Early Elevated Lines

The following is a detail of the original city elevated system; these routes ran above gound and never into the subway system.

The first elevateds appeared in the 1870s in Manhattan. They were ran over the streets of the Second, Third, Sixth, and Ninth Avenues. Structures were made of cast iron. Experimental el appeared on Greenwhich St (later 9th Avenue El) in the late 1860s. Service on the el was provided by cable car, from Dey St to 29th Street. Constant breakdowns led to the shutdown of the line. Line reopened in 1871 with steam engines pulling the former cable cars. Manhattan Els ran with steam engines pulling the cars, and later with the wooden coaches being converted for electric operation. Bronx el service was intoduced in the mid 1880s. Manhattan system was leased to the IRT in 1903 for 999 years. Most els were taken down in the 1940s while the 3rd Avenue El's Bronx portion survived to April 1973 (section from 149 St to Fordham Rd was built prior to Dual Contracts). Ironically, one el car survived the demise of the original els. Called Money Car G, (built 1878) the car ran on the rails of the 3rd Avenue El from 1878 to 1955, outlasting a number of its companions. The car is now on display at the NY Transit Museum in Brooklyn.

Brooklyn Elevateds: First appeared in May, 1885. Service was provided over the streets of Myrtle, 5th, Fulton, Lexington, and Broadway. As was the case in Manhattan, steam locomotives pulled coaches over the Brooklyn streets. Trains ran on lightweight structures. First el started at Washington and York Streets and ran to Broadway and Gates Avenue, called the Old Main Line. Cable service was provided on the Brooklyn Bridge (1883-1898) and was eventually through routed with the Brooklyn Els. Els would come down starting in the 1940s. Myrtle Avenue was the last original el with wooden bodied cars in all of North America to close (1969). Portions of the els were rebuilt for subway service (Fulton St, Broadway). A section of the 5th Avenue El's 3rd Avenue Branch became a part of the Gowanus Expressway.