Chapter 06. Work of Senate Committee of 1866

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Fifty Years of Rapid Transit · James Blaine Walker

Chapter VI

Work and Conclusions of the Senate Committee on Rapid Transit in 1866.

CREDIT for the first systematic study of the rapid transit question by a public authority belongs undoubtedly to the Special Committee of the Senate appointed at the session of 1866, as told in the preceding chapter. That committee's work was the first of many efforts by the public authorities to solve the rapid transit problem. It did its work intelligently and well, and had its recommendations been followed New York would have had rapid transit of the right kind long ago, and the present generation might not have known the universally execrated "strap-hanging. " But greed conflicted with progress, and the battle for franchises prevented for many years the carrying out of this well-conceived plan.

In its report, which was presented to the Legislature of 1867, the Committee unanimously recommended subways or underground railroads as the best and quickest means of relief, although it suggested that permission be granted Charles T. Harvey to try out his elevated railroad on an experimental stretch of track. The tenor of the report, however, was favorable to the underground, and the arguments therefor were set forth in full. An east side line and a west side line of subways were recommended, and every member of the Committee, including the city officers named ex officio, signed the report. Even A. W. Craven, engineer of the Croton Board, who had held the Metropolitan underground project impracticable earlier in the year, now certified to his belief that an underground system was the best solution of the problem.

Charles T. Harvey Operating Car by Cable Power on First Elevated Railroad in Greenwich Street, in 1867.

The Committee met in New York City on June 1, 1866, and organized by electing Senator George H. Andrews chairman and James F. Ruggles secretary. It at once advertised for plans and suggestions to meet the objects sought in the Senate resolution, and gave four months time for their preparation and submission. By October a great many plans had been submitted, and in November the Committee met and began their consideration. Days were set for the consideration of each plan, and the engineers and promoters were invited to come before the Committee to explain the advantages of their respective projects. The Committee devoted two months to this work, made up its report and on January 31, 1867, transmitted it to the Legislature.

That the Committee studied and understood the problem before it is shown by the nature of its report. After reciting the appointment and organization of the Committee and its method of proceeding, this report says:

"It is proper here briefly to recite some of the circumstances which demanded the appointment of this Commission. Since 1860 there had been no legislation which tended to afford additional facilities for the transportation of passengers in the direction indicated in the resolution-that is, on lines running lengthwise of the city. In the meantime the population had largely increased, and the inexorable demands of business had continued to appropriate for its necessities essential portions of the most densely inhabited lower districts, thus separating more and more widely the residence from the store and workshop.

"The Central Park, bounded on the South and North by 59th and 110th streets, on the East by the Fifth Avenue and on the West by the Eighth Avenue (and between 77th and 78th streets by the Ninth Avenue) an area more than half a mile broad by more than two and a half miles long, containing some 862 acres, not only excluded from its boundaries all tenements, but all property within the area on either side of it extending nearly to the rivers and for some distance above and below the Park has advanced so enormously in value within the past six years as practically to exclude the laboring classes from residence in a district more than three miles long and extending nearly the whole width of the city. For a large population, then, this. area on either side of the Park, unavailable for its greater portion for domiciles for the working classes, requires in effect to be traversed by some method affording rapid means of transit from the extreme upper to the lower portions of the city.

"That magnificent park, the Central, is correctly designated, occupying as it does the central portion of the island. In the form of a parallelogram, or nearly so, it substantially divides the city lengthwise into two districts, and considered in connection with the width of the island north of Grand street left the Commission no option but to recommend two lines of transit in preference to a single, central line. Such a line (even if the park did not present an insuperable obstacle) would still fail to afford the 'accommodation demanded by the necessities of the population. The requirements of travel can only be properly met by two lines, which shall run as nearly as may be through central portions of two longitudinal sections of the city on its eastern and western sides."

When one considers the fact that the above was written a half century ago, before the first elevated road was built, one must credit the Committee of 1866 with extraordinary foresight. In later years the accuracy of its conclusions became apparent and its plan for two longitudinal lines, one on each side of the city, was carried out in the elevated construction, but it took nearly forty years (till 1904) before its recommendation for subways was put into practical effect, and then the authorities made the mistake of zigzagging one route lengthwise of the island, instead of building two complete lines, one on each side. It is only now, a half century after the Committee of 1866 pointed the way, that the present system of underground roads is being expanded into the double system then recommended. This will be accomplished by the Dual System routes adopted by the Public Service Commission for the First District, which will continue the first subway down Seventh Avenue and up Lexington Avenue from 42d street, thus making a complete East Side line and a complete West Side line. Lack of money when the first subway was built is some excuse for the erratic laying out of its original route, as will be further explained in the chapters devoted to that work. But the mistakes of modern times make all the more remarkable the clear vision and correct attitude of the men of 1866.

New Yorkers of the present generation, familiar with the long fight which has been waged to get the New York Central tracks off the surface of the streets on the West Side of the city, will hardly believe that the same problem engaged the attention of this Committee in 1866. Yet here is what its report said:

"The traction of freight and passenger trains by ordinary locomotives upon the surface of the streets is,an evil which has already been endured too long and must speedily be abated."

Had anyone told the man who penned that sentence that the city still would be struggling with that "evil" in the seventeenth year of the Twentieth Century he probably would have refused to believe it. Yet the tracks, or most of them, are still in the streets they occupied in 1866!

The conclusions of the Committee of 1866 were epitomized in a set of resolutions, which, the report says, were "unanimously adopted" after "protracted and careful consideration of all the plans submitted." These resolutions were as follows:

"Resolved, That in the opinion of this Commission the best method of speedily attaining the design contemplated by the Senate resolution passed at its last session is by the construction of underground railways.

"That in view of the prospective increase in travel there should be one line of such railway from the Battery to City Hall Park, under Broadway, connecting at the City Hall Park with two or more lines of underground railway, each with double tracks, east and west of the line of Broadway.

"That to accommodate the larger passenger transportation the following routes are recommended, each connecting with the said first mentioned track at the City Hall Park:

"One under Chatham street to the Bowery and Third Avenue to the Harlem River.

"The other under Park Place (or Murray or Warren street or by the most feasible route) to Hudson street, thence under Hudson street to Eighth Avenue, thence under Eighth Avenue to Broadway, thence under Broadway to Ninth Avenue, thence under Ninth Avenue to the Harlem River.

"The line under Broadway between the Battery and City Hall Park to be constructed only as part of one or more of the through lines."

Reasons which led to the above conclusions are given at length in the report. The Senate resolution called for a plan which should have the elements of speed, safety, cheapness and rapidity of construction. As surface roads could not be relied upon for speed, the Committee dismissed them from consideration at the outset. There remained only elevated roads or subways to be considered. Out of many plans for the former submitted the Committee found only one worthy of recommendation, namely that offered by Charles T. Harvey, which, the report said, "appeared to have been the most carefully prepared, the most free from engineering difficulties involving the question of safety and the least objectionable as to the application of the motive power." Harvey asked for the privilege of building one half mile of his structure in the southern portion of Greenwich street as an experiment, and the Committee recommended "that permission be granted by the Legislature to that extent. "

Charles T. Harvey, Inventor of the Elevated Railroad.

After dismissing two plans for a depressed railroad on the ground of expense and the length of time it would take to get title to the property required, the Committee took up the underground method and discussed it at length. A comparison of the physical conditions in New York with those of London was made, and the report referred to a communication from Mr. James P. Kirkwood, an engineer, which stated that in London the underground road passes through several open cuts and that in no place has it an uninterrupted line of tunnel equal in length to the distance from the Battery to Fourteenth street. Without similar open cuts in the New York tunnel the Committee feared that "the generation of steam would be attended with difficulties hardly to be overcome." To eliminate this objection the report suggested the trial of a pneumatic method of propulsion, concerning which it presented as an appendix a statement by Mr. M. 0. Davidson, an engineer, "who has recently returned from England, after devoting much time there to a critical investigation" of that method.

"The successful application of this principle upon a large scale" said the report, "would be a practical solution of the difficulties which embarrass an underground plan relying upon locomotive engines for power, in the matter of ventilation and injurious concussion and the accommodation of the tunnel to the grade of the surface."

The following summary of the conclusions of the Committee ended the report:

"1. That commercial, moral and hygienic considerations all demand an immediate and large addition to the means of travel in the city of New York.

"2. That if every avenue lengthwise of the island were to be occupied at once by surface rails, the relief afforded thereby would not be adequate to present requirements, and in three years' time the pressure, with all its accompanying annoyances, inconveniences and dangers would be as great as it is today.

"3. That the steam roads upon the surface now in use should be removed from the island of New York as soon as other sufficient and rapid means of transportation can be substituted.

"4. That a central line would not suffice to meet the present requirements for increased facilities.

"5. That elevated railways erected on supports in the middle or on the sides of the present streets of the city cannot be fully adapted to the transportation of freight, and have never been tested in any practical way so as to warrant an unconditional recommendation of them for transportation of passengers.

"6. That a system of railways running wholly through blocks would involve an expense for right of way and resulting damages, which would render it impracticable to convey passengers for long distances at rates of fare as low as the necessities of the case require, and would moreover involve too great delay in the acquisition of the right of way required.

"7. That the continual increase of population and the consequently growing necessity for transportation throughout the city will very soon demand the construction of several lines of railways other than surface roads. That more than the two roads herein recommended may be eventually required and successfully operated, and the opening of new avenues and the erection therein of viaducts upon the scale hereinabove mentioned may be found to be of the greatest advantage and improvement to the city, and while gratifying the public taste will effect the desired object.

"8. That underground railways passing under streets present the only speedy remedy for the present and prospective wants of the city of New York in the matter of the safe, rapid and cheap transportation of persons and property."

Here were appended the signatures of the entire Committee as follows: George H. Andrews, H. R. Low, Charles G. Cornell, Committee of the Senate. John T. Hoffman, Mayor of New York. Alfred W. Craven, Engineer of the Croton Board.

In appendices to the report descriptions of the several plans submitted are given. Among them were the following: From A. P. Robinson, an underground railway. From O. Vandenburgh, an underground railway. From M. O. Davidson, a pneumatic system of underground railway. From S. B. Nowlan, an arcade and basement plan. From John Schuyler, a depressed railway. From James B. Swain, for the Metropolitan Transit company, an underground, surface and elevated railroad. From Charles T. Harvey and others, an elevated railroad. From Gouverneur Morris and Isaac D. Colman, an elevated railway.

It will be observed that, while the Committee recommended an underground railroad, it expressed no favor for any one of the several plans submitted for that kind of a road. Evidently it was not able to agree upon any specific plan and decided to let the rival claimants for a franchise fight it out before the Legislature. This is just what those claimants proceeded to do, but they fought so hard that it was some years before any underground franchise was conferred, and that was for a pneumatic railroad which never got beyond the experimental stage.

Elevated Railroad Trains Drawn by Dummy Engines, about 1878.

As it is not worth while to reproduce or even to describe all the plans considered by the Committee, a glance at a few of the principal suggestions may be interesting.

A. P. Robinson, who had drawn the plans submitted to the Legislature by the Willson company, offered the Committee a plan on behalf of the Manhattan Railway Company, an organization formed two years later than the Metropolitan Railway Company, organized by Willson. On behalf of the Manhattan Company Robinson now submitted practically the same plans he had drawn for the Metropolitan company, which have been described in a previous chapter.

Willson's former associate and later antagonist, Origen Vandenburgh, submitted an underground plan in his own name. It was clearly derived from Robinson's plan, the only difference being that he proposed to build two tunnels instead of one -- one for each track -- and alleged that it could be built so far above water level that the sewers could run under it. He also proposed to lay the rails in beds of gutta percha to minimize noise in operation. He estimated the cost of construction at $15,000,000, with an extra $1,500,000 for lands and buildings.

A plan for a pneumatic tube was presented by an engineer, M. O. Davidson, who proposed to build three routes from City Hall northward. His plan called for circular tunnels 12 to 13 feet in diameter, constructed of brick and cement, with wrought iron tubing where necessary. The cars were to be blown from station to station by huge fans operated from stationary steam engines capable of creating a current of air giving a pressure of three to seven ounces per square inch. The estimated cost for two tracks to 100th street was $4,821,000.

The elevated railroad plan which most commended itself to the Committee, as before stated, was that submitted by Charles T. Harvey. The route was from the Battery up Greenwich street to Ninth Avenue, up Ninth Avenue to a convenient point and thence by the most eligible route to Kingsbridge and Yonkers. He also proposed a route up Broadway to 64th street and thence to Yonkers, and an east side line mainly up Third Avenue to the Harlem River and thence to New Rochelle. All these roads were to be constructed under Mr. Harvey's patents for cable propulsion by stationary steam engines, and became known as "patent" railways. The cars were to be operated on an elevated structure by means of endless wire ropes. These ropes were to be in series, each series covering about 1,500 feet of track, and were to be moved by power furnished by engines placed at intervals along the route. Harvey estimated the cost of the structure at from $250,000 to $500,000 per mile.

Another elevated project which got a good word from the Committee, which, however, was forced to condemn it on account of cost and the time necessary to get title to the required land, was the plan submitted by Gouverneur Morris and Isaac D. Colman. The line was to be built through the center of blocks between Broadway and Third Avenue from Chambers or Chatham street north to the Harlem River on the East Side, with a branch from below 14th street to Ninth Avenue and thence north to 59th street on a course through blocks parallel to Ninth Avenue. It was proposed to acquire a strip of ground 50 feet wide through these blocks for the right of way, and to erect thereon an elevated structure for a four track road and strong enough to carry freight trains and thirty-ton locomotives. The cost of the construction was estimated at $1,165,000 per mile, but no estimate was made of the cost of real estate for right of way, which, of course, would have been tremendous.

Such were the chief features of the report of the Committee of 1866. It was an important piece of work, as it pointed the way for rapid transit development. The two plans it recommended-for subways and elevated lines contained the germs which later developed into the existing rapid transit railroads. Its desire to avoid steam as a motive power and its guarded expressions in favor of pneumatic propulsion probably led to the trial later of the Beach Pneumatic railroad. The routes it proposed were better than those subsequently built upon. Its treatment of the steam railroad problem and its expressed opinion that such railroads should be driven off the surface of the streets were such as command general concurrence today.

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