76th Street (IND Fulton Street Line)
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The Euclid Avenue station is an express station on the
IND Fulton Street Line The IND Fulton Street Line is a rapid transit line of the IND Division of the New York City Subway, running from the Cranberry Street Tunnel under the East River through central Brooklyn to a terminus in Ozone Park, Queens. The IND Rockawa ...
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 ...
, located at the intersection of Euclid and Pitkin Avenues in
East New York, Brooklyn East New York is a residential neighborhood in the eastern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise, are roughly the Cemetery Belt and the Queens borough line to the north; ...
. It is served by the A train at all times and is the southern terminal for the C train at all times except nights. During nights, this is the northern terminal for the
Lefferts Boulevard Lefferts Boulevard is a major north–south thoroughfare in Queens, New York City, running through the communities of Kew Gardens, Richmond Hill, and South Ozone Park. Its northern end is at Kew Gardens Road, in Kew Gardens, and its southern end ...
shuttle train from
Ozone Park, Queens Ozone Park is a neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City boroughs of New York City, borough of Queens, New York (state), New York, United States. It is next to the Aqueduct Racetrack in South Ozone Park, Queens, South Ozone ...
. Construction on the Euclid Avenue station started in 1938, but this part of the Fulton Street Line did not open until 1948. The Fulton Street Line was extended to the east in 1956, connecting to the
Fulton Street Elevated The Fulton Street Line, also called the Fulton Street Elevated or Kings County Line, was an elevated rail line mostly in Brooklyn, New York City, United States. It ran above Fulton Street from Fulton Ferry, Brooklyn, in Downtown Brooklyn east ...
via a branch line that runs through the
Grant Avenue Grant Avenue in San Francisco, California, is one of the oldest streets in the city's Chinatown, San Francisco, Chinatown district. It runs in a north–south direction starting at Market Street in the heart of downtown and dead-ending past Fran ...
station. Elevators were installed at Euclid Avenue circa 2005. The station has four tracks and two
island platform An island platform (also center platform (American English) or centre platform (British English)) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway inte ...
s. In terms of
railroad direction Rail directions are used to describe train directions on rail systems. The terms used may be derived from such sources as compass directions, altitude directions, or other directions. These directions are often specific to system, country, or reg ...
s, this is the southernmost station on the Fulton Street Line. The line was originally planned to extend further east as a four-track underground line; however, the four-track extension was never built. East of the station, there are connections to the
Pitkin Yard The New York City Transit Authority operates 24 rail yards for the New York City Subway system and one for the Staten Island Railway. There are 10 active A Division yards and 11 active B Division yards, two of which are shared between divisions ...
as well as to the Fulton Street Elevated. The tracks themselves dead-end after the Fulton Street elevated spur diverges.


History

Euclid Avenue was part of a four-station extension of the Fulton Street subway along Pitkin Avenue, past its original planned terminus at Broadway Junction. Construction of the extension began in 1938. Work on the section of the line between Crystal Street and Grant Avenue, which included the Euclid Avenue station and the
Pitkin Yard The New York City Transit Authority operates 24 rail yards for the New York City Subway system and one for the Staten Island Railway. There are 10 active A Division yards and 11 active B Division yards, two of which are shared between divisions ...
, began in late 1940. On August 26, 1941, lightning from a severe thunderstorm damaged the temporary timber roofing over the construction site at Pitkin Avenue and Autumn Avenue just east of the station. The lighting also ruptured a gas main at the site, creating a fire and causing damage to an adjacent building, while two automobiles fell into the exposed tunnel cavern. Construction of the extension was halted in December 1942 due to material shortages caused by
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. At the time, the section of tunnel between Crystal Street and Grant Avenue was 96% complete. Other parts of the extension were more than 99% complete, but vital equipment had yet to be installed, precluding these stations' openings. Construction resumed on the extension in November 1946. The delay meant the station received different design features than the rest of the stations along the line, including different tilings,
fluorescent lighting A fluorescent lamp, or fluorescent tube, is a low-pressure mercury-vapor gas-discharge lamp that uses fluorescence to produce visible light. An electric current in the gas excites mercury vapor, to produce ultraviolet and make a phosphor ...
instead of then-standard incandescent lights, and improved restroom and
phone booth A telephone booth, telephone kiosk, telephone call box, telephone box or public call box is a tiny structure furnished with a payphone and designed for a telephone user's convenience; typically the user steps into the booth and closes the booth ...
facilities. The station also featured a then-modern
interlocking In railway signalling, an interlocking is an arrangement of signal apparatus that prevents conflicting movements through an arrangement of tracks such as junctions or crossings. In North America, a set of signalling appliances and tracks inte ...
technology, known as the "NX" system, wherein train operators would press buttons that automatically adjusted the corresponding switches. In older interlockings throughout the subway system, workers in a separate control tower had to manually adjust the switches using a series of levers within the tower. After several test runs, the station opened to the public in the early morning of November 28, 1948. It became the new terminal of the Fulton Street Line, replacing the former terminal at Broadway–East New York (now Broadway Junction). It later became the replacement for the elevated
BMT Fulton Street Line The Fulton Street Line, also called the Fulton Street Elevated or Kings County Line, was an elevated rail line mostly in Brooklyn, New York City, United States. It ran above Fulton Street (Brooklyn), Fulton Street from Fulton Ferry, Brooklyn, in ...
's Chestnut Street and
Crescent Street Crescent Street (officially in ) is a southbound street in downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Running perpendicular to Saint Catherine Street, Crescent Street descends from Sherbrooke Street south to René Lévesque Boulevard. Crescent Street i ...
stations, which closed on April 26, 1956 when the connection to the eastern Fulton elevated was opened. In July 2002, the
Metropolitan Transportation Authority The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is a New York state public benefit corporations, public benefit corporation in New York (state), New York State responsible for public transportation in the New York metropolitan area, New York Ci ...
announced that elevators would be installed at the Euclid Avenue station to make the station
ADA-accessible The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 or ADA () is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. It affords similar protections against discrimination to Americans with disabilities as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, ...
. A $6.9 million contract for three elevators was awarded to Gibraltar Contracting. There would be an elevator to the street and elevators between the mezzanine and each platform had been installed, making the station
ADA-accessible The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 or ADA () is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. It affords similar protections against discrimination to Americans with disabilities as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, ...
. As of October 2005, the project's initial completion date of April 2005 was pushed back twice, and it was over six months behind schedule. The entire cost of the project had increased from $14.1 million to $14.3 million. The project was completed by March 2006.


Station layout

This station has four tracks and two
island platform An island platform (also center platform (American English) or centre platform (British English)) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway inte ...
s. It is the easternmost express station on the IND Fulton Street Line in terms of geographic directions. In terms of
railroad direction Rail directions are used to describe train directions on rail systems. The terms used may be derived from such sources as compass directions, altitude directions, or other directions. These directions are often specific to system, country, or reg ...
s, Euclid Avenue is the line's southernmost express station. The C train stops here at all times except late nights, while the A serves the station at all times, running express during the day and local during late nights. Euclid Avenue is the southern terminus for C trains; the next stop to the east (railroad south) for A trains is
Grant Avenue Grant Avenue in San Francisco, California, is one of the oldest streets in the city's Chinatown, San Francisco, Chinatown district. It runs in a north–south direction starting at Market Street in the heart of downtown and dead-ending past Fran ...
. The next stop to the west (railroad north) is Shepherd Avenue for local trains and Broadway Junction for express trains. During late nights, Euclid Avenue is also the northern terminus for shuttle trains from Ozone Park–Lefferts Boulevard, one of the three southern termini of the daytime A train. The track walls have the same rectangular eggshell-beige wall tiles as the next three stations west, in contrast to the typical square white tiles seen in the rest of the IND. The tile band, however, is a delicate shade of lilac with a violet border. The I-beam columns are tiled the same way, along with mini-vertical name tablets reading "EUCLID" along with the two-tone border motif. These columns are in pairs at the center of the platforms, though towards each end where the platforms narrow, there's only a single row of columns. A crew quarters room is over the railroad south end of both platforms. The station has a crossover in the
mezzanine A mezzanine (; or in Italian, a ''mezzanino'') is an intermediate floor in a building which is partly open to the double-height ceilinged floor below, or which does not extend over the whole floorspace of the building, a loft with non-sloped ...
along with an active newsstand and elevators to both platforms. The station has a control tower at the eastern end of the southbound platform, which monitors trains between Broadway Junction and the station, and controls the
interlocking In railway signalling, an interlocking is an arrangement of signal apparatus that prevents conflicting movements through an arrangement of tracks such as junctions or crossings. In North America, a set of signalling appliances and tracks inte ...
s east of Euclid Avenue. The tower was the first in the subway system to use the "NX" or "Entrance-Exit" system. In this system, the tower utilizes a wide, tall electric light signal board, which features a diagram of the nearby stations and track layout. It operates on
direct current Direct current (DC) is one-directional electric current, flow of electric charge. An electrochemical cell is a prime example of DC power. Direct current may flow through a conductor (material), conductor such as a wire, but can also flow throug ...
and consists of simple knobs and push buttons to control track switches, as opposed to the previous system, which ran on
alternating current Alternating current (AC) is an electric current that periodically reverses direction and changes its magnitude continuously with time, in contrast to direct current (DC), which flows only in one direction. Alternating current is the form in w ...
and required a complicated series of levers.


Exits

Stairways are present from each platform to the
mezzanine A mezzanine (; or in Italian, a ''mezzanino'') is an intermediate floor in a building which is partly open to the double-height ceilinged floor below, or which does not extend over the whole floorspace of the building, a loft with non-sloped ...
above the tracks.
Fare control In rail transport, the paid area is a dedicated "inner" zone in a railway station or metro station, accessible via turnstiles or other barriers, to get into which, visitors or passengers require a valid ticket, checked smartcard or a pass. A s ...
is located in the mezzanine. Outside fare control is a street elevator leading to the northeast corner of Pitkin and Euclid Avenues. Street stairs also lead to all four corners of the intersection. * * The bus routes stop outside the station.


East of the station

The next station east ( railroad south) for IND Fulton Street service is
Grant Avenue Grant Avenue in San Francisco, California, is one of the oldest streets in the city's Chinatown, San Francisco, Chinatown district. It runs in a north–south direction starting at Market Street in the heart of downtown and dead-ending past Fran ...
, located in
City Line, Brooklyn East New York is a residential neighborhood in the eastern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise, are roughly the Cemetery Belt and the Queens borough line to the north; ...
. However, an unfinished station is rumored to exist at 76th Street in nearby
Ozone Park, Queens Ozone Park is a neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City boroughs of New York City, borough of Queens, New York (state), New York, United States. It is next to the Aqueduct Racetrack in South Ozone Park, Queens, South Ozone ...
, just four blocks east of Grant Avenue. The track work near Euclid Avenue is intricate, allowing trains to enter the
Pitkin Yard The New York City Transit Authority operates 24 rail yards for the New York City Subway system and one for the Staten Island Railway. There are 10 active A Division yards and 11 active B Division yards, two of which are shared between divisions ...
from both the express and local tracks (where C trains relay to get from the southbound to the northbound local track), and with connections to the two-track Grant Avenue station from both the express and local tracks; the Grant Avenue spur then veers northeast towards Liberty Avenue. All four mainline tracks continue below the Grant Avenue connection, used only to store trains, east under Pitkin Avenue until approximately Eldert Lane (just south of the Grant Avenue station). It was planned that these tracks would continue under Pitkin Avenue to
Cross Bay Boulevard Woodhaven Boulevard and Cross Bay Boulevard (formerly Jamaica Bay Boulevard) are two parts of a major boulevard in the New York City borough of Queens. Woodhaven Boulevard runs roughly north–south in the central portion of Queens. South ...
, as part of a never-built system expansion which would have extended the Fulton Street Subway to the
Rockaways The Rockaway Peninsula, commonly referred to as The Rockaways or Rockaway, is a peninsula at the southern edge of the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, New York. Relatively isolated from Manhattan and other more urban parts of t ...
and to
Cambria Heights Cambria Heights is a residential neighborhood in the southeastern portion of the New York City borough of Queens. It is bounded by Springfield Boulevard and Francis Lewis Boulevard to the west, the Elmont, Nassau County border on the east, ...
near the Queens- Nassau County border. On the electric light signal board in the control room at Euclid Avenue, there is a taped-over section of the board that hides the 76th Street station. There are also two tracks coming from the Pitkin Yard heading towards the planned 76th Street station site. These tracks would have merged with the mainline tracks just before 76th Street station. When Pitkin Yard originally opened, the yard leads toward 76th Street were usable to relay short trains on. Today, those two tracks are no longer connected via switches. Parts of the trackways still exist, but the switches were removed and the tunnel ends in a cinderblock wall. As late as 1951, the mainline and relay tracks were still planned to be extended as far as 105th Street (the modern location of
Aqueduct Racetrack Aqueduct Racetrack is a Thoroughbred horse racing facility and casino in the South Ozone Park, Queens, South Ozone Park and Jamaica, Queens, Jamaica neighborhoods of Queens, New York City, United States. Aqueduct is the only racetrack within ...
), with a connection to the then-recently abandoned
Rockaway Beach Branch The Rockaway Beach Branch was a rail line owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in Queens, New York City, United States. The line left the Main Line at Whitepot Junction in Rego Park heading south via Ozone Park and across Jama ...
of the
Long Island Rail Road The Long Island Rail Road , or LIRR, is a Rail transport, railroad in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County on Long Islan ...
east of
Cross Bay Boulevard Woodhaven Boulevard and Cross Bay Boulevard (formerly Jamaica Bay Boulevard) are two parts of a major boulevard in the New York City borough of Queens. Woodhaven Boulevard runs roughly north–south in the central portion of Queens. South ...
. The extension of the subway, however, was never built; instead the line was connected to the former
Fulton Street elevated The Fulton Street Line, also called the Fulton Street Elevated or Kings County Line, was an elevated rail line mostly in Brooklyn, New York City, United States. It ran above Fulton Street from Fulton Ferry, Brooklyn, in Downtown Brooklyn east ...
on Liberty Avenue and the former LIRR Rockaway branch (now the
IND Rockaway Line The IND Rockaway Line is a rapid transit line of the IND Division of the New York City Subway, operating in Queens. It branches from the IND Fulton Street Line at Rockaway Boulevard, extending over the Jamaica Bay, into the Rockaways. At its s ...
), both via the Grant Avenue station, which opened in 1956. Rumors that the proposed station was actually constructed, at least partially, are prevalent. Evidence supporting the existence of the station includes the signal board, the cinderblock wall at the end of the tunnel (cinderblock, brick, and wooden partitions are used in other parts of the subway to seal potential expansion sites), and several signals for trains running from the station into Euclid Avenue facing the wall, including one directly in front of the wall. On online transit forums, such as the website SubChat, some have claimed to have known people who have seen the station. ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', referring to the rumor as the "transit Atlantis", has likened it to the
Roswell UFO incident The Roswell Incident started in 1947 with the recovery of debris near Roswell, New Mexico. It later became the basis for conspiracy theories alleging that the United States military recovered a crashed extraterrestrial spacecraft. The debri ...
or the
Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories The assassination of John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, on November 22, 1963, has spawned numerous conspiracy theories. These theories allege the involvement of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Mafia, Vice Pre ...
. Steve Krokowski, a retired transit worker and police officer, was quoted by the ''Times'' in reference to the station, mentioning: * The taped-over portion of the signal board, which covers a label for the 76th Street station. (This control board actually exists, and has indeed been taped over.) * The remnants of the Pitkin Yard leads that head northeast and then stop near the aforementioned cinder-block wall. Krokowski tried to dig under the wall, and found a track tie, but stopped when the hole caved in. * A retired police officer claimed that the cinder-block wall previously had a door, and that in the 1960s, he walked through it, and saw a station complete with everything except for turnstiles and token booths. Other "colleagues", all supposedly dead, also claimed to have seen the station, though whether anyone else actually made such claims is unknown. However, there is also significant evidence against the existence of the station, including a lack of newspaper coverage, the lack of subway infrastructure such as ventilation grates or skylights on Pitkin Avenue in the area, and the absence of documentation of the work from the Board of Transportation or the
Board of Estimate A board of estimate is a governing body, particularly in the United States. Typically, the board's membership will consist of a combination of elected officials from the executive branch (e.g., the mayor or county executive) and the legislative br ...
.


References


External links

* * Station Reporter â€
C train
* Station Reporter â€

* Station Reporter â€

* The Subway Nut â€
Euclid Avenue Pictures

Euclid Avenue entrance from Google Maps Street View

Platforms from Google Maps Street View
{{DEFAULTSORT:Euclid Avenue (Ind Fulton Street Line) IND Fulton Street Line stations New York City Subway stations in Brooklyn New York City Subway terminals Railway stations in the United States opened in 1948 East New York, Brooklyn 1948 establishments in New York City