New York Elevated Railroad - Page 2
 |
|
Scene from an old stereo view
card of the New York Elevated Railroad. Note the caboose! (Click pic for
enlargement.) (Ken Martin collection) |
 |
| This scene from another old stereo view card seems to show the
same train from the other end.
Whoops! That “caboose” appears to be a cleverly disguised locomotive!!
(Click pic for full view.) Actually, the locomotive is the
“Brooklyn,” one of
the first steam dummy engines, and the view is of the Battery Park “L” structure
at the Battery Place Station on the day of initial operation, 5 April
1877. (Ken Martin collection) |
 |
| The first cars on the NY Elevated RR had the floors between
the trucks depressed to a few inches above the running rails to overcome
passengers’ fear of the cars tipping over. They were known as “shad-belly” cars.
Some of these were rebuilt in 1878 to the more “ordinary” style of the car in
the middle. This view of the station and structures at Ninth Avenue and West
59th Street was taken in 1876. |
 |
Here’s
another “shad-belly”
car behind a steam dummy named Yonkers. Date is unknown, but it
would have to be before 1880. This is from a very faded stereo viewcard. (Phil Reed
collection) |
 |
|
Here
is yet another pair
of “shad belly” cars, probably about 1878. |
 |
Steam “dummys”
were not just a steam engine “disguised”
as a passenger car. They were specially designed for their role. This one
weighed just five tons. |
 |
Forney steam locomotive on the New York
Elevated Railroad. These “modern”
locomotives began replacing the 0-4-0 steam dummys about 1878. |
 |
(Click pic to see inside pages.)
|
|
