REMNANTS of NYC’s streetcar lines, which existed in all five boroughs until the late 194os and early 1950s, are getting fewer and “far betweener” since I began photography for Forgotten New York in 1998. The odd iron trolley pole can be seen here, or a rail poking through pavement can be seen there. However in Ridgewood, you can find the equivalent of a full T-Rex skeleton on Woodbine Street between Onderdonk and Woodward Avenues, where you can see two pairs of tracks and the Belgian block pavement on which they rested.
The tracks once belonged to the #58, which connected Bushwick and Flushing and used the old Strongs Causeway route through Flushing Meadows. The current Q58 bus largely duplicates the old route, using the service road of the Long Island Expressway to cross Flushing Meadows.
The old tracks followed the right of way of the Myrtle Avenue Elevated, the current M train. Unusually, this el has its own right of way between Onderdonk and Metropolitan Avenues, separating back yards of homes and crossing trainyards. In this way, it behaves like Chicago’s elevated train scheme. In NYC, elevated trains were usually built over existing streets.
Here’s a map of Brooklyn’s streetcar lines, many of which ran into Queens.
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11/14/24
5 comments
To pick a nit, I believe saying the elevated line follows the right of way of the old trolley tracks is the correct wording since the trolley was there first.
Thank you for posting. Great photo. The Myrtle Avenue elevated, originally opened between 1888 and 1906 (per FNY link https://forgotten-ny.com/2007/12/withering-myrtle-the-last-days-of-the-myrtle-avenue-el/), and included a surface right-of-way, named for Luteran Cemetery, where these tracks are located. When the tracks were relocated onto the elevated around 1916, the tracks were then used by trolleys until 1949, when the B58 route was converted to bus.
It’s a bit of a pity that the Church Avenue trolley tunnel under Ocean Parkway wasn’t kept open as a pedestrian passage.
Should have been kept open for cars. In todays world i can only imagine what would go on in that passageway for pedestrians.
The trolley tracks along McDonald Avenue were visible until at least the early 80’s. They must be paved over by now…