Abandoned 1925 vintage Staten Island Rapid Transit car 353 – 2003.
April 2nd, 2014 by Bad Guy Joe
In 2003 me and Rebel SC came across this very long abandoned Staten Island Rapid Transit car.
History
According to some transit fans, this ME-1 type subway car had been left rotting in the abandoned 'Travis' freight yard along the West Shore Expressway. It had sat there since at least 1973 (being the year that Staten Island's old subway cars were replaced with R-44 cars). In doing so, it became part of an obscure collection of abandoned railroad artifacts spread around the city. For many years there were 2 other ME-1 cars with it - the 388 (which was eventually moved to Brandford and 366, which is preserved at Seashore. There was also a small whitcomb locomotive that was bought, transported and preserved by the Kingston Trolley Museum. This locomotive was used on the South Brooklyn Railway and in regular MTA work train service before being transferred to Staten Island.
The tracks were abandoned by the NYS&W in the early 1990s due to a lack of freight customers. Con Ed had stopped using coal to fire their nearby power plant, thus negating the need for freight rail service. Instead of being rail-banked or converted to another non-maintained 'rail trail', the tracks were bought up by the NY & NJ Port Authority. The Port Authority was keen on reopening these tracks as a means to remove truck traffic from it's bridges, and to make their nearby container facility more viable.
In 2004 the entire yard was bulldozed (and eventually rebuilt) - subway car and all. Word is that it was simply reduced to a pile of rubble by a backhoe and sent to the landfill.
Today these tracks are used by CSX to move a variety of freight goods - primarily paper being shipped out for recycling.
5 responses to “Abandoned 1925 vintage Staten Island Rapid Transit car 353 – 2003.”
I remember seeing this car through the trees from route 440 when I was a kid. I was sad to find out it was scrapped, but not at all surprised (especially after seeing these photos).
These cars were very similar to the old BMT “AB” cars in design and dimensions (except the BMTs did not have reversible seats). The reason for this was that the original plan in 1924 when the SIRR was electrified was to build a tunnel under the Narrows and connect to the BMT subway at 95th Street in Bay Ridge. Tunnel construction was actually begun, but there were financial and political problems which prevented it from being completed.
Robert Moses vetoed any talk of rails on the Verrazano Bridge when it was built, so there it was.
Where can I find this like a specific area pls
It was destroyed long ago. It was located along the west shore expressway.
I just came from Travis. I stood atop the Meredith ave. overpass hoping to find a bit of the train, but looks like they cleared everything away very well 🙁