Willis Avenue station

For the steam production plant in Detroit, see Willis Avenue Station.

The Willis Avenue station was an elevated rapid transit station of the Willis Avenue Spur that branched off of the IRT Third Avenue Line in the Bronx, New York City. It opened in 1886 and closed in 1924.

Willis Ave.
Former Manhattan Railway elevated station
General information
Location	East 132nd Street and Willis Avenue Bronx, New York[1] Port Morris, The Bronx
Coordinates	40°48.32′0″N 73°55.57′0″W
Operated by	Interborough Rapid Transit Company
Line(s)	Willis Avenue Branch
Platforms	2 side platforms, 1 island platform
Tracks	4[2]
Connections	Harlem River (NHRR-NYW&B station)
Construction
Structure type	Elevated
History
Opened	November 25, 1886; 137 years ago (November 25, 1886)[3]
Closed	April 14, 1924; 100 years ago (April 14, 1924)
Former services
Preceding station Interborough Rapid Transit Following station 129th Street Terminus Willis Avenue Shuttle Terminus Preceding station New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Following station Terminus Harlem River Branch Port Morris toward New Rochelle Preceding station New York, Westchester and Boston Railway Following station Terminus Main Line Port Morris toward Columbus Avenue

History

The Willis Avenue station (top).

Willis Avenue station was opened on November 25, 1886, by the Suburban Rapid Transit Company as a connecting spur to the Harlem River and Port Chester Railroad's Harlem River Terminal Station. The HR&PC was chartered 20 years earlier and operated trains owned by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. The station was located next to the 133rd Street Yard, and served both the Second and Third Avenue line trains. The spur ran from the 129th Street Station in Manhattan across the Harlem River Bridge, thereby creating two separate transportation hubs on both sides of the Harlem River. Suburban Rapid Transit was acquired by the Manhattan Railway Company in 1891, and then by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company in 1902. By 1912, the station would also begin to serve the New York, Westchester and Boston Railway, an electrified commuter line serving the Bronx and southern Westchester County. Despite the name the railroad never actually reached Boston. For the next decade the station became a vital link not only for rapid transit commuters, but interurban, commuter rail, and intercity rail passengers.

The station was closed for IRT service on April 14, 1924, when a connecting pedestrian bridge was opened between the nearby Third Avenue El station at 133rd Street,^[4] although the Third Avenue Line continued to cross the Harlem River until 1955. The HR&PC was officially merged with the New Haven Railroad on January 1, 1927. Harlem River Station continued to serve the New Haven Railroad and New York, Westchester and Boston Railway until 1930 when the NYNH&H left, and was closed completely on December 31, 1937, when the NYW&B fell into bankruptcy.^[5]

See also

• Harlem River Intermodal Yard

References

1. Hagstrom's Street Map of The Bronx; 1943 (War of Yesterday)
2. Manhattan and Bronx Elevated Railroads; 1920 System Track Map (NYCSubway.org)
3. Fischler, Stan (1997). The Subway: A Trip Through Time on New York's Rapid Transit. Flushing, NY: H&M Productions. pp. 245–249. ISBN 1-882608-19-4.
4. "Westchester Road to Open New Harlem River Station". New York Telegram and Evening Mail. Fultonhistory.com. April 7, 1924. p. 4. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
5. Harlem River NYW&B Station (New York, Westchester, and Boston Railway Website)

External links

• Willis Avenue Spur images (NYCSubway.org)