The New York and Harlem Railroad (now the
Metro-North Railroad
Metro-North Railroad , trading as MTA Metro-North Railroad, is a suburban commuter rail service run by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), a New York State public benefit corporations, public authority of the U.S. state of New Yor ...
's
Harlem Line
The Metro-North Railroad Harlem Line, originally chartered as the New York and Harlem Railroad, is an commuter rail line running north from New York City to Wassaic, in eastern Dutchess County. The lower from Grand Central Terminal to Southea ...
) was one of the
first railroads in the United States
This is a list of the earliest railroads in North America, including various railroad-like precursors to the general modern form of a company or government agency operating locomotive-drawn trains on metal tracks.
Railroad-like entities (1700s ...
, and was the world's first
street railway
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
. Designed by
John Stephenson, it was opened in stages between 1832 and 1852 between
Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan (also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York) is the southernmost part of Manhattan, the central borough for business, culture, and government in New York City, which is the most populated city in the United States with ...
to and beyond
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...
. Horses initially pulled railway carriages, followed by a conversion to steam engines, then on to battery-powered Julien electric traction cars. In 1907, the then leaseholders of the line,
New York City Railway, a streetcar operator, went into receivership. Following a further receivership in 1932, the
New York Railways Corporation
The New York Railways Corporation was a railway company that operated street railways in Manhattan, New York City, United States between 1925 and 1936. During 1935/1936 it converted its remaining lines to bus routes which were operated by the New ...
converted the line to bus operation. The
Murray Hill Tunnel
The Park Avenue Tunnel, also called the Murray Hill Tunnel, is a tunnel that passes under seven blocks of Park Avenue in Murray Hill, in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Traffic currently goes northbound from 33rd Street toward the Par ...
now carries a
lane
In road transport, a lane is part of a roadway that is designated to be used by a single line of vehicles to control and guide drivers and reduce traffic conflicts. Most public roads (highways) have at least two lanes, one for traffic in each ...
of road traffic, but not the buses.
The line became part of the
New York Central Railroad
The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...
system with
trackage rights
Railway companies can interact with and control others in many ways. These relationships can be complicated by bankruptcies.
Operating
Often, when a railroad first opens, it is only a short spur of a main line. The owner of the spur line may con ...
granted to the
New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , commonly known as The Consolidated, or simply as the New Haven, was a railroad that operated in the New England region of the United States from 1872 to December 31, 1968. Founded by the merger of ...
into Manhattan. It is now part of the
Metro-North Railroad
Metro-North Railroad , trading as MTA Metro-North Railroad, is a suburban commuter rail service run by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), a New York State public benefit corporations, public authority of the U.S. state of New Yor ...
system, and the only
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
trackage of that system. As of 2017, Metro-North operates commuter passenger service from Grand Central Terminal, via Southeast (change from electric to diesel power), to Wassaic. The trackless right-of-way from Wassaic to Chatham is being converted to the Harlem Valley Rail Trail.
History
The New York and Harlem Railroad was first built from the original
Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal located at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Grand Central is the southern terminus ...
on 23rd Street in
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 ...
to suburban
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...
. Opposition to the charter was voiced by
steamboat
A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the ship prefix, prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S ...
proprietors, whose service was successfully competed against by the new railroad. It was extended a further 125 miles northward, reaching
Chatham, New York
Chatham is a town in Columbia County, New York, United States. The population was 4,104 at the 2020 census, down from the 2010 census.
The town has a village also called Chatham on its southern town line. The town is at the northern border of ...
in 1852.
When the railroad was extended further, it provided a rail route for people and commerce northward to
Albany,
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, and other towns in
Vermont
Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
and
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
.
[ The completion of the Harlem Valley Railroad also resulted in the availability of products transported by rail directly to New York City, rather than depending on river transport via ]Poughkeepsie
Poughkeepsie ( ), officially the City of Poughkeepsie, separate from the Town of Poughkeepsie around it) is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsi ...
.[
In 1831, when the New York and Harlem Railroad received its ]charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...
, it was an early commuter railroad connecting Harlem with lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan (also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York) is the southernmost part of Manhattan, the central borough for business, culture, and government in New York City, which is the most populated city in the United States with ...
(New York City). Early in the 1840s, the Harlem Valley Railroad was extended northward into Westchester County
Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population o ...
, and then was authorized by the New York State Legislature to be further extended northward in order to create a connection with Albany. [ On May 12, 1846, a new competitor received its charter to build a railroad alongside the Hudson River between New York City's lower Manhattan west side and Albany, backed mostly by wealthy Poughkeepsie manufacturers and merchants. (It was completed to Albany on October 3, 1851, after a great amount of costly blasting, filling and tunneling the craggy eastern shore of the Hudson River.) The Harlem Valley's directors started to worry that Boston would have a competitive advantage over New York City for the expanding "western trade."][ An easier and less-costly inland route, also to be named "Harlem Valley", was thus created.
]
Construction
The company was incorporated on April 25, 1831 as the New York and Harlem Railroad, to link 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 ...
with suburban Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...
. Among the company's founders was John Mason, a wealthy banker and president of Chemical Bank
Chemical Bank was a bank with headquarters in New York City from 1824 until 1996. At the end of 1995, Chemical was the third-largest bank in the U.S., with about $182.9 billion in assets and more than 39,000 employees around the world.
Beginning ...
who was among the largest landowners in New York City. They decided to build their railroad on the eastern side of Manhattan Island, convinced that it would never be able to compete with steamboat traffic on the Hudson River.
The first section, along Bowery
The Bowery () is a street and neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in New York City. The street runs from Chatham Square at Park Row, Worth Street, and Mott Street in the south to Cooper Square at 4th Street in the north.Jackson, Kenneth L. "B ...
from Prince Street
The Prince Street station is a local station on the BMT Broadway Line of the New York City Subway. Located in SoHo, Manhattan, it is served by the R train at all times except late nights, the W train on weekdays, the N train during late nig ...
north to 14th Street, opened on November 26, 1832.[New York and Vicinity Railroad Map from 1860 (BrooklynRail.net)](_blank)
/ref> After that, the following sections opened:
*June 10, 1833 – north along Fourth Avenue to 32nd Street
*May 9, 1834 – north along Fourth Avenue to Yorkville, including the Murray Hill Tunnel
The Park Avenue Tunnel, also called the Murray Hill Tunnel, is a tunnel that passes under seven blocks of Park Avenue in Murray Hill, in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Traffic currently goes northbound from 33rd Street toward the Par ...
*October 26, 1837 – north along Fourth Avenue to Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...
, including the Yorkville Tunnel
The Park Avenue main line, which consists of the Park Avenue Tunnel and the Park Avenue Viaduct, is a railroad line in the New York City borough of Manhattan, running entirely along Park Avenue. The line carries four tracks of the Metro-North ...
*May 4, 1839 – south along Bowery
The Bowery () is a street and neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in New York City. The street runs from Chatham Square at Park Row, Worth Street, and Mott Street in the south to Cooper Square at 4th Street in the north.Jackson, Kenneth L. "B ...
, Broome Street
Broome Street is an east–west street in Lower Manhattan. It runs nearly the full width of Manhattan island, from Hudson Street in the west to Lewis Street in the east, near the entrance to the Williamsburg Bridge. The street is interrupted in ...
and Centre Street to 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 ...
at Centre Street and Park Row
*September 3, 1842 – north to Williamsbridge
*December 1, 1844 – north to White Plains
*June 1, 1847 – north to Croton Falls
*December 31, 1848 – north to Dover Plains
Dover Plains is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The population was 1,323 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Poughkeepsie– Newburgh– Middletown Metropolitan Statistical Area.
...
*January 19, 1852 – north to Chatham Four Corners with a connection to the Albany and West Stockbridge Railroad
The Boston and Albany Railroad was a railroad connecting Boston, Massachusetts to Albany, New York, later becoming part of the New York Central Railroad system, Conrail, and CSX Transportation. The line is currently used by CSX for freight. Pa ...
, and trackage rights
Railway companies can interact with and control others in many ways. These relationships can be complicated by bankruptcies.
Operating
Often, when a railroad first opens, it is only a short spur of a main line. The owner of the spur line may con ...
northwest to Albany.
*November 26, 1852 – south along Park Row to Astor House
The Astor House was a luxury hotel in New York City. Located on the corner of Broadway and Vesey Street in what is now the Civic Center and Tribeca neighborhoods of Lower Manhattan, it opened in 1836 and soon became the best-known hotel in Ame ...
at Park Row and Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
*A freight branch was built to Port Morris, following the 1853 purchase of the Spuyten Duyvil and Port Morris Railroad
Spuyten Duyvil and Port Morris Railroad was a railroad built in what is today the West Bronx and South Bronx in New York City, United States. It ran from the junction between the West Side Line and the Hudson River Railroad near Spuyten Duyvil ...
and abandoned late in the 20th century. Parts are still visible.
Between 1847 and 1856, a track was built in Grand Street between Centre Street and Bowery
The Bowery () is a street and neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in New York City. The street runs from Chatham Square at Park Row, Worth Street, and Mott Street in the south to Cooper Square at 4th Street in the north.Jackson, Kenneth L. "B ...
(along with one block on the Bowery) for northbound trains. Southbound trains continued to use the old route.
In 1864 or 1865, a branch was added for trains between downtown and the East 34th Street Ferry Landing
The East 34th Street Ferry Landing provides slips to ferries and excursion boats in the Port of New York and New Jersey. It is located on the East River in New York City east of the FDR Drive just north of East 34th Street in Midtown Manhattan. T ...
, running along 32nd Street, Lexington Avenue
Lexington Avenue, often colloquially abbreviated as "Lex", is an avenue on the East Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City that carries southbound one-way traffic from East 131st Street to Gramercy Park at East 21st Street. Along it ...
and 34th Street. This was the start of separate horse car
A horsecar, horse-drawn tram, horse-drawn streetcar (U.S.), or horse-drawn railway (historical), is an animal-powered (usually horse) tram or streetcar.
Summary
The horse-drawn tram (horsecar) was an early form of public rail transport, wh ...
service, running between Astor House and the ferry.
Grand Central Depot
Grand Central Terminal is a major commuter rail terminal in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, serving the Metro-North Railroad's Harlem, Hudson and New Haven Lines. It is the most recent of three functionally similar buildings on the same ...
opened just north of 42nd Street in October, 1871, and intercity passenger trains from the north were ended there. Freight trains continued to operate along the tracks south of Grand Central, as did streetcars (still turning off at 42nd Street).
Operation and control
As in other early railroads, the dominant propulsion in the railroad's early years was horse power. In 1837, steam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be trans ...
s were introduced, but their use was limited to areas outside of the heavily settled parts of the city, which was then north of 23rd Street.[John Fink, "Railroads", in .]
The New York City Common Council passed an ordinance on December 27, 1854, to take effect in 18 months, barring the NY&H from using steam power south of 42nd Street, due to complaints by persons whose property abutted the right-of-way. Before that, the steam locomotives had run to 32nd Street. When the ordinance took effect, the NY&H had not done anything. After much debate, including an injunction
An injunction is a legal and equitable remedy in the form of a special court order that compels a party to do or refrain from specific acts. ("The court of appeals ... has exclusive jurisdiction to enjoin, set aside, suspend (in whole or in pa ...
issued preventing the city from enforcing the ordinance, the courts struck down the injunction on July 30, 1858.
In 1864, the railroad was purchased by Cornelius Vanderbilt
Cornelius Vanderbilt (May 27, 1794 – January 4, 1877), nicknamed "the Commodore", was an American business magnate who built his wealth in railroads and shipping. After working with his father's business, Vanderbilt worked his way into lead ...
, who consolidated it five years later with the Hudson River Railroad
The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Mid ...
to form the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad: a precursor of the much larger New York Central Railroad
The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...
.
On July 2, 1870, horsecar
A horsecar, horse-drawn tram, horse-drawn streetcar (U.S.), or horse-drawn railway (historical), is an animal-powered (usually horse) tram or streetcar.
Summary
The horse-drawn tram (horsecar) was an early form of public rail transport, wh ...
s started to run not only to the 34th Street Ferry but to 73rd Street via Madison Avenue
Madison Avenue is a north-south avenue in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, United States, that carries northbound one-way traffic. It runs from Madison Square (at 23rd Street) to meet the southbound Harlem River Drive at 142nd Stre ...
. These trains ran through the Murray Hill Tunnel
The Park Avenue Tunnel, also called the Murray Hill Tunnel, is a tunnel that passes under seven blocks of Park Avenue in Murray Hill, in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Traffic currently goes northbound from 33rd Street toward the Par ...
and turned west on 42nd before going north on Madison (northbound cars used Vanderbilt Avenue
Vanderbilt Avenue is the name of three thoroughfares in the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Staten Island. They were named after Cornelius Vanderbilt (1794–1877), the builder of Grand Central Terminal in Midtown Manhattan.
Br ...
to 44th Street). The line was soon extended to 86th Street and then to Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...
.
On April 1, 1873, the NY&H leased its freight lines to the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad
The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...
, but the horsecar line south of Grand Central remained separate. This eventually became the New York Central Railroad
The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...
and then part of Penn Central
The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American Railroad classes, class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals (the Pennsylvania Railroad ...
and Conrail
Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do busin ...
. Metro-North Railroad
Metro-North Railroad , trading as MTA Metro-North Railroad, is a suburban commuter rail service run by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), a New York State public benefit corporations, public authority of the U.S. state of New Yor ...
took over the line in 1983.
The first electric streetcar
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
open to passengers in 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 ...
, a Julien electric traction car, was run on September 17, 1888 on the line to 86th Street. The line went back to using horses for a time, but switched to a "below-grade third rail
A third rail, also known as a live rail, electric rail or conductor rail, is a method of providing electric power to a railway locomotive or train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a railway t ...
" (commonly called a "conduit
Conduit may refer to:
Engineering systems
* Conduit (fluid conveyance), a pipe suitable for carrying either open-channel or pressurized liquids
* Electrical conduit, a protective cover, tube or piping system for electric cables
* Conduit curre ...
") in 1897. On July 1, 1896, the Metropolitan Street Railway
The New York Railways Company operated street railways in Manhattan, New York City, United States between 1911 and 1925. The company went into receivership in 1919 and control was passed to the New York Railways Corporation in 1925 after which al ...
leased the streetcar lines.
Receivership and conversion to bus operation
The New York City Railway, which leased the Metropolitan, and hence also these lines, went into receivership
In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver—a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights"—especially in ca ...
on September 24, 1907. The receivers returned operation of the Fourth Avenue line back to the Metropolitan Street Railway
The New York Railways Company operated street railways in Manhattan, New York City, United States between 1911 and 1925. The company went into receivership in 1919 and control was passed to the New York Railways Corporation in 1925 after which al ...
on July 31, 1908. The lease was terminated on January 31, 1920, with operation returned to the NY&H.
On October 10, 1932, it was leased again, this time to the New York Railways Corporation
The New York Railways Corporation was a railway company that operated street railways in Manhattan, New York City, United States between 1925 and 1936. During 1935/1936 it converted its remaining lines to bus routes which were operated by the New ...
, with the right to convert the line to bus operation. The stockholders voted to do this on February 19, 1934.
An approximation of the route is now traveled by NYCT Bus
MTA Regional Bus Operations (RBO) is the surface transit division of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). It was created in 2008 to consolidate all bus operations in New York City operated by the MTA. , MTA Regional Bus Operations ru ...
's M1 bus. The Murray Hill Tunnel
The Park Avenue Tunnel, also called the Murray Hill Tunnel, is a tunnel that passes under seven blocks of Park Avenue in Murray Hill, in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Traffic currently goes northbound from 33rd Street toward the Par ...
now carries a lane of roadway, but not the buses.
See also
* Harlem Line
The Metro-North Railroad Harlem Line, originally chartered as the New York and Harlem Railroad, is an commuter rail line running north from New York City to Wassaic, in eastern Dutchess County. The lower from Grand Central Terminal to Southea ...
References
Railroad History Database
*General News, New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
December 15, 1863 page 4
*Our City Railroads
Our or OUR may refer to:
* The possessive form of " we"
* Our (river), in Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany
* Our, Belgium, a village in Belgium
* Our, Jura, a commune in France
* Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR), a government utility regulat ...
, New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
December 26, 1865 page 8
*Local News in Brief, New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
November 1, 1871 page 8
*Quicker Surface Transit, New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
December 6, 1896 page 16
*New York & Harlem Intact for Century, New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
May 25, 1930 page 39
External links
1863 Harlem Railway Speculation Affair
References
{{Reflist
Defunct New York (state) railroads
Predecessors of the New York Central Railroad
Rail transportation in New York City
Streetcar lines in Manhattan
Railroads transferred to Conrail
Railway companies established in 1831
Railway companies disestablished in 1976
Railroads controlled by the Vanderbilt family
American companies established in 1831
Subdivisions of the New York Central Railroad