Elm Park station (Staten Island Railway) explained

Type:Former Staten Island Railway station
Elm Park
Line:North Shore Branch
Tracks:2
Platforms:2 side platforms
Coordinates:40.6351°N -74.1456°W
Address:Staten Island
Former:Elm Park−Morningstar Road
Other Services Header:Former services

Elm Park is a station on the abandoned North Shore Branch of the Staten Island Railway (SIR). The station is located in an open cut under the Bayonne Bridge approach in Elm Park, Staten Island, at Morningstar Road between Innis Street and Newark Avenue. It has two tracks and two side platforms.[1] The station is approximately 3.9miles from the Saint George terminal of the SIR.[2]

History

The station opened on February 23, 1886, as a surface station. In the early 1930s as part of a grade crossing elimination project, the station was depressed into the current open-cut below grade level, and rebuilt with concrete platforms.[3] [4] [5] [6] Elm Park was closed on March 31, 1953, along with the South Beach Branch and the rest of the North Shore Branch.

It is one of the stations to be returned to operation under the proposals for reactivation of the North Shore branch for rapid transit, light rail, or bus rapid transit service.[7]

Station layout

GStreet Level-
P
Former platform level
Side platform, not in use
NorthboundTrackbed
SouthboundTrackbed
Side platform, not in use

The platforms are slightly offset due to the right-of-way crossing at a diagonal with the streets in the neighborhood; each measures about 240feet in length, which would fit three cars of the former ME-1 rolling stock (67 feet in length) or of the current R44 SIR cars (75 feet in length). Exit stairs were located at the west end of the station towards Morningstar Road. An overpass from Eaton Place to Newark Avenue over the line (not connected to the station) was located at the station's east end under the Bayonne Bridge. East of the station past John Street, the line rises onto a concrete trestle built in 1935.[8]

Elm Park is one of several stations along the North Shore line still standing today, although the street staircases have been taken up and the former platforms are severely dilapidated, while the line's open cut is overgrown with vegetation. Only a single track — the St. George-bound track — remains, unelectrified and in ruins.[9] [10]

References

Notes and References

  1. Web site: North Shore Alternatives Analysis: Rail Alignment Drawings Arlington-St. George. mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. July 20, 2015. September 2010.
  2. Web site: Office of Diane J. Savino. State Senator Diane J. Savino's 2013 Staten Island Railway Rider Report. nysenate.gov. New York State Senate. July 31, 2015. 2013.
  3. Web site: NYCT NORTH SHORE ALTERNATIVES ANALYSIS: Alternatives Analysis Report. mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. July 20, 2015. August 2012.
  4. Web site: Leigh . Irvin . Matus . Paul . State Island Rapid Transit: The Essential History . thethirdrail.net . The Third Rail Online . June 27, 2015 . January 2002 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150530063638/http://www.thethirdrail.net/0201/sirt1.html . May 30, 2015 .
  5. Book: Pitanza, Marc . Staten Island Rapid Transit Images of Rail . Arcadia Publishing . 2015 . 978-1-4671-2338-9.
  6. Web site: Staten Island Opens Mile-Long Viaduct: Thirty-four Grade Crossings Are Eliminated. The New York Times. June 27, 2015. February 26, 1937.
  7. Web site: 6.5: TRANSIT AND RAILROAD OPEN CUTS: STATEN ISLAND. nyc.gov. New York City Department of City Planning. August 6, 2015. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20100606140318/http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/pdf/transportation/deck07.pdf. June 6, 2010.
  8. Web site: Open S.I. Viaduct: Longest in Nation. Newspapers.com. Brooklyn Daily Eagle. July 19, 2015. February 26, 1937.
  9. Web site: North Shore Alternatives Analysis: Public Meeting THURSDAY, APRIL 22, 2010 7:00 p.m. . zetlin.com . . July 31, 2015 . April 22, 2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20151006071458/http://www.zetlin.com/Images/NSAA%202010%20NL.pdf . October 6, 2015 .
  10. Web site: Minn. Michael. History and Future of the North Shore Rail Line on Staten Island. michaelminn.net. August 1, 2015. December 18, 2009. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20150601011108/http://michaelminn.net/newyork/infrastructure/north_shore_railroad/north-shore-web.pdf. June 1, 2015.