Chapter 1, The Elevated Lines

They Moved the Millions

by Ed Davis, Sr.

Chapter I: The Elevated Lines

Interior of a standard (1902-1911) Manhattan Elevated Coach. 1584 remained a gate car until retired in 1955, served on the Dyre Ave. Shuttle line. Most coaches of the Manhattan and Brooklyn elevateds had interiors like this, as did many classes of Chicago elevated coaches. These were the IRT ones! Compliments of Note Gerstein.

Reference to elevated lines in this chapter is specifically to those lines which were not a part of the subway system, which were elevated nearly in their entirety rather than elevated extensions of subway routes. There were two entirely separate systems run by two companies, the Interborough Rapid Transit Lines, formerly lines of the Manhattan Railway Company, which ran in Manhattan and the Bronx, and the Brooklyn-Manhattan transit Lines, formerly Brooklyn Rapid Transit, which ran predominantly in Brooklyn but also ran into Queens, and into Manhattan via the Brooklyn Bridge. We will cover the electric rolling stock of these lines in three sections, the IRT, then the BMT "Q" class cars which served on both systems, and finally the BMT elevated routes. It should be noted that for some 40 years there was rolling stock on both systems which were built to be hauled behind steam locomotives and later converted for operation in electric multiple unit trains, after the conversion of the lines around the turn of the century. However, the bulk of the rolling stock on the els which survived into the 1950's, was built as electric multiple unit equipment after the turn of the century, yet they retained much of the appearance of 19th Century railroad coaches which one still sees in western and other historical movies.

Section A: The Interborough Lines

We will cover here all of the passenger equipment which ran in the twentieth century. Until the period before the Second World War there were hundreds of converted steam coaches still in service, all built in the 1880's and 1890's. Trains of these were operated in combinations of motor and trail cars, and except for the addition of marker lights on the roof and headlights retained all of their Victorian appearance. They were essentially the same mechanically as their counterparts which were built as electric cars as they were converted during the period in which electric cars were delivered. They served until the major portion of the Manhattan elevated lines was abandoned and demolished between 1939 and 1942. Builders of these cars included Wason, Gilbert and Bush, and the Pullman Company. They were originally built for the predecessor companies before the Interborough Rapid Transit consolidated all operations of the system, and operated the subways as well.

Here is a steam car from the 1880's, the 479, after being electrified. It is in off-hour layup on the normally unused express track of the Jerome Ave. line. Note there are 2 types of 3rd rail. The covered subway type and uncovered elevated type. Robert C. Marcus.

There were many different body styles on the former steam coaches as they were inherited from different companies by the time the Interborough took over the els. All of the cars built for the Interborough between 1902 and 1911, the last cars built for the Manhattan elevateds, had the same basic body style and these predominated on the els. These were also open platform cars with swinging gates on the platforms which were kept closed under way and opened at stations to permit exit and entry of passengers. This was a carryover from the former steam coaches as was their wooden construction. Wooden car construction was still the order of the day in 1902 but by the time the last batch was delivered in 1911 steel had nearly totally supplanted wood for passenger car construction. There is a whole different story about these cars which we will soon ponder but first we will complete the story of these gate cars.

An antique when new; gate car 1627 was built in 1910, in the age of vestibuled steel cars. Many of this type remained gate cars thru their careers. Victor Rucklin collection.

These were built with high-voltage controls, that is the motor control system was operated by undiluted 600 Volts Direct Current, which was the same power used for traction and auxiliaries. They had what is known as automatic air brake, where reductions of brake pipe pressure apply the train brakes, and a complete loss of this pressure causes an emergency application. This system by 1902 had become standard railroad air brake system. The reader at this time should remember the meanings of terms referring to control systems and braking systems as they will be used again in the text. Electric heating, electric lighting and electric air compressors were installed on these cars when built. During this period the basic patterns for electric multiple unit cars were developed which would serve for more than a half century to follow. In any event, the gate car's essential newness was their total electrification whereas only a few years before no degree of electrification was employed. Their body style was nothing new, following the 19th century design to some degree but turn of the century ruggedness supplanted Victorianism in their appearance. However, they served the system well for some half a century and a few were still in passenger service in their original style until 1955 on the Dyre Ave. Shuttle Line in the Bronx which had not yet been made a run-through line with the subway system.

Shortly after the city bought it for its transit lines, the catenary towers of the former New York, Westchester and Boston were still in place. Here are two IRT elevated gate cars on the Dyre Ave. line. These served the line until 1955. These are 1907 vintage cars. Victor Rucklin collection.

There were some 700 plus of these cars built, and the biggest part of their story is now to be told. By the early 1920's the Interborough was experiencing financial difficulties as the city fathers would not permit them to raise the fares even though costs had increased since the five cent fare had been established in 1904. A six car train on the el required a motorman, conductor and four additional trainmen so that the manually operated gates could be operated at each position, which totalled five. At this time the Interborough decided to convert the majority of these cars to Multiple Unit Door Control, whereby the doors through the train could be operated by remote control by means of electric circuits. This would reduce manpower requirements considerably and a train crew could be reduced to merely a motorman and conductor. A total of 464 cars were converted and were simply known as MUDC's for the initials of the door control systern. This system has been in virtually complete usage in all rapid transit cars built since that time. Somewhat more than 150 of these MUDC cars had their high voltage control systems replaced with low-voltage controls which we will study later.

MUDC 1178 heads a four car 6th Ave. train at 34th St. Gimbel's Dept. Store is in the left corner, and the old Saks-34th St. store in center. The Saks building was later modernized and became Korvette's. Victor Rucklin collection.

Although a homemade conversion and in some ways strange looking, the MUDC's spelled nostalgia in all ways. Their vestibuled appearance made them look so different from the gate cars from which they were built that seeing a train of each side by side would take a good second look to observe the fact that they were originally the same type car. Depite the fact that the MUDC conversion was strictly an economy job without any major body modifications these cars nonetheless proved to be very reliable and served until 1956, some three decades after their conversion. They were in fact the image of the Manhattan elevated lines until the last line was demolished.

In 1942 a train of MUDC's rounds the curve from 2nd Ave. at 23rd St. where the 2nd Ave. line crossed to First Ave. 3rd Ave. line express station at 23rd St. is in the background. Robert C. Marcus.

In their last summer of service, a train of MUDCs awaits a southbound run at Gun Hill Road, 3rd Avenue El., 1955.

A ride downtown on the Third Avenue elevated, the last remaining such line in Manhattan, on the old MUDC's was such an anachronism and yet the most pleasant way of getting there. Seeing the city from a comfortable old wooden train above ground rather than riding through tunnels! The mellow growl of traction motors, the hush of the air brake system, the smells of ethnic cooking as the trains stopped right near tenement windows in the South Bronx! Unfortunately the powers that be weren't too fascinated with this overhead railroad darkening the streets, nor the noise of the trains on the iron bridge structure with unballasted track, and the last train ran on this line on May 12, 1955. The MUDC's did however serve the Bronx portion of the line for nearly a year afterwards when surplus steel subway equipment replaced them. They were antique in their last years and an odd sight in a world of skyscrapers and modern automobiles but still reliable and a pleasure to ride even though they ranged from 45-53 years old. Unfortunately none have been saved for posterity.

Here is a company photo showing an MUDC conversion under way. Actual conversion looked somewhat different from this. IRT Company photo. Car 1276 leads a northbound MUDC consist at 34th St. on the 3rd Ave. line. The 1902 version of these cars was distinguished from later portions of the fleet by the external electrical conduit pipe feeding the markers and headlight. Robert C. Marcus. An express train of MUDC's on the 3rd Ave. el. This seven car rush hour consist was an example of the longest trains run on the Manhattan els. Robert C. Marcus.

MUDC 1802 with train laid up between rush hour runs at 156th St.-3rd Ave. This was one of the last cars built for the Manhattan elevated lines in 1911. Van Dorn style link and pin couplers served on the wooden el cars until their demise. Compliments of Nate Gerstein. MUDC 1217 on the 3rd Ave. line in its younger days! Many years of faithful service remained for these cars. Victor Rucklin collection. A train of MUDC's arrives at 200th St. on the 3rd Ave. line in the early 1950's. These 1910-11 cars were bound for lower Manhattan in a service that would soon be history. Franklin B. Roberts. MUDC's at station stop at 23rd St. on the 3rd Ave. line. Note the "23" in stained glass on the station's bay window. Stairs go to the express platform of this typical Manhattan elevated double-deck express station. Nostalgia! Victor Rucklin collection.

Section B: The "Q" Cars

The "Q" cars which we are now to read about started their lives out on the Brooklyn Rapid Transit lines and ended their days there, on the last line in Brooklyn to employ wooden equipment, but since they had served at times on IRT routes and ended their days with some IRT equipment on them they will be written about in this transitional chapter from Manhattan lines to Brooklyn lines.

These cars started life out as open platform, gate, fully electric coaches in 1903 and 1907 when they were delivered as the 1200 and 1400 series of cars. They share some of the story of the IRT MUDC's but go beyond to much more adventure and technology. Rather than being of all wood construction they had a steel chassis with a concrete composition flooring, although their sides, ends, and roofs were completely of wood. They had been in service for some 30 years on the BRT and BMT system, when the World's Fair of 1939-40 was being planned for New York. The Queens lines of the Interborough system were at that time the Astoria and Flushing lines over which the BMT system had trackage rights. Although the BMT had modern subway equipment at the time, these lines had clearances for IRT equipment which the BMT subway equipment would not clear, hence the BMT had no choice but to run their old wooden elevated equipment over these lines. As the site of the World's Fair was to be on the Flushing line the BMT felt it had to get some modern equipment to show off to its World's Fair passengers.

In their lost few days of service, in October 1969, a train of 66 year old "Q" cars climbs to the elevated structure near Fresh Pond Road. (Photo by Steve Zabel, collection of Joe Testagrose.)

A major investment in new, smaller cars for this route for this brief period was not in order. The plan was to modernize and modify existing equipment for this line and the 1200 and 1400 type coaches were selected for modernization. As the BMT used letter designations for classes of cars these became known as "Q" cars, for the Queens lines. A total of 30 "Q" sets of three cars each were converted, numbered 1600-1629, A, B, C. The A and C cars were motors, or powered cars, and the B cars were trailers, or nonpowered cars. There were also two car sets of "QX" class converted which were identical except for being two car units instead of three car units. These were numbered 1630-1642 A and B.

Q unit 1614 on the Flushing line in the 1940's. This A as how they first appeared after conversion from gate cars, with outboard marker lights. Robert C. Marcus.

The idea was the same as the IRT's MUDC conversion; eliminating the open platform design and having remote control doors. However the BMT did a considerable remodelling job. The open platforms were enclosed and seats and motorman's cabs installed there, and the doors were to be installed in the car sides rather than at the ends. Vestibules were non-existent on these cars, openings were cut, remote controlled sliding doors (pneumatically powered) were installed. The result was an attractive car that looked like it had been built that way and not converted. These cars served not only through the World's Fair but until 1949 when the Astoria line was modified for BMT subway trains and thru service was run from the BMT subway in Manhattan to Astoria over the el. The Flushing line was given over to the IRT and remains so until this day; it should be noted here that IRT and BMT are only division designations now as the city has owned the entire system since 1940 and the former private railway companies no longer exist.

As these "Q" cars became surplus equipment at this time, and the former IRT (Interborough) 3rd Avenue elevated line in Manhattan still had some of the non-converted, open platform gate cars, no doubt for rush hour operation only, (many still showed on the roster until 1950) it would have seemed the most likely place to transfer these surplus cars to. However, at this time there were other BMT elevated lines using open platform gate cars with the resultant high manpower costs. The 3rd Avenue line was to get these cars though; BMT cars that had served along with IRT stock in Queens, running with Manhattan el equipment there, were now to visit with their old running mates on 3rd Avenue! More modifications were to take place on the "Q" cars now, and they would spend the rest of their lives being part-Interborough cars!

The marker lights were moved from outside of the clerestory section of the roof to the inner part, giving the cars the best appearance of their career. As they were partially of steel, and the 3rd Avenue line was not built to handle heavier equipment, the lightweight, maximum traction trucks of the former IRT subway composite cars, which had been transferred to the elevated in 1916, were installed on the "Q" cars for the same reason they were installed when the composites were transferred from the subway to the el: To reduce weight. More will be told about the composites later in the subway section. They had, however served the Manhattan els longer than they served the subway for which they were built, but were overshadowed in the subway by the steel equipment before they were outlawed from the subway and then lived in the shadow of the MUDC's on the el.

This is how the "Q"s looked when they were returned to the BMT in 1958. Little changed from their days on 3rd Ave., they sported a fresh coat of maroon paint and had a step added to the doorways. Beautiful! This train has just left Bridge and Jay terminal headed for Metropolitan Ave. on the Myrtle Ave. Line.

The lightweight trucks had a motor on each truck rather than both motors on one motor truck with the other truck trailing. This would distribute weight better on these lightly-built structures from the 1870's. The B cars, which were trailers, were not modified as they were lighter, lacking motors and control equipment. They kept their original BMT trucks. The two car "QX" units were never transferred to the IRT and finished their days as work cars on the BMT lines. In 1950, after modifications were completed these cars were placed in service on the 3rd Avenue el, last of the elevated lines of the old Manhattan system. They did not however, supplant the MUDC's but were run only in rush hours to supplement service as they were still rather heavy and only carried passengers on the 1916-built express track, southbound in the morning rush and northbound in the evening rush.

After the abandonment of the Manhattan portion, the major portion of the line on May 12, 1955, they also ran along with the MUDC's on the Bronx part of the 3rd Avenue line until 1956, when surplus steel subway equipment replaced them.

It would seem that by now they would have joined the MUDC's in whatever train heaven there might be, but there was still a call for their service. There were three elevated lines in Brooklyn from the days of steam, that still used wooden cars, surviving in Brooklyn after the demolition of most of the els around 1940. The Lexington Ave. (Brooklyn) line which was mostly a connection between the Myrtle Ave. and Broadway-Jamaica lines, was demolished in 1951; the Fulton Street line had an outer portion from East New York in Brooklyn to Richmond Hill in Queens that survived until 1956, the portion in Queens used as an extension of the IND subway after that time; and the Myrtle Avenue line ran from downtown Brooklyn to Middle Village in Queens. The Fulton Street line's cars were of the converted-from-open-platform "C" class, a forerunner of the "Q" conversion, which were retired when their services were no longer needed on their habitat; the Myrtle Avenue line still had open platform cars of the same vintage as the "Q" cars but as we have already seen these open-platform gate car trains needed a rather large crew. As it was found that the Myrtle Avenue line was still heavily travelled and could not at that time be abandoned it was decided to send the "Q" cars to Myrtle Avenue; they replaced their open-platform, former running mates there although they were equally as old, only because with their remote control doors they could be run with fewer trainmen.

In late 1958 the "Q"s had their rooves lowered, and this is how they would look until the end of their days in 1969. This Metropolitan Ave. bound train is arriving at Vanderbilt Ave. It has already seen 60 years of service.

The "Q" cars have cosmetic surgery again. When they were transferred to 3rd Ave. their marker lights were moved to the same location as on the IRT cars. The "Q"'s were their handsomest during this period. This set of "Q"s is running thru a "foreign land" (Manhattan) on a nearly foreign railroad (the IRT)! Collection of Joe Testagrose.

From 1958 until October 4, 1969, they lived out their days on the Myrtle Avenue elevated line of the former BMT system, where they had no doubt run many miles before they were remodelled and sent to Queens and then to 3rd Avenue. One more major modification was done to them when they were sent back to the BMT. As East New York was no longer a main shop for the BMT, and these cars would have to be sent through the subway to the only BMT main shop at Coney Island, their high clerestory roofs had to be cut down to clear the subway tunnels. They still looked like old wooden elevated cars after this was done, and they were still a nice piece of history, but this handsome looking fleet of equipment had its looks damaged considerably after those high clerestory roofs only rose a few inches over the rest of the rooffine. After service of nearly two-thirds of a century these gallant old cars were finally retired after the Myrtle Ave. line below Broadway-Myrtle station was abandoned and demolished; the last wooden passenger trains that had been employed in regular service anywhere in the USA ran their last scheduled trips on October 4, 1969. There were a few railfan specials after that, one set of "Q" cars was kept for the Transit Museum in Brooklyn, and another three car set was actually converted partially to its original appearance complete with open platforms and gates! They are not completely original but it is nice to see that somebody had the foresight to preserve some few wooden, electric railway passenger coaches for future generations. Ironically enough, these cars still have the motor trucks from the IRT which were home built by the IRT in 1916 for reasons already mentioned; marker lights mounted IRT style, contact shoes (for 3rd rail power) from IRT Low-V steel subway cars which were retired, rooves nearly a foot lower than when built. Incidentally, these last remaining remnants of the early days of electrification had low voltage control systems which we will study later and shared some mechanical features of BMT steel subway cars which even steel trains built in the 1930's for other svstems did not share!

Section C: The Brooklyn Elevateds

Built in 1903, most of the 1200 series were later remodelled into closed end cars. The "Q" cars were converted from these. Car 1227 was one that lived its entire life as it was built; it was on the property until 1959. Obviously this photo was taken long before that. [This photo of 1227 is not the one used in the book; instead it is from the collection of Joe Testagrose.]

"Q" cars de-converted and restored to original open platform appearance. The 3 car set appears here on the Brighton Line on a fantrip. Lowered roofline, inboard mounted markers, and composite car trucks keep these from being a total match for the original series. Franklin B. Roberts.

The New York City Transit Museum in Brooklyn has a set of "Q" cars and has re-converted another set of three class Q cars to open-platform "BU" cars, numbers 1404, 1273, and 1407. Unfortunately they are not totally restored to their original selves but at least an effort has been made to show the public how it once was when one could ride these cars around the city.

There are 2 former Manhattan El/IRT cars at Branford Trolley Museum in Connecticut but those were both non-revenue cars.

Here is a trailing coach of the Brooklyn elevated, built to be hauled behind steam and later converted for electric operation. This car was retired in 1940. BMT Photo. A Coney Island Bound typical mixed consist of BMT el cars leave 9th Ave. in Brooklyn on the Culver Line in 1937. Above it is a city-bound West End line train of the "A-B" class steel cars. Three-car train of 1300 series wooden "convertible" cars at Coney Island yard. All window sashes are in place. Franklin B. Roberts. Interior of a 1300 series BU convertible. Walkover seats were unusual on the els. Franklin B. Roberts. Former BMT instruction car 999 at the Branford Trolley Museum being restored. This car looks more like a former interurban than an el car. Photo by Harv Kahn.

It is 1914 and train service was running over the Brooklyn Bridge; this is the Manhattan end of the Bridge, facing Park Row terminal. Note trolley cars, horse drawn vehicles, many people afoot, and their clothing. A BMT Fulton St. (Brooklyn) el train passes Borough Hall in 1938 on its way to Richmond Hill and several neighborhoods in between. This BU car was dolled up for a fantrip, after these last gate cars were taken out of service in 1958. All window sashes were removed from this car, which was not normal practice in the last years. Much like the IRT composites, the "C" types of the BMT were a hodgepodge of homebuilt remodelling. The end cars of each unit appear to have been converted from 1200's and 1400's like the "Q"s. The center car had a higher roofline and a fishbelly. No doubt these side extensions were added because part of the line was used by the "Multi's" which were built to BMT subway width. The C's were assigned to the Fulton Street line. This scene at Crescent St. Robert C. Marcus.

Copyright 1985 by Edward C. Davis, Sr.
Laurel, Montana
Reproduced on nycsubway.org with permission.