Subway Service Guide And Map From 1959

[EE Broadway Local]

I thought, maybe, you might enjoy seeing this. In the Subway Service Guide from the official 1959 subway map there are several service patterns no longer operating.

 

One of these is that Brighton local service on Mondays to Fridays from 6am to 8pm and Saturdays 6am to 7pm operated from Franklin Avenue on the Franklin Avenue Shuttle to Coney Island while on Summer Sundays the Franklin Avenue Shuttle was extended to Coney Island. Today that would be the and doing that service.

 

Another is the Broadway local (the ) operated only between 137th Street and South Ferry late nights 1am to 5am.

 

Link To 1959 Subway Service Guide: http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/caption.pl?/img/maps/system_1959_routeinfo.gif

 

The 1959 subway map has a simple design: three colors (I.R.T. Black; B.M.T. Green; IND. Red); Local stations and terminals were shown by a bar; express stations and terminals by a x in a circle; The IND. Lines did have letters, but the 1959 subway map shows each line by their name.

 

Link To Large 1959 Subway Map: http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/caption.pl?/img//maps/system_1959.gif

[NX Express]

Wait, so there was no service whatsoever on the north of 137 St late nights? No buses?

[R160]

*post deleted*

[NX Express]

Where does it say that on the map? I see that there is no service at the 145 St station on the between 1 and 5 AM, but nothing about the stopping short.

 

Service guide.

[EE Broadway Local]

That's something I'm wondering now. Was Broadway service north of 137th Street-City College shut down very late nights (1am to 5am) or was that just a typo.

 

The map also indicates Lexington Avenue express service was offered in Brooklyn Saturday mornings 5am to 8am.

Wait, so there was no service whatsoever on the north of 137 St late nights? No buses?

[MikeGerald]

I think that the #1 local between 137th Street and South Ferry operated from 5am to 1am - that is daytime and evening hours - since that would be close to the pattern of running the local listed on subway maps after that time. It would make sense to offer the extra service during a time when plenty of people would use it. Subway maps up to the 1970s (and maybe more) showed such trains operating during "normal hours".

 

I think there was a typo on the Service Guide. Just like there have been errors on the subway map in recent decades - that get fixed at the next printing.

 

The idea that the TA closed down service and the stations on the portion of the #1 line north of 137th Street - during the hours of 1am to 5am -- when such an operation was not done on any other subway route seems very suspect.

 

Mike

[Trainmaster5]

Wait, so there was no service whatsoever on the north of 137 St late nights? No buses?

 

Although the guide wasn't clear about it the from Van Cortlandt Park ran at ALL times. The short turn 137th St service only ran at the specified times. This pattern continued into the '80s. Some rookies made 5 trips from 137 to the ferry which was a lot harder than 3 trips from VC ever was. It's like the from Parkchester versus the from Pelham Bay Park runs today. Short-turn service to provide more frequent central business district service weekdays. That's partially why the Broadway service was considered a failure. Any service disruption north of 137th St fouled up service on the whole line. It also impacted the line which was usually called upon to provide Broadway-7th Avenue local service when - service was screwed up. This didn't happen as much when 137th service ran. When 137th St closed as a terminal the TA usually had to pay OT to the line and line crews who missed lunch or were delayed past their clearing time.