42 DECEMBER 20, 2018 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD: THE WAY IT WAS
The Myrtle Avenue line rises up —
and commuters feel let down
BY THE OLD TIMER
EDITORIAL@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
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
This 1914 photo shows the elevated Myrtle Avenue Line rising near Fresh Pond Road.
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,
Ridgewood Times archives
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.
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 aft er 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
beset by one transit problem aft er
another.
An editorial on the front page of Jan.
4, 1918 Ridgewood Times put it bluntly
with the headline: PRESENT TRANSIT
IS AN UNSPEAKABLE DISGRACE. A
Ridgewood Times archives
An early 20th century photo of the Myrtle Avenue Line near the Metropolitan Avenue station in Middle Village.
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