40°34′31″N 73°58′24″W / 40.575235°N 73.973338°W / 40.575235; -73.973338
24-557: Culver Depot , also called Culver Terminal or Culver Plaza , was a railroad and streetcar terminal in Coney Island , Brooklyn , New York City , United States , located on the northern side of Surf Avenue near West 5th Street. It was just north of the boardwalk , near the former Luna Park amusement complex, and across from the current New York Aquarium . Originally built by the Prospect Park and Coney Island Railroad for
48-684: A small section turning north after the Crescent Street station. Most of the other surviving structures were either built new or rehabilitated between 1915 and 1922 as part of the Dual Contracts . One piece of structure – the elevated portion of the Franklin Avenue Shuttle , built in 1896 and 1905 – was extensively rebuilt in 1999. Several BRT-era equipment have been preserved. This includes nine BU cars and five AB Standard cars, all which were also operated by
72-598: Is the oldest existing piece of rapid transit right-of-way in New York City, and in the U.S., having opened on June 8, 1864. Initially the surface and elevated railroad lines ran on steam power . Between 1893 and 1900 the lines were converted to electricity operation. An exception was the service on the Brooklyn Bridge . Trains were operated by cables from 1883 to 1896, when they were converted to electric power By 1900, it had acquired virtually all of
96-648: The Brooklyn, Queens County and Suburban Railroad leased on July 1, 1898. The BRT took over the property of a number of surface railroads, the earliest of which, the Brooklyn, Bath and Coney Island Railroad or West End Line , opened for passenger service on October 9, 1863, between Fifth Avenue at 36th Street at the then border of Brooklyn City and Bath Beach in the Town of Gravesend, New York . A short piece of surface route of this railroad, near Coney Island Creek ,
120-588: The Culver surface line , it later became a major terminal for the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT). The terminal was located at grade-level, at the north side of Surf Avenue. On the east side of the terminal, there were four tracks and five high-level platforms for BRT elevated trains from the Culver and Brighton lines. The two outer platforms were side platforms , while the three inner platforms were island platforms , similar to
144-609: The Luna Park and Dreamland amusement parks, the latter of which was located adjacent and south of Culver Plaza on the current New York Aquarium site. The depot was opened on July 27, 1875, to serve trains on the Prospect Park and Coney Island Railroad , a surface railroad popularly known as the Culver Line after its founder and long-time president, Andrew Culver . After the introduction of electric trolley cars on
168-656: The Manhattan Bridge to a junction with the aforementioned Nassau Street Line at Canal Street . The BRT opened the first segment of its Manhattan main line subway, the Broadway Line , as far as 14th Street–Union Square on September 4, 1917. The Broadway Line was completed in 1920. The BRT's only crosstown Manhattan line, the Canarsie Line , opened in 1924. During the beginning of the BRT's existence,
192-628: The New York Consolidated Railroad . In 1913, the BRT, through another subsidiary, the New York Municipal Railway , signed the Dual Contracts with the government of New York City , to construct and operate new subways and other rapid transit lines to be built or improved under these contracts. Almost all subsequent BRT lines were built as part of the contracts. The BRT opened its first Brooklyn subway under Fourth Avenue on June 22, 1915, running over
216-619: The rapid transit and streetcar operations in its target area: Only the Coney Island and Brooklyn Railroad and the short Van Brunt Street and Erie Basin Railroad remained independent; the former was acquired in 1913 or 1914. BRT opened its first short subway segment, consisting only of an underground terminal at the foot of the Williamsburg Bridge at Delancey and Essex Streets in Manhattan on June 16, 1908. This line
240-600: The BRT subway and Williamsburg Bridge began with the opening of the Chambers Street Station. Both LIRR and BRT motorman were represented by the same union. Today, BRT successor MTA New York City Transit still receives freight deliveries from LIRR freight successor the New York & Atlantic Railroad in Sunset Park and at Linden Yard. World War I and the attendant massive inflation associated with
264-600: The Culver Line in 1890, trolleys and elevated railway trains both used the station. It originally had only ground-level loading and unloading areas for passengers, shared by both rapid transit and streetcars. In 1903, following the integration of the Culver line into the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company 's operations, the Brighton Beach Line extended its tracks to access Culver Depot from Brighton Beach to
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#1732772300678288-465: The LIRR was a competitor of the BRT for passengers in Brooklyn and Queens. Despite competing with nearby lines, the BRT and its predecessors also hosted LIRR passenger trains via track sharing agreements and interchanged freight with them. LIRR Passenger service to the BRT's Brooklyn Bridge terminal began after an agreement in 1895, utilizing BRT elevated lines. LIRR passenger service to downtown Manhattan via
312-489: The east. In early 1904, the terminal underwent extensive renovations to increase passenger capacity and speed operations. This included creating separate loading areas for elevated trains and streetcars. Switch and signal upgrades were performed by Union Switch & Signal . Brighton trains left the station in 1919 to use the new elevated terminal at the Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue station , while stopping at
336-561: The financially struggling company, and the BRT filed bankruptcy on December 31, 1918. In 1923 the BRT was restructured and released from bankruptcy as the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT). Some of the former elevated system of the BRT, dating to 1885, remains in use today. The largest section is the part of today's BMT Jamaica Line running above Fulton Street from the Alabama Avenue station to
360-527: The former layout of Chambers Street . The outer side platforms and center island platform were for the unloading of passengers, while the western and eastern island platforms were used by outbound passengers, in a Spanish solution layout. The easternmost two tracks were used by Brighton trains. The westernmost pair were used by Culver trains, which continued north along the Fifth Avenue elevated towards Downtown Brooklyn and City Hall in Manhattan. At
384-642: The nearby West Eighth Street station . On May 1, 1920, now-elevated Culver trains began using the new terminal, while Culver Depot continued in use only for streetcars and freight from the South Brooklyn Railway . The terminal was razed in January 1923. Plans for new developments on the site included a theater, a stadium, and a commercial block. The Culver Depot was replaced by the adjacent Coney Island and Brooklyn Railroad depot, which served Culver streetcars until October 30, 1956. This facility
408-400: The south end of the platforms, gates were present to further segregate inbound and outbound passengers. Passengers were required to purchase tickets before boarding (unlike at other stations, where fares were collected on trains), via ticket booths in the passenger concourse designed to resemble an elevated car cab . At the north end of the elevated station was a dispatchers office, connected to
432-513: The station on the south side of Surf Avenue was Culver Plaza, illuminated by gas lights , and lined with grass and flower gardens. It featured several attractions and amenities including a carousel, the Ocean View and Prospect Hotels, and the 300-foot (91 m) Iron Tower or Observation Tower acquired from the 1876 Philadelphia Exposition . The terminal and plaza were located in close proximity to several Coney Island attractions, most notably
456-596: The three companies which built and operated subway lines in New York City. It became insolvent in 1919. It was restructured and released from bankruptcy as the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation in 1923. The BRT was incorporated January 18, 1896, and took over the bankrupt Long Island Traction Company in early February acquiring the Brooklyn Heights Railroad and the lessee of the Brooklyn City Rail Road . It then acquired
480-721: The war put New York transit operators in a tough position, since their contracts with the City required a five-cent fare be charged, while inflation made the real value of the fare less than three cents in constant currency value. On November 1, 1918, the Malbone Street wreck , the second worst rapid transit train wreck to occur in the United States, occurred on the BRT's Franklin Avenue/Brighton Beach line, killing at least 93 people. This further destabilized
504-497: The western outer platform. Further north was a signal and switch tower. On the west side of the depot, there were five balloon loops for terminating streetcars. Additional storage tracks for both elevated trains and streetcars were at the north end of the depot. Surface trolley lines which served the depot included the Culver Line, Coney Island Plank Road Line , Smith Street Line , Vanderbilt Avenue Line , Court Street Line , Reid Avenue Line , and Union Street Line . Across from
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#1732772300678528-485: Was a public transit holding company formed in 1896 to acquire and consolidate railway lines in Brooklyn and Queens , New York City , United States . It was a prominent corporation and industry leader using the single-letter symbol B on the New York Stock Exchange . It operated both passenger and freight services on its rail rapid transit, elevated and subway network, making it unique among
552-489: Was extended under Delancey Street and Centre Street to a new five-platform complex at Chambers Street beneath the Manhattan Municipal Building at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge on August 4, 1913. In addition to BRT trains, Long Island Railroad (LIRR) commuter trains also used the new Chambers Street station from its opening until 1917. The elevated railroads were operated by a new corporation,
576-877: Was later used by the New York City Transit Authority as a bus depot until it closed on July 27, 1960. The site of Culver Depot is now occupied by some housing projects, specifically the Brightwater Towers and Trump Village West . Coney Island Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.133 via cp1102 cp1102, Varnish XID 551814812 Upstream caches: cp1102 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 05:38:20 GMT Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company The Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT)
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