Remember the 3rd Ave El? - Classic Trains Magazine

Points to clear up. The 3rd Avenue Elevated did not run to White Plains. That is outside New York City and is served today by Metro North on its Harlem Division line to Wasiaic, electrified to what was Brewster North and is now Northeast or Southwest or some such name. In the old days North White Plains was the north end of the electrification but the New York Central continued past Wasiaic to Chatham and a junction with its Boston and Albany line, and a few Haralem division passenger trains operated east on the B&A and then north to North Adams, with a junction with the Boston and Maine's Hoosack Tunnel Boston - Troy line.

The 3rd Avenue elecated operated from South Ferry and City Hall (Paark Row) north to Est 241st Street and White Plains AVENUE (misnamed on all IRT metal signs White Plains Road for some obscure reason). From Gun Hill Road, not far from the Harlem Division's Wakefield Station, to 241st Street, tracks were shared with subway trains off the Lexington Avenue subway and now and at times off the Broadway 7th Avenue subway. Generally, the only trains running the total length of the line were the nightime locals . Otherwise, trains from South Ferry ran north to the Bronx Park station, on a one-station branch off the main line at Fordham Road station, right at Forham University and at the present Harlem Line Metro North Fordham Station. Trains from City Hall ran to both Bronx Park and 241st Street. There was special rush hour service after the 2nd Avenue elevated connection to the Bronx was ended in 1940 under transit unification, from City Hall to Freeman Street on the Westchester Avenue elevated structure used by the Lexington Avenue and Bropadway 7th Avenue lines. Also during rush hour there were locals that ran north only to Treemont Avenue. All day weekday service was provided by locals running only north to 129th Street. These locals came from both City Hall and South Ferry. During weekdays some express service was provided, but since the elevated had mostly only three tracks (exceptions being the Harlem River Bridge and north through the 143rd Street station where 2 upper level and 2 lower level tracks existed and south of the Chatham Square junction where both South Ferry and City Hall lines had 2 tracks), expressed ran only in one direction, south during the morning and north during the afternoon and evening, returning as locals or a non-revenue light movements. Generally, all trains except Treemont Avenue locals ran as expresses in Manhattan during weekdays throught the evening rush hour, but ran local in the Bronx, except a number of rush hour trains signed "Through Express" or "Thru Express", and these skipped the local stops, running on the center track between 149th Street and Treemont Avenue, then local north of there. Over weekends the center track in the Bronx was filled with stored rolling stock waiting for weekday service. Most of the service after 1940 was provided by wood cars originally built as gate cars, open platform, but modified with closed platforms and outside hung sliding doors and mutliple unit door control, and we called them MUDC's. The rush hour through express service was provide by the original composite wood-and-steel subway cars that opened the original subway and then were replaced quickly by the original steel cars. But there were a lot of open platform gate cars available for emergencies and special movements, and two trains of these ran regularly during the rush hours. These required one conductor between two cars to operate the gates, meaning the usual seven-car rush hour through express require seven people, the motorman (engineer) and six conductors. The front and back doors of the gate-car trains were supposed to be locked, but during WWII and after, they were left unlocked to speed loading, as passengers learned to work the gates on these open platform themselves and board. This meant that as a teenager I could sneak out on the back platform and enjoy the non stop express ride from 42nd Street to 106th Street. I have to confess to being the guilty party that stopped the doors from being left open. I pushed the envelope a bit too hard once. I rode from Coney Island to Park Row in a Macdonald-Vanderbilt or Coney Island - Smith Street PCC streetcar and continued my railfanning by waiting for one of the open gate trains at City Hall. Naturally, I wished to ride the open back platform. But at Canal Street the towerman must have spied me, because at a 42nd Street a transit policeman opened the door and politely ordered me inside, and afterward the doors were locked at the end of the trains. At least for a while, and i learned a lesson. In 1953 the Manhattan portion of the 3rd Avenue El was abandoned, and it became a line from 149th Street to Gun Hill Road only, until its 1960's complete abandonment. In the last years subway cars were used. For a while rebuilt BMT cars formerly used in Queens were used to replace the composites in through express service, and after service on the 3rd Avenue El they went to replace the last open gate cars on the BMT Myrtle Avenue elevated in Brooklyn.