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PSNJ streetcars: "The Twilight 30's"
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 22, 2020 9:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Prior to 1938, it was common for a streetcar (or, perhaps, several) to be transferred from one PS division to another.

Once all track connections to PASSAIC WHARF were severed in 1938, the remaining HUDSON and ESSEX Division lines were now totally isolated from one another.

In 1942, when the group of stored 2660/2700 series Compromise roof cars were recalled to active duty, the cars had to be trucked to ROSEVILLE for rehab; this included cars that were to see service on the HUDSON Division.

After rehab at ROSEVILLE (Newark) the cars that were headed to the HUDSON Division were (again) loaded onto flatbeds and hauled to their new homes (UNION CITY and GREENVILLE)

As mentioned earlier here, PS closed PASSAIC WHARF in 1943 (the last cars scrapped here were several 3500's that had somehow escaped earlier scrapping)........

"NYO"
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 24, 2020 10:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Many will recall the underground repair facility for the City Subway at Penn Station.

This new facility opened in 1953, to service cars of the #7, then the only remaining PS car line.

After the abandonment of the "#21 ORANGE" (both branches) in late 1951/early 1952, the cars of the #7 were the only cars that used the tracks that branched off from the Subway at the Orange Street grade crossing, to access the ROSEVILLE car house.

The deadheading cars were not long in using the remaining rails on Orange Street, as the City of Newark ordered PS to stop the deadheading #7 cars from using Orange Street, so that the rails could be removed/paved over.

Th new repair facility (which served the PCC fleet until the Light Rail units arrived in 2001) served the remaining old double-ended PS cars (the facility was built over several former subway-surface car departure tracks) until the last were removed from service in early 1954.

I was also VERY lucky to visit the repair shop a number of times, back in the early 1970's, and took a number of photos, which could never be duplicated today..........

"NYO"
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 24, 2020 5:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

After PASSAIC WHARF ceased to function as a streetcar maintenance facility, and served only as a repository for retired cars that were awaiting scrapping at this location, track connections were severed, and PW was now isolated from what remained of the North Jersey streetcar network.

If a streetcar (either one assigned to the ESSEX or HUDSON Division) required heavy work that could not be done at one of the remaining car houses, the car had to be loaded onto a flatbed and then trucked over to PLANK ROAD shops (at this location, tracks were still in place, but the overhead was gone, requiring the disabled car to be moved about by a truck/tractor)

Back in the heyday of PS streetcars, many cars were also built here, including the one-man open cars, as well as those Compromise roof cars that were not built by CINCINNATI.....

"NYO"
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 25, 2020 12:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Though a proposed "streamlined, noiseless streetcar" for PS was on the drawing board (this car resembled a combination of a Brilliner and an early PCC) in the 1930's, the design never went beyond the drawing board.

To date, I've only seen one drawing for this proposed car.

That there was even this proposed design is still puzzling, as, by this late date, PS was rapidly converting virtually all of its streetcar lines to either gas buses or ASV's.

Even though PSNJ was, of course, a member of the President's Conference Committee, no PCC demo ever rode on PS rails, nor did any other experimental streamlined car.

As we know, the most "modernization" of the streetcar fleet done by PS was the refurbishing of a number of deck roof and Compromise roof cars into "De Luxe" configuration, which was little more than installing new leather bucket seating, new flooring, and a new paint scheme.

This was also when PS was converting their streetcars into one-man vehicles; virtually all of the HUDSON Division cars were rebuilt into single-ended units.

When PS finally DID purchase PCC's (second hand, from TCRT), it was only to replace the older cars then operating in the City Subway in Newark, which, by 1952, was the very last PS streetcar line in operation.

"NYO"
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 26, 2020 1:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

In 1947, PS again began the process of converting streetcar lines to rubber; the last ASV's pulled down their poles in 1948.

No streetcar lines were converted to rubber between 1938 and 1947, due largely to WW2.

In December, 1947, the "#23 CENTRAL" subway-surface line was converted to diesel buses; in late 1951, the "#21 ORANGE" (via W. MARKET) was converted, while the "#21 ORANGE" (via ORANGE STREET) went over to buses not long after.

In August, 1949, the four remaining HUDSON Division car lines went over to bus, thus ending all streetcar service in Hudson County.

The "#29 BLOOMFIELD" (Newark-Caldwell) was converted in March, 1952; now, with the converting of the BELL ST. (Montclair) car house to a bus garage, ROSEVILLE became the last PS car house (which was shared by buses).

ROSEVILLE was closed to the remaining streetcars ("#7 CITY SUBWAY") in 1953, when the new underground repair facility at Penn Station opened.

From 1952 onwards, with the lone exception of the Newark City Subway, PSNJ was now an all-bus operation.........

"NYO"
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 26, 2020 9:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Through the 1930's, Jersey City was a hotbed of PS streetcar activity; many lines served virtually every area of the city; until 1938, there was also inter-divisional streetcar service between Jersey City and Newark (PS Terminal).

Back in the heyday of the streetcars, both Journal Square and Exchange Place bustled with streetcar activity; by the end of WW2, streetcars no longer served Exchange Place, but continued to serve the Sip Avenue station (Journal Square), which was used by buses until the PATH Transportation Center opened in mid-1974.

During WW2, as we know, two wartime car lines operated from Journal Square to WESTERN ELECTRIC and FEDERAL SHIPYARDS; these lines used a minimum of new trackage; much of the routes were cobbled together using the rails of car lines that were no longer in operation, even though the rails remained in place.

PSNJ streetcars carried heavy traffic to the ERIE and PRR stations at Pavonia Avenue (ERIE) and Exchange Place (PRR) for many years; the lengthy "PAVONIA" line (Union City-ERIE Terminal) utilized private ROW in the vicinity of the ERIE's Bergen Archways.

The "PAVONIA" line was converted to buses in 1938.........

"NYO"


Last edited by NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 on Sat Jun 27, 2020 12:53 am; edited 1 time in total
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 27, 2020 12:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

It's interesting to remember that the "Hoboken Elevated", used by PS streetcars to reach the DL&W terminal at the foot of Hudson Place, Hoboken, actually occupied more "real estate" in Jersey City than in Hoboken.

The main approaches to the El were on Palisades Avenue (Jersey City) at Ravine St.; a powerhouse (still standing, and re-purposed) was built adjacent to the exit ramp on Palisades Avenue; the ground level of the elevated Palisades Avenue station also survives, as does the building which once housed PS offices.

A number of lines once used the "El"; in later years, only four lines ran over the soaring elevated trackage:

"UNION CITY"

"SUMMIT"

"JACKSON"

"OAKLAND"

During WW2, a small storage yard was built alongside the ramp at Pavonia Avenue, and was used to store off-hour cars needed for the heavy wartime traffic.

Demolition of the El began shortly after PS converted the remaining HUDSON Division streetcar lines to buses in 1949; demolition was completed in 1950.

LIPSETT, the same company that scrapped the gutted hulk of the ill-fated ocean liner "NORMANDIE", was contracted to demolish the venerable old "elevated trolley road".......

"NYO"
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 27, 2020 8:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Seen here near the PSNJ "El" approaches on Palisades Avenue (1940's), Compromise roof car #3281 is heading south on Palisades Avenue in Jersey City; note a Compromise roof car overhead on the El (the PS powerhouse is directly behind the car; there was also a spur here where a single-truck line car was based)

Note, too, some of the complex trackwork that allowed cars to enter and exit the El; note, also, that #3281 (a "high" 3200, ex-Camden) was still a double-ended car, and had not been rebuilt into a single-ended car, as most of the HUDSON Division cars were, during the 1930's........

https://www.newdavesrailpix.com/psct/htm/psct141.htm

(courtesy: davesrailpix)
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PostPosted: Sun Jul 05, 2020 10:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

In August, 1949, when the last remaining HUDSON Division car lines ("SUMMIT"/"UNION CITY"/""JACKSON"/"OAKLAND") were converted to buses, the streetcars which were based at the UNION CITY car house deadheaded down to GREENVILLE (Jersey City), where, along with the "JACKSON" and "OAKLAND" cars based there, were cut into sections (with all hardware still intact) and trucked out to the FEDERAL scrapyard in Newark for scrapping.

By this late date, PS's infamous PASSAIC WHARF facility (aka the "streetcar slaughterhouse") had then been closed several years, so PS was no longer able to scrap their own streetcars.......

"NYO"
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 13, 2020 10:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Into the 1930's, virtually every car builder of the "classic" era of streetcar/rail car builders was represented in the vast (nearly 2500 cars) PSNJ fleet.

Manufacturers included:

BRILL

STEPHENSON

LACONIA

CINCINNATI

OSGOOD-BRADLEY

PSNJ, as you know, also built some cars in their PLANK ROAD (Newark) shops, including some of the "Compromise" roof cars (the remainder of the "Compromise" roof cars were built by CINCINNATI) and the one-man open cars of the 1915/1916 era.

By 1937 (the same year that the semis and one-man open cars were retired) the only builder that was still represented in the dwindling PS streetcar fleet was BRILL (the "standard" deck roof cars)

The "Compromise" roof cars were, as previously noted, built by both PS and CINCINNATI........

"NYO"
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 20, 2020 1:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

At one time, the great PSNJ empire included two lines that could have been classified as "interurbans".

The first was the long-defunct "FAST LINE", which operated between Newark (PS Terminal) and Trenton; on this line, cars of the 3500 and 3600 series were used (these streetcars were equipped with MU connections and could operate at speeds up to 70 MPH)

In its last years, a few Compromise roof cars were used (rebuilt as gas-electrics), and the overhead wires were taken down.

Services continued to be cut back until what remained was abandoned outright.

About 1926, PS took over operations of the old North Jersey Rapid Transit, which ran between Suffern and Paterson-Broadway.

PS installed a switch at Paterson-Broadway, allowing NJRT cars to travel into downtown Paterson, where passengers could transfer to other PS car lines at PS's busy off-street terminal.

On January 1, 1928, PS abandoned the former NJRT; interestingly, replacement buses were operated by private operators, not PS.

A PSNJ flatbed crane car was engaged in pulling up the NJRT rails, which would be shipped to Russia for use on the Trans-Siberian Railway.......

"NYO"
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 21, 2020 6:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

After PS abandoned the former NJRT line, the old Jewett interurban cars traveled to Passaic Wharf for scrapping; all but one car was scrapped.

The lone survivor, minus trucks, served as a combination yard office/crew lounge until it was scrapped in 1940.

Interestingly, the trucks from the ex-NJRT interurban cars were retained, and, later, were installed under "standard" streetcars for high speed use in the then-abuilding City Subway in Newark.

These rehabbed, upgraded streetcars (also used on the connecting subway-surface lines) were known to PSNJ men as the "Rapid Transit 8000's"........

"NYO"
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 23, 2020 8:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Tiday, it has been nearly 70 years since the last PSNJ subway-surface streetcar line operated via the City Subway in Newark.

The connections used by these lines have been out of use far longer than they were in actual service.

What remains today:

Warren St. (at Raymond Boulevard):

These ramps (branching off between the Washington St. and Warren St. stations, are still intact today, minus rails, overhead, and signals.

Into the 1990's, the tracks were still intact, though totally overgrown with trees and vines; a few sections of overhead were also still in place.

Today, these ramps are still to be seen, with some of the underbrush removed from one ramp.

The portals, only covered by a chain-link fence, are now totally blocked off.

The "#21 ORANGE" (VIA W. MARKET) cars used the ramps until late 1951.

Norfolk St.:

These ramps (abandoned in December, 1947) was used by the cars of the "#23 CENTRAL".

Outbound cars used a combination of a short ramp and an angled trestle to reach street level.

The trestle no longer exists (gone since the early 1980's) but the ramps are still intact.

An interlocker was located on the outbound platform.

Bloomfield Avenue:

These ramps were, until 1952, used by cars of the "#29 BLOOMFIELD"

Until the early 1980's, rails and signals were still intact, as was the switch on the inbound side.

Today, the ramps have received a layer of blacktop, but are still intact.

At the former Orange St. grade crossing, no trace whatsoever remains of the grade-level connections used by "#21 ORANGE" cars, as well as cars deadheading to/from the ROSEVILLE car house.

Nearly 50 years ago, I took a number of photos of these long-disused streetcar ramps, and, today, am fortunate that I had to chance to explore them when so much of the old infrastructure was still intact......

"NYO"
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 24, 2020 12:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Had the City Subway been converted from streetcars to ASV's, the ASV's would have only used overhead wires within the confines of the Subway itself.

ASV's reviving the old subway-surface lines would have utilized wires only to the tops of the ramps, exiting the Subway.

There, the poles would have been automatically lowered and locked down, and the bus would have continued along its route as a conventional diesel bus.

Inbound, at the top of a subway entrance ramp, wire guides would have guided the poles into position, after the driver released them by a switch on the dashboard.

Why PS was opting for new diesel-electric (GM) ASV's in the City Subway, two years after the last ASV's operated, is a mystery still.

Had the City of Newark paid to have the Subway paved for ASV operation, PS would have ordered a fleet of the GM-built diesel-electric coaches to replace the remaining streetcars, the oldest of which were nearly 40 years old.......

"NYO"
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 22, 2020 11:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

.....sad the the name "City Subway" is no longer in official use, these days....now it's "Newark Light Rail". Razz

Just as well......the day the PCC's were retired was the same day the line ceased to exist for me except in memories and photos.......it just ain't the same Sad

"NYO"


Last edited by NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 on Wed Oct 07, 2020 10:55 pm; edited 1 time in total
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