26 NOVEMBER 25, 2021 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Rise of the Myrtle Avenue Line and the fall of transit service in 1918
BY THE OLD TIMER
EDITORIAL@QNS.COM
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OUR NEIGHBORHOOD: THE WAY IT WAS
In early February 1913, the Public
Service Commission announced
that it had granted the Brooklyn
Rapid Transit permission to elevate
the 1 1/2 mile section of the Myrtle Avenue
Line from Wyckoff Avenue to just
east of Fresh Pond Road in Ridgewood.
This was done to eliminate some
of the congestion at the Ridgewood
Depot, located at the corner of Myrtle
and Wyckoff Avenues. Prior to this,
the Myrtle Avenue Line operated
as an elevated railroad as far east as
Wyckoff Avenue, and then changed
to ground level for the balance of the
run to Metropolitan Avenue, with
low-level stations at Seneca Avenue,
Forest Avenue, Fresh Pond Road and
Metropolitan Avenue.
From Wyckoff Avenue to Fresh
Pond Road, the ground level railroad
was fenced in on each side, and the
only crossings were at the stations.
Shortly aft er receiving permission
from the Public Service Commission,
the BRT placed contracts with
Frederick C. Burnham to build the 1
1/2 mile elevated railroad, but one of
the conditions was that he had to do so
while continuing to maintain service
on the at-grade railroad to Metropolitan
Avenue. This was done so as to not
inconvenience local residents.
In turn, Burnham, who was based
in Manhattan, hired various subcontractors
such as Million Brothers
Company to erect the steel and Empire
Construction Company to lay the steel
rails when the steel structure was
completed.
Before work was started, a dangerous
reverse curve led the trains from
the elevated level to the ground level at
Myrtle and Wyckoff Avenues, across
the way from the car yards. This was
eliminated and replaced by a single
curve from Myrtle Avenue to Palmetto
Street.
By May 1914, all of the concrete had
been poured, and about 35 percent of
the steel work had been completed.
That September, the Empire Construction
Company began laying rails.
On Feb. 15, 1915, the new section of
the elevated Myrtle Avenue Line was
placed into service. Shortly thereaft er,
the private right-of-way on the surface
of Palmetto Street was once again
available for electric trolley service.
The Fresh Pond Storage and Service
Yards were also enlarged on the east
side of Fresh Pond Road at Putnam
Avenue and Cornelia Street to hold
700 cars.
Ridgewood Times archives/courtesy of Vincent Seyfried
This 1937 photo shows the trolley tracks on Palmetto Street in
Ridgewood, below the elevated Myrtle Avenue Line.
Ridgewood Times archives/Courtesy of the Greater Ridgewood Historical Society
The BRT purchased additional land
for $20,000 to accomplish this. The
company also built a concrete clubhouse
for the trainmen as the BRT
began to switch some of the trolley
lines that had formerly terminated at
Ridgewood Depot over to the Fresh
Pond Depot.
“The new line is a two-track road,
and after leaving Ridgewood, has
stations at Seneca Avenue, Forest
Avenue and Fresh Pond Road, and
it will make possible a substantial
readjustment of the trolley and rapid
transit services so as to relieve the
congestion in the Ridgewood and East
Williamsburg districts,” The New York
Times reported in its Feb. 21, 1915 issue.
However, it wasn’t long before the
BMT and the Myrtle Avenue Line were
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