IRT Ninth Avenue Line
The Ninth Avenue Line, often called the Ninth Avenue Elevated, was the first elevated railway in New York City, first opened in 1868 as the West Side and Yonkers Patent Railway, a cable-hauled line. The last section in use, over the Harlem River, was known as the Polo Grounds Shuttle, and was was closed in 1958.
HistoryThe West Side and Yonkers Patent Railway
The West Side and Yonkers Patent Railway was built by Charles T. Harvey and ran from July 1, 1868 to 1870. The line used multiple one-mile-long cable loops, driven by steam engines in cellars of buildings adjacent to the track. Each loop was started when a car neared them and stopped when it had passed. The cables were equiped with collars that the car connected to with "claws". As the claws could not be "slipped" the car was jerked each time it moved to the next cable. The system proved cumbersome, broke down several times and eventually the company ran out of money and the system was abandoned. The new owners replaced the cable cars with steam locomotives.
Station listing
See also
Cable car (railway)
External links
NYCsubway.org - The 9th Avenue Elevated1920 track map
ReferencesOpen New Subway to Regular Traffic, New York Times July 2, 1918 page 11
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