dare with the creek below. That bridge would shake 3-4 inches between sections. It was torn down when the Puluski bridge on Oakland street was built.
 
Originally Posted by LIRR Steamer:

In Brooklyn, cars of the B&QT ran over to Long Island City in Queens travelling accross the double Bascule Bridge on Manhattan Ave and Vernon Boulevard which spanned the Newtown Creek at this point. This bridge was fascinating to watch and did operate quite frequently since there was a lot of water traffic on the creek in the late 40's early 50's. It made quite a racket as there were two bascules opening and closing at the same time. On the Queens side, Vernon Boulevard was on a viaduct that spanned the LIRR Long Island City yards and station as well as an adjunct PRR yard to handle cars that could not be accomodated in Sunnyside yard. There were a lot of trains to see. The B&QT had a turnaround loop at Vernon and Jackson Avenue where you could get a Queens trolley or the Flushing Line at Vernon and Jackson ave. Station. The subway still stops there but the trolleys and double bascule are long gone. 

 

manhattan avd bdge

 

Heres a B&QT car and other traffic waiting on Vernon Boulevard while the bridge is open for water traffic.

 

vernon blvd

 

With the bridge closed, we have a Graham ave car coming off the Bridge onto manhattan ave in Greenpoint Brooklyn. The car is a 6000 series built in the early 1930s and was the last car designed by B&QT before the purchase and delivery of the 100 PCC cars. It is still in its B&QT red and cream colors before the Board of Transportation colors were applied. This route ran to downtown Brooklyn and continued through the sands street area onto the Brooklyn Bridge and to Park Row in Manhattan. It was one of a few routes that served three boroughs of the city. 

 

crosstown trolley-car-profile

 

OGR Publishing, Inc., 1310 Eastside Centre Ct, Suite 6, Mountain Home, AR 72653
800-980-OGRR (6477)
www.ogaugerr.com

×
×
×
×
×