Steinway-Tunnel
The Steinway Tunnel is an underground tunnel under the East River with two single-track, narrow -profile tubes that connects the New York City Districts Midtown Manhattan and Long Iceland City each other. It belongs to the IRT Flushing Line of the present-day New York City Subway, and is traversed by the line 7. It is named after the first of his two builders, William Steinway and August Belmont junior.
The project
The first plans to dig a rail tunnel under the East River through, date from the year 1885. On 22 December, the East River Tunnel Railroad Company was founded with the aim of the tracks of the Long Iceland Rail Road ( LIRR ) in Long Iceland City to connect and the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad in New York City to underground routes to each other. This happened against the background of the then largest local traffic problem at all, that the New York metropolitan area was cut by large, hard to overcome water areas in many parts. In addition, the plans for the construction of the Queensboro Bridge did not progress at that time.
But the East River Tunnel Railroad Company came as no soil testing out, and so then founded Walter S. Gurnee and Malcolm W. Niven on 22 July 1887, the New York & Long Iceland Railroad Company, and soon began planning.
The tunnel should begin on the New York side near the Hudson River docks in Manhattan, lead from there along 42nd Street to Grand Central Station and continue straight under the East River through. In Long Iceland City of the tunnel at the Fifth Street should (now 49th Avenue ) crossing the shoreline, then successively 4th Street (now 50th Avenue ), Jackson Avenue, and finally the Thomson Avenue lead and eventually the then terminus Hunter 's Point of reach LIRR. The total cost for the 5.6 miles ( 9 km ) long tunnel should be at 11.7 million U.S. dollars.
The estimated total exceeded the financial capabilities of the company by far. So rose in July 1891, William Steinway piano maker, who had acquired in Astoria next to his factory considerable real estate assets, as the main shareholder and became the new chairman of the company. The tunnel should then receive his name, Steinway Tunnel ( Steinway tunnel ).
On 7 July 1892, the construction began. At the corner of Vernon Boulevard, Jackson Avenue and 50th Avenue, a first 85 feet ( 25.91 m) was dug deep shaft, at its sole from December of horizontal propulsion began. On December 28, during an attempt to heat frozen dynamite explosives to an uncontrolled explosion, which claimed five dead and twelve injured. Many surrounding houses were partly badly damaged. Given an appropriately high damage claims, the company saw thereby effectively ruined. The attempt to raise additional funds, failed because of the stock market crash of 1893. Subsequently, the construction work according to the present total of 32 feet (9.75 m) tunnel set.
The era Belmont
In February 1902, the Interborough Rapid Transit Company ( IRT) purchased under August Belmont junior on the New York & Long Iceland Railroad and to the tram operator New York and Queens County Railway from Long Iceland City. Belmont had in 1899 awarded the contract for the construction and operation of the first New York subway route and provides a virtual monopoly in the transport of the city by taking over the Manhattan elevated lines. He hoped to gain with this acquisition, also in Queens a corresponding position.
To this end, the plans were modified for the tunnel that he should be driven only by the electric tram. The tunnel cross section was reduced, increasing the slopes and shortens the distance. The tunnel should now start with a Wendeschleife 42nd Street and Fourth Avenue in Manhattan and lead to the Vernon Boulevard in Queens. There the tram in the New York and Queens County Railway should be connected via a ramp. These three underground stations, Lexington Avenue arrived in Manhattan and Jackson Avenue and Van Alst Avenue with another turning loop in Queens. The total cost was now 8 million U.S. dollars.
Construction began on July 14, 1905; this time it was dug by four locations. To the previous shaft was an excavation in height Lexington Avenue plus two Senkkastenpaare, the one in the middle of the East River and the other on the Man- o' -War Reef, now Belmont Iceland. In September 1907, the tunnel was completed after 26 months of construction. The opening took place on 24 September.
For the operation were 50 tram cars available. They had a 42'5 " ( 12.93 m) long and 8'11 " (2.72 m) wide all-steel car body with double-sided half-open entrances at the ends, leaving multiple traction to. As electricity supply was a suspended from the tunnel ceiling iron rail from a 11 3/ 8 "( 29 cm ) high sprung pantograph was coated on the car roof from below. For use on the streets of Long Iceland City's the cars were also equipped with Stangenstomabnehmern.
However, the concession originally granted had expired on 1 January of the same year, and the city of New York was not ready to renew on. The city who did not want subways privately held more in contrast to previous years and prevented with some legalistic tricks of the actual start-up. So the tunnel for the next five years remained out of service. Belmont finally sold it in 1913 in the wake of double contracts three million dollars to the city of New York, who took him into their underground plans. The planned high-speed rail route should result from Times Square through the tunnel over to Long Iceland City and from there towards Flushing; IRT for the operation should be responsible.
Expansion as a subway tunnel
As part of the aptitude test, it was found that the tunnel cross-section corresponding to the specifications of the existing subways. Then it was decided contrary to the original plans of the IRT, which provided for a resumption of the tramway operations, to expand into a full subway tunnel. To this end, the platforms were extended and increased and installed busbars and signals. Track change replaced the two turning loops, and the station Van Alst Avenue was shut down. On June 22, began in 1916 between the station on Lexington Avenue, which from then on was called Grand Central, and Jackson Avenue, a temporary shuttle.
Meanwhile, the construction work continued on the planned route. In the east, the tunnel was extended up to the level of the LIRR Station Hunters Point Avenue and was near a metro station of the same name. Immediately after that was a ramp up to the elevated subway towards Queens Plaza. Hunters Point Avenue opened on 15 February 1916 and 5 November of the same year we went to the station Queensboro Plaza. Because of the lack of track access to the whole network of the Interborough a provisional maintenance workshop has been established at the tunnel ramp, which was used until 1928.
In the West the work in mid- 1922 began. The tunnel was run under 42nd Street, Bryant Park and 41st Street to Eighth Avenue. In this case, all other metro routes this area were crossed. The stations 5th Avenue Public Library (now the 5th Avenue ), and Times Square, with transfers to the Manhattan trunk routes opened on 22 March 1926 to 14 March 1927.
Since the tunnel ramps towards Queens considerably steeper with a slope of 4% were allowed as the specifications of the IRT, had to be procured for the Steinway Tunnel special vehicles. This car type Steinway had the same dimensions as an ordinary subway cars of the IRT, however, were equipped with a gear reduction. For the original shuttle twelve cars were purchased initially. With the continued construction of the route until 1926 another 126 copies were added. The 50 coaches of type World's Fair, which were used for amplifier trips to New York World's Fair 1939 in Flushing Meadows Park, have the same technical characteristic.
With the introduction of the four -engined subway cars of type R12 and R14 in 1948, the need for a special drive fell off, so that the Steinway tunnel could be driven now by conventional railcars. At the same time still valid line scheme was introduced on the IRT lines, after which the rates were assigned by the Steinway Tunnel of Line 7.