Early history BMT Sea Beach Line

route designation on bmt triplex equipment

the new york , sea beach railroad organized on september 25, 1876 steam-powered excursion railroad. opened junction brooklyn, bath , coney island railroad (west end line) , concurrently-opened new york, bay ridge , jamaica railroad (manhattan beach line) coney island on july 18, 1877. after delay of 2 years, opened bay ridge ferry (to south ferry, manhattan) on july 17, 1879, @ time sea beach palace opened @ coney island end.

station headhouse @ avenue u station.

except @ 2 ends, railroad used same route current sea beach line. @ bay ridge end, railroad ran north of long island rail road s bay ridge branch, ending @ bay ridge channel around 64th street. current line joins alignment near fifth avenue. old railroad crossed bay ridge branch pronounced s-curve east of seventh avenue; crossing straighter bay ridge branch in deeper cut. on coney island end, original path curved left after curve right @ northern edge of coney island yards, ending @ combined sea beach palace hotel , depot, on north side of bmt brighton line @ around west 10th street.

on may 22, 1883, company reorganized new york , sea beach railway company , allowed operate new york harbor sea beach palace in coney island. company went bankrupt, , receiver appointed on january 15, 1896, before company sold @ foreclosure sea beach railway, incorporated on august 29, 1896. brooklyn rapid transit company (brt) bought company s stock on november 5, 1897, along short elevated sea view railway on coney island, , assigned lease brooklyn heights railroad. fitted trolley wire electric operation. march 1, 1907 agreement allowed company operate through service 38th street , new utrecht avenue coney island. starting around 1908, electric trains began operating branch of bmt west end line bath junction coney island, trains coming park row in manhattan via brooklyn bridge , bmt fifth avenue line. streetcars ran on rest of line bay ridge, new utrecht avenue , 62nd street 65th street , third avenue. in 1907, connecting tracks built connecting west end line north of coney island creek in order bring sea beach trains west end depot. original alignment retained freight service only.

the portion of line between 62nd street , new utrecht avenue , third avenue , 65th street replaced bus service between december 1, 1913 , june 23, 1914, when trolley service resumed service before being eliminated on june 22, 1915.

part of 1915 brochure line

as part of dual contracts, , while fourth avenue subway line being constructed brt dug four-track open cut , built high-level platforms subway operation on sea beach line. trolley cars started using new open cut between avenue t , 86th street on january 9, 1914. service gradually extended until new sea beach line opened full subway service. 2 subway cars poles run between third avenue , new utrecht avenue , started operating on march 16, 1915. additional cars equipped poles , operated service on line may 1, 1915 until line opened full subway service on june 22, 1915, trains running between coney island , chambers street in lower manhattan. service started two- , three-car trains operating via fourth avenue local track , manhattan bridge south tracks. express tracks finished several weeks later. when bmt fourth avenue line extended south sea beach line on january 15, 1916, sea beach trains shifted express tracks on fourth avenue, fourth avenue trains providing local service.

the tracks on north side of manhattan bridge opened on september 4, 1917, along part of bmt broadway line. sea beach service moved new line, ending @ 14th street–union square. extended times square–42nd street on january 5, 1918.

in 1924, bmt assigned numbers services. sea beach line service became 4. has since become n train. in general, sea beach service has run express in manhattan , on fourth avenue in brooklyn, ending @ 42nd street , later 57th street. nx began on november 27, 1967 super-express brighton beach on bmt brighton line through coney island–stillwell avenue, , along sea beach line express tracks 57th street 7 stops between stillwell avenue , 57th street, 3 in brooklyn , 4 in manhattan. service discontinued on april 15, 1968 due low ridership, , no regular trains have used sea beach express tracks since.