Abstract
The story of New York’s elevated rail rapid transit system is a critical juncture in the history of the city. Surrounded by water on a long, narrow island, the city needed to expand, and it needed a transportation system to enable it to do so. The elevated railway would provide the only answer for the thirty-four year period between 1870 and 1904, when the first subway was opened. The story of the “Els” is one of great innovation and invention, dedicated (even if often misguided) engineers and scientists, and both political and financial intrigue involving some of the most well-known names in the city’s history. Always controversial, the elevated railroads paved the way for New York to rapidly expand, particularly to the north, while creating significant environmental problems virtually from their very beginnings.
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Roess, R.P., Sansone, G. (2013). To “El” and Back: The Era of the Elevated Railroad. In: The Wheels That Drove New York. Springer Tracts on Transportation and Traffic, vol 1. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-30484-2_6
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