The Nortons Point Line, Stillwell Ave., Coney Island - Sea Gate. Brooklyn

[daveklepper]

Different enough from other Brooklyn trolley lines to deserve a thread of its own.  All private right-of-way, no street-rnning.  Elkevated Stillwell avene terminal fo easy transfer to the rapid-transit lines.  Originally operated with steam trains, then open-platform gate elevated cars.  Connected toi the rest of the streetcar system by tracks on Surf Avenue that last saw revenue streetcar service in 1947, about five years befoire Nortons Point cars ceased.  The last pgoto is  of a return shop move on Srf Avenue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[daveklepper]

 

[daveklepper]

From Russ Jackson:

The private-right-of-way line was called the Norton's Point line, but the single track section running out to the waterfront at Norton's Point was moribund for years.   The western end of Coney Island was developed as a gated community known as Sea Gate.  After development the single track section out through the community ran right across lawns and driveways in places.  The operated part of the Norton's Point line ended at the end of double track and did not go out through the Sea Gate area.  It was put back in operation for a brief period during WWII.  The line in Surf Avenue ended at he same location and there was a track connection between the two lines.  The history of all this can be found in Eric R. Oszustowicz. The Elevated Raileoads of Brooklyn and the BMT Subway, Volume One, (Electric Railroaders Association, New York, NY, 2021), pages 27.33, 52.

 

[daveklepper]

Movement from shop (Coney Islasnd or DeKalb Avene) on Surf Avenue.   Tracks here included somec"L-rail" that dated from horsecar days, rail usable in street trackage with Belgian-Block pavement between rails, not asphalt.

[daveklepper]

From Eric  Oszustowicz 

The cars are laid up between Beach 38th St and Mermaid Av.  The baseball field is the bright sandy area in the photo below. 5 cars are laid up just beyond the end of the field in this 1924 aerial view. The long dark line is the shadow of the cars. The right of way at this point runs along the north side of Surf Av which can seen on the left in the previous photo of the operator on a ladder cleaniing his front window.

Nolte that richard Allman has imlproved the balance of some earlier posted photos.

[daveklepper]

I had put the orange line for the right-of-way on the wrong side of the shadows.  The figure in the previous posting is now corrected.  Apologies.

[daveklepper]

Finally, from Bill Demakakowski, a photo inside the Sea Gate gated community:

[daveklepper]

but, a photo from asn inboud car shows a Nolrtons Point motorma Both the Nortons Point bLikne and the streetcar line on Neptune and Sjurf Avenbujes had thikr vwestern terminal, at the entrance to the gated Sea Gate community.  The double-end Peter Witts on the Nortons Point line normally had Nortons Point as the destination-sign for outbound runs, and the 2500 deck-roof semi-convertables showed Sea Gate.  But here is aqn exception on a NBortons Point outbound, photographed from an inbound.