| IRT Ninth Avenue Elevated | |
| Other Name: | West Side and Yonkers Patent Railway West Side and Yonkers Patent Elevated Railway Company Westside Patented Elevated Railway Company Ninth Avenue El |
| Close: | (South of 155th Street) (North of 155th Street) |
| Event1: | 1868 |
| Event1label: | Cable railway |
| Event2: | February 14, 1870 |
| Event2label: | Regular Service |
| Event3: | 1903 |
| Event3label: | Electrification |
| Character: | elevated railway |
| Tracks: | 2–3 |
| Electrification: | DC third rail |
| Map State: | uncollapsed |
The IRT Ninth Avenue Line, often called the Ninth Avenue Elevated or Ninth Avenue El,[1] was the first elevated railway in New York City. It opened in July 1868 as the West Side and Yonkers Patent Railway, as an experimental single-track cable-powered elevated railway from Battery Place, at the south end of Manhattan Island, northward up Greenwich Street to Cortlandt Street. By 1879 the line was extended to the Harlem River at 155th Street. It was electrified and taken over by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company in 1903.
The main line ceased operation in June 1940,[2] [3] after it was replaced by the IND Eighth Avenue Line which had opened in 1932. The last section in use, over the Harlem River, was known as the Polo Grounds Shuttle. It closed in August 1958.[4] This portion used a now-removed swing bridge called the Putnam Bridge,[5] [6] and went through a still-extant tunnel with two partially underground stations.[7]
The line had the worst accident in the history of New York City elevated railways, on September 11, 1905, when a train derailed and fell to the street. There were 61 casualties.[8]
The predecessor of the Ninth Avenue Elevated was the West Side and Yonkers Patent Railway, which was built on Greenwich Street by Charles T. Harvey and ran from July 1, 1868, to 1870. The line used multiple one-mile-long (1.6 km-long) cable loops, driven by steam engines in cellars of buildings adjacent to the track. Each loop was started when a car neared it and stopped when it had passed. The cables were equipped with collars that the car connected to with "claws". As the claws could not be "slipped" the car was jerked each time it moved to the next cable. The system proved cumbersome, broke down several times and eventually the company ran out of money and the system was abandoned. The new owners replaced the cable cars with steam locomotives.
In 1885, the first demonstration of an electric traction engine in New York took place on the Ninth Avenue El.[9]
The Ninth Avenue Elevated was extended up Greenwich Street and Ninth Avenue by 1891. The Ninth Avenue El and several other lines of the Manhattan Railway Company were taken over with a 99-year lease by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company on April 1, 1903.[10] [11] The Ninth Avenue Elevated extended over above the street at "Suicide Curve", where the line made two 90-degree turns above 110th Street to travel from Columbus Avenue to Eighth Avenue.[12] On September 11, 1905, the worst accident in the history of New York's elevated railways took place at a curve at 53rd street, resulting in 13 deaths and 48 serious injuries.[13] The rebuilding project was extended all the way north to 116th St., creating Manhattan's first three-track elevated, although center-track express service did not begin until 1916.
The line began at South Ferry and ran along Greenwich Street from Battery Place to Gansevoort Street in lower Manhattan, Ninth Avenue in midtown (joining with the Sixth Avenue El at 53rd Street, continuing along Columbus Avenue in upper Manhattan between 59th Street and 110th, turning east on 110th and running north on Eighth Avenue (Central Park West and Frederick Douglass Boulevard) until the Harlem River.[14]
In January 1917, the installation of a third track was completed.[15] The third track allowed the IRT to begin running express trains on the line in July 1918, from 125th Street to 155th Street; trains began using the new express station at 145th Street for the first time.[16] At the same time, the line was extended to 162nd Street in the Bronx, and stations were opened at Sedgwick Avenue and Anderson–Jerome Avenues. In December 1921, Lexington Avenue–Jerome Avenue subway trains began running north of 167th Street at all times, replacing elevated trains, which ran to Woodlawn during rush hours, but terminated at 167th Street during non-rush hours.[17]
As of 1934, the following services were being operated:
Most of the line was closed June 11, 1940, and dismantled, following the purchase of the IRT by the City of New York.[3] A small portion of the line north of 155th Street remained in service as the "Polo Grounds Shuttle".[18] [19] Service ended in August 1958 as a result of the departure of the New York Giants baseball team, which had relocated to San Francisco, and the ending of passenger service on the New York Central's Putnam Division.[20]
From north to south, the stations were:
| Station | Tracks | Opening date | Closing date | Transfers and notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anderson–Jerome Avenues | Express | July 1, 1918 | August 31, 1958 | Still exists in ruins; continued north via the Jerome Avenue Line to 167th Street, and later to Woodlawn on January 2, 1919[21] | |||
| Sedgwick Avenue | Express | July 1, 1918 | August 31, 1958 | Still exists in ruins; transfer point with NYC Putnam Division | |||
| 155th Street | Express | December 1, 1879[22] | August 31, 1958 | Built next to NYC Putnam Division southern terminus, former transfer point until Putnam Division service to Manhattan ended in 1918 | |||
| 151st Street | Local | November 15, 1917 | June 11, 1940 | ||||
| 145th Street | Express | December 1, 1879 | June 11, 1940 | ||||
| 140th Street | Local | September 27, 1879 | June 11, 1940 | ||||
| 135th Street | Local | September 27, 1879 | June 11, 1940 | ||||
| 130th Street | Local | September 27, 1879 | June 11, 1940 | ||||
| 125th Street | Express | September 17, 1879 | June 11, 1940 | ||||
| 116th Street | Express | September 17, 1879 | June 11, 1940 | ||||
| 110th Street | Local | June 3, 1903 | June 11, 1940 | ||||
| 104th Street | Local | June 21, 1879 | June 11, 1940 | ||||
| 99th Street | Local | June 21, 1879 | June 11, 1940 | ||||
| 93rd Street | Local | June 21, 1879 | June 11, 1940 | ||||
| 86th Street | Local | June 21, 1879 | June 11, 1940 | ||||
| 81st Street | Local | June 9, 1879 | June 11, 1940 | ||||
| 72nd Street | Local | June 9, 1879 | June 11, 1940 | ||||
| 66th Street | Express | June 11, 1940 | |||||
| 59th Street | Local | June 9, 1879[23] | June 11, 1940 | Transfer to Sixth Avenue Elevated | |||
| 55th Street | Local | January 18, 1876 | Before 1887 | ||||
| 53rd Street | Local | June 2, 1878 | Before 1887 | ||||
| 50th Street | Local | January 18, 1876 | June 11, 1940 | ||||
| 42nd Street | Local | November 6, 1875 | June 11, 1940 | ||||
| 34th Street | Express | July 30, 1873 | June 11, 1940 | ||||
| 30th Street | Local | December 13, 1873 | June 11, 1940 | ||||
| 29th Street | July 3, 1868 | 1873 | Original northern terminus | ||||
| 23rd Street | Local | October 21, 1873 | June 11, 1940 | ||||
| 21st Street | Local | October 21, 1873 | Before 1887 | ||||
| 14th Street | Express | June 11, 1940 | |||||
| Little West 12th Street | Local | June 17, 1872 | 1880? | ||||
| Bethune Street | Local | November 5, 1875 | Before 1887 | ||||
| Christopher Street | Express | November 3, 1873 | June 11, 1940 | ||||
| Houston Street | Local | November 3, 1873 | June 11, 1940 | ||||
| Watts Street | Local | May 6, 1872 | Before 1887 | ||||
| Desbrosses Street | Express | November 23, 1873 | June 11, 1940 | ||||
| Franklin Street | Local | January 21, 1873 | June 11, 1940 | ||||
| Warren Street | Express | February 14, 1870 | June 11, 1940 | ||||
| Barclay Street | Local | February 14, 1870 | June 11, 1940 | ||||
| Dey Street | July 3, 1868[24] | 1874 | Original southern terminus | ||||
| Cortlandt Street | Express | May 25, 1874 | June 11, 1940 | ||||
| Rector Street | Local | May 25, 1874 | June 11, 1940 | ||||
| Morris Street | Local | August 15, 1872 April 15, 1877 | March 19, 1873 September 27, 1879 | ||||
| Battery Place | Express | June 5, 1883[25] | June 11, 1940 | Sixth Avenue Line | |||
| South Ferry | Express | nowrap | April 5, 1877 | nowrap | June 11, 1940 (9th Avenue) December 22, 1950 (other services) | Second, Third and Sixth Avenue Lines; various ferries |
