The Manhattan end of the Third Avenue bridge, adjacent to the TARS 129th Street carhouse, the main headquarters for the line. The southbound car with the "S" is on the Harlem Shuttle, a route that operated between 129th Street and 138th Street and Third Avenue.

Third Ave Railway System

The Manhattan end of the Third Avenue bridge, adjacent to the TARS 129th Street carhouse, the main headquarters for the line. The southbound car with the "S" is on the Harlem Shuttle, a route that operated between 129th Street and 138th Street and Third Avenue. The car approaching with the "W" sign is a put-in for the Willis Avenue line, having just left the carhouse. Both of these lines were abandoned on August 5, 1941. The elevated structure in the background was about ten tracks wide, and included two through tracks for the Third Avenue line, two pairs of terminal tracks for the local trains of both the Second and Third Avenue lines that terminated at 129th Street, three or four layup tracks, and a stub track that was used by the shuttle that operated between here and the Harlem River terminal of the New Haven and NYW and B roads. The car at the bumper on this track was 824, a former steam coach built in 1881 that had been converted to an instruction car about 1901. There is another single track, upper level, right over the 824 and the other gate car, used by 3d Ave Through Exps. in the rush hours bypassing the whole schmier below. At the drawbridge it joined with 2 tracks from 2d Ave and formed the upper level of the line from 133 to 143 Sts (at which point the Bergen Cutoff diverged and one track rejoined the lower level). 824 is now at the Shore Line Trolley Museum.

Caption data from Bill Armstrong and Karl Groh; photo courtesy the Bill Volkmer collection

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800 - 1600 Series Cars

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