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The Fulton Elevated Line This defunct elevated line ran along Pitkin Avenue, turning north at Euclid and then east again at Liberty Avenue. As with most of the early train lines, it was constructed by a private company, the Kings County Elevated Railroad Co. The first section completed ran from Fulton Ferry to Nostrand Avenue, and opened April 24, 1888. In East New York, the company did not have rights to the coveted Jamaica Avenue or Fulton Street routes (cemetery visitors were big business for the transportation companies) and was forced to turn south at Snediker Avenue, then east at Pitkin Avenue. The extension into East New York to the Van Siclen Avenue station was completed November 18, 1889. The extension out to Grant Avenue was completed December 28, 1893. The Dual Contracts provided for an extension of the line from Grant Avenue out to Lefferts Boulevard in 1915. |
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Early Engine If you want an idea of what was pulling these trains before electrification, this image, not in East New York, shows an early "City Line" train. (Given the name of the line it must be dated between 1893 and 1903) . The locomotive is not backwards, the "tender first" is part of the design. | |
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Early maps The first map, from 1912, shows the line all the out to the "City Line". The second map, from 1924, shows the Dual Contracts extension out to Lefferts Boulevard. The nycsubway.org website has a number of early maps and a lot of images of the line, for those interested in more material. |
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Pennsylvania Avenue Station, ca. 1950 Looking southeast toward the station circa 1950. On the right, the view is southwest toward Pitkin and New Jersey Avenues, also circa 1950. |
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Van Siclen Station, opened Nov. 18, 1889 Two views from 1948. The first is looking west and the second is looking east. |
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Linwood Street Station, opened Feb 22, 1892 Two views from 1948. I believe the first is looking east and the second is looking west. |
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Linwood Street Station These views, also from 1948, are of the platform. |
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Linwood Street Station A 1948 side view of the station. On the right, we had a badly damaged negative from 1943 of the view west along Pitkin from Linwood Street in 1943. I managed to scan it, but there wasn't enough historical interest to merit getting the negative repaired. |
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Linwood Street, North from Pitkin Avenue An early view looking north along Linwood under the el circa 1910. | |
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Montauk Avenue Station, opened March 21, 1892 Both from 1948. A view of the west-bound platform, and looking west towards Berriman Avenue (thanks Tony!) with the Kinema Theater visible on the right. |
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Pitkin Avenue, Looking east from Berriman This early postcard view shows how the original posts did not leave much room for traffic. | |
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Chestnut Street Station, opened December 28, 1893 A 1948 view and a closeup. |
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Chestnut Street Station Street level view, circa 1950. Looking north on Chestnut toward Pitkin Avenue. | |
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Chestnut Street Station A side view of the station and another view looking east. That's P.S. 159 in the distance in all those shots. |
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Euclid Avenue As the line approached Doscher and Euclid, it turned north. The first picture is looking back towards the Chestnut Street Station with a view of the north side of Pitkin Avenue. On the right, a view looking west along Pitkin Avenue. |
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Euclid Avenue Two 1948 views of the line running north on Euclid Avenue towards Liberty Avenue. The support structures were never updated, which restricted the types of cars which could run on the track. This was another logical reason to replace the line. |
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Crescent Street Station, opened December 28, 1893 Also from 1948. Looking back west from the station along Liberty Avenue. On the right, the view east. |
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Crescent Street Two views from about the same era, from underneath the el. In the view on the right, that is Sunrise Highway (Conduit Boulevard) cutting in from behind the gas station. |
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Grant Avenue Station, opened December 28, 1893 This view from the late 1940s was taken along Liberty Avenue under the Grant Street station. The Dual contracts work in 1915 extended the line out to Lefferts Boulevard in Queens. The image on the right shows the difference in structural work between the 1893 project and the 1915 extension. |
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Accident, January 23, 1953 In January 1953 a truck hit one of the support posts right before Drew Street. Less than an hour later, a train carrying 180 passengers passed over this section, causing the tracks to buckle. Fortunately, the structure did not collapse and there were no serious injuries. | |
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Grant Avenue connection, 1956 Ever since the IND subway line was opened in 1936, the days of the Fulton El were numbered. The first section to go was the Fulton Ferry to Rockaway Avenue stretch, 1940. The war delayed some plans, but by 1948 the subway line had been extended out to Euclid Avenue, and from there the track rises back above ground and connects with the line after Grant Avenue. That connection can be seen on the right hand side of this picture, whcih is looking east. | |
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Demolition, 1958 This January 11, 1958 Times article announces the beginning of demolition. | |
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El Removal I've had 2 pictures sent to me by site fans of the el removal along Pitkin Avenue. The view on the left (from Bob Reddington) is by Ashford Street and the one on the right (from Liz Sanford) is Cleveland Street. |
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El Remains I took this shot in late 2008 of a remnant of the line, as it curves from Van Sinderen towards Pitkin. This is not the original structure from the 1880s. The Atlantic Avenue station was rebuilt during the Dual Contracts so this dates closer to 1915. | |
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Video Wish you could ride the line again? There is a DVD sold by a site fan, Al Zelasco. I have uploaded a sample that was shot from the front car. (Most of the footage is from ground level). You can find the DVD on EBay. The video file is a little large (30mb) and depending on your browser and media player settings, may take a few minutes to load. Click here to play the video clip | |
ResourcesI want to credit several out-of-print books that were used to research the story of this line and may be of interest to
other ENY or train history fans. I have found all of these on EBay over the years.
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