Old New York

I have just finished rereading the whole thread ()seen only in bits and pieces as it grew over the years).   I have to echo what many have said earlier:  marvelous stuff!  The architecture and the engineering really interest me though I have no desire whatever to live there, at any point:  too many people packed into tiny spaces!

Anyway, I wanted to make an observation:  reading through the collectors guides, one reads criticism of the various toy/model train manufacturers' street light/lamp post offerings as being too large and out of scale.  Looking through these pics, I believe that criticism to be invalid.   Some of those lights and posts appear to fully 30 - 40 feet tall.  Some of them may even be too *short* paired with SG trains.

It was also interesting to see prototypes of crossing sheds, crossing gates, and signals that inspired many miniature offerings.   It was like looking at a Lionel, Flyer, IVES, or Bing catalog.

Regarding the previous posts concerning the BRT's loop system in lower Manhattan, a book I read recently goes into extensive engineering and operational detail about that system as well as many other aspects of the BMT: "The BMT, A Technical and Operational History" by Alfred E. Fazio. It is at times dense with technical detail, but being an engineer by training, I found it a fascinating read, and I learned a lot about the BMT.

Fazio's volume on the BMT engineering and operation is a must have for any fan of the BMT. The system was developed and evolved based on engineering considerations perhaps more so than the other two systems operating in New York prior to the takeover by New York City.

The loop system was interesting because like the Chicago system, it was intended to run through trains into destinations areas and return them quickly. This increased the capacity of the facilities.

The other fascinating part  of the BMT thinking was their focus on developing lightweight prototype cars to extend the life of its el system