Passenger Trains > A Day Spent in January of 2010 on the Staten Island Railway

I spent a good part of a weekday in January of 2010 railfanning on the Staten Island Railway. It's a pretty strange operation. While it's a part of the NYCMTA network, the route doesn't head into Manhattan. Instead, it runs between St. George and Tottenville, in Staten Island, also known as the Forgotten Borough of NYC. It uses old R44 cars and to this day, they are still running but are supposed to be replaced in the short term. The SIR Railway runs more like an enhanced commuter rail service, unlike the typical NYCMTA lettered and numbered subways that run in the other boroughs.

The first three pictures are taken at Eltingville and the train in the third shot is one of the express trains on SIR.

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Pictures 1 and 2 were taken at Annadale Station. Picture 3 was taken at Hugenot Station.

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1. Hugenot Station

2 and 3. SIR train at Pleasant Plains Station

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1 and 2-Nassau Station(now closed)
3. Atlantic Station(now closed) with the Outerbridge Crossing in the background

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1 and 2. Atlantic Station(closed)

3. Tottenville Station with an SIR train in the yard. Perth Amboy, NJ is seen across the Arthur Kill in the background.

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Pictures 1 and 2-Tottenville

Picture 3-Richmond Valley. A westbound train approaches the station while an eastbound is about to leave

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1 and 2. Richmond Valley with SIR R44 consists

3. SIR Train at Princes Bay Station

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1. SIR train at Princes Bay

2 and 3. SIR trains at Great Kills Station

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1 and 2. Bay Terrace Station

3. train at Oakwood Heights Station

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1. Oakwood Heights Station

2 and 3. New Dorp Station

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Grant City Station with a train approaching. Note the signals which are old Baltimore & Ohio signals. The SIR used to be owned by the B&O Railway.

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SIR R44 consists at Jefferson Avenue Station. The third shot is looking west.

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Dongan Hill Station-looking east

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At the end of track in Tottenville, as pictured, is the location where Cornelius Vanderbilt began his career as a row boat ferryman to NJ. 

There are currently 64 cars on SIR, though one was wrecked a few years ago overrunning the bumper block at St George, and nearly landing in the Bay. Of those, 12 were transferred and retrofitted from NYCTA subway service with their GOH overhaul in the late 1980's. They are numbered in the upper 300 series. The other 52 are in the 400 series.

Only 1 car of that 288 NYCT cars still exists, which is at the Transit Museum. The 64 SIR cars were Westinghouse, the rest were built with GE components. The two fleets would not be compatible today, with differing propulsion and braking systems. The SIR cars are equipped for a traditional RR signal and speed control system, not with trip-cocks for subway service. FRA no longer regulates SIR, though those cars still have FRA Type II Lexan windows and emergency exit handles. 

The cars are physically deteriorating. Right angle stainless bracket plates have been welded to the sides around the door frames, and the stainless sides now have wrinkly appearance. A coating of sealant has been applied to the edges of the roof to cover the rusting. St Louis did not build very good bodies in 1972. Their ride is very rough, vibrating whenever the brakes are applied. 75 R211's were replace them in a couple of years, and trains will be 5 cars of 60' cars..

Nice series of photos.  I am enjoying all of your recent photo series.

Fun series, some of the shots make it look pretty rural. Where do they maintain the cars? Are the trucked off the island?

Nathan

Posted from iPhone

Thanks. The R44 cars have been deteriorating for a while and should have been replaced years ago. This is an example of MTA neglect toward Staten Island. I look forward to riding in the R211s. By the way, I heard somewhere that the R211s that will be running on the SIR won't have the open gangways like the ones running on the other subway lines. Yes, there are parts of the SIR that seem like they are rural but you feel like you are in the suburbs. Tottenville feels pretty rural as it is almost like a New England village, except you are still in NYC. Tottenville is the tip of NYC. I feel for those people who live in Tottenville who have to commute to Manhattan. By taking the SIR to the ferry, you are looking at at least an hour and a half commuting time, especially if your office is in the part of Lower Manhattan far away from the ferry terminal. By the way, the new Arthur Kill SIR Station looks very nice and its situated in a great location. I visited that station along with others a few years ago and I will talk more about it in that album.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/02/20 09:07 by Passfanatic.

An interesting fact is that the ride is free of charge within Staten Island.  If you are coming over from Manhattan on the free ferry you have to pay.  I don’t remember if you pay at St. George after leaving the SIRy to board the ferry (I was last there in 2008).  The end of the line at Tottenville is like living in the country - peaceful and free of crowds. We never saw another person the half hour we were there.
 

You have to pay to either enter and leave St George and Tompkinsville stations. It is difficult to buy a Metrocard on Staten Island