Misplaced Pages

Elm Park
Former Staten Island Railway station
Western part of Elm Park station, 2010
General information
Location	Staten Island
Coordinates	40°38′06″N 74°08′44″W / 40.6351°N 74.1456°W / 40.6351; -74.1456 (Elm Park station)
Line(s)	North Shore Branch
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
History
Opened	February 23, 1886; 138 years ago (1886-02-23)
Closed	March 31, 1953; 71 years ago (1953-03-31)
Previous names	Elm Park−Morningstar Road
Former services
Preceding station Staten Island Railway Following station Lake Avenuetoward Port Ivory North Shore Branch Tower Hilltoward St. George

Elm Park is a station on the abandoned North Shore Branch of the Staten Island Railway (SIR). The station is located in an open cut under the Bayonne Bridge approach in Elm Park, Staten Island, at Morningstar Road between Innis Street and Newark Avenue. It has two tracks and two side platforms. The station is approximately 3.9 miles (6.3 km) from the Saint George terminal of the SIR.

History

The station opened on February 23, 1886, as a surface station. In the early 1930s as part of a grade crossing elimination project, the station was depressed into the current open-cut below grade level, and rebuilt with concrete platforms. Elm Park was closed on March 31, 1953, along with the South Beach Branch and the rest of the North Shore Branch.

It is one of the stations to be returned to operation under the proposals for reactivation of the North Shore branch for rapid transit, light rail, or bus rapid transit service.

Station layout

The platforms are slightly offset due to the right-of-way crossing at a diagonal with the streets in the neighborhood; each measures about 240 feet (73 m) in length, which would fit three cars of the former ME-1 rolling stock (67 feet in length) or of the current R44 SIR cars (75 feet in length). Exit stairs were located at the west end of the station towards Morningstar Road. An overpass from Eaton Place to Newark Avenue over the line (not connected to the station) was located at the station's east end under the Bayonne Bridge. East of the station past John Street, the line rises onto a concrete trestle built in 1935.

Elm Park is one of several stations along the North Shore line still standing today, although the street staircases have been taken up and the former platforms are severely dilapidated, while the line's open cut is overgrown with vegetation. Only a single track — the St. George-bound track — remains, unelectrified and in ruins.

References

1. ^ "North Shore Alternatives Analysis: Rail Alignment Drawings Arlington-St. George" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. September 2010. Retrieved July 20, 2015.
2. ^ "NYCT NORTH SHORE ALTERNATIVES ANALYSIS: Alternatives Analysis Report" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. August 2012. Retrieved July 20, 2015.
3. Office of Diane J. Savino (2013). "State Senator Diane J. Savino's 2013 Staten Island Railway Rider Report" (PDF). nysenate.gov. New York State Senate. Retrieved July 31, 2015.
4. ^ Leigh, Irvin; Matus, Paul (January 2002). "State Island Rapid Transit: The Essential History". thethirdrail.net. The Third Rail Online. Archived from the original on May 30, 2015. Retrieved June 27, 2015.
5. ^ Pitanza, Marc (2015). Staten Island Rapid Transit Images of Rail. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4671-2338-9.
6. ^ "6.5: TRANSIT AND RAILROAD OPEN CUTS: STATEN ISLAND" (PDF). nyc.gov. New York City Department of City Planning. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 6, 2010. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
7. ^ "Staten Island Opens Mile-Long Viaduct: Thirty-four Grade Crossings Are Eliminated" (PDF). The New York Times. February 26, 1937. Retrieved June 27, 2015.
8. "Open S.I. Viaduct: Longest in Nation". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. February 26, 1937. Retrieved July 19, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
9. "North Shore Alternatives Analysis: Public Meeting THURSDAY, APRIL 22, 2010 7:00 p.m." (PDF). zetlin.com. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. April 22, 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 6, 2015. Retrieved July 31, 2015.
10. Minn, Michael (December 18, 2009). "History and Future of the North Shore Rail Line on Staten Island" (PDF). michaelminn.net. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 1, 2015. Retrieved August 1, 2015.

• https://web.archive.org/web/20150108175705/http://stationreporter.net/nshore.htm
• http://gretschviking.net/GOSIRTNorthShore.htm

• North Shore Branch stations
• Railway stations in the United States opened in 1886
• 1886 establishments in New York (state)
• 1953 disestablishments in New York (state)
• Railway stations in the United States closed in 1953