Semmering Railway - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

New York and Harlem Railroad - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Horses were used at first, but this was changed to steam north of 23rd Street. It was soon bought by
Cornelius Vanderbilt.
The New York City Common Council passed an ordinance on December 27, 1854, to take effect in 18
months, barring the NY&H from using steam power south of 42nd Street, due to complains by abutters.
Before that, the steam locomotives had run to 32nd Street. When the ordinance took effect, the NY&H
had not done anything. After much debate, including an injunction issued preventing the city from
enforcing the ordinance, the courts struck down the injunction on July 30, 1858.
Between 1847 and 1856, a track was built in Grand Street between Centre Street and The Bowery (along
with one block on The Bowery) for northbound trains. Southbound trains continued to use the old route.
Grand Central Depot opened just north of 42nd Street in October 1871, and intercity passenger trains
from the north were ended there. (Ironically, by this point, the first of the Manhattan els had opened on
Ninth Avenue.) Freight trains continued to operate along the tracks south of Grand Central, as did
streetcars (still turning off at 42nd). On April 1, 1873, the NY&H leased its freight lines to the New
York Central and Hudson River Railroad, but the horse car line south of Grand Central remained
separate. This eventually became the New York Central Railroad and then part of Penn Central and
Conrail. Metro-North Railroad took over the line in 1983.
The streetcar line
In 1864 or 1865, a branch was added for trains between downtown and the 34th Street Ferry, running
along 32nd Street, Lexington Avenue and 34th Street. This was the start of separate horse car service,
running between Astor House and the ferry.
On July 2, 1870, horse cars started to run not only to the 34th Street Ferry but to 73rd Street via Madison
Avenue. These trains ran through the Murray Hill Tunnel and turned west on 42nd before going north on
Madison (northbound cars used Vanderbilt Avenue to 44th Street). The line was soon extended to 86th
Street and then to Harlem.
The first electric streetcar open to passengers in New York City, a Julien electric traction car, was run on
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