List of streetcar lines in Queens

Summary

The following streetcar lines once operated in Queens, New York City, United States.

BMT edit

The Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation concentrated on Brooklyn, but had some lines into Queens.[1] Only the ones that significantly entered Queens are shown here; see list of streetcar lines in Brooklyn for the others (mainly into Ridgewood).

Name From To Route Notes
Metropolitan Avenue Line Brooklyn Jamaica Metropolitan Avenue built by the Broadway Ferry and Metropolitan Avenue Railroad?
abandoned June 12, 1949
now the Q54 bus
Richmond Hill Line Brooklyn Jamaica Myrtle Avenue abandoned April 26, 1950
now the Q55 bus
Jamaica Line Brooklyn Jamaica Jamaica Avenue opened by the East New York and Jamaica Railroad on May 7, 1863
abandoned November 30, 1947
now the Q56 bus
Flushing Avenue Line Brooklyn Maspeth Flushing Avenue abandoned November 21, 1948
now the B57 bus
Flushing–Ridgewood Line Ridgewood Flushing Fresh Pond Road, Grand Avenue, and Corona Avenue abandoned July 17, 1949[2]
now the Q58 bus[2]
Grand Street Line Brooklyn Elmhurst Grand Avenue built by the Grand Street and Newtown Railroad in 1876
abandoned December 11, 1949
now the Q59 bus
North Beach Line Corona North Beach Junction Boulevard abandoned August 25, 1949
now the Q72 bus
Cypress Hills Cemetery Line Ridgewood Cypress Hills Cemetery Cypress Avenue opened by the Bushwick Railroad on May 26, 1878
abandoned September 1, 1947


Long Island Electric edit

The Long Island Electric Railway operated lines in eastern Queens until 1926. These lines were later operated by Jamaica Central Railways, until the company reorganized as Jamaica Buses, with bus service replacing trolley service in 1933.[3][4]

Name From To Route Notes
Jamaica Nassau County towards Hempstead (became NY&LI at the city line) Jamaica Avenue and Hempstead Avenue abandoned November 25, 1933
now the Q110 bus[3]
Liberty Avenue Line Brooklyn Jamaica Liberty Avenue and South Road abandoned 1933
now the Q112 bus[3]
Jamaica−Far Rockaway line[5] Jamaica Far Rockaway Guy R. Brewer Boulevard, Rockaway Boulevard, Mott Avenue, Wanser Avenue, and the Long Island Rail Road's Far Rockaway Branch abandoned December 2, 1933
now the Q113 and Q114 buses.[3][6]


Manhattan and Queens Traction edit

The Manhattan and Queens Traction Company was originally part of the South Shore Traction Company based in Sayville, New York, which planned to build lines throughout Central and Western Suffolk, as well as Nassau and Queens County, before selling off its only lines to the Suffolk Traction Company, and moving to New York City. Before reorganizing itself as M&QT, it operated a line across the Queensboro Bridge from Manhattan to Long Island City until April 1937.

Name From To Route Notes
Queens Boulevard Line Manhattan South Jamaica Queens Boulevard and Sutphin Boulevard abandoned April 17, 1937
now the Q60 bus
Van Dam Industrial Spur Long Island City Long Island City Van Dam Street abandoned

New York and Long Island Traction edit

The New York and Long Island Traction Company operated east to Freeport, Hempstead, and Mineola in Nassau County.

Name From To Route Notes
Mineola Line Queens Village Nassau County towards Mineola Jamaica Avenue abandoned April 3, 1926
now the n24 bus
Jamaica-Hempstead Line Jamaica (Long Island Electric Railway terminates at the Queens-Nassau Line) Hempstead 160th Street Jamaica to Belmont Park on 160th Street, Jamaica Avenue, and Hempstead Avenue (Turnpike) Joint NY&LI - LIER service. abandoned April 3, 1926
now the n6 bus
Brooklyn-Freeport Line Brooklyn Nassau County towards Freeport Rockaway Boulevard, North Conduit Avenue, and Sunrise Highway abandoned April 3, 1926; parts of line replaced by Q7, Q85, n4 buses

New York and Queens County edit

The New York and Queens County Railway operated in northern Queens. In 1932 it was reorganized as the New York and Queens Transit Corporation, and ended trolley service as it evolved into the Queens-Nassau Transit Lines in 1937.

Name From To Route Notes
Flushing–Jamaica Line Jamaica Flushing 164th Street, 45th Avenue, and Bowne Street abandoned 1937
now part of the Q65 bus
College Point Line Flushing College Point College Point Boulevard abandoned 1937
now part of the Q65 bus
Corona Line Woodside Flushing 37th Avenue, 61st Street, Woodside Avenue, Broadway, 43rd Avenue, and private right-of-way abandoned August 3, 1925
Cemetery Route Hunters Point Middle Village Borden Avenue and 69th Street abandoned 1937
now the Q67 bus

Steinway Lines [1922-1939] edit

 
Long Island City Steinway Railway Company c 1894

The Steinway Railway operated in northwestern Queens. In the fall of 1939, the company was renamed as Steinway Omnibus and began operating bus lines over former trolley lines and in 1959 changed their name again to Steinway Transit.

Name From To Route Notes
Steinway Street Line Midtown Manhattan
59th Street & 2nd Avenue
Steinway Jackson Avenue, Northern Boulevard, Steinway Street, and 19th Avenue abandoned 11/01/1939
now the Q101 bus
31st Street Line Long Island City or
Midtown Manhattan
59th Street & 2nd Avenue
Astoria Ferry Jackson Avenue, 31st Street, Newtown Avenue, and Astoria Boulevard abandoned 09/29/1939
now the Q102 bus
Vernon Boulevard Line Hunters Point Astoria Ferry Vernon Boulevard abandoned 09/29/1939
now the Q103 bus
Broadway Line Astoria Ferry Woodside Broadway abandoned 09/29/1939
now the Q104 bus
Flushing Avenue Line Astoria Bowery Bay Astoria Boulevard abandoned 12/06/1935
now the Q19 Bus
Jackson Avenue Line Long Island City Woodside Jackson Avenue, Northern Blvd abandoned 09/29/1939
replaced partially by B62, Q100 buses

Ocean Electric edit

The Ocean Electric Railway operated on The Rockaways.

Name From To Route Notes
Hammels Neponsit Rockaway Beach Boulevard from Beach 75th Street to Beach 116th Street, north to Newport Avenue, west to Beach 142nd Street to Neponsit Avenue to west of Beach 149th Street. Built from 1904-1916; abandoned October 25, 1928
now Q22 and Q35
Hammels Hammels Beach Hammels Wye; South Leg along Beach 84th Street (formerly Fairview Avenue). abandoned
Far Rockaway Hammels Long Island Rail Road on the original LIRR tracks shared with LIRR trains Far Rockaway Branch then down Beach 84th Street to join the Rockaway Beach Boulevard line. abandoned September 9, 1926
now New York City Subway's IND Rockaway Line
Far Rockaway Roche's Beach Long Island Rail Road original Far Rockaway station at Mott Avenue, south on Central Avenue (now Beach 20th Street to New Haven and Brookhaven Avenue, then south on Rockaway Turnpike (now Beach 19th Street) to Roche's Beach, just south of today's Seagirt Boulevard abandoned September 14, 1924

New York and North Shore Traction edit

The New York and North Shore Traction Company operated from northeastern Queens east into Nassau County. By 1920, the company converted itself into the North Shore Bus Company.

Name From To Route Notes
North Shore Line Flushing Nassau County towards Roslyn and Hicksville LIRR Station 35th Avenue, 39th Avenue, and Northern Boulevard abandoned 1920
replaced by Q12, n20(G/H) buses
Whitestone Line Flushing Whitestone 35th Avenue, 149th Street, and 150th Street abandoned 1920
operated as the Q14 bus until 2010, replaced with similar Q15A

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ BMT Surface Division map, undated
  2. ^ a b "Buses to Replace Crosstown Trolley". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. July 14, 1949. Retrieved 30 September 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ a b c d "Pick Tentative Bus Operators; Queens Objects: Board Selects North Shore and Jamaica Firms-Hearing July 10". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. June 19, 1931. p. 2. Retrieved 12 October 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Harvey Hopes To Halt Dual Bus Contracts: To Insist All Applications Be Advertised Along With the Favored Ones". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. April 21, 1932. p. 27. Retrieved 12 October 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ Seyfried, Vincent F. (1950). "Full text of "New York and Queens County Railway and the Steinway Lines, 1867-1939."". archive.org. Vincent F. Seyfried. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  6. ^ Soto, Juan (August 29, 2014). "New Q114 bus line ready for first riders". Times Ledger. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  • Williams Map and Guide Company, Map of the borough of Queens, 1923
  • Chicago Transit & Railfan Web Site: New York City Transit
  • The New York and Queens County Railway AND The Steinway Lines 1867-1939, Vincent F. Seyfried, 1950
  • The Don Harold and Francis J. Goldsmith, Jr. Brooklyn El and Trolley Pages (The JoeKorNer: Brooklyn Trolleys)
  • "PRR Chronology, Discontinuance/Last Runs of Passenger Service" (PDF). (40.6 KiB), Edition of June 30, 2003
  • Lost Trolleys of Queens and Long Island by Stephen L. Meyers (2006).