Freight service has been restored on the westernmost, never-electrified, part of the Arlington branch across the bridge to Arlington, and the details can be found on the Wikipedia website Staten island Railway history.
Various propsals to re-activate this branch for passenger service have threads on the Trains forums.
for a few years in the late 19th century, the B&o provided a passenger connection for State Islanders across the bridge to connect with tgrains for Washington and the Midwest.
A diesel switcher with an adapter coupler hauled the John Kneiling joint Railfasn Trip committee special to and from Port Ivory;
What year was that fantrip?
I don't remember SIRT directly, but I grew up in Fanwood NJ on the CNJ mainline. As a teenage railfan, I used to peddle my bike down to Cranford Junction/Aldene to take in the action. LV crossed over the CNJ, short line Rahway Valley interchanged with with the CNJ (and LV in nearby Roselle), and the CNJ also interchanged with the Baltimore and New York (essentially SIRT in New jersey).
"The Baltimore and New York Railway was constructed from Cranford Junction on the Central Railroad of New Jersey, in Union County, New Jersey, east to the western end of the Arthur Kill Bridge, where it connected with the North Shore Branch of the Staten Island Railway, which ran to St. George, Staten Island, New York, giving the B&O access to its own deepwater port and ferry terminal. "
The B&NY was a paper railroad owning no equipment, so I can remember SIRT switchers in B&O blue with SIRT lettering handling transer runs
Here's a listing of SIRT camelbacks
https://www.steamlocomotive.com/types/camelback/sirt.php
and a photo roster
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/locolist.aspx?id=SIRT
and one of SIRT's S2's (they were built 1943)
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=4073524
Fan trip; some time 1947 or 1948.
Wentworth Avenue looking toward South Beach Station:
And the opposite:
Turns out SIRT interchanged with electrified switching line American Dock
American Dock Company / American Dock & Trust (trainweb.com)
Nate Gerstein provided this photo of an SIRT snow-scraper:
I remember it, sort of. I was way too young to identify it as such..but in JK my class went on a passenger train outing. It would have had to have been the SIRT as there were no other passenger operations on Staten Island at the time. I have no clear memories of it other than other kids.. an old coach.. a crisp sunny day.. and alot of construction going on trackside.. maybe the SIRT was getting a new siding.
I grew up in Brooklyn and remember riding the SIRT trains. You had to go Manhatten by subway and take the ferry across NY harbor to Statan Island to ride the SIRT trains.
Into the Post-WWII years, there was a municipal ferry from the W. 39th Street dock, loop terminal of the Church Avenue streetcar adjacent, to the St. George, Staten Island, ferry terminal.
June 1950, I had a morning interview with the Head Councelor of Camp With-a-Wind for my summer job as Photography Councelor (age 17). The day was also the Picnic Day for my Dad's Masonic Lodge, and the picnic site was the lawn of the hotel in Grant City, Staten Island. So I took the subway to Chuch Avenue, BB or CC to 59th, A to Jay Boro' Hall, F, walked to my future boss's home, After the interview, Church Ave streetcar (8000 double-end Peter Witt) ferry, SIRT, picnic.
Here is the SIRT Alco switcher that worked for parent B&O in Pittsburgh. For more details, see the thread on the Trains Locomotive Forum.
Ex SIRT cars on the BMT 9th Avenue - Dean Street Culver Shuttle:
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