If city transit officials in 1906 had their way, the 95th Street station might never have existed. Instead, R-trains would have turned east at 86th Street to Coney Island. Another 1912 plan extended the line to Staten Island (Photo: Brian Hedden/Bay Ridge Odyssey).
Speaking of good ideas that have yet to reach fruition – Did you know that city officials voted over a century ago to extend the R-train all the way to Coney?
According to the Brooklyn Eagle, on March 22, 1906 “the city’s Rapid Transit Commission had approved an extension of what was known as the “Fort Hamilton Line” (today’s R train) to Coney Island.”
Trains would have turned east at 86th Street and Fourth Avenue, where they would presumably continue along the West End Line [now the D-train] to Stillwell Avenue.
Instead, when money for the project dried up – along with a similarly ambitious 1912 plan to extend the R to Staten Island – the West End Line and the Sea Beach Line [now the N-train] “were rebuilt and connected to the Fourth Avenue trunk line at 36th Street and 59th Street, respectively.”
Wikipedia notes that “The service that later became the R was the BMT 2. When it entered service on January 15, 1916, it ran between Chambers Street on the BMT Nassau Street Line and 86th Street, using the Manhattan Bridge to cross the East River.”
An older 19th Century elevated line, known as the 5th Ave Bay Ridge El, that ran down 3rd Avenue to 65th Street [via 38th Street and 5th Ave] would remain in operation until 1940.
