1901 Report Indicated that The Flynn Syndicate Planned to Buy the Pelham Bay Park & City Island Railroad Horse Car Line

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Today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog continues recent efforts to document research regarding the horse car line that once ran from Bartow Station to the end of City Island when the area was part of the Town of Pelham.  Other examples of such research postings include:

Mon., March 1, 2010:  Flynn Syndicate Buys the City Island Horse Car Line in 1907 to Incorporate It Into Electric Trolley Line.

Fri., February 26, 2010:  1913 Decision of Public Service Commission to Allow Reorganization of City Island Horse Railroad for Electrification.

Thu., February 25, 2010:  Photograph of Patrick Byrnes and Article About His Retirement of the City Island Horse Car in 1914.

Wed., February 24, 2010:  Attempted Suicide of City Island's Long-Time Horse Car Driver

Wed., February 3, 2010:  Early Information Published in 1885 About the Organization of the "City Island Railroad", a Horse Railroad from Bartow Station to City Island

Tue., February 2, 2010:  Information About the Pelham Park Railroad at its Outset

Fri., January 22, 2010:  1884 Account of Early Origins of Horse Railroad Between Bartow Station and City Island

Tue., September 1, 2009:  Pelham News on February 29, 1884 Including Talk of Constructing a New Horse Railroad from Bartow to City Island

Wed., December 2, 2009:  Accident on Horse-Car of the Pelham Park Railroad Line in 1889

 Thu., December 31, 2009:  1887 Election of the Board of Directors of The City Island and Pelham Park Horse Railroad Company

Mon., January 4, 2010:  1888 Local News Account Describes Altercation on the Horse Railroad Running from Bartow Station to City Island

Post Card View of the Horse Car.

Photo of Patrick Byrnes Who Operated the Car for About 25 Years Until 1914.

 

Below is the text of a newspaper article published in 1901 that recounted plans that year for a purchase of the line by The New York, Westchester and Connecticut Traction Company as part of its efforts to cobble together an electric trolley line in southern Westchester County.  The company, better known as the "P. H. Flynn Syndicate", was the principal rival of the Union Railroad Company that also was working to develop trolley lines in the area.  Interestingly, yesterday's posting suggests that the planned purchase described in the article below did not take place for another six years.  Further research will be required to address this issue.

 

"Flynn Syndicate to Buy.

The P.H. Flynn Syndicate, which owns the New York, Westchester & Connecticut Traction Co.'s railroad at Mount Vernon, is about to buy the Pelham Bay Park & City Island railroad, which is owned by Judge H. D. Carey and is operated between Bartow Station and Beldon's Point, City Island.  The price to be paid is $200,000 and the deal is to be closed some day next week.  The road is the only one in the Borough of the Bronx not controlled by the Metropolitan system.  It is one of the few remaining horse car lines within the limits of Greater New York.  

The syndicate, it is said, intends to build a cross-country trolley system connecting the Hudson River with the Long Island Sound."

Source:  Flynn Syndicate to Buy, New Rochelle Pioneer, Oct. 5, 1901, p. 6, col. 2.

 

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Flynn Syndicate Buys the City Island Horse Car Line in 1907 to Incorporate it Into Electric Trolley Line

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Located at http://www.historicpelham.com/.
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Regular readers know that recently I have been assembling research on the horse car line that once ran from Bartow Station to the end of City Island when the area was part of the Town of Pelham.  For examples of postings containing such research, see:

Fri., February 26, 2010:  1913 Decision of Public Service Commission to Allow Reorganization of City Island Horse Railroad for Electrification.

Thu., February 25, 2010:  Photograph of Patrick Byrnes and Article About His Retirement of the City Island Horse Car in 1914.

Wed., February 24, 2010:  Attempted Suicide of City Island's Long-Time Horse Car Driver

Wed., February 3, 2010:  Early Information Published in 1885 About the Organization of the "City Island Railroad", a Horse Railroad from Bartow Station to City Island

Tue., February 2, 2010:  Information About the Pelham Park Railroad at its Outset

Fri., January 22, 2010:  1884 Account of Early Origins of Horse Railroad Between Bartow Station and City Island

Tue., September 1, 2009:  Pelham News on February 29, 1884 Including Talk of Constructing a New Horse Railroad from Bartow to City Island

Wed., December 2, 2009:  Accident on Horse-Car of the Pelham Park Railroad Line in 1889

 Thu., December 31, 2009:  1887 Election of the Board of Directors of The City Island and Pelham Park Horse Railroad Company

Mon., January 4, 2010:  1888 Local News Account Describes Altercation on the Horse Railroad Running from Bartow Station to City Island

Post Card View of the Horse Car.

Photo of Patrick Byrnes Who Operated the Car for 25 Years Until 1914.

Today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog continues to collect research regarding the line.  Below is the text of a newspaper article published in 1900 that recounted the purchase of the line by The New York, Westchester and Connecticut Traction Company as part of its efforts to cobble together an electric trolley line in southern Westchester County.  The company, better known as the "P. H. Flynn Syndicate", was the principal rival of the Union Railroad Company that also was working to develop trolley lines in the area.

"TROLLEY LINE NOW BETWEEN CITY ISLAND AND MOUNT VERNON
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Flynn Syndicate Steals March on Rival and Gets Line Through Pelham Bay Park.

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[BY TELEGRAPH TO THE EVENING TELEGRAM.]

MOUNT VERNON, N.Y., Friday.--The New York, Westchester and Connecticut Traction Company, better known as the P.H. Flynn syndicate, and which has been working to get a foothold in Westchester county, has stolen another march on its rival, the Union Railroad Company, and purchased the Pelham Railway, a horse car line two miles long, which operates between the Bartow station, on the Harlem River branch of the New Haven Railroad, and Belden's Point, on City Island.

For this franchise the Flynn syndicate is to pay $14,000.  The Pelham company held the only franchise through the Pelham Bay Park, and it is anticipated that the syndicate will immediately abolish the horse car line and replace it with a trolley line between City Island and Mount Vernon."

Source:  Trolley Line Now Between City Island and Mount Vernon, The Evening Telegram - New York, Jan. 26, 1900, p. ?, col. 1 (Newspaper page does not included printed page number).

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Actions to Stop the Construction of a Trolley Line on Shore Road in 1899 and 1900

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In 1899 and 1900, as companies worked hard to cover the region with trolley tracks to improve mass transit, efforts were underway to develop a trolley line along Shore Road to move thousands of passengers to the recreational center and amusement park on Glen Island. Local homeowners fought the efforts valiantly. A brief article in the March 6, 1900 issue of the New-York Tribune described some of those efforts.

"A BILL MAKING NECESSARY THE CONSENT OF A MAJORITY OF THE PROPERTY OWNERS.

Assemblyman Cooley has introduced a bill to prevent the construction of a trolley road in any part of Pelham Road, in the village of Pelham Manor or the city of New-Rochelle, except with the consent in writing of a majority of the owners of property along the thoroughfare. A similar bill offered last year was adopted in the Assembly and failed in the Senate.

Assemblyman Cooley, it is understood, is acting on behalf of a number of prominent people who live in the road and desire to save it from being destroyed by the construction of a surface railroad. One of the results of the measure, if it be adopted, will be to prevent the New-York, Westchester and Connecticut Traction Company, or P. H. Flynn syndicate, from reaching Glen Island."

Source: A Bill Making Necessary the Consent of a Majority of the Property Owners, New-York Tribune, Mar. 6, 1900, p. 10, col. 2.

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