The BHRA and Brooklyn Navy Yard’s abandoned trains

Published on: November 5th, 2019 | Written by: Joseph Anastasio

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The case of the disappearing trains.

The BEDT’s exit from servicing the Navy Yard was not the full end to its place in NYC railroad history. In the early 2000s, there was one last rail tenant.

The Brooklyn Historic Railway Association (BHRA) stored twelve PCC trolley cars here, along with a small 20-ton locomotive. The trolley cars were purchased to service commuters on a transit route between Red Hook and Downtown Brooklyn. At the time, BHRA was given the go-ahead and some funding by the NYC government, and the city Department of Transportation.

The BHRA seemed to have some serious managerial issues, and only completed a short section of trackage at the far end of Red Hook. Eventually the BHRA and the city government had a falling out. Funding for the project ended, and the locomotive and trolley cars sat abandoned, rusting by the salt waters of wallabout bay.

With no one paying the rent, and the Navy Yard experiencing a period of dramatic growth, you can guess what happened next. The entire BHRA collection disappeared sometime after 2005.

Rail equipment of any variety is often well documented on railfan photo websites, and there is no trace of any of these cars anywhere on these sites. It seems very likely that they were all cut up for scrap metal—either where they sat or perhaps trucked out in the middle of the night.

RIP Trains
Lost to this scrapping frenzy were the 20 ton Vulcan locomotive, originally built in 1943 for the Army Corps of Engineers. Eleven of the twelve former Buffalo NFTA trolley cars were also lost (a single car was relocated to Red Hook and may still exist today). All of them were apparently fully functional and ready to haul passengers. What an absolutely senseless waste of historic rail cars.

Comments

NOTE: It sometimes takes a short while for comments to be approved - unfortunately there's a lot of spam comments that come in. I absolutely love when y'all share personal stories of friends relatives etc who worked in these places. It really helps capture what these places were like before they closed up shop.

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5 responses to “The BHRA and Brooklyn Navy Yard’s abandoned trains”

1. Billy Gee says:

   November 5, 2019 at 10:10 PM

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   What a waste!

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2. Kingsley says:

   November 6, 2019 at 1:03 PM

   At the 16 second mark you can see those same (maybe?) trolley cars located along the canal in the video below.

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acOmNlzfR-o

   Good research!

3. Bad Guy Joe says:

   November 7, 2019 at 10:37 AM

   That’s a great video. The cars in the video are former Boston cars that were behind what is now fairway. That was going to be the end of the BHRA trolley line. The cars in the navy yard were from Buffalo, and never made it to red hook.

   Love that footage of the old shipyard, revere sugar, the grain terminal… such a great area for bandos back then.

4. MR says:

   February 27, 2020 at 8:06 PM

   Please tell me that gorgeous brick warehouse starting at :26 is still standing? I thought PHL and BAL waterfronts had some interesting old relics but maybe BK? Or is it all gone …

5. Bad Guy Joe says:

   February 28, 2020 at 2:31 PM

   Not sure which video you’re referring to?

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