Historic Pelham

Presenting the rich history of Pelham, NY in Westchester County: current historical research, descriptions of how to research Pelham history online and genealogy discussions of Pelham families.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

City Island Horse Railroad Temporarily Shut Down in 1892 Over Cruelty Concerns

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I have been working on a history of the "horse railroad" that once ran in the Town of Pelham from Bartow Station to the end of City Island. Today's post adds additional research to the collection I have assembled so far. At the end of this post is a list of links to earlier postings on the topic.


Today's posting transcribes a newspaper article about the horse railroad that appeared in July 16, 1892 issue of The World. The article is transcribed in its entirety below.

"SO THE FISHERMEN SWORE.
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The Twelve Horses of the Pelham Park Railroad Tied Up.
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PASSENGERS FROM BARTOW TO BELDEN POINT WALKED.
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The Bergh Society Says the Animals Work Too Hard and, Like Them, the Road is Tied Up, Too -- The President of the Road Is Also Head of the Local Brnach of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Twenty fishermen sat on the platform at Bartow Station yesterday morning and whistled.  They had come out on the Harford and New Haven Railroad from New York for a day's sport on the Sound.  At Bartow Station the trains connect with a horse-car line running to City Island and Belden Point, the places nearest to the best fishing grounds on the Sound. 

The fishermen expected to find a car waiting as usual, but it was not there.  Half an hour passed and the whistle changed to a ragged chorus of profanity.  A bare-footed country boy came down the road, patting the dust with his feet.

He wore a torn straw hat, and had a stone bruise on his heel.  He looked about as if searching for something.  Seeing the crowd on the platform, he eyed them silently for a few moments and then yelled:

'I say, if you fellers is waiting for the cars yer might as well go back.  There won't be any cars.  The cops stopped them.'

He then went on his way, not replying to the questions hurled at him by the now thoroughly disgusted group. 

No car meant either to return to the city or to walk three miles under a broiling sun over a road on which the dust lay six inches deep.  Some concluded to have the fishing at all costs, and so trudged away to Belden Point.  The majority, however, concluded to return to town, and so, packing up their outfits, they took the next train to the city.

Inquiry at the offices of the company showed that the road was virtually tied up, the officers of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, this city, having suspended most of the company's horses from work. 

The car line is known as the Pelham Park Railroad.  It has about six miles of track and is operated by twelve horses, one horse to a car.  Twenty-three round trips are made daily from Bartow Station to Belden Point.  It is the line over which all the Sound fishermen who go to Belden Point or City Island must travel.  It does a large business and often, particularly on Sunday, the cars are crowded. 

The Superintendent, F. Underhill, is a very young man, and bears his youth with all the dignity of old age.  He wears a flowing red mustache on his upper lip and a pair of darkened glass spectacles on his eyes.

'Yes,' he said, heaving a sigh, 'the society has just about tied us up.  We cannot carry out our contract with the railroad and make regular trips.' 

Supt. Hankinson, of the society, was not at all pleased to learn that his operations in Westchester County had become public, for he did not intend to make it so for several days.

'We have been receiving complaints against this road for some time past,' he said, 'and after investigating found that the horses were greatly overworked.  One horse was supposed to make two continuous trips hauling a heavy car after him.  The road runs over several hills, and the traffic being heavy, we concluded to stop abuse.

'Mr. Underhill was in my office to-day and I thold him that he must put on more horses.  A number have been suspended and I do not see how he can run his road with those he has left.  He can not do it." 

A large squad of the officers will make a descent on the road to-morrow, and it they find that the company is using the horses agaisnt orders, every man, from driver to president, will be arrested. 

A curious fact in connection with the affair is that W. R. Lambertson, the President of the Pelham Park road, is also President of the branch of the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals located at Bartow, which society has no official connection with Mr. Hankinson's society.  Thus the chief officer of a society formed for the one purpose of protecting animals may be prosecuted for cruelty to the very animals which he should protect under the laws of the State.  As to-morrow is the great day for Sound fishermen there will be hundreds going to Bartow Station expecting to be carried over to the Sound."

Source:  So the Fishermen Swore, The World, July 16, 1892, p. 9, col. 8.

Thu., May 13, 2010: More on the Early History of the Pelham and City Island Railroad.

Tue., May 4, 2010: Questions Regarding the Trolley Franchise from Bartow Station to the Tip of City Island Arose in 1915.

Mon., May 3, 2010: Efforts To Reorganize the Operators of the City Island Horse Railroad and Monorail in 1914.

Fri., April 30, 2010: "Truly, An Illuminating Little Passage in the History of New-York!" - Efforts to Develop Shore Road Trolley Line in 1897.

Thu., April 29, 2010: City Islanders Complain and Force the Operators of Their Horse Railroad to Agree to Replace Antiquated Cars in 1908.

Wed., April 28, 2010: Efforts by the Pelham Park Horse Railroad to Expand and Develop a Trolley Car Line on Shore Road in 1897.

Tue., April 27, 2010: New York City's Interborough Rapid Transit Company Sued to Foreclose a Mortgage on the Horse Railroad in 1911.

Mon., April 26, 2010: Public Service Commission Couldn't Find Marshall's Corners in 1909.

Fri., March 5, 2010: Construction of the City Island Horse Railroad in 1887.

Thu., March 4, 2010: Beginnings of Horse Railroad - News from Pelham and City Island Published in 1884.

Wed., March 3, 2010: 1879 Advertisement for Robert J. Vickery's City Island Stage Line, A Predecessor to the City Island Horse Railroad.

Tue., March 2, 2010: 1901 Report Indicated that The Flynn Syndicate Planned to Buy the Pelham Bay Park & City Island Horse Car Line.

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.
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Tuesday, May 04, 2010

Questions Regarding the Trolley Franchise from Bartow Station to the Tip of City Island Arose in 1915


Yesterday I wrote about the dissatisfaction of City Islanders with the transportation service they had used for years from Bartow Station to the tip of City Island.  (A link to that posting and other related postings appears at the end of this brief article.)  By 1914, they were angry that they had been subjected to a "dilapidated" horse railroad system followed by a disastrous experiment with a monorail system.  The Public Service Commission stepped in and authorized reorganization of the Pelham Park Railroad Company and the City Island Railroad Company to create the Pelham Park and City Island Railway Company.

Later in the year, the railroad was reconstructed and battery-operated trolleys began running on the line.  City Islanders were still not happy because the battery-powered cars did not have the power or the "get-up-and-go" that overhead electric trolley cars did. 

By 1915, questions arose over the legitimacy of the franchise under which the battery-powered trolleys were being run.  The following Report of the Bureau of Franchises of the Board of Estimate and Apportionment of the City of New York sheds some light on the matter. 

"Borough of The Bronx.

Pelham Park and City Island Railway Company, Inc.

In last year's report it was related that the Union Railway Company had acquired from the Interborough Rapid Transit Company, control of the City Island and Pelham Park Railway properties and had obtained a temporary permit from the Commissioner of Parks, The Bronx, for operation through Pelham Bay Park pending the acquirement of a franchise.

In August, 1914, the railway was reconstructed on the City Island Road through the park, its original route, and storage battery cars have since been operated from City Island station to Belden Point, the old monorail structure through the park having been removed.

On July 9, 1915, the Park Commissioner was authorized to renew the permit for temporary operation for an additional period of six months, upon the usual understanding that the tracks would be removed unless a franchise were obtained. This permit the company at first refused to accept, on account of the condition mentioned, it being claimed that the company has a valid franchise to operate, which it did not care to endanger. This matter has, of course, been thoroughly threshed out during the last few years, and the bringing of an action to have the franchise of the Pelham Park Railroad Company declared forfeited has been in the Corporation Counsel's hands for some time. When the Union Railway Company acquired the property it was understood that an application for a franchise would be made, and it was on this condition that the first temporary permit was granted, and that the Corporation Counsel has withheld action in the forfeiture proceeding. The company finally accepted the permit for six months' additional operation, with the condition specified, but up to the end of the year no application for a franchise had been presented. Meanwhile the Public Service Commission has granted the Pelham Park and City Island Railway Company another extension of time to complete construction of its system and issue capital stock under the reorganization plan approved by the Commission in 1913. This plan provides for an issue of $117,000 of capital stock and the construction of an overhead electric, standard gauge street railway along the original routes of the former City Island and Pelham Park companies, or such substitute routes as the Board may approve between City Island station and Belden Point. The Receiver of the Monopod Construction Company, which company, it appears, financed the construction of the unsuccessful monorail company, has applied to the Board for the return to him of the security deposit of $2,500 in cash, made by the City Island Railroad Company and the Pelham Park Railroad Company under the consents given by the City in 1909 for the change of power to the monorail system. No action has as yet been taken on this application, nor would it be advisable to take any until the question of the companies' franchise rights has been definitely determined."

Source:  Report of the Bureau of Franchises of the Board of Estimate and Apportionment of the City of New York for the Year 1915, pp. 9-10 (NY, NY:  Press of Clarence S. Nathan, Inc. 1916).

Mon., May 3, 2010:  Efforts To Reorganize the Operators of the City Island Horse Railroad and Monorail in 1914.

Fri., April 30, 2010:  "Truly, An Illuminating Little Passage in the History of New-York!" - Efforts to Develop Shore Road Trolley Line in 1897.

Thu., April 29, 2010:  City Islanders Complain and Force the Operators of Their Horse Railroad to Agree to Replace Antiquated Cars in 1908.

Wed., April 28, 2010:  Efforts by the Pelham Park Horse Railroad to Expand and Develop a Trolley Car Line on Shore Road in 1897.

Tue., April 27, 2010:  New York City's Interborough Rapid Transit Company Sued to Foreclose a Mortgage on the Horse Railroad in 1911.

Mon., April 26, 2010:  Public Service Commission Couldn't Find Marshall's Corners in 1909.

Fri., March 5, 2010:  Construction of the City Island Horse Railroad in 1887.

Thu., March 4, 2010:  Beginnings of Horse Railroad - News from Pelham and City Island Published in 1884.

Wed., March 3, 2010:  1879 Advertisement for Robert J. Vickery's City Island Stage Line, A Predecessor to the City Island Horse Railroad.

Tue., March 2, 2010:  1901 Report Indicated that The Flynn Syndicate Planned to Buy the Pelham Bay Park & City Island Horse Car Line.

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.

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Monday, May 03, 2010

Efforts to Reorganize the Operators of the City Island Horse Railroad and Monorail in 1914


By 1914, City Islanders were fed up with the Pelham Park Railroad Company and the City Island Railway Company.  They believed that the horse railroad service and the monorail service that for years had transported them from Bartow Station to the tip of City Island had been dilapidated and inadequate.  They felt that the monorail "experiment" had been an unmitigated disaster.  They wanted construction of a modern, overhead electric trolley line.  As part of the process, regulatory authorities approved the reorganization of the two companies in 1914.  The decision of the Public Service Commission describes the hardship of travel on the line as follows:

"In the early years of the commission, the line leading from Bartow to City Island bridge, known as the Pelham Park Railroad, was a narrow-gauged horse railway in a most dilapidated condition, and the City Island Railroad began where the other line stopped and continued across City Island bridge and through Main street down within a few blocks of Belden's Point and there terminated. This was also a narrow-gauged railway in the same condition as the other. Complaints were numerous of the conditions of their equipment. Actual observations taken on various complaints showed that the cars were so dilapidated that often in rainy weather they were absolutely non-waterproof. The horses and harnesses were little better. After much effort we got them to put in some other second-hand cars that were somewhat better, but in every effort to mend the condition of affairs, we were met with the statement that the companies were not paying operating expenses, and an examination of their financial condition proved that to be the case."

"In the Matter of the Approval of the Plan and Agreement for the Reorganization of the Pelham Park Railroad Company, and the Proposed Issue of Securities in Accordance Therewith.

Case No. 1655.

In the Matter of the Approval of the Plan and Agreement for the Reorganization of the City Island Railroad Company, and the Proposed Issue of Securities in Accordance Therewith.

Case No. 1656.

In the Matter of the Application of the Pelham Park And City Island Railway Company, Incorporated, for Authority to Issue Its Corporate Stock and to Effect Changes of Motive Power and Gauge, and for Other Purposes Incident to the Reorganization of the Pelham Park Railroad Company and the City Island Railroad Company.

Cases Nos. 1655 and 1656.
(Public Service Commission, First District, May 27, 1913.)

Issuance of stock and bonds — amount of securities issuable — street railroad corporation — securities in pursuance of reorganization plan.

Transfers of stock — street railroad corporation — acquisition by one railroad corporation of all of stock issue.

Franchises — purchase and transfer — street railroad corporations.

Certificate of permission and approval — construction and operation of street surface railroad — public necessity and convenience — rate of fare.

Under the circumstances stated in the opinion, the Pelham Park and City Island Railway Company, Incorporated, should be authorized to [Page 189 / Page 190] issue $117,000, par value, of its common capital stock, for the purposes set out in the order entered.

Under the circumstances stated in the opinion, the Pelham Park and City Island Railway Company, Incorporated, should be authorized to issue and sell to the Interborough Rapid Transit Company all of the $117,000, par value, of stock to be issued by the former, and the Interborough Rapid Transit Company should be authorized to purchase, acquire, take and hold all such stock.

The sale, assignment and transfer of the franchises, rights and property of the Pelham Park Railroad Company and the City Island Railroad Company to the Pelham Park and City Island Railway Company, Incorporated, should, under the circumstances stated in the opinion, be approved and authorized.

It appearing that the construction, maintenance and operation of the railroads and railroad routes formerly belonging to the Pelham Park and City Island Railroad Company and the City Island Railroad Company, as a single, standard-gauge railroad operated by overhead current of electricity, from Bartow to Belden's Point, in the city of New York, for a single fare of five cents from one end of the line to the other, is necessary and convenient for the public service, the application of the Pelham Park and City Island Railway Company for permission and approval for such construction, maintenance and operation of the said railroad should be granted.

*

The facts as to the proceedings before the commission in these cases appear in the opinion adopted.
The order entered, in Cases Nos. 1655 and 1656, on May 27, 1913, in pursuance of the opinion on that date adopted, provided, in full, as follows:

Section 1.  Application having been made to the public service commission for the first district by the Pelham Park and City Island Railway Company, Incorporated, under provisions of the Public Service Commissions Law, for the consent of the commission to the issuance by said company of its capital stock to the amount of $117,000, par value, and a hearing having been duly held upon said application before the commission, Honorable John E. Eustis, commissioner, presiding; and it appearing to the commission that none of the authorized capital stock of the said Pelham Park and City Island Railway Company, Incorporated, has been issued; and it being now the opinion of the commission:

(1) That the money to be procured by the issue of the stock desired is reasonably required for the acquisition of property and the construction, completion, extension and improvement of its facilities, and, particularly for the purposes which are hereinafter stated in this order;

(2) That said purposes are not in whole or in part reasonably chargeable to operating expenses or to income;
Section 2. It is ordered, that the Pelham Park and the City Island Railway Company, Incorporated, be and hereby is authorized to issue its capital [Page 190 / Page 191] stock to the amount of $117,000, par value; that all the stock hereby authorized shall be common stock of said company to be issued at par for money, and that the proceeds thereof shall be applied only to the following purposes, that is to say:

(1) For acquisition of property described as follows:

Reconstructed tracks in City Island Road….$44,941.08
Four cars at $1,200 each…………………....4, 800.00

(2) For the construction, completion, extension and improvement of its facilities, including the proposed standard gauge track on that part of said route now unconstructed, proposed cost of paving, proposed overhead construction, and proposed car house, substation and substation machinery….67.258.94

Total……………………………………$117.000.00

Section 3. It is ordered, that said issue of stock is authorized upon the conditions following and not otherwise, to-wit:

First. That said company shall keep separate, true and accurate accounts showing the receipt and application in detail of the proceeds of the sale or disposal of the stock hereby authorized to be issued, and on or before the tenth day of each month the company shall make verified reports to the commission stating the sale or sales of said stock during the previous month, the terms and conditions of sale, the moneys realized therefrom and the use and application of such moneys; and said accounts, vouchers and records shall be open to audit and may be audited from time to time by accountants and examiners designated for such purpose by the commission.

Second.  That none of the proceeds of the aforementioned stocks hereby authorized for the purposes specified in section 2 of this order shall be expended by the said company for the purposes specified therein until a properly itemized bill for each proposed expenditure shall have been submitted to the commission by the company with the certificate of one of the officers that such expenditure represents a real increase in its fixed capital as defined in the accounting rules of the commission, and not a replacement of any part of such fixed capital or a substitution for wasted capital or other loss properly chargeable to income, and until such bill shall have been approved by the commission.

Third.  That the authority hereby given to issue such stock shall apply only to stock issued by the said company on or before the 31st day of December, 1913.

Section 4. And application having been made to the commission by said Pelham Park and City Island Railway Company, Incorporated, under provisions of the Public Service Commissions Law for an order of the commission authorizing said company to issue and sell said stock at par to the Interborough Rapid Transit Company, and authorizing said Interborough Rapid Transit Company to purchase, acquire, take and hold the stock so to be issued and sold; and a hearing having been duly held upon said application before the commission, Honorable John E. Eustis, commissioner, pre- [Page 191 / Page 192] siding; and it appearing to the commission that said application should be granted,

Section 5. It is ordered, that said Pelham Park and City Island Railway Company, Incorporated, be and it hereby is authorized to issue and sell at par to the Interborough Rapid Transit Company all the stock authorized to he issued under the foregoing provisions of this order, and that said Interborough Rapid Transit Company be and it hereby is authorized to purchase, acquire, take and hold all such stock.

Section 6. And application having been made to this commission by said Pelham Park and City Island Railway Company, Incorporated, under provisions of the Public Service Commissions Law, for authority to purchase and acquire all the franchises, rights and property of the Pelham Park Railroad Company and the City Island Railroad Company, and to have the same assigned and transferred to said Pelham Park and City Island Railway Company, Incorporated; and a hearing having been duly held upon said application before the commission, Honorable John E. Eustis, commissioner, presiding; and it appearing to the commission that such purchase, assignment and transfer should be approved and authorized by the commission,

Section 7. It is ordered, that said purchase, assignment and transfer be and the same hereby is approved and authorized.

Section 8. And application having been made to the commission by said Pelham Park and City Island Railway Company, Incorporated, under provisions of the Railroad Law and of the Public Service Commissions Law for an order of the commission authorizing, consenting to, permitting and approving the construction, maintenance and operation of the railroads and railroad routes formerly belonging to the Pelham Park Railroad Company and the City Island Railroad Company, as a single railroad from Bartow to Belden's Point in the city of New York, said railroad to be constructed, maintained and operated as a railroad of standard gauge on which the motive power shall be overhead current of electricity, and on which transportation shall be afforded from one end of the line to the other at a single fare of five cents; and a hearing having been duly held upon said application before the commission. Honorable John E. Eustis, commissioner, presiding; and it appearing to the commission that the construction, maintenance and operation of said railroad in the manner and with the rate of fare mentioned is necessary and convenient for the public service, and that said application should be granted.

Section 9. It is ordered, that the construction, maintenance and operation of the railroads formerly belonging to the Pelham Park Railroad Company and the City Island Railroad Company as a single railroad from Bartow to Belden's Point in the city of New York, said railroad to be constructed, maintained and operated as a railroad of standard gauge on which the motive power shall be overhead current of electricity, and on which transportation shall be afforded from one end of the line to the other at a single fare of five cents, be and the same hereby is authorized, consented to, permitted and approved; the authority, consent, permission and approval hereby granted to pertain and apply to the construction, maintenance and operation [Page 192 / Page 193] of said railroad in, upon and along the particular streets, avenues, highways, public places and private property, in, upon and along which said railroads of the Pelham Park Railroad Company and the City Island Railroad Company have been heretofore operated, or in, upon and along such alternative route or location as may be authorized by law and consented to by the city authorities and by the property owners affected; provided, however, and this authorization, consent, permission and approval is granted upon the express condition that said company shall take any and all steps not already taken and procure any and all rights not already procured that are or may be required by law as conditions precedent to the construction, maintenance and operation of said railroad in the manner mentioned.

Section 10. And it appearing to the commission that the convenience of the public demands that said railroad to be constructed, maintained and operated by said Pelham Park and City Island Railway Company, Incorporated, should be constructed and placed in operation at the earliest possible moment.

Section 11. It is ordered that said Pelham Park and City Island Railway Company, Incorporated, proceed immediately with the construction of said road and complete the same and place the same in full operation within three months from and after the first day of June, 1913.

Section 12. It is ordered, that this order take effect on the 3d day of June, 1913, and except as provided in the third paragraph of section 3 limiting the duration of the authority to issue the stock herein granted, continue in force until otherwise ordered by the commission, and that within ten days after service upon it of a copy of this order said company notify the commission whether the terms of this order are accepted and will be obeyed.

Arthur DuBois, for the commission.

James L. Quackenbush and J. Osgood Nichols, for the Interborough Rapid Transit Company.

Harry P. Nichols, Engineer of the Bureau of Franchises of the Board of Estimate and Apportionment of the City of New York.

William P. Burr and Vincent Victory, Assistant Corporation Counsel, for the City of New York.

Thomas J. Higgins, Commissioner of Parks of the Borough of The Bronx.

Henry C. Appleton, President, H. S. Sayers, Secretary, H. T. Booth, P. C. Curry, and F. W. Seifert, stockholders, of the City Island Railroad Company. [Page 193 / Page 194]

George T. Holloway, for W. S. Jarvis and Mrs. Longford, in opposition.

Stephen Collins and Samuel Reynolds, in opposition. 

Eustis, Commissioner.— The applications in the first two matters above mentioned were received at the same time and hearings were set for the same day, on account of the ownership of both properties being the same and the roads affected being two parts of one line running from Bartow, which is the City Island station on the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, to Belden's Point on City Island.

The condition of travel on these two old roads since the formation of this commission has been the cause of continuous complaint and trouble. In the early years of the commission, the line leading from Bartow to City Island bridge, known as the Pelham Park Railroad, was a narrow-gauged horse railway in a most dilapidated condition, and the City Island Railroad began where the other line stopped and continued across City Island bridge and through Main street down within a few blocks of Belden's Point and there terminated. This was also a narrow-gauged railway in the same condition as the other. Complaints were numerous of the conditions of their equipment. Actual observations taken on various complaints showed that the cars were so dilapidated that often in rainy weather they were absolutely non-waterproof. The horses and harnesses were little better. After much effort we got them to put in some other second-hand cars that were somewhat better, but in every effort to mend the condition of affairs, we were met with the statement that the companies were not paying operating expenses, and an examination of their financial condition proved that to be the case. The travel, excepting for a few months in the summer, was exceedingly light, and the expenses abnormally high for the service rendered. About three years ago a change was made, and Mr. Bion L. Burrows (who was assisted by Mr. Belmont, the one who originally bought these lines and transferred them to the Interborough Rapid Transit Company) took up the proposition of substituting for the horse-car service on [Page 194 / Page 195] these lines a monorail-car service. After considerable negotiation, the city officials consented to the change and the roadway was graded through the park some distance from, but yet on a line parallel to the road leading through the park, and a monorail line was constructed and service installed on the Pelham Park line as an experiment, it being the intention at that time, if this car was a success, to have the line extended across City Island. But after three years of experiment the monorail was discarded. In the meantime, a year or so ago, the city authorities undertook the widening, regulating, grading and repaving of Main street on City Island, upon which street the City Island line was laid. During this construction the railroad track was relaid as a widegauged standard track, approval being given therefor by this commission. Foreclosure proceedings were had on account of the non-payment of interest for many years on the mortgage covering these properties. The properties were sold on July 2, 1912, to George Keegan, who is the agent or representative of the Interborough Rapid Transit Company, the plaintiff in the foreclosure suit and also the owner of all the stock of the old companies. The application of each of the companies was for the issue of stock only, in amount sufficient to cover the value of the actual property now in existence, together with a sufficient amount to secure capital to put the two roads in proper condition for operation as a standard-gauged trolley line between Bartow and Belden's Point. Formal proof was duly offered upon the first hearing, held on March thirty-first, and testimony was also offered as to the value of the property remaining. The city was represented by the corporation counsel and also by Harry P. Nichols, the franchise expert of the board of estimate and apportionment, who took an active part in the proceedings before the commission. This activity on the part of the city officials grew out of the fact that they had been very greatly aggravated and annoyed by the condition of the service and the failure of the monorail system—to the extent of passing resolutions, ordering the monorail removed from Pelham Bay Park and also directing that the attorney-general be requested to institute legal proceedings to forfeit the franchises of these companies on account of poor service. At the first hearing the [Page 195 / Page 196] commission suggested that these two applications be consolidated since both properties had been purchased by Mr. Keegan, representing the same ownership; that the two lines were only parts of one whole line, and that no better time would ever come to consolidate these properties into one ownership, one company and one fare. The attorney for the applicant thought that this proposition might be acceptable to the owners, and an adjournment was taken for the purpose of ascertaining whether they would not take this under consideration.

At the adjourned hearing, on April 7, 1913, an amended petition was received, entitled 'In the 'Matter of the Plan for the Reorganization of the City Island Railroad Company and the Pelham Park Railroad Company,' in which the petitioner asked for substantially the relief asked for in the original petition. The petitioner then stated that, 'pursuant to said plans and agreements, as modified in accordance with the terms of this petition and the requirements of the public service commission,' he proposed to organize a new corporation to take over the said railroad properties and franchises, and requested 'that this commission authorize the said new corporation, under the name and style of the 'Pelham Park and City Island Railroad Company', or such other designation as may be approved by the secretary of state, to issue its stock in an amount equal to the reasonable value of the tangible properties' of the old companies, which properties were to be acquired by the new corporation. The petitioner further asked that the 'commission make this order upon such terms and conditions as may permit and facilitate the carrying into effect of the purposes contemplated in this petition, without delay.' The purpose contemplated by the petition as amended was the establishment of an up-to-date trolley line, standard gauged, from Bartow station, on the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, to Belden's Point, City Island.

One of the suggestions made on behalf of the city was that the new service should be a storage-battery car service, on account of the line running through a city park, thus doing away with unsightly poles and overhead wires. The petitioner objected to this [Page 196 / Page 197] on account of the grades along the line at some places being about four and five per cent, and asserted that, under such conditions, and especially at curves, the battery-car service would not be reliable, particularly with heavy loads in the winter season. The residents of City Island, who attended the hearings in large numbers, with one accord said: 'Give us a regular trolley service; we want no more experiments.'

Another suggestion, made on behalf of the city, was that the tracks should not be allowed to be restored to the bed of City Island road through the park from which they were removed when the monorail was constructed, but that they should be relaid on the line of the monorail track. Another suggestion submitted by the city was that, in connection with the proposed reorganization of these two companies into one company, the commission should impose as a condition of its approval the requirement that the new company should agree to extend its line along the Eastern boulevard, from Westchester avenue to the easterly line of the park, and that, if such an extension was promised, then the trolley service would be necessary. Whether extended now or not, the reconstructed line should be the best and one capable of extension hereafter, and for this reason our approval should be for trolleyline service, and not storage-battery car service. The overhead structure can be so designed as not to be any detriment to the park features. As to whether the reconstructed track should be on City Island road, or along the bed of the monorail track, the commission is not materially concerned; neither are the residents of City Island, so long as they get the road and get it quickly. The company's permit to use the monorail track through the park is revocable at any time. The company has no legal rights there at present. To secure such rights as the company claims to have on City Island road, to-wit, a perpetual franchise, might take a long time and remedial legislation. We should not require the road to be built where the rights are doubtful. There can be no objections to the commission approving the plan as asked for on City Island road, with an alternative approval for the other location, should the company be able to make satisfactory arrange- [Page 197 / Page 198] ments to build it there. The question of extension to this line, which all concede are very necessary for adequate service to the residents of City Island and the vast crowd of visitors to this park, should not be made a condition of approval in this case, but should be considered on its merits. I have had the assurance of the general manager of the Interborough Rapid Transit Company that the company will look with favor on an extension of this line through the park on satisfactory terms, but that the company does not wish to delay the rebuilding of these old lines until the question of an extension can be taken up and decided.

At the hearing on April sixteenth, a written protest was read by Mr. Harry P. Nichols, representing the franchise committee of the board of estimate, in effect against the commission taking any action upon the application now before us until the railroad company makes satisfactory arrangements for the extension of the line through Pelham Bay Park, which protest the citizens of City Island, who were present in large numbers, emphatically denounced. I do not believe that it is the desire of the board of estimate and apportionment of the city of New York to take any action that will further inconvenience, harass and damage the citizens of City Island. I earnestly believe that a majority of that board would wish to see the two old railroad companies rehabilitated into one, and reorganized from a ramshackle, horsecar, monorail system, into an up-to-date trolley system of one line and at one fare. In this proceeding the commission is asked to do certain things to bring about just such a result. The first relates to the amount of stock to be issued to the reorganized company. As to this, for once the commission has a very simple and easy proposition on a question of the issue of securities. No bonds are asked for, and therefore there is no question of any security being issued for less than par. The applicant does not ask for any definite sum, but submits the value of the property that it claims is still in existence, and also an estimate of the cost of completing the line. An examination of these figures, made by the experts of the commission, shows that they are so nearly correct that criticism would not effect any substantial reduction.  [Page 198 / Page 199]

As to the value of the property of the City Island Railroad Company that is usable by the new company, it is embraced in the value of the reconstructed tracks, which, according to the testimony, is $44,941.06. The other property upon which proof of value was offered was six horses at $100 each, old harnesses at $260. tools and stable equipment at $200, making a total of $1,060 for a lot of truck that is absolutely useless for a trolley road, and would naturally have to be sold. The only tangible property belonging to the Pelham Park Railroad Company is the estimated value of the monorail construction, which is to be sold for scrap, which was estimated at $2,030, aggregating, with the other three items, $3,090. As none of this represents assets or property that would be used in the reconstructed road, stock should not be issued to represent the same, but the company should be left free to dispose of these articles for cash, and then, if the cash is turned into the reconstruction of the line, stock can then be issued for the same at whatever amount the company is able to realize. The testimony as to the cost of completing the line on City Island for an overhead trolley, including the relaying of the tracks as broad-gauged through Pelham Bay Park on the City Island railroad, constructing the overhead trolley, furnishing a small car-house, substation and substation machinery, showed a total of $71,999. Criticism of these items would tend to increase rather than to diminish them, as it seems almost improbable that the company can build a suitable car-house for the storage of cars for this line for $6,600, or that an adequate substation with the necessary machinery can be established for less than $8,000. The company has included only $4,800 for closed passenger cars. The evidence submitted was that the company anticipated providing only four cars with equipment, at $1,200 each. These cars, at that price, would have to be second-hand, and might be serviceable for a short time only, but, in order to be satisfactory to the commission, they would have to be in first-class condition, and I am of the opinion that to give adequate service during the summer months more than four cars would be needed. I therefore would favor the granting of authority to issue $44,900 of capital stock, [Page 199 / Page 200] in round figures, to cover the value of the present track and roadbed, and I would recommend that additional stock to the amount of $72,000 be authorized to be issued when that amount of money has been expended upon the reconstruction, the usual method of accounting to be established so that the stock shall not be issued until vouchers have been presented to show what amounts have actually been expended upon the reconstruction work. When that is done, if the amount should exceed the amount hereby authorized, favorable consideration should be given to further applications, so that capital stock shall be issued to cover the actual cost of the reconstruction of the railroad.

Another request contained in the application is that the Interborough Rapid Transit Company may own the stock to be issued. The evidence taken upon the hearing proved that all of the money expended for the reconstruction of the line upon City Island, where the only tangible assets to be used by the new company exist, was advanced to the receiver by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company, and that all deficits created by the receiver during his management of the railroad and down to the date of the starting of the new company are to be paid by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company. Therefore, the stock to be issued for such property should be issued to the Interborough Rapid Transit Company. Another reason is that the said Interborough Rapid Transit Company was the owner of all of the stock of the old companies that are being reorganized, and which has been wiped out by the foreclosure, and also was the owner of the mortgages that were foreclosed, and which by the reorganization will also be wiped off the slate; and the new company will start out with a clean sheet. As the Interborough Rapid Transit Company proposes, also, to furnish the necessary funds for completing the line as an up-to-date trolley line in every respect, when it has done this and its money has been expended, it should be authorized to receive the stock to be issued therefor.

On the hearing Hon. Thomas J. Higgins, commissioner of parks for the borough of The Bronx, stated that he had been advised by the corporation counsel that the railroad company had the right to [Page 200 / Page 201] restore its road on the City island road as a narrow-gauged road only, and that the company could not restore it as a broad or standard-gauged line without the consent of the city authorities. After having consented to the building of the standard-gauged road on City Island, the city authorities could not consistently refuse to consent to a continuation of the same kind of road so that uniform equipment could be run by the new company. Such a policy would, indeed, be obstructive. .So far as the approval of this commission is necessary for the changing of the track on City Island road, formerly owned by the Pelham Park Railroad Company, such approval should be given, in order that the same may be constructed as a standard-gauged road, either on City Island road, or, if the company and the city come to any satisfactory agreement that the road should, be constructed along the roadbed of the monorail system, then at that place. If the approval of the commission is necessary for the operation of a trolley-line service over the franchises of these two companies to be operated by the reorganized new company through and along Main street on City Island, and along City Island road through Pelham Bay Park, or through Pelham Bay Park along the track of the old monorail system, the same should be given, subject to the obtaining of the property owners' consents, in order that, without further delay, the company may proceed to take up and complete the reconstruction of this railroad, so as to enable the people of City Island to have the benefit of it during the present summer. At the last hearing, on May twentieth, the certificate of incorporation of the new company, under the name of the Pelham Park and City Island Railroad Company, Inc., was placed in evidence, and an amended petition was filed by the new company asking for the same relief as set forth in the other petitions. The title of this petition is as follows: 'In the Matter of the Application of Pelham Park and City Island Railway Company, Inc., for authority to issue its corporate stock and to effect changes of motive power and gauge and for other purposes incident to the reorganization of the Pelham Park and City Island Railroad Companies.'  [Page 201 / Page 202]

The application should be granted, and the company should be required to complete the reconstruction work at the earliest possible date; and I would recommend that the order provide that the same be done within three months."

Source:  In the Matter of the Approval of the Plan and Agreement for the Reorganization of the Pelham Park Railroad Company, and the Proposed Issue of Securities in Accordance Therewith in The State Department Reports of the State of New York -- Decisions of the Public Service Commissions, Business Damage Commissions Nos. 1 and 2, Board of Claims, and Education Department -- Opinions of the Attorney-General.  Rulings of the Secretary of State, Comptroller, State Engineer, Commissioner of Agriculture, Superintendent of Banks, Superintendent of Insurance, Civil Service Commission, Conservation Commission, Commissioner of Excise and State Tax Commissioners, etc., etc. and Messages of the Governor, Vol. IV, pp. 189-202 (Albany, NY:  J. B. Lyon Company, Publishers 1914).

Fri., April 30, 2010:  "Truly, An Illuminating Little Passage in the History of New-York!" - Efforts to Develop Shore Road Trolley Line in 1897.

Thu., April 29, 2010:  City Islanders Complain and Force the Operators of Their Horse Railroad to Agree to Replace Antiquated Cars in 1908.

Wed., April 28, 2010:  Efforts by the Pelham Park Horse Railroad to Expand and Develop a Trolley Car Line on Shore Road in 1897.

Tue., April 27, 2010:  New York City's Interborough Rapid Transit Company Sued to Foreclose a Mortgage on the Horse Railroad in 1911.

Mon., April 26, 2010:  Public Service Commission Couldn't Find Marshall's Corners in 1909.

Fri., March 5, 2010:  Construction of the City Island Horse Railroad in 1887.

Thu., March 4, 2010:  Beginnings of Horse Railroad - News from Pelham and City Island Published in 1884.

Wed., March 3, 2010:  1879 Advertisement for Robert J. Vickery's City Island Stage Line, A Predecessor to the City Island Horse Railroad.

Tue., March 2, 2010:  1901 Report Indicated that The Flynn Syndicate Planned to Buy the Pelham Bay Park & City Island Horse Car Line.

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.

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web Site
Located at http://www.historicpelham.com/.
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Friday, April 30, 2010

"Truly, An Illuminating Little Passage in the History of New-York!" - Efforts to Develop Shore Road Trolley Line in 1897


Recently I wrote a brief posting on efforts to develop a trolley line on Shore Road in 1897.  See Wed., April 28, 2010:  Efforts by the Pelham Park Horse Railroad to Expand and Develop a Trolley Car Line on Shore Road in 1897.

I have located another couple of references to the incident.  One notes that the line was unlikely to be built and described the whole affair as "Truly, an illuminating little passage in the history of New-York!"  The second is a one sentence reference indicating that a court injunction was issued forbidding the Mayor and Aldermen from taking any further action in the matter.  I have transcribed the articles below.

"THE ALDERMEN HARD AT IT.

It now appears probable that the franchise granted on Thursday for a surface railroad through Pelham Bay Park and along the shore road will be made inoperative by the refusal of the Park Board to give its consent to the grab.  It is desirable, nevertheless, to say that the action of the Aldermen was a signally indecent exhibition of infidelity to public interests and of contempt for public opinion.  The resolutions bestowing a rich gift on persons who have not yet been identified, but are obviously in close touch with Tammany Hall, were rushed through with little more discussion than was necessary to afford a chance for discovering and removing flaws which might have impaired their value.  The whole procedure was in flat contradiction of the professions and promises concerning public franchises on which Tammany candidates were elected on November 2, and a rank violation of the policy which the new charter embodies.  The plain, undisputed purpose was to get ahead of the charter if possible, and cheat the city for the benefit of individuals with a pull.  The job is altogether fit to be compared with that which was put through in Brooklyn the day before, and which within twenty-four hours ran up against an injunction.  Perhaps in our case an obstacle of that sort is not needed or available, but by some means the business ought to be stopped, and it is gratifying to believe that the Park Board has the power and will to stop it.

There is no conceivable motive for such a performance which is not discreditable.  The only reason for such haste is found in the fact that the days when such a thing can be done are almost past.  There is not a single citizen of New-York who doubts that the provision of the new charter limiting the bestowal of franchises is a good thing for the city, however it may affect the private interests and calculations of individuals.  Every Alderman who voted for this Pelham Park Railroad scheme knows that he betrayed the public welfare in so doing.  'How do you reconcile this with your platform about municipal ownership?' asked Alderman Hall.  'That is easy enough to answer,' remarked Alderman Goodman, who also voted against the resolution; 'the election is over.'  'You bet the election is over,' said Alderman Noonan; 'you fellows on the other side ought to know that.'  Truly, an illuminating little passage in the history of New-York!"

Source:  The Aldermen Hard At It, New-York Daily Tribune, Dec. 2, 1897, p. 6, col. 2.

The following brief reference indicates that a few days later, a court injunction was issued in the matter.

"CITY AND SUBURBAN.--An injunction was served upon the Mayor and Aldermen restraining them from taking action in the Pelham Park Railroad matter. . . . "

Source:  City and Suburban, New-York Daily Tribune, Dec. 8, 1897, p. 8, col. 1.

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Thursday, April 29, 2010

City Islanders Complain and Force the Operators of Their Horse Railroad to Agree to Replace Antiquated Cars in 1908


Regular readers know that I have been engaged in a project to document the history of the horse railroad once operated in the Town of Pelham between Bartow Station and the tip of City Island.  The horse railroad, operated by Pelham Park Railroad Company and the City Island Railroad Company, continued to operate after New York City annexed the area.  I have collected many links to previous postings on the topic at the end of this brief article.

In 1908, the residents of City Island became fed up with the conditions of four of the cars operated on the line.  They complained to the Public Service Commission and a hearing was scheduled.  When City Islanders showed up for the hearing to address their complaint, they found that it had already been held.  A brief newspaper article describes what transpired.

"REJOICING AT CITY ISLAND.
-----
Old Bandboxes To Be Replaced by Four New Cars.

They were talking last night in City Island of getting up a transit celebration, with balloon ascension and 'sich like,' after the fashion of the subway celebration held by Jamaica.  And why?  Because the managers of the Pelham Park Railroad Company and the City Island Railroad Company had promised Commissioner Eustis, of the Public Service Commission, that four of the nine antiquated bandboxes operated between Bartow and Belden's Point, City Island, termed cars through courtesy, would to to the junk heap.  In their place the companies will buy four brand new cars. 

Most of City Island moved down to the offices of the Public Service Commission yesterday afternoon to attend the hearing on a complaint they had made against the companies.  When they got there they found the hearing was over, and they were inclined to be indignant.  But when they heard the news of the cars, and also that the roadbed was to be repaired, they cooled down.  The representatives of the companies had got in before them and, admitting the necessity for improvements, had promised to make them.  The hearing was therefore adjourned at once."

Source:  Rejoicing At City Island, New-York Daily Tribune, Jun. 9, 1908, p. 4, col. 4.


Wed., April 28, 2010:  Efforts by the Pelham Park Horse Railroad to Expand and Develop a Trolley Car Line on Shore Road in 1897.

Tue., April 27, 2010:  New York City's Interborough Rapid Transit Company Sued to Foreclose a Mortgage on the Horse Railroad in 1911.

Mon., April 26, 2010:  Public Service Commission Couldn't Find Marshall's Corners in 1909.

Fri., March 5, 2010:  Construction of the City Island Horse Railroad in 1887.

Thu., March 4, 2010:  Beginnings of Horse Railroad - News from Pelham and City Island Published in 1884.

Wed., March 3, 2010:  1879 Advertisement for Robert J. Vickery's City Island Stage Line, A Predecessor to the City Island Horse Railroad.

Tue., March 2, 2010:  1901 Report Indicated that The Flynn Syndicate Planned to Buy the Pelham Bay Park & City Island Horse Car Line.

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.

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Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Efforts by the Pelham Park Horse Railroad to Expand and Develop a Trolley Car Line on Shore Road in 1897


I have written fairly extensively regarding the little horse railroad that once ran from Bartow Station on the New Haven Branch Line to the tip of City Island.  For examples of such previous postings, see the links at the end of this posting.

The horse railroad once consisted of two lines that met at Marshall's Corners on the mainland near the City Island Bridge:  the line owned by the Pelham Park Railroad Company and the line owned by the City Island Railroad Company.  In 1897, the Pelham Park Railroad Company attempted an expansion bid to operate an electric trolley line along Shore road and across the Pelham Bridge.  The article quoted below appeared in the December 1, 1897 issue of the New-York Daily Tribune.

"THE FRANCHISE GRANTED.
-----
SUCCESS OF THE APPLICATION OF THE PELHAM PARK RAILROAD COMPANY.
-----
TWENTY-FIVE ALDERMEN VOTE FOR IT AND ONLY THREE AGAINST IT--OPPOSITION OF PROPERTY-OWNERS DISREGARDED--A POSSIBILITY THAT THE COMPANY WILL NOT GET THE PRIVILEGE AFTER ALL.

The Board of Aldermen yesterday voted to grant the application of the Pelham Park Railroad Company for a franchise for a railroad through Pelham Bay Park along the Shore road and across the long and narrow Pelham bridge.  As told in The Tribune yesterday, it was upon that application the Railroad Committee of the Aldermen gave a public hearing on Monday when property-owners and their representatives appeared to protest against the granting of such a franchise.  It was explained then that a trolley road as shown in the plans accompanying the application would ruin the only fine drive in the Pelham Bay Park and obstruct travel on the Pelham bridge.  Yesterday other objections to the trolley plan were presented, but a majority of the Railroad Committee had signed a favorable report, and the resolution to grant the franchise was passed by a vote of twenty-five in the affirmative to three in the negative.  Later, after being amended, the resolution was passed again, only four Aldermen voting against it.

The action of the Board of Aldermen, however, does not mean that the trolley company will get the franchise to spoil the Shore road in the Park.  It is probable that the Mayor will veto the resolution and that the present Board of Aldermen will go out of power before they can take action to override the veto.  There is a question as to the legal right of the Aldermen to grant the franchise in the way they voted to grant it.  The consent of the Park's Commissioners, it is believed, would have to be obtained before the trolley road could go through the Park, franchise or no franchise, and the Park Commissioners are strongly opposed to having a fine drive which cost about $60,000 spoiled by a trolley road.

DID NOT SIGN IT.

When the report of the Railroad Committee was read to the Aldermen yesterday it was noticed that Aldermen Hall and Goodman, members of the Committee, had not signed the report.  Alderman Hall moved to have the report laid over for a week and printed.  He pointed out some errors in the resolution to grant the franchise, and said that the Aldermen were restrained by an injunction of the Supreme Court to act on the Kingsbridge extension franchise on a question that might apply to the Pelham Park Railroad Company's application.  Alderman Goodman wanted to know if the Aldermen had the right, under recent decisions of the courts, to grant a franchise for a term of twenty-five years, as proposed in the resolution to grant the franchise.  President Jeroloman said he had taken the advice of some of the best lawyers in the city, and they all were agreed that the Aldermen, as the law stood, did not have the right to grant a franchise for a limited term before the Greater New-York charter went into full effect on January 1.  Mr. Goodman also raised the point that the consent of the Park Commissioners would have to be obtained before the franchise, if granted by the Aldermen, would be of any value to the trolley company. 

The motion to lay the report over was voted down, and the resolution to grant the franchise was adopted, President Jeroloman, Alderman Hall and Alderman Goodman alone voting against it.  After the vote was announced there was some more discussion as to the power of the Aldermen to grant the franchise for a limited time.  The resolution had been adopted in the following form:

Resolved, That the consent of the Common Council is hereby given to the Pelham Park Railroad Company to extend, build, construct, maintain and operate a railroad for public use and conveyance of persons and properties in cars for compensation over, along and through the following streets, avenues and highways:  Commencing at the junction of the road from Bartow to City Island with the road known as the Shore Road, or road to Pelham, north along said Shore Road or road to Pelham, to the city line at Pelham Manor.

CONDITIONS OF THE GRANT.

Resolved, That this consent is granted upon the following conditions:

First--That the right, franchise and privilege of using the streets and avenues as so specified shall be sold at public auction, as provided by law.  That the corporation operating said road shall not charge any passenger more than five cents for any continuous ride from any point point [sic] on its road, or on any road, line or branch operated by it or under its control.

Second--That the company receiving the franchise and operating said railroad shall at all times keep the street between its tracks and two feet beyond the outer rail on each side of of the street clean and free from dirt or snow, and shall pave the street along the route between the rails of its tracks and two feet on either side of the tracks, and conform in all respects with the character of the pavement laid down on said street or streets, and keep the same in repair.  If not so done, the Commissioner of Street Improvements of the Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth Wards, or any other officer designated by law to perform the work of said Commissioner shall have it done at the expense of said railroad company, the amount to be collected by the Controller under due process of law.

Third--That at the end of twenty-five years the said company, after a revaluation, shall have the privilege of acquiring the same rights by paying the additional valuation; or, that in case the city or some other corporation shall procure the same, then the Pelham Park Railroad Company shall be reimbursed the amount of the cost of building said railroad.

MR. O'BRIEN'S RESOLUTION.

Alderman O'Brien thought that some provision should be inserted to protect the trolley comapny in case the courts decided against the right of the Aldermen to grant a franchise in perpetuity.  He offered the following, to be tacked on to the third provision:

But in the event of the courts' decreeing that under the provision of the charter of Greater New-York, the Board has not the power to grant to the said railroad company the consent in perpetuity, then, that the consent so given by the Common Council shall exist, obtain and be vested in same company for the period of twenty-five years.

Despite the suggestion of Alderman Goodman that the addition was superfluous, it was passed.

The report on the Westchester branch of the road was the same, excepting, as to the route.  This branch is to begin 'at the junction of the road from Bartow to City Island and the road known as the Shore Road, to Pelham; thence southerly along the Shore Road or road to Pelham to Pelham [sic] Bridge, over said Pelham bridge, continuing south on the road to Pelham to the junction of said road with the Eastern Boulevard, and continuing over said Pelham or Shore Road to the road to Fort Schuyler and Main-st., West Chester.

Later Alderman Oakley had the vote on the franchise resolution reconsidered to permit him to introduce an amendment to make the franchise one in perpetuity in case the courts decided that the Board still had the power to grant a perpetual franchise.  The amendment was passed, as follows: 


'But should said courts decide that the power of the Board has not been limited by the provisions of the charter, then the same consent shall be in perpetuity.'

This was a chance for a new opposition by Alderman Hall.

'How about municipal ownership?' he asked of Alderman Oakley, with a laugh?

'As Judge Jeroloman says, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it,' was the answer.

'The Board is now taking the position that it will give away the franchise if it can,' declared Alderman Hall.

'The intent of the amendment is to provide in case the courts decide in such a way that the twenty-five-year limit is illegal,' replied Mr. Oakley.

'How do you reconcile this with your platform about municipal ownership?' again demanded Alderman Hall. 

'That's easy enough to answer,' interrupted Alderman Goodman before Alderman Oakley could answer.  'The election is over.'

'You bet the election is over.  You fellows on the other side ought to know that,' was the answering sally of Alderman Noonan. 

The resolutions granting the franchise for the first branch, so amended, were passed, Alderman Ware voting 'aye,' although the franchise was to be in perpetuity, if posssible.  Alderman Hall and Goodman and President Jeroloman were the only votes against it.  On the vote for the second branch of the road, Alderman Ware voted 'no.'

MAY NOT GET IT.

President Jeroloman said, after the meeting, that he did not think the trolley company would get the franchise.  'The Mayor,' he said, 'probably will be advised by the Corporation Counsel that the action of the Aldermen was in conflict with the law.  Then the Mayor may hold the resolution for fourteen days, and send it back with a veto.  Under the rules the resolution will have to lie over for fifteen days longer before it could be passed over the Mayor's veto.  By that time it would be too late for the present Board of Aldermen to act.'

Edward Mitchell, who was appointed to fill the vacancy created by the death of Park Commissioner W. A. Stiles, when seen at his office yesterday by a Tribune reporter, expressed himself strongly as opposed to the granting of a franchise to the Pelham Park Railway Company. 

'I am unalterably opposed to the granting of such a franchise,' said Mr. Mitchell, 'and especially opposed to granting such a franchise for the use of the Shore Road just completed by the city.  It would have been just as monstrous to have granted franchises for street cars to run along the [parkways] of Central Park when that was laid out in 1865.  There is no demand for such a road, in the first place, and the projectors of the scheme merely want to prepare themselves for a time when the population in that district will be much greater than it is now.  The building of such a road along that beautiful  driveway would be a blot on the park system.  One of the most attractive features of our park system is that tone may drive or ride a horse or a bicycle through Central Park or Riverside Drive through the entire park system over good roads, without being inconvenienced by the incursions of street cars of any kind.  The building of a trolley line on the Shore Road would mar the system.  No, you [can say] that I am unalterably opposed to any such plan.'"

Source:  The Franchise Granted, New-York Daily Tribune, Dec. 1, 1897, p. 8, col. 3.


Tue., April 27, 2010:  New York City's Interborough Rapid Transit Company Sued to Foreclose a Mortgage on the Horse Railroad in 1911.

Mon., April 26, 2010:  Public Service Commission Couldn't Find Marshall's Corners in 1909.

Fri., March 5, 2010:  Construction of the City Island Horse Railroad in 1887.

Thu., March 4, 2010:  Beginnings of Horse Railroad - News from Pelham and City Island Published in 1884.

Wed., March 3, 2010:  1879 Advertisement for Robert J. Vickery's City Island Stage Line, A Predecessor to the City Island Horse Railroad.

Tue., March 2, 2010:  1901 Report Indicated that The Flynn Syndicate Planned to Buy the Pelham Bay Park & City Island Horse Car Line.

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

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Tuesday, April 27, 2010

New York City's Interborough Rapid Transit Company Sued to Foreclose a Mortgage on the Horse Railroad in 1911


In its final years before it was replaced by a monorail line and, then, buses, the horse railroad that once ran from Bartow Station on the New Haven Branch line to the tip of City Island ran into financial difficulties.  In 1902, the Pelham Park Railroad Company took out a $27,500 mortgage on the line.  Nine years later, New York City's Interborough Rapid Transit Company sued to foreclose on that mortgage.  A very brief notice of the suit appeared in the December 10, 1911 issue of the New-York Tribune and is quoted below.

"I.R.T. CO. SUES PELHAM PARK R.R.

The Interborough Rapid Transit Company filed a suit yesterday against the Pelham Park Railroad Company and others to foreclose a mortgage of $27,500 on the line of the Pelham Park company, extending from the Bartow station of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad through Pelham Park to Marshall's Corner, with tracks, rights, franchises and privileges.  The mortgage was made in 1902."

Source:  I.R.T. Co. Sues Pelham Park R.R., New-York Tribune, Dec. 10, 1911, p. 6, col. 2.


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