At the height of New York’s Gilded Age, the transportation sector was booming. Roadway traffic in Yonkers, Manhattan, and neighboring boroughs was exploding, and modes of transit ranged from pedestrians and bicyclists to horse-drawn carriages and omnibuses. But as the Industrial Revolution took hold in the state, railways emerged as the primary way goods and people moved. The popularity of rail travel soared after the Civil War as investors built rail lines in the northeast, southern states, and remote stations on the western frontier. Yet it was the brainchild of Yonkers inventor, Charles T. Harvey, that captivated the imagination of residents as he explored a unique way to navigate urban streets.
Greater New York at the turn of the 19th century was busy, congested, and chaotic. Investors were eager to find new ways to improve traffic flow and reduce accidents. Many of the city’s narrow streets were flanked by stone and brick buildings and could not be widened. A modern solution among civic planners and engineers was an elevated thoroughfare featuring railway lines and pedestrian pathways. As investors flooded in to fund the ventures, one man’s idea for an elevated train began to gain steam.
Urban Transit Revolution
In 1866, inventor Charles T. Harvey launched the West Side and Yonkers Patent Railway Company. As a self-taught engineer, he honed his skills while building the Saint Mary’s Falls Ship Canal in northern Michigan. He was a native of Westchester, Connecticut, and relocated to Yonkers to capitalize on the surging transportation sector. To modernize public transit, Harvey invented a single-track elevated railway with a cable mechanism to move the cars. He designed the route to run from Battery Place at the southern tip of Manhattan, up Greenwich Street, and north to Cortlandt Street. His later track designs extended up the west side of Manhattan Island to Yonkers and beyond.
With investment capital of $100,000, West Side and Yonkers Patent Railway undertook the task of building a 25-mile section of elevated track. Known as the “one-legged railroad”, the first section was a half-mile long. It featured single pedestal columns supporting a continuous length of track. The cars moved along the rails on a cable loop powered by a static engine. Harvey’s patent was unique because it featured a claw mechanism that grabbed onto metal rings along the cable to propel it forward. Standard cable cars at the time used a clamp-like grip.
On December 7, 1867, Harvey made his first test run along the half-mile of elevated track. High above the street and with a small crowd looking on, he rode a single car along the rails. The experiment was dubbed a success by state commissioners. Governor Reuben Fenton approved the rail line’s completion north to the Harlem River. With an overhead line stretching from Dey Street to 29th Street, the railway officially opened on July 1, 1868.
Struggle to Stay Aloft
The launch of the modern railway system signaled a new era in transportation. However, as rail tycoons and other investors began to see the potential of elevated transport routes, competition became fierce. Harvey was a pioneer, but his patented cable-claw design was showing its flaws and the mile-long cable loop was hard to maintain. West Side and Yonkers Patent Railway also had persistent legal troubles and faced red-tape barriers for building permits and zoning approvals. Despite these challenges, Harvey’s elevated rail line continued to thrive. By April 1870, the line was nearly four miles long, extending down Ninth Avenue to 32nd Street.
Despite its popularity as an efficient way to transport commuters, Harvey’s rail line faced heavy criticisim. Detractors complained that the tracks blocked out natural light, the rattling cars were noisy, and the tremors from passing cars shook nearby buildings. The early success of the West Side and Yonkers Patent Railway was short-lived and the company was acquired by new investors in late 1870. Harvey’s patented cable-claw invention was replaced by steam engines, but his ingenuity ushered in a new era of transit. His creativity laid the foundation for the future of the New York subway system and commuter rail such as Yonkers’ Metro-North Railroad.
