Fifth Avenue Line (Brooklyn elevated)

Fifth Avenue Line
Park Row Brooklyn Bridge across East River Sands Street BMT Fulton Street Line Adams Street Bridge–Jay Streets IND Fulton Street Line uxhKRZt BMT Fourth Avenue Line uxhKRZt BMT Brighton Line BMT Myrtle Avenue Line Fulton Street BMT Fulton Street Line uxhKRZt BMT Brighton Line Atlantic Avenue LIRR Atlantic Branch St. Marks Avenue Union Street Third Street Ninth Street 16th Street 20th Street 25th Street 36th Street BMT Culver Line uxhKRZt BMT Fourth Avenue Line 40th Street 46th Street 52nd Street 58th Street 65th Street

BMT Third Avenue Line and BMT Fifth Avenue Line redirect here. For the former surface lines, also owned by the BMT, see Third Avenue Line (Brooklyn surface) and Fifth Avenue Line (Brooklyn surface).

The Fifth Avenue Line, also called the Fifth Avenue Elevated or Fifth Avenue-Bay Ridge Line, was an elevated rail line in Brooklyn, New York City, United States. It ran above Hudson Avenue, Flatbush Avenue, Fifth Avenue, 38th Street, and Third Avenue from Downtown Brooklyn south to Bay Ridge. The portion on Third Avenue was called the Third Avenue Elevated to distinguish service from the West End Elevated.

History

The Union Elevated Railroad, leased by the Brooklyn Elevated Railroad, built the Hudson Avenue Elevated, a branch of the Brooklyn Elevated's Lexington Avenue Elevated. This line split from the Brooklyn Elevated at a junction at Hudson and Park Avenues (where exit 29 of the Brooklyn–Queens Expressway is now located), and traveled south above Hudson Avenue to the Long Island Rail Road's Flatbush Avenue terminal. Trains began operating between Fulton Ferry (the terminal of the Brooklyn Elevated) and Flatbush Avenue on November 5, 1888.

The line crossed the Myrtle Avenue Elevated at grade two blocks south of its merge with the Brooklyn Elevated. On its second day of operation, November 6, a Hudson Avenue train crashed into a Myrtle Avenue train. Service was suspended immediately, and did not resume until June 22, 1889, when an extension south to Third Street was completed, and a new connection into Myrtle Avenue opened, taking trains between Third Street and Sands Street at the end of the Myrtle Avenue Elevated, and replacing the four track crossings with one. The unused two blocks north of Myrtle Avenue were placed back in service on December 9, 1889, when Myrtle Avenue trains began to use it to reach Fulton Ferry via the old Brooklyn Elevated.

An extension south to 25th Street at Greenwood Cemetery was opened at 4 p.m. on August 15, 1889. At this new terminal, elevated passengers could transfer to the north end of the Brooklyn, Bath and West End Railroad for Coney Island. A further extension to 36th Street, at a new Union Depot serving the West End Line and Prospect Park and Coney Island Railroad (Culver Line) to Coney Island, opened on May 29, 1890.

The Seaside and Brooklyn Bridge Elevated Railroad was organized on March 18, 1890 to extend the Fifth Avenue Elevated south to Fort Hamilton, to extend the Lexington Avenue Elevated from Van Siclen Avenue east to the city line, and to build in High Street at the Brooklyn Bridge (this became part of the Sands Street station loop). The extension of the Fifth Avenue Elevated, along Fifth Avenue, 38th Street, and Third Avenue, opened to 65th Street on October 1, 1893.

On June 25, 1923 two cars of a northbound train derailed and fell towards Flatbush Avenue. Eight passengers died and many were injured.

Station listing

Fifth Avenue trains served Park Row, Sands Street, Adams Street, and Bridge–Jay Streets before leaving the Myrtle Avenue Line. Aside from those stations, the entire line closed on May 31, 1940. It was dismantled and taken down October and November 1941.

Name	Location	Opened	Closed	Notes
Fulton Street	Hudson Avenue and Fulton Street	July 27, 1889	May 31, 1940	connection to Fulton Street Elevated trains and Fulton Street Line, DeKalb Avenue Line, and Flatbush Avenue Line streetcars
Atlantic Avenue	Flatbush Avenue and Atlantic Avenue	November 5, 1888	May 31, 1940	connection to Long Island Rail Road Atlantic Division trains at Flatbush Avenue and St. Johns Place Line, Flatbush Avenue Line, Third Avenue Line, and Seventh Avenue Line streetcars
St. Marks Avenue	Fifth Avenue and St. Marks Place	June 22, 1889	May 31, 1940	connection to Bergen Street Line streetcars
Union Street	Fifth Avenue and Union Street	June 22, 1889	May 31, 1940	connection to Union Street Line streetcars
Third Street	Fifth Avenue and Third Street	June 22, 1889	May 31, 1940
Ninth Street	Fifth Avenue and Ninth Street	August 15, 1889	May 31, 1940	connection to Smith and Ninth Streets Line and Hamilton Avenue Line streetcars
16th Street	Fifth Avenue and 16th Street	August 15, 1889	May 31, 1940	connection to 15th Street Line streetcars
20th Street	Fifth Avenue and 20th Street	August 15, 1889	May 31, 1940
25th Street	Fifth Avenue and 25th Street	August 15, 1889	May 31, 1940
36th Street	Fifth Avenue and 36th Street	May 29, 1890	May 31, 1940	connection to West End Line trains
40th Street	Third Avenue and 40th Street	October 1, 1893	May 31, 1940	connection to Church Avenue Line, 39th Street and Coney Island Line, 39th Street and Manhattan Beach Line, and 39th Street and Ulmer Park Line streetcars
46th Street	Third Avenue and 46th Street	October 1, 1893	May 31, 1940
52nd Street	Third Avenue and 52nd Street	October 1, 1893	May 31, 1940
58th Street	Third Avenue and 58th Street	October 1, 1893	May 31, 1940
65th Street	Third Avenue and 65th Street	October 1, 1893	May 31, 1940	connection to Sea Beach Line, Bay Ridge Suburban Line, Bay Ridge Line, Third Avenue Line, and 86th Street Suburban Line streetcars