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Myrtle Avenue (Book I)
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Myrtle Avenue (Book I)

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run over and killed and another of other casualties had occurred while the driver was inside the car collection fares, while the horse merrily jogged on, the reins fastened to the dash board, this experiment was abandoned.

The cars first used on the Broadway road had narrow seats with turnover backs, while on the roof was a double row of seats placed lengthwise, and back to back. The seats on the roof were reached by means of a ladder which could be transferred from on end of the car to the other. Picnickers going out to East New York would frequently wait at the ferry half an hour or longer for one of these cars to put in an appearance. These were not the only cars in the city where accommodation on the roof was provided for passengers, for many of the old fashioned closed cars run on the Atlantic avenue line had seats on the roof. The Brooklyn City road followed a very conservative course in introducing the open car. At first only two cars were provided, and these were run indiscriminately over all of the routes of the company, and generally only when chartered by some picnic or excursion party. These cars were not provided with lamps as in the early days of open cars the idea of running them after night fall had not entered the brain of the railroad manager and the death rate from pneumonia had not reached the present figures. These cars were fitted with the narrow seats, with "turn over" backs. The modern style of open car with eight or ten seats, placed back to back, came into general use about eighteen years ago, but it is only within the last six or eight years that any decided improvement in the finishing and furnishing of these cars had taken place. Those made at the present time have board roofs in place of the canvas roofing formerly used, have a lamp in the center in addition to those at either end, and have windows and shutter blinds at either end of the car.

The old flat rail in use twenty-five or thirty years ago may have been less dangerous to vehicles driven along the tracks but

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it was certainly much more exasperating to the unfortunate passenger in the car. Of a quiet night one could hear the chunk chunk of an approaching car as the wheels struck the joints in the tracks for a distance of two or three blocks. One curious spectacle that could have been seen twenty-five years ago was an old man in begrimed clothes, who walked with a limp, as day after day he traveled over the routes of Brooklyn City road pushing ahead of him a peculiarly shaped shovel formed to fit the car tracks and thus scooped out the dust from the tracks and at short intervals deposited these collections at the side of the track. The switches formerly in use too were of the most peculiar character. Many of the roads were single track roads over a part of the route and "turn outs" were built for the cars to pass each other at certain points. The drivers had to turn these switches themselves while at points in the lower part of the city where different routes diverged a boy was on duty to act as the switchman.

This is not the entire article, only parts I thought were pertinent. The piece is signed "W.C.H."

8.11.69

April 11, 1958 The Rehabilitated 1905-06 wood and steel cars replaced the all wood 1904 cars on the Myrtle Ave. El. The change to electrically operated doors permits the use of a single conductor for an entire train

New York Times April 12.58

Brooklyn Eagle Sept. 9,1888

The opening of the Union Elevated road to the bridge has made some changes in the running of trains on the old Brooklyn line to the

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Myrtle Avenue (Book I)
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