Uptown-Downtown, A Trip Through Time on New York's Subways

277 Pages·1976·88.258 MB·English

by  Fischler

UPTOWN,
DOWNTOWN
UPTOWN,
DOWNTOWN
AT rip Through Time
on New Yorks Subways
STAN FISCHLER
RESEARCH EDITOR: Dave Rubenstein
Judd
DRAWINGSBYRay
QUEENS BOROUGH PUBLIC LIBRARY
STEINWf\Y B~J' NCH
21-45 3l~t STRECT
LONG IS~.ND CliY, N.Y. 11105
HAWTHORN BOOKS, INC.
Publishers/NEW YORK
Photograph on title page courtesy New York City Transit Authority Photo File
UPTOWN, DOWNTOWN
Copyright © 1976 by Stanley Fischler. Copyright under International and Pan
American Copyright Conventions. All rights reserved. including the right to reproduce
this book or portions thereof in any form. except for the inclusion of brief quotations
in a review. All inquiries should be addressed to Hawthorn Books. Inc .. 260 Madison
Avenue. New York. New York 10016. Tliis book was manufactured in the United
States of America and published simultaneously in Canada by Prentice-Hall of
Canada. Limited. 1870 Birchmount Road. Scarborough. Ontario. Library of Congress
Catalog Card Number: 75-41805
ISBN:0-8015-3118-7
2345678910
To the memory of the Ben who broke me in on the
Myrtle Avenue (BMT) el and the Ben and Shirley who
have made the Broadway (IRT) local as exciting and
as much fun as a roller coaster.
Contents
Acknowledgments
ix
Introduction: You Are the Greatest
xi
EARLY FORMS OF TRANSIT
3
BUILDING THE GREATEST RAILROAD
33
DISASTERS
75
OFF THE BEATEN TRACK
133
ANATOMY OF THE UNDERGROUND
173
THE SUBWAY SUPERSTARS
207
APPENDIXES
233
CHRONOLOGY OF THE ELEVATEDS
251
INDEX
261
Acknowledgments
The author wishes to thank Rich Friedman, Don Harold, David
Rubenstein, Dennis Wendling, Ed Silberfarb, Hugh Dunne, Joe
Spaulding, Len Ingalls, Bob Leon, Becky Morris, Karen Robertson, Ira
Lacher, Joe Resnick, Bob Waterman, Joe Pagnotta, Jim Finkenstadt,
Tom Mariam, Don O'Hanley, Charlie Cuttone, William]. Madden,
Helene Elliott, Howard and Suzanne Samelson, and the New York
City Transit Authority as well as the many others who helped so
much in the preparation of this book.
The author wishes to thank Leonard Ingalls of the Transit
Authority for permission to use excerpts of Transit Magazine in this
book.
A special debt of thanks is in order for the Electric Railroaders'
Association. The ERA, the most dedicated and knowledgeable group
of train buffs I've ever encountered, provided invaluable assistance.
ERA Librarian Olaf Olson unearthed rare subway publications and
provided access to the association's extensive library. The ERA's
magazine, Headlights, was an inexhaustible source of information,
and authors such as Roger Arcara, Sy Reich, Bernard Linder, Leo
Ross, and David Klepper, to name but a few, likewise have written
extensively on the New York system. Their works were of im
measurable assistance.
Nobody on the face of the earth knows more about subways-or
loves them more-than fellow hockey fan Hugh A. Dunne, the ERA
ace. His encouragement and assistance in preparation of this book
helped make it all possible.
ix
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Introduction:
You Are the Greatest
The New York City subway does everything on a grand scale and, the
law of averages being what it is, not everything is nice. From all
available evidence it is the dirtiest underground in the world and
surely as noisy as the noisiest. But even in its weakest moments the
New York City subway takes more people where they want to go in a
shorter amount of time-usually on time-than any means of urban
transport anywhere.
On a global basis, the New York subway has formidable competi
tion. London not only dug the first underground rapid transit system
in the world but has continually enlarged its tubes and maintains an
elaborate, well-run operation. Paris has, in parts, an ancient system
but has also built a series of high-speed lines, including one that links
the international airport to the city's center (which New York
conspicuously never has done). No subway is more ornate than
Moscow's or more modern than Berlin's.
But the winner, as far as I am concerned, remains the New York
City subway and this book is written to tell the reason why.
xi