Old Freight Tracks Near Seneca Ave

In a talk about an old theater called the Majestic Theater on Seneca AVe and Greene, someone mentioned that there used to be tracks behind this theater, running parallel to Seneca Ave.
Here's the page where I found this, the tracks come up after about 5 or 6 responses http://cinematreasures.org/theater/7895/

Anyway, I know the Evergreen Branch was between Wyckoff and Irving, but what were these tracks? I speculated on that page that they were a siding from the nearby Bushwick Branch. One of the posters mentioned he remembered seeing freight cars on them, so they appear not to be trolley tracks. Any information on these tracks would be greatly appreciated, like when they were used, where they came from, how far they went south, etc.

The 1956 topo map shows no tracks whatever there.

The real estate (or fire insurance or whatever) maps/atlases in the map room at the main NYPL would certainly show the track.

What's that building on the topo map, just NW of De Kalb Ave-- about 700 ft long in the parallel-to-Seneca direction, about 200 feet wide, with its SW edge almost in line with Seneca? Looks like some factory that may have used rail.

The original poster of that in the cinema site said that he found out that the tracks ended at Linden Street and Seneca, and that it was a siding off of the Bushwick Branch. It was probably ripped up in the 50's. A freight car survived for a few years on the siding, orphaned from the connection to the Bushwick branch after it was disconnected.
Next to the former Magestic Theater (now the Seneca Chapel Funeral Home) was a knitting mill. I assume this siding served the many knitting mills in the area.
I would love to hear more information about this. I think I will post this on the NY&A forum as well, as it does have to do with the NY&A's business before they inherited it from the LIRR.

A review of several maps in my collection reveals no tracks in that area.

Hagstrom street maps from both 1944 and 1947 show the trolley line running down Seneca Avenue at Greene, but no railroad tracks there whatsoever.

The Evergreen branch, as mentioned by a poster previously, ran parallel to Wyckoff and Irving Avenues, the tracks being closer to Wyckoff.

A review of Bob Emery's 1958 maps of the Evergreen branch shows no sidings coming off the branch near the location in question. Perhaps there was an abandoned siding off the Evergreen branch prior to his 1958 maps, but he usually indicated defunct sidings as well.

A review of Bob Emery's maps of the Bushwick branch in both the 1920s-30s and 1958 reveals no sidings off the Bushwick branch extending south of Flushing or Metropolitan Avenues at that location.

This is becoming a real mystery, assuming the poster wasn't confusing his streets, or not quite remembering the actual location of the tracks in question.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

Dave Keller

I grew up in Ridgewood in the 1950's-1970's and I don't remember any freight tracks in that area. Here's a trolley track map of the area from "Brooklyn Trolleys" by Grellar and Watson.




Bob Andersen
www.lirrhistory.com

And the tracks marked "Bushwick branch" south (west?) of Wyckoff should read "Evergreen branch."

Dave Keller

The poster on that theater page may have solved his own mystery. If you click on that link in my original post, way down he mentions that someone told him that the LIRR tracks were there to bring the bricks in for the buildings of many of the buildings of Ridgewood. I guess they were temporary tracks that happened to remain, assuming that is true.

Let's not forget that the South Brooklyn Railway(SBK) had running rights over the entire BRT/B&QT system at one time.
These could have been trolley tracks with a siding serviced by SBK.
JJ Earl

That would make a lot of sense, as trolley tracks were in that location.

Thanx JJ

Dave Keller

P.S. JJ: I'll be at the RMLI at Riverhead on 10/16 for my book signing and again on 10/23-10/24 at Greenberg (Hofstra) for more of the same. Will I get to meet you? DK

I'll try to make it to one of them, Dave.
Most likely Hofstra, since I live in Hicksville.
JJ Earl

What book did you write Dave?
I would like to meet you actually. Hopefully, I will be free that day.

Hi GP38:

I wrote this one, just released:

http://www.trainsarefun.com/lirrbook.htm

It's also mentioned in the announcement at the top of this forum.

If you can make one of the signings I'd like to meet you, too.

If you can't make the signings, you can contact me off-forum for a copy of the book at: [email protected]

Thanx for the interest!

Dave Keller

Very nice. The teaser photo at Patchogue has me sold already.
Yeah, 1963-1964 was a bad year for LIRR stations. Not only was the most important one (in Manhattan) crumbling to the ground, most of Suffolk's also were seeing similar fates. That Patchogue lost it's "Sea Cliff-like" station is a travesty. Not to mention all the other stations that were lost that year.

BTW, I thought we were past that ridiculous practice, but apparently even the remaining stations are not completely out of the woods, even in the 2000's. See this thread:
http://www.nycrail.com/amb/board1/3141.html

Yeah . . that Patchogue shot got me, too! I remember the Budd cars at Patchogue and even rode one to Babylon up front with the motorman at about age 7! Even got to pull the horn cord.

What was another travesty at that time was not just the removal of all the "unnecessary" depot buildings, but all the railroad-related structures as well.

In 1963, Patchogue lost not only its depot, but the baggage house, the Railway Express house, the Freight house, the turntable, coaling ramp, yard west of the depot, lay-up tracks east of "PD" between the main and Brookhaven Town Hall and the 2-storey crew's shanty at Railroad Avenue. Also, Railroad Avenue was closed off, so the crossing watchman's shanty went as well.

There were even plans of removing "PD" tower and putting the block operator in the new depot, but someone goofed either in the blueprint stage or the construction stage and the room that was to be the block office was built too small. Hence, "PD" remained. (thank God!!!)

The water tower was removed about 13 years earlier.

Dave Keller