Railroad Forums 

Discussion relating to the past and present operations of the NYC Subway, PATH, and Staten Island Railway (SIRT).

Moderator: GirlOnTheTrain

 #1122099  by dj_paige
 
According to NYCSubway.org, there is the remains of a turning loop at DeKalb Avenue. Does anyone have maps, or photos of this? Thanks!
 #1122120  by Backshophoss
 
Took a look at the online version of the Subway track maps,doesn't show where the loop was connected to the leads to the
Manhattan Bridge.
 #1122144  by lirr42
 
The DeKalb Av loop was never really built, there were provisions for it, but I don't think any tracks were made. The loop was planned during the original construction when they were not sure how the lines would all end up on the Manhattan side.
 #1122564  by Kamen Rider
 
there's a bellmouth for it just before the North side manhattanbound track leaves the tunnels, and that's all I've seen.
 #1122926  by railfan365
 
Kamen Rider wrote:there's a bellmouth for it just before the North side manhattanbound track leaves the tunnels, and that's all I've seen.
The existence of a blind bellmouth makes sense. such an arrangement has been done several times in subway history to provide for uncertain future construction. The history of the BRT includes that originally, the lcoal and express tracks on Broadway in Manhattan were going to go to City Hall, and the tracks across the North side of the Manhattan Bridge would run along Canal Street and begin/end on the West side. but that was changed for reasons unknown to me into having the Broadway express tracks go over the bridge, and discontinuous "express" tracks providing space for car storage between Cith Hall and Canal Street. It makes sense that space was allowed for a loop in Brooklyn, between Dekalb and the bridge, but without building such a loop until the arrangement in Manhattan was resolved.
 #1132761  by Trainmaster5
 
The IRT, BRT/BMT, and the later IND all have blind bellmouths in different places in the system. They were usually in preparation for future expansions that never came to fruition for one reason or another. In the case of the BRT and DeKalb Avenue/ Manhattan Bridge I think one must look a few blocks to the west for perspective. The BRT Brooklyn Bridge operation had a turning loop as part of it's Sands Street complex where elevated train service could be terminated and looped back into Brooklyn instead of all trains traveling across into Manhattan so they thought about implementing the same feature into the newer subway operation at DeKalb Avenue. That's my guess.