Sub-series 8.9: Steinway Trolley Lines, 1918 - 1957
Scope and Contents
The Harvey Mordetsky Collection comprises approximately 5,000 photographs of street railway and trolley lines operative in the New York metropolitan area, including Long Island and Staten Island, as well as other areas of the United States, and select foreign locations. Approximately 1,700 35-mm color slides showing trolley lines in Canada, Europe, and the United States is an additional feature of the collection. Footage of these same services is additionally captured in a series of moving image artifacts. Non-photographic materials include 282 BMT and NYCT trolley and bus transfers, trolley and transit periodicals, and personal effects/memorabilia belonging to Mordetsky.
Dates
- 1918 - 1957
Creator
- Mordetsky, Harvey (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open for research.
Extent
From the Series: 0.7 Linear Feet
Language of Materials
English
Series Outline
Series 8: Photographs of Long Island and Queens Trolleys
- 8.1: Long Island Electric and Jamaica Central
- 8.2: Manhattan and Queens Traction Co.
- 8.3: Nassau County Companies
- 8.4: New York and North Shore Traction Co.
- 8.5: New York and Long Island Traction Co.
- 8.6: New York and Queens Railway Co.
- 8.7: Ocean Electric Railway Co.
- 8.8: Suffolk County Companies
- 8.9: Steinway Trolley Lines
Series Description
Sub-series 8.9 contains 298 images of Steinway trolleys arranged by line, primarily from the 1930s, with some photos depicting the Queensborough Bridge Railway in the 1940s and 1950s. The Steinway Railway has a storied past, dating back to the 1880s, when William Steinway of piano manufacturing fame bought a traction company to improve transportation for his employees. The eponymous Steinway Railway Company began operation in 1892 but was taken over by the New York and Queens County Railway in 1896. In 1922, facing bankruptcy, NY&QC began to sell off its assets, and operation of the Steinway lines was transferred to the Third Avenue Railway System (TARS). Trolleys continued to operate on Steinway’s routes through 1939, when they were replaced by buses; operation on a 1.64-mile segment of track over the Queensborough Bridge survived through April 7, 1957 under the Queensborough Bridge Railway, a subsidiary company of Steinway Transit. In the fall of 1939, the company was renamed Steinway Omnibus; in 1959, it changed its name to Steinway Transit. The images in this subseries are described at the folder level and arranged by line.
Repository Details
Part of the Archives and Reading Room Repository