The story
Precursors and origins
In 1871 the Southern Westchester Railroad was incorporated to run from what was then the southern edge of Westchester County (now the Bronx) at the Harlem River to the Westchester County seat, White Plains, along the same general route as was taken by the NYW&B. By 1875, this enterprise went into foreclosure and was liquidated in 1881. In 1872, the New York, Westchester and Boston Railway Company (NYW&B) was incorporated to serve areas north of New York City, with lines running from the Harlem River to Throgs Neck in the Bronx, and Port Chester and White Plains in Westchester County. The Panic of 1873 denied this venture the financing for construction. It entered receivership on March 20, 1875, not emerging until 1904.
Starting in 1874 portions of Westchester County were made part of New York City, a process that was complete by 1898, with the Bronx in its current configuration. This put much of the NYW&B franchise under the control of the City of New York — meaning the New York Democratic organization, Tammany Hall. In 1901, while the NYW&B still in receivership, the Harlem River & Port Chester Railroad (HR&PC) was incorporated to build a route from the Harlem River to Port Chester, parallel to the NYW&B route and the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad (NH) main line. Meanwhile, the NYW&B emerged from receivership on January 14, 1904, and began acquiring additional real estate rights for its route. In 1906 bankers Oakleigh Thorne and Marsden J. Perry bought the stock of the NYW&B on behalf of the Millbrook Company, a holding entity. After the Panic of 1907, the assets of the Millbrook Company were transferred over to the NH for $11 million, becoming a part of that company's emerging consolidated monopoly on rail and water transportation in southern New England. A lawsuit between the Harlem River and Port Chester Railroad (HR&PC) and the NYW&B was settled with the HR&PC franchise being acquired by the NYW&B in early 1909 and the HR&PC being consolidated into the NYW&B the following year. On January 18, 1910, the reorganized entity was consolidated under the control of the NH, but inheriting the business arrangements made while under direct control of financier J.P. Morgan.
Construction
Construction of the railroad began in 1909. The NYW&B was built to an exceptional standard from 180th Street to White Plains and through Pelham. Construction (excluding the cost of the NYW&B stock) and rolling stock cost more than $1.2 million per mile, an extraordinary amount in 1910. Rails were 90 lb/yd (45 kg/m). Grades were modest, exceeding 1% only to link to the NH line south of 180th Street. Curves were gentle, exceeding 6 degrees for express tracks only at one location in Mount Vernon, which had an 8-degree curve.
The stations, attractive cast concrete with marble interiors, used high platforms for faster passenger loading and unloading. No public roads were crossed at grade, a feat that required the construction of many costly bridges, tunnels, and viaducts. From 180th Street to Columbus Avenue, the line was four tracks, then double track to White Plains and Port Chester. Two stations on the White Plains line had four tracks, although express-train operation using the four-track stations did not prove to be warranted by the traffic volume.
The extension from New Rochelle to Port Chester was built to a much more economical standard, as exemplified by wooden platforms and more modest stations. The line was completed as far as Larchmont in 1921, Mamaroneck in 1926, Harrison in 1927, Rye in 1928, and Port Chester in December 1929. An additional station was constructed in White Plains at Ridgeway in 1929 to serve the growing residential area in that neighborhood. Mimicking the Port Chester station, the wooden construction consisted of two side platforms.
Operation
Passenger service began on May 29, 1912, between Adams Street in the Bronx (the modern East 180th Street station) and North Avenue in New Rochelle. It was thought that commuters would trade a direct ride to Grand Central Terminal for a lower fare but more comfortable ride into the Bronx, where they would pay 5 cents to transfer to the elevated IRT Third Avenue Line into Manhattan. On July 1, 1912, a branch was opened to Westchester Avenue in White Plains, splitting off the main line at Columbus Avenue. On August 3, through service commenced on the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad's Harlem River Branch to the Third Avenue Line.
"Given a choice between Grand Central and a higher fare or the Bronx terminal and a lower fare, passengers by the thousands were expected to switch to the Westchester," Stan Fischler wrote in his 1976 book Uptown, Downtown: A Trip Through Time on New York's Subways. However, the NYW&B's all-electric coaches and "carpet-smooth track beds" failed to convince a sufficient number of commuters to ride the NYW&B and then transfer to the Third Avenue El.
Franchises required the NYW&B to operate trains at a minimum frequency of two per hour, and it ran up to three times that frequency during rush hours. Trains were from one to six cars in length. Traffic grew from 2.9 million passengers per year in 1913 to 14.1 million in 1928. The completion of the Port Chester branch in 1929 allowed the New Haven to terminate passenger service on its Harlem River branch in 1930. Freight traffic on the line was very limited. The savings of not paying the high costs of using Grand Central were offset by the lower fares that the NYW&B charged. In no year of its operation was it able to cover the interest on its bonds, which had been guaranteed by the NH.
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Competition
With the death of J. P. Morgan in 1913 competition between the NH and NYC became less restrained. The NYW&B's White Plains line ran about two miles (3 km) east of the Harlem Division of the NYC. The Harlem Division served the settled towns and villages along the Bronx River and its commuter trains enjoyed the advantage of running directly into Manhattan. The Port Chester line was adjacent to NH rails for more than half of its length and was only two miles west of NH's Harlem River Branch for the balance. Although NH's Harlem Branch trains also terminated at the Harlem River terminal, regular NH commuter trains ran into Grand Central. When NH's bankruptcy led to the separation of ownership of the NYW&B from the New Haven, the NH's trustee was able to terminate the NYW&B's lease of its right of way from New Rochelle to Portchester.
The rise of the automobile denied railroads the revenue benefits from the growth of the suburbs to whose growth they had contributed. Even the rapid transit connections available at Harlem River and East 180th Street were inconvenient compared to the direct service offered by the NYC and the NH to Grand Central. The great postwar construction boom and explosion of the suburbs came too late to benefit the NYW&B.
Liquidation
The NH had been making up any shortfall in the ability of the NYW&B to meet its debt obligations. Thus, when the NH entered bankruptcy in 1935, the NYW&B did as well. Former New Haven General Manager Clinton L. Bardo was appointed as Trustee to try to turn around the fortunes of the ailing Westchester. But the trustees of the NH bankruptcy and the trustees of the NYW&B bankruptcy were responsible to different groups of creditors. The liquidation brought them into conflict. The NYW&B was forced to cease operating on the Port Chester line to enhance the revenues of the NH from its parallel service. The loss of revenue could not be offset by lower costs. If the NYW&B had been left intact, it would have required the New Haven to pay off a bond issue that was due in 1946. Total liquidation was the only answer. Bardo died of a heart attack in August 1937, before the full effect of his policies could be realized. The NYW&B ceased operations on December 31, 1937.
There were legislative and legal efforts to restore service on the route in the ensuing years. A bill to create the new Bronx-Westchester Railroad Authority to purchase and operate the Westchester for public benefit made it all the way to New York State Governor Herbert H. Lehman's office before he was pressured by New York City Mayor Fiorello La Guardia to veto the bill. The only successful effort was the purchase by the City of New York of the track, stations, and right-of-way between 180th Street and Dyre Avenue. After the installation of a third-rail it began operations as a shuttle service. With the construction of connecting trackage at 180th Street, it commenced operations as the current IRT Dyre Avenue Line.
The rails, steel bridges, and electrical distribution system were dismantled to provide steel and copper for the war effort in 1942. The sale of other assets, principally real estate, was complete by 1946, bringing the final end to the corporate entity.
During World War II, the original Stillwell MU cars were acquired for the war effort and shipped to Texas. Their pantographs were removed and the cars were hauled by a steam locomotive to bring workers from the city of Houston to the shipyards in Pasadena to build Liberty ships. The train was locally called the "shuttle train" and operated until the end of the war.
From Wikipedia’s article on New York, Westchester and Boston Railway, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4