The Third Avenue Railway System (TARS), founded 1852, was a streetcar system serving the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx along with lower Westchester County. For a brief period of time, TARS also operated the Steinway Lines in Long Island City.Ballard, C: "Metropolitan New York's Third Avenue Railway System", Arcadia Publishing, 2005
The conversion from streetcar to bus operation came from great pressure applied by New York City's Board of Transportation for a unified bus transportation system across the city. TARS applied for its first bus franchises in 1928. By 1948, all streetcar lines in Manhattan and The Bronx were converted to bus operation. The lines in Westchester County continued to operate, until the Yonkers city lines were shut down in 1952. Third Avenue Railway was purchased by New York City Omnibus Corporation in 1956, and transferred the remaining transit operating franchises to subsidiary Surface Transportation, Inc.
Early history
The origins of the Third Avenue Railway System can be traced back to a simple horsecar line operated by the Third Avenue Railroad Company between City Hall and 62nd Street in Manhattan in 1853. By the 1870s, routes had been extended as far north as 129th Street and across the length of 125th Street. At its peak, more than 1,700 horses were stabled by the railway to keep up with demand. By 1885, Third Avenue Railroad had opened its first cable car line on Amsterdam Avenue. The 125th Street and Third Avenue lines were converted to cable car operation by 1893. The lines were converted to electric operation in 1899. Because of a ban on overhead trolley wires in Manhattan, streetcars collected power from a conduit in between the rails, by means of a plow, a method also used in Washington, D.C., and London. Some cars were equipped with trolley poles for operation on lines outside Manhattan into the Bronx. In many cases the conduit was run in the former channel occupied by the propulsion cable.
The Third Avenue Railroad expanded in 1898 with the acquisition of the Dry Dock, East Broadway and Battery Railroad and the Forty-Second Street, Manhattanville and St. Nicholas Railroad. Additional properties include the Belt Line Railway Corporation, the Mid-Crosstown Railway, the Brooklyn and North River Railroad (a joint operation with Brooklyn Rapid Transit, New York Railways, and TARS operating streetcars over the Manhattan Bridge), the Kingsbridge Railroad, the Westchester Electric Railroad, and the Yonkers Railroad: The Central Park, North and East River Railroad was formed in 1860. In 1912 the line was sold at foreclosure and the Belt Line Railway was incorporated in 1912 to take over. Third Avenue Railway assumed control in 1913, gaining the busy 59th Street crosstown line that extended from the Hudson River ferries across mid-town Manhattan to 10th Avenue. The Mid-Crosstown Railway was incorporated in 1912 to acquire the Twenty-Eighth and Twenty-Ninth Streets Crosstown Railroad, which was sold at foreclosure following the collapse of the Metropolitan Street Railway system. After a period of operating the line, Third Avenue Railway purchased the Mid-Crosstown Railway in 1914. The Kingsbridge Railway was chartered in 1898 to build a railway from Manhattan Street to the city line. An agreement was made with the New York City Railway in 1906 to operate their cars over Kingsbridge Railway tracks. With the collapse of the Metropolitan Street Railway in 1908, the agreement was terminated. Third Avenue Railway began leasing the Kingsbridge Railway the same year. The Dry Dock, East Broadway & Battery Railroad was chartered in 1863, and later came under the control of Third Avenue Railroad in 1897. The Avenue B and East Broadway Transit Company was formed independently of TARS in 1932 to operate buses over the same routes upon the termination of streetcar service. The bus operations were taken over by New York City Transit Authority in 1980. Chartered in 1878, the Forty-Second Street, Manhattanville & St. Nicholas Railway opened in 1884. Third Avenue Railroad acquired 42nd Street crosstown line in 1896. Electrification began in 1898, and was completed in 1901. The Third Avenue Bridge Company was formed in 1910 for the purpose of constructing and operating a streetcar line across the Queensboro Bridge to Long Island City. Operation over the bridge began in 1912 and placed under control of the FSSM&StN. The Union Railway was a consolidation of the Bronx Traction Company and the Southern Boulevard Railroad. By the turn of the century, Third Avenue Railroad controlled the majority of streetcar lines in Manhattan, as well as all service in The Bronx and lower Westchester County.
After acquisition The cost of rapid expansion led to financial problems, and Third Avenue Railroad came under the control of the Metropolitan Street Railway. The 1908 collapse of the Metropolitan Railway sent Third Avenue Railroad into foreclosure, with Frederick Wallingford Whitridge named receiver. Third Avenue Railway was chartered in 1910, and acquired the properties of the former Third Avenue Railroad, completing the transaction in 1912. In 1911, the New York City Interborough Railway streetcar lines were purchased from Interborough Rapid Transit, gaining complete control over all streetcar lines in The Bronx. In 1914 the Pelham Park and City Island Railway was acquired from Interborough Rapid Transit, further expanding the railway's reach into The Bronx. This extension was short-lived as the line ceased operation in 1919.
By 1915 Frederick Whitridge was president of the company. Labor unrest caused strikes that disrupted trolley service system-wide, and Whitridge and his policies were under scrutiny. Edward A. Maher succeeded Whitridge, but tendered his resignation at the end of 1917. Slaughter W. Huff, former vice president of the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company, was elected to take over as president of TARS. Huff was an experienced transit executive, working his way through streetcar lines in California, Maryland, and Virginia, before returning to New York City. He was also the longest serving president of TARS.
Steinway Railway
The Steinway Railway Company was founded in 1892, as part of the development of Steinway Village, a company town located in Queens where Steinway pianos were manufactured. William Steinway died in 1896, and the streetcar lines were sold to the New York and Queens County Railway. A 1922 bankruptcy separated the Steinway Railway from the NY&QC, and Slaughter W. Huff, president of Third Avenue Railway, was named receiver. Equipment was leased from TARS in an effort to improve service, however, declining revenues and a failing physical plant made these attempts futile. By 1938, the streetcar operation had been converted to bus, and the Steinway Railway was sold to the Queensboro Bridge Railway Company and operated as subsidiary Steinway Omnibus. All leases with TARS ended in 1939 when the last of the Steinway lines was converted from streetcar to bus operation. The transit franchises are now operated by MTA Bus Company.
Westchester Electric Railroad Chartered in 1891, the Westchester Electric Railroad was a subsidiary of the Union Railway, and made up the majority of the local streetcar lines in New Rochelle, Pelham, and Mount Vernon. The Mount Vernon and Eastchester Railway (an 1887 reorganization of the Mount Vernon and East Chester Rail Road founded in 1885) and the New Rochelle Railway and Transit Company (an 1890 reorganization of the New Rochelle and Pelham Railway founded in 1885 and the New Rochelle Street Horse Railroad founded in 1885) were merged into the Westchester Electric in 1893, which in turn was leased to the Union Railway. It came under control of Third Avenue Railway in 1898, the same year the Mount Vernon and New Rochelle operations were electrified. The main carbarn was located at Sanford Boulevard and Garden Avenue in Mount Vernon. A joint trolley terminal operated with the New York and Stamford Railway was located on Mechanic Street in New Rochelle. The company entered receivership in 1908, and emerged in 1912. Most of the local lines had been closed and converted to bus by 1931. Route J (Glen Island) and Route P (Webster Avenue) were converted to bus operation in June 1939. Route A (Main Street-New Rochelle) and Route B (Mount Vernon Railroad Station-229th Street) were the busiest lines and remained in operation until December 17, 1950.
Westchester Street Railroad Co. The city of White Plains, the county seat of Westchester, marked TARS northernmost trolley operations. The Tarrytown Electric Co. had proposed a line starting from the New York Central Railroad station at Tarrytown, up Main Street, across Broadway on Nepperhan Road to Altamont Avenue, Rose Hill Avenue, and Benedict Avenue. The New York, Elmsford and White Plains Railway was chartered in 1892, and by June 1897 trolleys were running between White Plains and Glenville. By October of that year, the line was linked with the Tarrytown line, creating a continuous cross-county route to White Plains. It was purchased by the Union Railway in 1898 and renamed the Tarrytown, White Plains and Mamaroneck Street Railway. This operation was sold to the Third Avenue Railway in June 1900. The railway was sold at foreclosure to Richard Sutro, who set up the Westchester Street Railroad to take over the property. In 1910, control of the streetcar line was transferred to the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. By the 1920s, both WSR and the New York and Stamford Railway were being managed by New Haven subsidiary New York, Westchester and Boston Railway. By this time the WSR consisted of a single-track line that ran from White Plains to Tarrytown along Tarrytown Road. One branch ran south from White Plains to Eastchester, while another spur ran to Silver Lake. The WSR was sold back to Third Avenue Railway in 1926, and renamed Westchester Street Transportation Company. On November 16, 1929, buses had replaced trolleys completely. The WST was acquired by Fifth Avenue Coach Lines in 1956 when it bought out the remaining TARS operation. In 1969 WST was acquired by Liberty Lines Transit and the transit franchises are now part of Westchester County's Bee-Line Bus System.
New York, Westchester & Connecticut Traction Chartered in Westchester County in 1895 as the North Mount Vernon Street Railway, building local streetcar lines connecting Mount Vernon, Pelham, Eastchester, and Tuckahoe. Facing bankruptcy, the company was reorganized as the Interurban Street Railway which then leased Metropolitan Street Railway and renamed itself New York City Railways. The company entered receivership in 1908. Ownership of the franchise was directed by John Johnston Railroad Company until 1912 when lines were conveyed to the New York, Westchester & Connecticut Traction. This line was consolidated into the new Union Railway in 1908, which in turn came under the control of Third Avenue Railway. The NYW&CT was operated by TARS subsidiary Westchester Electric Railroad.
Yonkers Railroad Company Incorporated in 1896, the Yonkers Railroad Company was the consolidation of the Yonkers Railroad, the North and South Electric Railway, and the Yonkers and Tarrytown Electric Railroad. The line was operated by Third Avenue Railway and consisted of nine routes serving New York State's third largest city.
Line 1 (Broadway-Warburton Ave.) ran from a connection with the New York City Subway at 242nd Street and Broadway, through Getty Square, and north onto Warburton Avenue to the city limits. Line 2 (Broadway-Park Ave.) also ran north from 242nd Street to Getty Square, then turned to serve the steep hills of Palisades and Park avenues. Line 3 ran from the New York Central Railroad Hudson Division station at the foot of Main Street to the subway connection at 242nd Street.