Steinway tunnel

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Steinway tunnel

The Steinway Tunnel is a subway tunnel under the East River with two single-track, narrow-profile tubes that connects the New York districts of Midtown Manhattan and Long Island City . It belongs to today's IRT Flushing Line of the New York City Subway and is served by Line 7. It is named after the first of its two builders, William Steinway and August Belmont junior .

project

The first plans to dig a railroad tunnel under the East River date back to 1885. On December 22nd, the East River Tunnel Railroad Company was founded with the aim of building the tracks of the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) in Long Island City and the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad in New York City underground. This happened against the background of the biggest local traffic problem at the time, that the New York area was cut into many parts by large, difficult-to-negotiate bodies of water. In addition, the plans for the construction of the Queensboro Bridge did not progress at this time.

But the East River Tunnel Railroad Company did not get beyond soil surveys, and so Walter S. Gurnee and Malcolm W. Niven founded the New York & Long Island Railroad Company on July 22, 1887 , and planning soon began.

The tunnel was to begin on the New York side near the Hudson River Docks in Manhattan, from there along 42nd Street to the Grand Central train station and continue straight on under the East River. In Long Iceland City the tunnel at the Fifth Street should (now 49th Avenue) cross the shoreline, then sequentially 4th Street (now 50th Avenue), the Jackson Avenue and finally the Thomson Avenue lead and eventually the former terminus Hunter's Point of Reach LIRR. The total cost of the 5.6 mile (approximately 9 km) tunnel should be $ 11.7 million.

The estimated amount far exceeded the company's financial resources. In July 1891, for example, the piano maker William Steinway , who had acquired considerable real estate assets in Astoria in addition to his factory, became the main shareholder and became the company's new chairman. The tunnel would then get its name, Steinway Tunnel ( Steinway Tunnel ).

Construction work began on July 7, 1892. At the corner of Vernon Boulevard, Jackson Avenue and 50th Avenue, an 85-foot (25.91 m) deep shaft was first dug, at the bottom of which horizontal jacking began in December. On December 28, an attempt to heat frozen dynamite resulted in an uncontrolled explosive explosion that left five dead and twelve injured. Numerous surrounding houses were partially badly damaged. In view of the correspondingly high claims for damages, the company saw itself de facto ruined. The attempt to raise more money failed because of the stock market crash of 1893. As a result, construction work was stopped after a total of 32 feet (9.75 m) tunnels.

Belmont era

In February 1902, the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) under August Belmont Jr. bought the New York & Long Island Railroad and the tram operator New York and Queens County Railway from Long Island City. In 1899, Belmont had been awarded the contract to build and operate the first New York subway line and, with the takeover of the Manhattan Elevated Railways, gained a monopoly position in the city's local transport. With this takeover he hoped to be able to secure a corresponding position in Queens as well.

For this purpose, the construction plans for the tunnel were changed so that it should only be used by the electric tram . The tunnel cross-section was reduced, the gradients increased and the route shortened. The tunnel should now begin with a turning loop at the corner of 42nd Street and Fourth Avenue in Manhattan and lead to Vernon Boulevard in Queens. There the tram of the New York and Queens County Railway was to be connected via a ramp. There were also three underground stations, Lexington Avenue in Manhattan and Jackson Avenue and Van Alst Avenue with a further turning loop in Queens. The total cost was now $ 8 million.

Construction began on July 14, 1905; this time the dig was made from four places. In addition to the previous shaft, there was an excavation at Lexington Avenue and two pairs of caissons , one in the middle of the East River and the other on Man-o'-War Reef , today's Belmont Island . In September 1907 the tunnel was completed after 26 months of construction. The opening took place on September 24th.

50 trams were available for operation. They had a 42'5 "(12.93 m) long and 8'11" (2.72 m) wide all-steel car body with semi-open entrances on both sides and allowed multiple traction. An iron rail suspended from the tunnel ceiling served as power supply, which was coated from below by an 11 3/8 "(29 cm) high spring-loaded pantograph on the car roof. For use on the streets of Long Island City, the cars were also equipped with pantographs.

However, the originally granted concession expired on January 1 of the same year, and the City of New York was not prepared to extend it any further. In contrast to earlier years, the city did not want to tolerate any more privately owned subways and prevented the actual commissioning with a few legal maneuvers. The tunnel remained out of service for the next five years. Belmont finally sold it in 1913 as part of the double contracts for three million dollars to the city of New York, which included it in their subway plans. The planned high-speed rail line should lead from Times Square through the tunnel over to Long Island City and from there on towards Flushing ; The IRT should be responsible for the operation.

Expansion as a subway tunnel

In the course of the suitability test, it was found that the tunnel cross-section corresponded to the specifications of the previous subways. Thereupon, contrary to the original plans of the IRT, which provided for a resumption of tram operations, the decision was made to upgrade it to a full-fledged underground tunnel. For this purpose, the platforms were lengthened and raised, and power rails and signals were installed. Track changes replaced the two turning loops, and Van Alst Avenue station was closed. On June 22, 1916, a temporary shuttle service began between the Lexington Avenue station, henceforth Grand Central , and Jackson Avenue .

Tunnel ramp in Long Island City

Meanwhile, construction work on the planned route continued. In the east, the tunnel was extended to the level of the LIRR station Hunters Point Avenue and received a subway station of the same name nearby. Immediately afterwards, a ramp was built up to the elevated subway towards Queens Plaza. Hunters Point Avenue opened on February 15, 1916, and continued to Queensboro Plaza Station on November 5 of that year . Due to the lack of a track connection to the rest of the Interborough network, a temporary workshop was set up on the tunnel ramp, which was used until 1928.

In the west, work began in mid-1922. The tunnel went under 42nd Street, Bryant Park and 41st Street to Eighth Avenue. All other underground lines in this area were crossed under. The 5th Avenue – Public Library (today: 5th Avenue ) and Times Square stations with transfer options to the Manhattan trunk routes opened on March 22, 1926 and March 14, 1927.

Since the tunnel ramps in the direction of Queens, with a gradient of 4%, were considerably steeper than the specifications of the IRT allowed, special vehicles had to be procured for the Steinway tunnel. These Steinway wagons had the same dimensions as an ordinary IRT subway car, but were equipped with a gear reduction . Initially, twelve cars were procured for the original shuttle service. With the extension of the line until 1926, another 126 units were added. The 50 coaches of the type World's Fair , the York Amplifier trips to the New World Expo 1939 in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park were used, have the same technical characteristic.

With the introduction of the four-engine subway cars of the types R12 and R14 in 1948, the need for a special drive was eliminated, so that the Steinway tunnel could now be used by conventional railcars. At the same time, the line scheme still valid today was introduced on the IRT routes, according to which the courses through the Steinway tunnel were assigned to line 7.

literature

  • David Rogoff: The Steinway Tunnels. in: Electric Railroads. New York City April 29, 1960. (English)
  • Clifton Hood: 722 miles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 2004, pp. 162ff. ISBN 0-8018-8054-8 (English, covers the political background of the New York subway)
  • Brian J. Cudahy: Under the Sidewalks of New York, the story of the greatest subway system in the world. Fordham University Press, New York 1995 (2nd ed.), Pp. 62f. ISBN 0-8232-1618-7 (English)
  • Erik Baard, Thomas Jackson, Richard Melnick: The East River . Greater Astoria Historical Society. Arcadia Publishing, Charleston 2005. ISBN 0-7385-3787-X (English)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The two cities of New York City and Long Island City, which were still independent at the time, were not united until 1898.
  2. ^ Rogoff, The Steinway Tunnels: July 22; Hood, 722 Miles: July 30th
  3. ^ State of New York, Public Service Commission: New Subways for New York: The Dual System of Rapid Transit , chap. 1.
  4. ^ State of New York, Public Service Commission: New Subways for New York: The Dual System of Rapid Transit , chap. 2.
  5. ↑ Elevated subway cars from this period are called in New York City (elevated) subways .
  6. ↑ Map on nycsubway.org
  7. ^ Gene Sansone: New York Subways, an illustrated history of New York City's transit cars. Johns Hopkins University Press , Baltimore 2004, pp. 73f. ISBN 0-8018-7922-1