NORTONS POINT TROLLEY, Brooklyn

by Kevin Walsh

Once upon a time, trolleys clang-clanged their way through the streets of Brooklyn, Manhattan, the Bronx and even parts of Queens and Staten Island. Trolleys ruled to the degree that the thin peninsula of Coney Island could boast not one but two east-west trolley routes! One of them ran down Surf Avenue from West 37th Street east till it joined up with the trolley that ran on Gravesend (McDonald) Avenue.

The other, known as the Nortons Point line, ran in a right of way between Surf and Mermaid Avenues from a terminal at the Stillwell Avenue elevated complex west into the private community of Sea Gate. Two trolley lines on virtually the same route, though, finally proved redundant and service ended in December 1948. For a few years, the old right of way was kept open as a street named Railroad Avenue, but this too was soon closed and for the last forty years the old route has been made nearly invisible by new construction. But… if you know where to look, a trace or two of the Nortons Point line is still there!

The title card shows the Nortons Point trolley crossing a Coney Island cross street is a fairly rural scene almost unimaginable today.

This 1938 Geographia map shows Coney Island with the Nortons Point line visible as a dotted line between Mermaid and Surf Avenues.

Grooves in the paved roadbed at Oceanic and Surf Avenues reveal the path of the Nortons Point trolley line.

The Nortons Point line runs through Sea Gate in the 1930s.

This is one of the wooden railroad ties left over from the Nortons Point Trolley.

Need further proof that a trolley once ran here? This marker is just inside the gate. It reads:

Railroad Property

Used for Public Street Crossing Not Authorized

I honestly don’t know what function this marker actually had, but it’s ‘railroad property’–so the trolley ran right here.

I first shot this page in September 1999 — I haven’t been in Sea Gate since, and I’d like to know what became of these artifacts!

orig.10/14/99

Photos: Confessions of a Trolley Dodger from Brooklyn, Stan Fischler, H&M Productions 1995

16 comments

tom March 3, 2012 - 2:57 pm

named in honor of brooklyns greatest citizen…edward lillywhite norton!

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Jan T. Steinberg August 4, 2012 - 6:36 pm

Although I was only 5 when the Norton’s Point trolley was discontinued, I still remember riding it to my Grandfather’s. We would ride what was then called the West End subway line from Bay Parkway to Stillwell Avenue where we would get the trolley waiting on the ramp. We’d ride it to W.31st where Granpa lived. I’ve lived in Houston, Texas since 1952, but it was nice to bring back memories when I saw this on the internet.

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jerome prisyon September 12, 2012 - 4:22 pm

I worked at the Coney Island Post Office, at that time under the Steeplechase roller coaster, in 1945. I remember it well.

The fare was 3 cents, or two for a nickel. It ended atthe Sea Gate entrance, thought here was a single trank that went to Norton;s Point, what a view. As a substitute I had the Sea Gate route once in a while. I never saw action on the single track withing the gate, the catenary was down by then.

There was an outdoor var barn just inside Sea Gate where excess cars were stored.

A small 1933 vintage bus extened the routr inside Sea Gate.

The trolley line was owne by The bSouth Brooklyn Railway Company, which still esxists somewhat, under the aegis of the MTA.

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Josh June 20, 2014 - 7:27 am

The RR marker is still just inside the fence at Sea Gate.

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Kevin Walsh June 21, 2014 - 8:54 am

Do you have a recent photo?

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Aaron B. September 28, 2017 - 4:37 pm

A few of the trolley poles are still standing inside Seagate being used for Stop sign poles.

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Mike C. December 7, 2017 - 2:17 pm

My fathers Cousins,the Gargiulo’s were Fruit and Produce purveyors who had a store on W22nd St between Surf & Railroad Avenues.Wonder if anyone out there remembers?

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Jerome Feldman May 27, 2018 - 1:31 am

One of my earliest memories is riding on the rusty Railroad Avenue trolley (also called the Toonerville trolley) to the elevated station at Stillwell Avenue and boarding a subway train there (Likely the Sea Beach Express).

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Kevin Walsh May 27, 2018 - 3:18 pm

I gather that the ROW was open for a time as “Railroad Avenue” after the line’s closure.

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Judy Daar January 7, 2019 - 6:36 pm

The remainder of the tracks ran behind our house on Manhattan Avenue at the end of Laurel Avenue.
Susan Seigal Prezant and I used to play there all the time. Actually the metal tracks were completely gone. What was left was the track bed and the wooden cross bars. It always felt like it was a private world that we had to ourselves.

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Deborah Horowitz Nothmann April 24, 2019 - 3:47 pm

I remembeer traveling on the Norton’s Point trolley. Towards evening, when it was harder to see outside, some kids used to hitch rides on the trolley. It was awesome to me, to witness such bravery.

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Stu Coleton December 23, 2019 - 9:43 am

After moving from Scovilles Walk between W.25St & W.27 St I lived on W.27 St And RR Ave. I took the NPt line to PS80. Sometimes to save a few pennies I would hitch a ride on the rear of the car or on the side door and pray that the car would stop on my street. It usually did. Those were great times.

Stu Coleton

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Anonymous May 31, 2020 - 6:36 pm

Thank you for the Norton Point history and
Photos. I wished I could have rode the NP trolley!

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ARTHUR J HUNEKE September 27, 2020 - 4:06 pm

MY LATE COUSIN HITCHED A RIDE ON THE OUTSIDE OF A CAR AND SAW HIS DADDY INSIDE!
DADDY SAW HIM AND CUZZ WAS AFRAID TO GO HOME!
I FONDLY AND GRATEFULLY REMEMBER THAT RIDE.

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Louis (Tom October 14, 2020 - 5:51 am

I lived on W. 23rd, between Mermaid and Surf Ave. from 1944 and 1952. We rode that trolley often to get to the train terminal on Stilwell Ave. I
loved anything that had to do with tracks, so whenever we had a choice of bus or trolley, trolleys always won. We also has a trolley on Surf Ave. I was very young then and we moved to Maryland in 1952, but I do remember the Norton Point Trolley. Whenever we return to Brooklyn/Coney Island, I always tell my passengers, (usually non-New Yorkers) about things that are no more, including riding the Parachute Jump or all the rides that
used to be there.

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Carol J. Katz October 23, 2020 - 3:08 pm

I never rode the NP trolley but I remember signs at the Stillwell Avenue subway station that said trolley to Norton’s point with a direction arrow.

Reply

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