The Tunnel Beneath the Branch Line Train Tracks Adjacent to Manor Circle

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New Haven Line railroad commuters in Pelham give little thought to the tunnel they use to move from the east bound tracks to the west bound tracks and vice versa at today's Pelham Train Station in the Village of Pelham.  Few, however, realize that commuters who once used the Pelham Manor Train Station that stood at the eastern end of the Esplanade on land now part of the New England Thruway (I-95) also had a tunnel that permitted them to pass beneath the various commuter tracks safely.

Today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog includes a detail from a map published in 1908 that provides details regarding the Pelham Manor Station tunnel.  The detail appears immediately below, followed by a few comments on the significance of the map detail.

Detail from 1908 Map Showing Tunnel Leading
from Manor Circle to the Commuter Tracks of
the Pelham Manor Station in Lower Left Quadrant.
Source:  Fairchild, John F., Atlas of the City Of Mount
Vernon and the Town of Pelham Second Edition, Compiled
from Official Records, Personal Surveys, and Other Private
Plans and Surveys, Double Page Plate No. 38 [Map Bounded
by Pelhamdale Ave., Long Island Sound, Pelham Bay Park] (1908).

In the early twentieth century, planners realized that suburban development of the lands extending from the Branch Line tracks to Long Island Sound was a virtual certainty.  The tunnel beneath the Branch Line tracks was intended to permit commuters who lived east of the tracks to proceed safely to any of the three station platforms or to the Pelham Manor Station itself by proceeding beneath the tracks.  

The Branch Line now serves freight and Amtrak trains.  The commuter tunnel long since has been filled and closed.  There seems to be no visible remnants of the tunnel, with one possible exception.  Approximately where the tunnel stairs would have been entered, the curb along Manor Circle is cut away as if to allow easy access.  This cutaway remains today.

For additional information about the early days of the Pelham Manor Depot and the Pelham Manor Post Office, see, e.g.:  

Mon., Sep. 15, 2014:  1884 Gunfight in Pelham Manor Pits Local Residents Against Pelham Manor Depot Burglars.

Wed., Aug. 06, 2014:  Important Report of the Opening of the Branch Line Through the Manor of Pelham in November 1873.

Fri., Apr. 25, 2014:  Freight Train Wreck at Pelham Manor Station in 1896.

Tue., Jan. 28, 2014:  The Pelham Manor Post Office.

Wed., Feb. 10, 2010:  Train Station Safe at Pelham Manor Was Blown Open with Dynamite Yet Again on April 24, 1902.  

Tue., Nov. 17, 2009:  1883 Advertisement by Pelham Manor Protective Club Offering Reward for Information About Pelham Manor Depot Burglary.  

Tue., Aug. 11, 2009:  News of Pelham Manor and City Island Published on July 14, 1882.

Fri., Mar. 6, 2009:  Burglars Blow the Safe at the Pelham Manor Post Office in 1894.  

Mon., Jan. 28,, 2008:  1884 Burglary and Gun Fight at the Pelham Manor Depot.  

Fri., Jan. 18, 2008:  Studies Created by Noted Architect Cass Gilbert for the Pelham Manor Station.  

Fri., Jun. 8, 2007:  Photographs of Pelham Manor Station and the City Island Station on the Branch Line Published in 1916.

Tue., May 22,, 2007:  Photograph of Pelham Manor Station on the Branch Line Published in 1908.  

Tue., Mar. 29, 2005:  The Earliest Telephone in Pelham Manor?  

Archive of the Historic Pelham Web Site.

Home Page of the Historic Pelham Blog.

Order a Copy of "Thomas Pell and the Legend of the Pell Treaty Oak."