necticut. Since the developers were priced out of building a new terminal in Manhattan, they were satisfied that their waterfront landing in The Bronx would flourish. Some capital was raised, but the Panic of 1873 halted any progress and the company was put into receivership by 1875.
The project was dormant for nearly 25 years until a group of investors dis- covered the old charter and reorga- nized it as the New York, Westchester & Boston Railway in 1904. This was around the same time that New York
City’s first subway lines were opening, which heralded the start of the region’s rapid growth towards the outer bor- oughs and the suburbs. In 1901, the New York & Portchester
was chartered to build a four-track rapid transit line from The Bronx to Port Chester. It was designed to direct- ly connect with subway line extensions then under consideration. The promot- er was one William C. Gotshall, an ac- complished engineer from the midwest who helped convert the Second Avenue Railway to electric propulsion before
pursuing his own goals. Thanks to Got- shall’s reputation, the project was well financed and began acquiring property. The NYW&B investors took notice immediately. The original “steam road” proposal was scrapped in favor of elec- tric rapid transit. In some areas, the proposed route of the two competitors only differed by a few hundred feet, and therefore, competed for city permits to start construction. Both also ran dan- gerously close to the lines of the New York, New Haven & Hartford. It didn’t take long for Gotshall’s NY&P to file a lawsuit challenging the NYW&B, and vice versa. The third battle front came from the New Haven, who objected to either railroad infringing on their lu- crative territory.
Throughout the end of the 19th cen-
OPPOSITE: This view of the New York, Westchester & Boston terminal at Harlem River in The Bronx looks east on May 17, 1937. It was also used by the New Haven’s local trains until that service was discontinued in 1931. Commuters destined for Manhattan transferred to nearby el- evated or subway trains to complete their journey. ABOVE: The Westchester operated a mod- est freight service, with ten cars separating the engine from the caboose at Columbus Avenue in October 1937. Baldwin-Westinghouse steeple-cab 701 was the only motor, handling all switching duties on the NYW&B. When the railroad was shut down, it joined the New Haven ros- ter as part of its EY-2 class. PHOTOS BY GEORGE VOTAVA, COURTESY ROBERT A. BANG ABOVE: A two- car train passes a Tudor-styled home in Mount Vernon along the four-track NYW&B main line in the 1930s. The onset of the Great Depression curtailed suburban Westchester County’s rapid growth and development until the postwar era. COLLECTION ROBERT A. BANG
tury, the New Haven had assembled what amounted to a transportation mo- nopoly controlling most of southern New England, including railroads, steamships, and trolley lines. By 1903, financier J.P. Morgan was in control of the New Haven, recruiting Charles Mellen from the Northern Pacific as president of the new road. Morgan’s in- volvement with the railroads was well known, but he took a special interest in the development of the New Haven. Between 1904 and 1906, all three companies were engaged in fierce court battles that did little but eat up pre- cious capital raised for construction. Some cursory work was done here and there on both roads, but nothing of sig- nificance. The long drawn-out court battles weakened both lines financial- ly. In 1906, investment bankers Mars- den J. Perry and Oakleigh Thorne qui- etly purchased control of the NYW&B, and subsequently, the NY&P, as well as all associated construction and real estate companies. Following the Panic of 1907, control of these assets were transferred to the New Haven (a 1914 Interstate Commerce Commission in- vestigation later showed Perry and Thorne were acting on instructions of Morgan, secretly financed by the New Haven). It was expected that both prop- erties would be allowed to expire and become a forgotten memory. To the contrary, New Haven presi- dent Mellen announced an investment totalling $11 million (roughly equal to $254 million today) to settle the debts of both companies and begin construc- tion immediately. The NY&P was merged into the NYW&B in 1909, and Gotshall retired from railroading to pursue more worthwhile activities.
New Haven takes control
Why was the New Haven construct- ing a railroad in its own territory to seemingly compete with itself? In most cases the board deferred to the judge- ment of the powerful J.P. Morgan and pressed on with construction.
41
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60