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Culver Depot, also called Culver Terminal or Culver Plaza, was a railroad and streetcar terminal in
Coney Island Coney Island is a peninsular neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, Manhattan Beach to its east, L ...
,
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
,
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
,
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, located on the northern side of Surf Avenue near West 5th Street. Plan of the New Terminal Yard Arrangement For The Culver Terminal At Coney Island−Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company, ''Street Railway Journal'', 1904. It was just north of the
boardwalk A boardwalk (alternatively board walk, boarded path, or promenade) is an elevated footpath, walkway, or causeway built with wooden planks that enables pedestrians to cross wet, fragile, or marshy land. They are also in effect a low type of br ...
, near the former Luna Park amusement complex, and across from the current New York Aquarium. Originally built by the Prospect Park and Coney Island Railroad for the Culver surface line, it later became a major terminal for the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT).


Layout

The terminal was located at grade-level, at the north side of Surf Avenue. On the east side of the terminal, there were four tracks and five high-level platforms for BRT elevated trains from the Culver and
Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
lines. The two outer platforms were
side platform A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platfo ...
s, while the three inner platforms were
island platform An island platform (also center platform, centre platform) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange. Island platforms are popular o ...
s, similar to the former layout of Chambers Street. The outer side platforms and center island platform were for the unloading of passengers, while the western and eastern island platforms were used by outbound passengers, in a
Spanish solution In railway and rapid transit parlance, the Spanish solution is a station layout with two railway platforms, one on each side of the track, which allows for separate platforms for boarding and alighting. Description This platform arrangement allo ...
layout. The easternmost two tracks were used by Brighton trains. The westernmost pair were used by Culver trains, which continued north along the
Fifth Avenue elevated The Fifth Avenue Line, also called the Fifth Avenue Elevated or Fifth Avenue–Bay Ridge Line, was an elevated rail line in Brooklyn, New York City, United States. It ran above Hudson Avenue, Flatbush Avenue, Fifth Avenue, 38th Street, and T ...
towards Downtown Brooklyn and
City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...
in Manhattan. At the south end of the platforms, gates were present to further segregate inbound and outbound passengers. Passengers were required to purchase tickets before boarding (unlike at other stations, where fares were collected on trains), via ticket booths in the passenger concourse designed to resemble an elevated car cab. At the north end of the elevated station was a dispatchers office, connected to the western outer platform. Further north was a signal and switch tower. On the west side of the depot, there were five
balloon loop A balloon loop, turning loop, or reversing loop ( North American Terminology) allows a rail vehicle or train to reverse direction without having to shunt or stop. Balloon loops can be useful for passenger trains and unit freight trains. Bal ...
s for terminating streetcars. Additional storage tracks for both elevated trains and streetcars were at the north end of the depot.


Transfers and attractions

Surface trolley lines which served the depot included the Culver Line, Coney Island Plank Road Line, Smith Street Line,
Vanderbilt Avenue Line The B69 is a bus route that constitutes a public transit line operating in Brooklyn, New York City, running along 7th Avenue and Vanderbilt Avenue between Kensington and Dumbo. The B69 is operated by the MTA New York City Transit Authority. It ...
,
Court Street Line A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordanc ...
,
Reid Avenue Line The B46 bus route constitutes a public transit corridor in Brooklyn, New York City. The route runs primarily along Utica Avenue north from the Kings Plaza shopping center through Eastern Brooklyn, with continued service west along Broadway to ...
, and
Union Street Line The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) operates a number of bus routes in Brooklyn, New York, United States; one minor route is privately operated under a city franchise. Many of them are the direct descendants of streetcar lines (se ...
. Across from the station on the south side of Surf Avenue was Culver Plaza, illuminated by gas lights, and lined with grass and flower gardens. It featured several attractions and amenities including a carousel, the Ocean View and Prospect Hotels, and the Iron Tower or Observation Tower acquired from the 1876 Philadelphia Exposition. The terminal and plaza were located in close proximity to several Coney Island attractions, most notably the Luna Park and Dreamland amusement parks, the latter of which was located adjacent and south of Culver Plaza on the current New York Aquarium site.


History

The depot was opened on July 27, 1875, to serve trains on the Prospect Park and Coney Island Railroad, a surface railroad popularly known as the ''Culver Line'' after its founder and long-time president, Andrew Culver. After the introduction of electric trolley cars on the Culver Line in 1890, trolleys and
elevated railway An elevated railway or elevated train (also known as an el train for short) is a rapid transit railway with the tracks above street level on a viaduct or other elevated structure (usually constructed from steel, cast iron, concrete, or bricks ...
trains both used the station. It originally had only ground-level loading and unloading areas for passengers, shared by both
rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be ...
and streetcars. In 1903, following the integration of the Culver line into the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company's operations, the Brighton Beach Line extended its tracks to access Culver Depot from Brighton Beach to the east. In early 1904, the terminal underwent extensive renovations to increase passenger capacity and speed operations. This included creating separate loading areas for elevated trains and streetcars. Switch and signal upgrades were performed by Union Switch & Signal. Brighton trains left the station in 1919 to use the new elevated terminal at the
Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue station The Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue station (also known as Coney Island Terminal and signed on some trains as either Coney Island or Stillwell Avenue) is a New York City Subway terminal in Coney Island, Brooklyn. It is the railroad-south ter ...
, while stopping at the nearby West Eighth Street station. On May 1, 1920, now-elevated Culver trains began using the new terminal, while Culver Depot continued in use only for streetcars and freight from the
South Brooklyn Railway The South Brooklyn Railway is a railroad in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is owned by the City of New York and operated by the New York City Transit Authority. Its original main line ran parallel to 38th Street from the Upper New Y ...
. The terminal was razed in January 1923. Plans for new developments on the site included a theater, a stadium, and a commercial block. The Culver Depot was replaced by the adjacent
Coney Island and Brooklyn Railroad The B68 is a bus route that constitutes a public transit line operating in Brooklyn, New York City. The B68 is operated by the MTA New York City Transit Authority. Its precursor was a streetcar line that began operation in June 1862, and ...
depot, which served Culver streetcars until October 30, 1956. This facility was later used by the
New York City Transit Authority The New York City Transit Authority (also known as NYCTA, the TA, or simply Transit, and branded as MTA New York City Transit) is a New York state public-benefit corporations, public-benefit corporation in the U.S. state of New York (state), New ...
as a
bus depot A bus garage, also known as a bus depot, bus base or bus barn, is a facility where buses are stored and maintained. In many conurbations, bus garages are on the site of former car barns or tram sheds, where trams (streetcars) were stored, and ...
until it closed on July 27, 1960. The site of Culver Depot is now occupied by some housing projects, specifically the Brightwater Towers and Trump Village West.


References


External links


CULVER’S TRAVELS. The demolition of a Brooklyn elevated link (Forgotten New York)


{{Coney Island Coney Island Defunct Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation stations Railway stations in Brooklyn Streetcar lines in Brooklyn New York City Subway stations located at-grade Defunct New York City Subway stations located aboveground