New York Railways, Third Avenue Railway System, Steinway Lines, and Staten Island transit photos, 1911 - 1950

File — Box: 3

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Album containing 232 photos, primarily New York Railways trolley and Third Avenue Railway System photos. Routes for the former include the 4th and Madison Avenue, Broadway, 8th Avenue, 34th Street Crosstown, and 86th Street Crosstown lines, as well as the construction of the 42nd Street Crosstown line. Routes for the latter include the Third Avenue, Broadway, and Kingsbridge lines. Additionally, there are a handful of photos from the Steinway Lines in Northwest Queens, the Staten Island Richmond Railways, Staten Island Coach Company, and a photo of the City Island Monorail. Several photos depict trolleys made from converted cars, such as former horse cars.

Dates

1911 - 1950

Conditions Governing Access

Appointments to examine materials must be made in advance. Please e-mail QC.archives@qc.cuny.edu for more information or to schedule an appointment.

Biographical / Historical

New York Railways was a streetcar company that took over most of Metropolitan Street Railway's lines following the latter's bankrupcy in 1911, and operated in Manhattan through 1936. See line map circa 1911 here. For more information on the company, see Metro Wiki article.

The Third Avenue Railroad Company changed its name to Third Avenue Railway Company in 1910. The Third Avenue Railway System (TARS) operated primarily trolleys throughout Manhattan, the Bronx, and Westchester County, with connections into Brooklyn and Queens. A full map of the route is available here. Starting in the 1920s, TARS slowly began shifting toward busses, eventually ending all trolley service and changing their name to Third Avenue Transit Company in 1942. The company's holdings were purchased by New York City Omnibus Corporation in 1956, where they remained until the Transit Operating Authority took over their lines following a worker's strike in 1962. For more information on TARS, see Metro Wiki article and a list of TARS lines here.

Steinway Lines (prior to 1922 called Steinway Transit Corporation, and before that Steinway Railway Company) operated streetcars in northwest Queens that serviced from 59th Street in Manhattan through Long Island City out to Woodside, and up to North Beach (now the location of LaGuardia Airport). The company became Steinway Omnibus in 1938 and converted its streetcars to busses the following year, eventually folding into the city-run bus system. For more information, see Metro Wiki article.

Richmond Railways (previously known as the Richmond Light and Railroad Company) was incorporated in 1902, operating streetcars across Staten Island. The Staten Island Coach Company was established in 1925 as a subsidiary to Richmond to offer a fleet of busses, which were not approved by the city until 1933. At that point, the Coach Company's busses slowly began to replace the rail lines of its parent company. The Coach Company took over all of Staten Island's bus system in 1937, before declaring bankrupcy in 1946. For more information on Richmond Railways, see here. For Staten Island Coach Company, see here.