The 129th Street station was a transfer station on the

IRT Third Avenue Line The IRT Third Avenue Line, commonly known as the Third Avenue Elevated, Third Avenue El, or Bronx El, was an elevated railway in Manhattan and the Bronx, New York City. Originally operated by the New York Elevated Railway, an independent rai ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, shared by elevated trains of both the Third Avenue Line and

IRT Second Avenue Line The IRT Second Avenue Line, also known as the Second Avenue Elevated or Second Avenue El, was an elevated railway in Manhattan, New York City, United States, from 1878 to 1942. It was operated by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company until 1940 ...

. The next stop to the north was

133rd Street 133rd Street is a street in Manhattan and the Bronx, New York City. In Harlem, Manhattan, it begins at Riverside Drive on its western side and crosses Broadway, Amsterdam Avenue, and ends at Convent Avenue, before resuming on the eastern sid ...

for the main line and Willis Avenue for the Willis Avenue spur, both of which were across a

swing bridge A swing bridge (or swing span bridge) is a movable bridge that can be rotated horizontally around a vertical axis. It has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its center of gravit ...

above the

Harlem River The Harlem River is an tidal strait in New York City, flowing between the Hudson River and the East River and separating the island of Manhattan from the Bronx on the United States mainland. The northern stretch, also called the Spuyten Duyvi ...

the Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

. The next stop to the south was 125th Street−Third Avenue for Third Avenue Line trains and 125th Street−Second Avenue for Second Avenue Line trains.

Station layout

The station was located between Second and Third Avenues, oriented west-to-east above and on the south side of 129th Street. The station was double-decked, with four island platforms for passengers and numerous tracks. The northernmost platform was used by shuttle service via the Willis Avenue Spur to Willis Avenue station, connecting to the

New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , commonly known as The Consolidated, or simply as the New Haven, was a railroad that operated principally in the New England region of the United States from 1872 to 1968. Founded by the merger of ...

. The next platform south was for through-service from the Third Avenue Line to and from the Bronx. The southern two island platforms were used for terminating trains, specifically those of the Second Avenue Line and some local Third Avenue trains. The Second Avenue Line fed into the southernmost platform, while the Third Avenue Line fed into both terminal platforms. All four platforms featured shelters. The platforms were connected by a covered bridge. A bi-directional flyover express track from the Third Avenue El bypassed the station. Adjacent to the south of the station was a storage yard, extending south to 128th Street. An additional side platform was located at the north end of the yard, used only by employees. North of the station, Third Avenue, Willis Avenue, and Second Avenue trains (the latter of which came from 125th Street and bypassed 129th Street) would use the bi-level swing bridge at the north end of Second Avenue, crossing the

towards the Bronx. The exit to the station was located at Third Avenue and East 129th Street. The station also served as the terminal for numerous streetcar routes from the Bronx.

History

The station originally opened on December 30, 1878, as part of the extension of the Third Avenue Line north of 67th Street. The station was originally a two-track island platform terminal located above Third Avenue. It served as the original terminal for the line, until it was extended across the

on May 17, 1886. On November 25, 1886, the station gained a connection to the

Willis Avenue Spur 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. History Willis Avenue station was opene ...

which took commuters to a terminal station in the Bronx that served commuters using the

and later to the

New York, Westchester and Boston Railway The New York, Westchester and Boston Railway Company (NYW&B, also known to its riders as "the Westchester" and colloquially as the "Boston-Westchester"), was an electric commuter railroad in the Bronx and Westchester County, New York from 1912 ...

interurban lines. This added a second platform oriented west-to-east for Willis Avenue trains, which was connected to the Third Avenue El platform. The Willis Avenue shuttle ended service on December 18, 1887, but was restored on July 19, 1891. On August 1, 1891, the New Haven began running rapid transit cars from 129th via the Willis Spur and the

New York and Harlem Railroad The New York and Harlem Railroad (now the Metro-North Railroad's Harlem Line) was one of the first railroads in the United States, and was the world's first street railway. Designed by John Stephenson, it was opened in stages between 1832 and ...

(today's

Harlem Line The Harlem Line is an commuter rail line owned and operated by the Metro-North Railroad in the U.S. state of New York. It runs north from New York City to Wassaic, in eastern Dutchess County. The lower from Grand Central Terminal to Southea ...

). On August 15, 1898, a new and enlarged 129th Street station was opened between Second and Third Avenue. The 129th Street Yard was also opened at this time. Both the yard and station were constructed from 1886 to 1898. The original station was abandoned and eventually razed. Around 1907, the IRT planned to add a bi-directional express track to both the Second and Third Avenue lines, and build a new double-decked bridge with four tracks over the Harlem River. This was carried out during the

Dual Contracts The Dual Contracts, also known as the Dual Subway System, were contracts for the construction and/or rehabilitation and operation of rapid transit lines in the New York City, City of New York. The contracts were signed on March 19, 1913, by the ...

in the 1910s, adding 129th Street station's flyover express track. Express service began on January 17, 1916. All service via the Willis Avenue Spur ended on April 14, 1924, when a pedestrian bridge was opened between the Willis Avenue and

stations. The opening of the lines of the

New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system in New York City serving the New York City boroughs, boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. It is owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Tr ...

, particularly the

IRT Lexington Avenue Line The IRT Lexington Avenue Line (also known as the IRT East Side Line and the IRT Lexington–Fourth Avenue Line) is one of the lines of the A Division (New York City Subway), A Division of the New York City Subway, stretching from Lower Manhatt ...

, in the early 20th century led to declining ridership on the elevated lines. The Els were also scapegoated for blight and urban ills in the surrounding neighborhoods. The 129th Street station in particular had low ridership, due to its proximity to the busy 125th Street station. It was also criticized for its uninspired design compared to the other stations on the lines. Following unification of the transit system under the city's Board of Transportation, the Second Avenue Line stopped serving the station on June 11, 1940, when it was closed north of 57th Street. With reduced service and low ridership, the 129th Street station was closed prematurely on July 1, 1950. Passengers were redirected to the 125th Street station, while express trains between Manhattan and the Bronx bypassed the station. The rest of the line south of 149th Street in the Bronx closed on May 12, 1955.NYCTA Notice of Third Avenue Rail Closure for May 12, 1955
/ref> The site became part of Harlem River Park.

References

*{{cite web, url=http://www.nycsubway.org/lines/3rdave-el.html , title=3rd Avenue El , work=nycsubway.org , accessdate=2009-01-25 , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090127041419/http://nycsubway.org/lines/3rdave-el.html , archivedate=January 27, 2009 , url-status=live IRT Second Avenue Line stations IRT Third Avenue Line stations Railway stations in the United States opened in 1878 1878 establishments in New York (state) 1955 disestablishments in New York (state) Former elevated and subway stations in Manhattan East Harlem Railway stations in the United States closed in 1955