42nd Street Shuttle: Difference between revisions

The subway through which the shuttle runs was opened on October 27, 1904, by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT), the first day of subway service in [[Manhattan]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Our Subway Open, 150,000 Try It — Mayor McClellan Runs the First Official Train — Big Crowds Ride At Night — Average of 25,000 an Hour from 7 P.M. Till Past Midnight — Exercises in the City Hall — William Barclay Parsons, John B. McDonald, August Belmont, Alexander E. Orr, and John Starin Speak — Dinner at Night|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1904/10/28/archives/our-subway-open-150000-try-it-mayor-mcclellan-runs-the-first.html?searchResultPosition=2|access-date=November 6, 2016|work=The New York Times|date=October 28, 1904|page=1}}</ref><ref name=nyt19640422/> The current shuttle line was part of the [[Early history of the IRT subway|first IRT subway line]], which ran north to [[145th Street (IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line)|145th Street]] via [[Broadway (Manhattan)|Broadway]] and south to [[City Hall (IRT Lexington Avenue Line)|City Hall]] via [[Park Avenue]] and [[Lafayette Street]]. The 42nd Street section of the line connected Broadway at [[Times Square]], on the west, to Park Avenue at [[Grand Central Terminal]], on the east.<ref name="Walker 1918">{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/fiftyyearsrapid01walkgoog|title=Fifty Years of Rapid Transit, 1864-1917|last=Walker|first=James Blaine|date=1918|publisher=Law Print. Company|language=en}}</ref>{{Rp|243&ndash;244}} At the Times Square end of this segment, the line curved sharply to the north under [[One Times Square]], swinging northeast under [[Seventh Avenue (Manhattan)|Seventh Avenue]] before shifting under Broadway.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1905/01/01/archives/citys-tallest-structure-from-base-to-top-it-touches-higher-clouds.html?searchResultPosition=3|title=City's Tallest Structure From Base To Top|date=1905|work=The New York Times|access-date=November 10, 2017|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The platforms at Times Square are located on this curve.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/01/nyregion/midtowns-mysterious-unused-shuttle-track.html|title=Midtown's Mysterious Unused Shuttle Track|last=Williams|first=Keith|date=November 1, 2017|work=The New York Times|access-date=November 10, 2017|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Like the rest of the Original Subway, the line was built with a vertical clearance of {{Convert|13|ft|m}}, and a total width of {{Convert|49|ft|m}}. The maximum grade of the line is 1.0 percent between Sixth Avenue and Broadway.<ref name="Chung 1978" />{{Rp|2}} In 1910, the platforms at the two stations were extended.<ref name="Brennan">{{Cite web|url=http://www.columbia.edu/~brennan/abandoned/grandcentral.html|title=Abandoned Stations : proposed Grand Central shuttle platform|last=Brennan|first=Joseph|website=Abandoned Stations|access-date=January 15, 2017}}</ref>

 

 

The new Lexington Avenue route curved off of the old line at 41st Street and ran underneath private property to reach Lexington Avenue at 43rd Street with a new Grand Central station located in the diagonal segment. Since there was 400 feet between the eastern end of the original line's station and the new Lexington Avenue Line station, a new shuttle station was to be built near the Lexington Avenue Line station. The construction of the narrow island platform station required building two new trackways extending east under 42nd Street. The two-track layout was expected to provide ample capacity for the shuttle. On August 1, 1918, the Dual System's "H system" was put into service, with through trains over the [[IRT Lexington Avenue Line]] and [[IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line]], and only shuttle trains under 42nd Street. The station was not ready in time, and therefore wooden flooring was temporarily laid over sections of the trackways at Times Square and Grand Central.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/08/02/97011929.pdf|title=Open New Subway Lines to Traffic; Called a Triumph|date=August 2, 1918|work=The New York Times|access-date=October 4, 2011|page=1|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The shuttle was heavily used, and the crowding conditions were so bad that the shuttle was ordered closed the next day by the Public Service Commission.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/08/03/97012303.pdf|title=Drop Shuttle Plan as Subway Crush Becomes a Peril|date=August 3, 1918|work=The New York Times|access-date=October 4, 2011|page=1|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>