IND World's Fair Line

New York City Subway line (1939–40)

4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Route map

Legend
 World's Fair
Jamaica Yard

The IND World's Fair Line, officially the World's Fair Railroad,[4] was a temporary branch of the Independent Subway System (IND) serving the 1939 New York World's Fair in Queens, New York City. Part of the New York City Subway, it split from the IND Queens Boulevard Line at an existing flying junction east of Forest Hills–71st Avenue station, ran through the Jamaica Yard and then ran northeast and north through Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, roughly along the current path of the Van Wyck Expressway. The line continued along a wooden trestle to the World's Fair Railroad Station, located slightly south of Horace Harding Boulevard (now the Long Island Expressway). The World's Fair station, the only one on the line, consisted of two tracks and three platforms.

The line was proposed in 1936, and the New York state legislature approved the line's construction the next year. Construction began in early 1938. The line and station were only open in 1939 and 1940 during the fair's two operating seasons. Passengers had to pay a ten-cent fare to use this line, double the subway's standard five-cent fare. The Interborough Rapid Transit and the Brooklyn Manhattan Transit operated a competing service to the fair via the World's Fair station of their joint-operated IRT Flushing Line. The World's Fair Railroad and station are the only IND line and station to have been closed and demolished.[1]

History

Development

In 1935, New York City Parks commissioner Robert Moses selected the then-new Flushing Meadows Park in central Queens for the 1939 New York World's Fair.[5][6] New York City Board of Transportation (BOT) chairman John H. Delaney convened a group of transit officials and engineers in January 1936 to discuss plans for rapid transit to and from the fairground.[7] At the time, the Queens Boulevard Line of the city-operated Independent Subway System (IND) was being extended to Union Turnpike, and the Jamaica Yard was being built in Flushing Meadows as a storage depot for trains.[8] The Queens Boulevard Line's construction was expedited in advance of the fair,[9] and the line opened at the end of December 1936.[10] Initially, the fair was planned to be served by IND stations in the neighborhoods of Kew Gardens and Jamaica, as well as the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT) and Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) at the World's Fair station.[11]

Planning

By October 1936, there were plans to construct a spur of the IND line, diverging from the Queens Boulevard Line in the south and traveling northward to Horace Harding Boulevard.[12][13] According to Grover Whalen—the president of New York World's Fair 1939 Inc., which was developing the fair—the IND spur would be able to accommodate 40,000 hourly passengers, while the IRT and BMT station would serve 40,000 additional passengers an hour.[13] That December, the BOT and the New York State Transit Commission sent a request to the New York City Board of Estimate to provide $1.2 million for a spur of the IND line to the World's Fair grounds.[14][15] Of this amount, $700,000 was to be allocated to construction and $500,000 to equipment.[14] The city government also had the option to spend another $100,000 to construct a permanent line to the fairground.[16]

Delaney and New York Transit Commission chairman William G. Fullen recommended in January 1937 that an 8,400-foot (2,600 m) spur of the IND line, with two revenue-service tracks and an additional storage track, be built for the World's Fair.[17] Whalen also endorsed the spur's construction.[18][19] According to Whalen, without the spur, 70% of the fair's visitors would be forced to use the BMT and IRT station at the extreme north end of the fairground,[18] and IND riders would be disadvantaged because they would have to pay an additional 10 cents to transfer to a bus.[20] Conversely, Moses derided the line as "extravagant and wasteful",[21][22][23] prompting Mayor Fiorello La Guardia to convene a committee to discuss the spur's construction.[24] Despite Moses's objections, the Board of Estimate approved $1.2 million for the World's Fair spur that March.[25][26]

New York state lawmakers John J. Dunnigan and Herbert Brownell Jr. sponsored legislation in April 1937 to authorize the Board of Estimate to issue $1.2 million worth of bonds for the project.[27][28] The New York State Senate passed the bill with minimal opposition,[29][30] but New York State Assembly members objected to the fact that the proposed line would charge an additional 5 cents to anyone entering or leaving the World's Fair station.[31][32] The Assembly ultimately passed the bill in May 1937 on the condition that no one using the station be charged more than 5 cents.[33][34] Governor Herbert H. Lehman signed the Assembly bill into law at the end of that month.[35][36] For legal and financial reasons, the line was called the "World's Fair Railroad" and was considered a separate entity from the IND, in part due to the state legislation.[4][37][38] By July 1937, the estimated cost of the line had increased to $1.742 million. At the time, BOT chief engineer Jesse B. Snow anticipated that the spur would take 22 months to construct. He also estimated that the line would accommodate 13 million passengers during 1939 and 10 million passengers during 1940.[39][40]

The plans for the IND World's Fair Line prompted increased interest in homes that were being built near the spur.[41] During the line's planning stages in 1937, city officials considered making the line permanent the end of the fair. They also looked at the possibility of intermediate stations along the line to serve the local areas, comprising what is now Kew Gardens Hills and Flushing.[42] At the time, city officials estimated that a permanent structure would cost $3.683 million if built above ground or $6.088 million if built underground.[43] Despite pressure from Queens borough president George U. Harvey and Queens residents, the line was ultimately not made permanent. The Board of Estimate believed that such a line would not serve any useful purpose, since the site of the fairground was undeveloped. The board's members also felt that if the line were to be permanent, it should not have been built at ground level.[44] Attractions in Flushing Meadows, such as the Citi Field baseball park and the USTA National Tennis Center, were not added until later.[45]

Construction

The Jamaica Yard, which connected the World's Fair and Queens Boulevard Lines

La Guardia sent an emergency message to the Board of Estimate in September 1937, requesting funding for the spur.[46] Despite opposition from Board of Aldermen president William F. Brunner and Manhattan borough president Samuel Levy,[46][47] the Board of Estimate provided $225,000 in corporate stock for the initial construction of the spur.[47] The Board of Transportation awarded the first contract for the IND World's Fair Line on October 26, 1937, to the P. T. Cox Contracting Company. The company had been the lowest bidder for the contract, having offered to construct the trestle for the World's Fair Line at a cost of $308,770.[48][49] As part of the contract, the Cox Company was to construct a pile trestle along the eastern edge of Flushing Meadows, with track beds made of rock ballast.[50]

By February 1938, there were concerns that excessively high wages would delay the line's construction.[51] The same month, the Board of Estimate awarded nine contracts for the construction of the line's tracks, which cost a total of $148,595.[52] Work on the World's Fair station commenced on April 2, 1938,[53] and six construction contracts were underway by that May.[44] The Board of Estimate began soliciting bids for the line's signaling system that July;[54][55] the contract was awarded to the Utility Electric Company, which had bid $125,577.[56][57] Neither Union Switch & Signal nor General Railway Signal, which had manufactured every existing signal in the subway system, submitted any bids for the signal system, as they were protesting the city's requirement that labor unions install the signals' wiring.[54][55] The line's contractors thus had to obtain parts from these two companies.[55]

During mid-1938, the BOT considered implementing a 5-cent exit fare for passengers leaving the World's Fair station and a 10-cent entrance fare for people entering the station.[4] Delaney predicted that the line would earn $369,000 during the fair's 1939 season and $236,700 during the 1940 season; these were based on ridership projections of 13.072 million in 1939 and 10.458 million in 1940. However, Delaney also anticipated that the line would incur a net loss of $932,570 due to the need to pay interest and amortization fees on the line's construction.[58] The BOT awarded an $11,816 contract for 18 turnstiles to the Perry Manufacturing Company Inc. in September 1938. The turnstiles were configured to accept either nickels or dimes because the BOT had not yet decided whether to implement the increased fares.[59][60] To pay for the line's construction, the Board of Estimate decided in February 1939 to charge a 10-cent entrance fare and 5-cent exit fare at the World's Fair station.[61][62] By then, the line was more than 85 percent complete.[58][61] The line's construction was expedited so it would be complete by April 15, 1939.[63]

A portion of a New York City Subway map from 1939, showing the World's Fair Line as a spur heading northwest off the Queens Boulevard Line. The Queens Boulevard Line is the red line stretching roughly horizontally across the map's center.

Operation

Test trains on the IND World's Fair Line began running in mid-April,[64] and news media reported that empty trains were to start operating on the line on April 29, when a new IND schedule went into effect.[65][66] The line opened the following day, April 30, 1939.[2]: 314, 409 [3]: 83 [67] The line was mostly served by the GG local train, running between Smith–Ninth Streets and the World's Fair station.[68] As such, IND riders had to change trains up to two times.[61] Additional E express service ran between the World's Fair station and Hudson Terminal during afternoon rush hours and evenings. Passengers on the E or GG trains who were not going to the Fair would transfer at Continental Avenue.[2]: 264  Service generally ran until 1:30 a.m..[66][69] When the E and GG trains both ran to the fair, trains arrived every 3–6 minutes. Trains ran every 6–12 minutes after the fair closed for the day, serving people who were still on the fairground.[66]

The 1939 World's Fair had two seasons: one each in 1939 and 1940, which ended in the fall months of the year. Service for the first season ended on November 1, 1939, and during this season the line's ridership was 7,066,966.[70]: 189  The IND World's Fair Line was closed between seasons, and at the end of the Fair the line was set to be demolished. The last train ran on October 28, 1940, the day after the closure of the Fair.[3]: 27, 83 

Demolition

While most of the fairgrounds were torn down soon after the event, the line remained intact for several months afterward. Queens borough president George U. Harvey proposed extending the line to serve the then-developing neighborhoods of Flushing, College Point, and Whitestone, along with the recently opened Queens College. This plan was supported by the local communities, elected officials in Queens, and the president of Queens College. It was deemed to be unfeasible, however, by the Board of Transportation due to the fact that the trestle was constructed to be temporary, and due to regulations at the time which required permanent lines for subway service to be built underground. Parks and highway commissioner Robert Moses, meanwhile, wished to utilize the right-of-way for the further development of Flushing Meadows Park and the extension of the Van Wyck Expressway towards the Whitestone Expressway and the Whitestone Bridge. Demolition of the line was authorized in December 1940, and on January 15, 1941, removal of the line commenced.[45][71][72]

The right-of-way was replaced with an extension of 136th Street, and eventually the northern portion of the Van Wyck Expressway which formed today's Interstate 678.[45][71][72] Seven train signals that were modified for the World's Fair Line still exist along the Jamaica Yard's track connections to the Queens Boulevard Line. Instead of controlling the speeds of passenger trains, these signals are now used to control the speeds of yard traffic.[73]

Preparation for the 1964 World's Fair started in 1960. An extension of the IND Queens Boulevard Line to the fair grounds was considered. Robert Moses, who was going to take over as president of the World's Fair on May 15, 1960, rejected the proposal once he found out that the line would have cost $10 million.[74] In the end, improved Flushing Line service, and increased E, F, and GG service on the Queens Boulevard Line would provide improved transportation facilities for the fair.[3]: 83 

Route

New York City Subway station in Queens, New York
 World's Fair
 
Former New York City Subway station
A subway train at the station
Station statistics
BoroughQueens
LocaleFlushing Meadows
Coordinates40°44′34″N 73°50′16″W / 40.742753°N 73.837762°W / 40.742753; -73.837762
Division[75]
LineIND Queens Boulevard/World's Fair Line
ServicesNone (demolished)
StructureAt-grade
Platforms1 island platform
2 side platforms
Spanish solution
Tracks2
Other information
OpenedApril 30, 1939 (1939-04-30)[2]
ClosedOctober 28, 1940 (1940-10-28)[3]: 27, 83 
Former/other namesHorace Harding Boulevard[69]
Station succession
Next north(Terminal)
Next southForest Hills–71st Avenue
Location
IND World's Fair Line is located in New York City Subway
IND World's Fair Line
Show map of New York City Subway
IND World's Fair Line is located in New York City
IND World's Fair Line
Show map of New York City
IND World's Fair Line is located in New York
IND World's Fair Line
Show map of New York
Street map

Map

Station service legend
Symbol Description
Stops all times Stops in station at all times
Stops all times except late nights Stops all times except late nights
Stops late nights only Stops late nights only
Stops late nights and weekends Stops late nights and weekends only
Stops weekdays during the day Stops weekdays during the day
Stops weekends during the day Stops weekends during the day
Stops all times except rush hours in the peak direction Stops all times except rush hours in the peak direction
Stops all times except weekdays in the peak direction Stops all times except weekdays in the peak direction
Stops daily except rush hours in the peak direction Stops all times except nights and rush hours in the peak direction
Stops rush hours only Stops rush hours only
Stops rush hours in the peak direction only Stops rush hours in the peak direction only
Station closed Station is closed
(Details about time periods)

The line originated at the Queens Boulevard portal of Jamaica Yard as a continuation of the tracks that diverged from the Queens Boulevard Line east of 71st−Continental Avenues.[76] The line ran along the eastern edge of Flushing Meadows–Corona Park for 1.83 miles (2.95 km)[4][58] to approximately what is now the interchange of the Long Island Expressway and the Van Wyck Expressway.[45] The line consisted of two tracks ending in a stub-end terminal called World's Fair Station. The marshy swampland in the line's right-of-way was filled in, and a trestle was built over the landfill.[50] The line was designed to be removed following the fair in 1940.[39]

Station

The World's Fair station was the line's northern terminus[a] and its sole station.[58][71] The stop was alternately named the Horace Harding Boulevard station, after the avenue where it was located.[69] It was open for only nineteen months, from April 30, 1939, to October 28, 1940.[2]: 314, 409  The station was located in the Amusement Area of the World's Fair,[71] next to the Flushing River.[58] The closest attractions to the station were the New York State Amphitheater (also known as the Aquacade) and the World's Fair Music Hall. Conversely, it was about 1 mile (1.6 km) away from the foreign nations' exhibits at the northern end of the fairground.[58]

The station was a stub-end terminal with two tracks and three platforms, organized in a Spanish solution. A third siding was built south of the station.[73] The World's Fair Corporation allocated a 25,000-square-foot (2,300 m2) site for the station's construction. The station was a three-story wood, steel, and concrete structure. One level was used as a bus terminal, while the other two stories were used as the subway station. Three ramps, each measuring 132 feet (40 m) long and 17.6 to 32 feet (5.4 to 9.8 m) wide, connected the platforms with the upper levels.[77] A New York Herald Tribune article likened the IND station to "a modernistic suburban railway station".[78] The platforms and tracks were built atop 317 wooden pilings. Each of the pilings measured 75 to 90 feet (23 to 27 m) long and 6 to 12 inches (150 to 300 mm) across and were installed using pneumatic hammers. Due to the expense of removing the pilings, workers decided to leave the stilts in place after the fair.[77]

To enter the station, an additional 5-cent fare was charged on top of the standard nickel fare.[68][58] Eighteen special turnstiles were used at the World's Fair station that permitted traffic flow in both directions and accepted two different fares depending on the direction of travel. Fairgoers disembarking from trains paid a nickel as they exited through the turnstiles while passengers entering the station from the fairgrounds paid a ten-cent fare upon passing through the turnstiles.[1][37][38] The double-fare was instituted to avoid a financial deficit.[38] A double fare was later implemented on stations of the IND Rockaway Line, which opened in 1956 and used this fare system until 1975.[45][79][80]

Competing service

The IRT and BMT also served the World's Fair, but did so directly with World's Fair (now Mets–Willets Point) station on the dual-operated Flushing Line, which was rebuilt into an express station for the Fair. A Long Island Rail Road station, the current Mets–Willets Point station, was built next to the Flushing Line station.[37] Unlike the IND line, the IRT and BMT charged a standard 5-cent fare. The LIRR station charged a 24-cent fare for trips to or from Pennsylvania Station.[58]

Notes

  1. ^ Geographically, trains running southeast on the Queens Boulevard Line would then turn northward along the World's Fair Line. In terms of railroad directions, however, the trains would be traveling "railroad north" for the entire duration of their trip.

References

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  59. ^ "Contract Awarded on Brooklyn Subway; Agreement Covers Work on City Fulton Street Extension". The New York Times. September 8, 1938. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 1, 2024.
  60. ^ "Work to Start on New Subway Sections Here". The Brooklyn Citizen. September 8, 1938. p. 3. Retrieved July 1, 2024.
  61. ^ a b c "City Subway Ride to Fair to Cost 10c; Board Holds Dime Charge Is Necessary to Pay for Branch Line to the Grounds". The New York Times. February 18, 1939. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 1, 2024.
  62. ^ "City Subway Fare to Fair 10c - Others 5c". New York Daily News. February 18, 1939. p. 233. ISSN 2692-1251. ProQuest 2284677086.
  63. ^ "Subway Speeds Fair Link; Independent Line Will Have Its Spur Ready by April 15". The New York Times. March 20, 1939. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 1, 2024.
  64. ^ "Subway Service To Start Fair Service April 30". New York Daily News. April 16, 1939. Archived from the original on October 7, 2022. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  65. ^ "B. M. T., I. R. T. Express Trains Start April 24: Subways Will Make Run to Willets Point Boulevard Station in 24 Minutes". New York Herald Tribune. April 17, 1939. p. 6. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 1254731448.
  66. ^ a b c "New Subway Spur Is Ready to Open: First Train to Start Four Minutes Before the Fair Officially Begins". The New York Times. April 17, 1939. Archived from the original on September 30, 2023. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
  67. ^ "Transit Facilities Face Test Today; All Subway, Elevated, Railroad and Bus Lines Expanded to Serve Fair Throngs". The New York Times. April 30, 1939. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 1, 2024.
  68. ^ a b "City Subway Ride to Fair to Cost 10C Board Holds Dime Charge Is Necessary to Pay for Branch Line to the Grounds". The New York Times. February 18, 1939. Archived from the original on September 30, 2023. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
  69. ^ a b c "How to Get to The Fair Grounds; By Subway". The New York Times. April 30, 1939. Archived from the original on September 30, 2023. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
  70. ^ North, Simon Newton Dexter; Wickware, Francis Graham; Hart, Albert Bushnell (1940). The American Year Book. Thomas Nelson & Sons. Archived from the original on September 30, 2023. Retrieved May 10, 2021.
  71. ^ a b c d "City Line to Fair Carried 7,066,948; 2-Mile Spur Had Only 54% of Passengers Expected From Attendance Estimates". The New York Times. November 3, 1939. Archived from the original on September 30, 2023. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
  72. ^ a b "End of Subway Spur to Fair Now Urged: Transportation Board Asks the Right to Demolish It". The New York Times. November 26, 1940. Archived from the original on September 30, 2023. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
  73. ^ a b Rosenthal, David. "IND 1939 Worlds Fair Line". www.nycsubway.org. Archived from the original on December 16, 2017. Retrieved November 9, 2017.
  74. ^ "64 Fair Plans Set by Transit Board Authority Seeks 10 Million for 80 More Cars – Will Improve IRT Station IND Extension Vetoed Moses Against Expense of Building New Spur – Some '39 Structures Remain". The New York Times. April 27, 1960. Archived from the original on September 30, 2023. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  75. ^ "Glossary". Second Avenue Subway Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS) (PDF). Vol. 1. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. March 4, 2003. pp. 1–2. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 26, 2021. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  76. ^ "City Subway Spur to the Fair Urged: Delaney and Fullen Jointly Propose Extension From Queens Boulevard. Cost Put At $1,200,000 Enlargement of Willets Point I. R. T.-B. M. T. Station Also Is Recommended. Expenses Are Estimated Two Tracks Are Provided". The New York Times. January 15, 1937. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
  77. ^ a b "40,000 Persons Hour Capacity Of Huge Depot: Builder Promises Completion of Station in 120 Days; Structure Is Mile and Half From Main Line World's Fair Railroad Terminal to Rest on Wooden Legs". New York Herald Tribune. April 3, 1938. p. C2. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 1260663107.
  78. ^ "World's Fair Building Progress From Blueprints to All Colors: Even as the Big Construction Proceeds Rapidly, Landscaping Is Going On and the Show's Theme Begins To Be Evident". New York Herald Tribune. September 11, 1938. p. A3. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 1243091894.
  79. ^ Freeman, Ira Henry (June 28, 1956). "Rockaway Trains to Operate Today". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 20, 2022. Retrieved June 29, 2015.
  80. ^ "Beachcomber". Wave of Long Island. March 23, 1977. p. 11. Archived from the original on October 13, 2021. Retrieved July 22, 2016 – via Fultonhistory.com.

External links

  • 1939 Rapid Transit Map of Greater New York
  • O Gauge Railroading Forum – Vestiges of World's Fair spur
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