BusTalk

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

(see previous posts)

Here are several vintage photos depicting the intriguing variety of classic rolling stock used on the "SKOKIE SWIFT", back in the days of overhead wire operation (note that the trains utilized the former CNS&M catenary gantries)........

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?14593

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?14457

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?14459

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?14497

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["SKOKIE"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Also of related interest......

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IRT_Dyre_Avenue_Line

["SHUTTLE-DYRE AVE"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Here are a few vintage photos of the Dyre Avenue line, prior to being connected to the main IRT lines, when shuttle trains operated.

Originally (beginning in 1941) refurbished "Manhattan" El cars were used on the line; by the 1950's, elderly steel "Hi-V" subway cars had replaced the wooden elevated cars.

For a brief time, the former NYW&B overhead catenary supports remained in place, against the possibility of restored "Westchester" express service........

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?43166

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?43165

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?43573

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["RIDE THE WESTCHESTER"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Recall how, in Chicago, heavy interurban trains entered the Loop via the "L" (the CA&E ceased running into the Loop several years before passenger service ceased), while the CNS&M continued operating into the Loop until all service was abandoned in early 1963)

The streamlined car bodies of the "Electroliners" were contoured clear the platforms of "L" stations; their light weight indeed was also a plus, in traveling over "L" trackage.

Regarding the NYW&B, there had been talk, from time to time, of extending the "Westchester" south into Manhattan, via the 3rd Avenue El.

A very interesting idea, to be sure (recall, the NY&B's southern terminal was in the Bronx), but, economically, a very unrealistic one.

The 3rd Avenue El (like its other Manhattan counterparts, operated by the INTERBOROUGH) was quite spindly, and would have required major rebuilding (including shaving back station platforms, relocating signals, etc.) to be able to handle the much heavier (and wider) steel NYW&B MU's.

Too, the Westchester's rolling stock would have had to have been modified to use third rail while on the El.

The Great Depression nonwithstanding, what really decimated the proud and elegant "Westchester" was the total lack of a one-seat ride into Manhattan; indeed, the parent NH's commuters into Grand Central had already been enjoying this luxury since the early years of the 20th century..........

"NYO"

["Ride The Westchester!"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

"Electroliners" in the streets......

During their many years of NORTH SHORE service, the "Electroliners" utilized street trackage in the Milwaukee area; these huge and impressive trains indeed intimidated more than a few motorists as they glided along the streets.

For many years, the SOUTH SHORE (today a part of METRA) operated in the streets of Michigan City and South Bend; the huge orange MU's indeed look MORE than fearsome as they overshadowed the automobiles that surrounded them!

Interestingly, unlike the CNS&M and the CA&E, the SOUTH SHORE trains did not utilize the "L" to enter the Loop area; instead, they utilized "conventional" trackage into Chicago, terminating at Randolph Street.

IC electrics used the lower level of this facility, while SOUTH SHORE trains used to the upper......

"NYO"

["SOUTH SHORE-FAST ELECTRIC TRAIN SERVICE"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Here's an interesting and detailed page on the SOUTH SHORE........

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Shore_Line

Note that street running ended in 2022; interestingly the newest bi-level MU's recall the IC's bi-level MU's of the early 1970's........

["THE LITTLE TRAIN THAT COULD"]

*Here are two handsome examples of preserved SOUTH SHORE equipment......

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?54629

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Two early 1960's-photos depicting the days when SOUTH SHORE's big orange electrics still used street trackage.....

www.rr-fallenflags.org/cssb/css-mu103dsa.jpg

www.rr-fallenflags.org/cssb/css-m102dlr.jpg

(courtesy: fallenflags.org)

["FAST, FREQUENT SERVICE!"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Here's an interesting page detailing the history and operation of the "ELECTROLINERS" (and "LIBERTY LINERS")..............

https://www.american-rails.com/electroliners.html

["FAST, FREQUENT SERVICE TO THE LOOP"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Earlier, I'd mentioned the similarities between the IRT's Dyre Avenue line and the CTA's "Skokie Swift", rapid transit lines that originally had been heavy-duty electric railroads.

For some years after the NYW&B was abandoned, there was talk of reviving at least rush-hour express service.

There were also blueprints for new lightweight, articulated MU trains, which would have been more economical to operate than the original 1912-era heavyweight MU's, which were retired in 1937, when the railroad shut down.

Interestingly, some of the equipment that once operated on the "Skokie Swift" (back in the days of overhead wires) were articulated units (these were the postwar 5000's)

The four units were built by St. Louis and Pullman in the late 1940's.

These modern sleek units which ran on the "Swift" utilized one-man operation until they were retired........

"NYO"

["THERE'S MORE ROOM ON THE 'L'!"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Here are two views of the unique CTA 5000's, the only articulated rapid transit equipment to run in Chicago (imagine such handsome cars running on the Dyre Avenue Line!).....

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?118973

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?14777

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["CTA"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

In the Third Edition reprint of the late Roger Arcara's excellent "WESTCHESTER'S FORGOTTEN RAILWAY", there is a blueprint (inside the back cover) for the proposed new articulated MU's.

These cars would have been built by BUDD; these were to be two-section units, still sporting the traditional "owl eye" portholes that were used on the old MU's, which, at the time of abandonment were nearly thirty years old (actually, still fairly young for a rail car)

The new units would have continued to have used pantographs.

Inspiration for this design came from the BMT's 1934 "Zephyr" , which was an experiment stainless steel articulated train which served until the 1950's.

Recall, when the Dyre Avenue Line began operations in 1941, the rolling stock used were refurbished INTERBOROUGH "Manhattan" El cars, and the line itself was actually operated as a new IND line!

I often think of the "Westchester" receiving new, modern, lightweight equipment, and still operating as it always had, before the Depression and brutal economics doomed the grandoise electric railway into an early grave.

Or, even if the NYW&B experienced a rebirth, it would have been interesting to see subway trains (perhaps new articulateds) operate beyond the "new" Dyre Avenue terminal and travel further into former NYW&B territory.

Ahhh, what might have been.......

"NYO"

["TRAVEL 'WESTCHESTER'-SAVE TIME AND MONEY"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

....just imagine a fleet of modern, stainless-steel rapid transit trains like this (but equipped with pantographs) operating on the NYW&B.......

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?46944

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?47735

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["BUDD"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

The very last "traditional" interurbans built in the US were the 10 steel cars built for the CA&E; these were also the only steel cars that the railroad ever operated.

Their tapered sides were designed to clear the "L" platforms.

This is an interesting page, with a number of vintage photos (the CA&E folded abruptly in 1957, stranding hundreds of commuters, who now had no way of getting home from their Chicago offices)

The very last wooden interurbans in America (dating back to 1902) were then still in daily operation, right up until the end of operations.........

www.ectma.org/453html.html

["THE GREAT THIRD RAIL"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

As I had mentioned earlier in this topic, the IRT's Dyre Avenue Line (which opened in 1941, utilizing the abandoned ROW of the defunct NYW&B in the Bronx) was, in actuality, an interesting conglomerate of all of the NYC subway divisions.

Rolling stock was from the IRT (surplus wooden El cars, and later, Hi-V subway cars)

Signals: Surplus BMT

Operations: Operated as a part of the IND

There was even talk, for some years, of eventually connecting the Dyre Avenue line into the new 2nd Avenue Subway when it opened (this was back in the 1940's)

Had such a connection been made, BMT/IND-type cars would have been running on the line, replacing the older, narrower IRT elevated cars and Hi-V's.

This, of course, would have translated into trains with far greater passenger capacity than the old IRT cars.

There was also, for a time, talk of once again four-tracking the Dyre Avenue line, thus reviving express service, which, of course, came to an end when the NYW&B was abandoned in 1937........

"NYO"

["RIDE THE WESTCHESTER"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

In this beautiful color photo from 1941, we see an elderly TARS deck roof car at the imposing E. 180th St. station headhouse; this monumental station served the NYW&B's electric trains until December, 1937.

By 1941, it was only providing access to the adjacent IRT elevated subway station, and, also, the Dyre Avenue shuttle, which opened the same year as this photo.

The IRT Dyre Avenue shuttle trains only used one of the ex-"Westchester" platforms at this station, which is still in use today.

Note the ex-NYW&B catenary bridges in the backgound; these gantries and overhead wires (along with the former express tracks that they served) remained until 1942, in case of some sort of revived "Westchester" express service.

These former NYW&B tracks and catenary gantries were taken down in 1942, as part of the WW2 scrap metal drive.......

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?116626 *(see following photos)

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["TARS"]