NEW YORK'S TROLLEYS OF BROADWAY

Originally released by Interurban Films and filmed by Sidney B. Silleck, Jr., "New York's Trolleys of Broadway" tells the story of the Third Avenue Railway System’s Broadway line, which operated through 1946 between 42nd Street and 125th Street. (This is also known as the B Broadway Line: 42nd Street, Broadway, and 125th Street from East 42nd Street Ferry to West 130th Street Ferry, now M104 bus line.) The film features footage shot circa 1946, and shows a ride down the entire length of the line and shows both aluminum and steel cars aka Huffliners. It begins (:57) at the car barn / terminal at 129th and Amsterdam, down Amsterdam Avenue to 125th Street and across to Broadway. The line is shared with 10th Avenue cars for a stretch before the cars go their separate ways. At (9:36) the line runs through Times Square where the movie "Son of Kong" (released 1933) is shown on a theater marquee. At (9:50) "Night and Day" (released 1946) is playing at the Warners Theater and "Three Wise Fools" (1946) at another. At (10:15) nighttime footage of Times Square's neon signs is shown. At (10:29) "Caesar and Cleopatra" (1945) appears on another marquee. At (11:07) cars swing into 42nd Street and across the East River. At (11:49) a red and white work car is seen on the line. At (13:20) the elevated line is briefly shown. At (14:09) the trolley reaches the end of the line. At (14:24) the film ends with a shot of one of the diesel buses which replaced the trolley cars later in 1946. The conversion from streetcar to bus operation came from great pressure applied by New York City's Board of Transportation for a unified bus transportation system across the city. By 1948, all streetcar lines in Manhattan and The Bronx were converted to bus operation.

(Note: Filmmaker Sidney Sileck was a well known advertising and marketing executive and a lifelong rail fan, who led a successful campaign to save several NYC trolleys from destruction.)