Tompkinsville used to be free, but the MTA realized people were getting out and walking to the Ferry (it’s not that far) and they were losing a lot of revenue, so when they remodeled the station they put in turnstiles.
Yeah I had a pass when I visited so it would make no difference to me but I do recall walking to tompkinsville. Because I wanted to see what that was all about
The railroad was first incorporated in 1851 and was originally financed thanks to Cornelius Vanderbilt. The line was completed to Tottenville in 1860, however it wasn't extended to Tompkinsville until 1884, and finally St. George in 1886. Most of the former North Shore Branch stations opened in 1886 as well. Erastus Wiman organized the Staten Island Rapid Transit Company in 1880 and partnered with the B&O to build a large rail and ferry terminal to centralize all the ferry landings. St George got its name from developer George Law, whom Erastus Wiman promised to "canonize" in exchange for relinquishing the land rights for the terminal. The reason the SIR is electrified is because the SIRT did so under the B&O in anticipation of a tunnel to Brooklyn. In 1889, construction began on the Baltimore and New York Railway between Arthur Kill and the Jersey Central at Cranford, thus passenger trains used to go to New Jersey from Staten Island using the North Shore Branch (today CSX freight trains do so). The North Shore Branch closed in 1953 but in 1957, Elizabeth II used the North Shore Branch as part of her journey from DC to NYC and took the Staten Island Ferry!
The ferry boat that you arrived in SI on, the SSG Michael H. Ollis, was named after was a Staten Island native who was killed at age 24 while shielding a Polish soldier from an insurgent bomber in Afghanistan in August 2013. The reason Tompkinsville has turnstiles is because when it didn't, one-fifth of passengers would get off at Tompkinsville and walk to St George to avoid paying the fare, so they built a new station house in 2010 which included turnstiles. Staten Island used to have two stations where you could only get off using ONE door on the last car, Nassau and Atlantic! Both were opened to serve factories (a smelting factory at Nassau and a terra cotta factory at Atlantic), and Nassau had a four car-long platform (extended from the original platform by the smelting factory) but the extension was walled-off. Nassau and Atlantic closed in 2017 for Arthur Kill. The reason the Staten Island Ferry is free is because the fee for it was eliminated in 1997 by former Mayor Giuliani as part of the "One city, one fare" system the MTA started that year. So Staten Islanders wouldn't be paying extra when they transfer to the subway at South Ferry! The Staten Island Ferry originated in 1817 when the Richmond Turnpike Company started a steamboat service from Manhattan to Staten Island. Cornelius Vanderbilt bought the Richmond Turnpike Company in 1838, and it was merged with two competitors in 1853. The combined company was in turn sold to the Staten Island Railroad Company in 1864. The Staten Island Ferry was then sold to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1884, and the City of New York assumed control of the ferry in 1905.
The other reason the ferry is a "free" ride is that according to the city charter, from when the five boroughs were incorporated into Greater New York, there was supposed to be "free and easy" access from one borough to all other boroughs. This free and easy access existed between the other four boroughs. For example, you could walk from Brooklyn to Manhattan over the Brooklyn Bridge without paying, from the Bronx & Queens to Manhattan by other foot bridges and, theoretically, if you wanted to, from the Bronx to Brooklyn through Manhattan, etc. But you had to pay to reach the other boroughs from Staten Island, either by ferry or, later, by the bridges to New Jersey or the Verazzano Bridge, all of which were toll bridges. Making the ferry free fulfilled this requirement though it took about 90 years for it to happen. It was really a gift from Giuliani to Staten Islanders for them providing him the winning margin of votes when he was first elected.
@@jordancorporan6075 Until the Gold Metro-Card started July 1997, the conductors on the SIR collected the fares - punched tickets, etc. Riding the SIR you will notice that there are very few fully enclosed station structures to easily install turnstiles. When the Metro-Card started there the St George station has a fully enclosed waiting area leading to the track platforms - a great place for turnstiles. Since the great majority of SIR riders use it to get to the Ferry to/from Manhattan - placing the turnstiles captures the fares of 90-percent of the riders. Many SIR riders also use an MTA bus to reach the SIR, so their fares would be a transfer. The fairly fewer riders riding from one SIR station to another without going to the ferry, and also not using a bus are really few riders willing to wait the 30 minutes between SIR trains. A New York Times article talked about some folks getting off at the Tompkinsville station (last stop before the ferry) getting off the train and walking the distance to the ferry, thus getting a "free ride." Online transit fans blew their freaking minds - not realizing that only 2 trains an hour (one every 30 minutes) stop at that station rush hours, that the SIR "express trains" always bypass that station, as well as some local trains, and lastly that walking the distance to the ferry from that station at rush hours could easily mean missing the ferry when the ferries are 15 in and 20 minutes apart. At other times of the day the ferries are/we're 30 and 60 minutes apart - so missing the ferry for a "free ride" on the SIR only really works for folks that have plenty of time to waste. However the MTA decided to build a new fully enclosed "head house" containing turnstiles to reduce the possibility of the "free rides". Now except for the St George terminal, and the Ellington Transit Center in the middle south of the island - there were no other places on Staten Island for a person to put money on their Metro-Cards, those were the only Metro-Card machines on the entire island of close to 500,000 folks! The newer Tompkinsville station provided the third place on the whole island with Metro-Card machines. According to the MTA plenty of stores sell/sold Metro-Cards with fixed amounts of rides. If a person had a problem with the card they would have to journey to Manhattan for any resolution. Only St George had any MTA booth staff - usually only rush hours - help resolve issues. Concerning the Metro-Card, Staten Island is a backwater place with the fewest resources. Hope this helps.
Perth Amboy used to have Ferry service into Staten Island until 1968. The Outerbridge essentially made it useless but since then, there hasn't been any sort of replacement outside of driving. There's a Ferry Slip in Perth Amboy that serves as a quasi-museum and you can see most of Staten Island from said slip.
this video inspired me to bike to staten island (via the S53!) twice in one week. might even go again soon! biked the south shore along beachfront+hylan blvd to arrive to tottenville before taking the SIR back. very funny to see what it looked like barely a month ago in contrast to how the early spring feels. thanks for the inspiration!
Thanks for a great video. The orientation of the American Flag decal on the cars is correct. Fun fact: In the old days there were even more stations and many more branches that carry passengers on the SIR. It's also real railroad. The subway cars are specially fitted to meet FRA regulations because they theoretically share the tracks with freight.
@@kjrehberg It was the buses, when NYC slashed the fares. They wanted to abandoned ALL passenger service, but NYC stepped in to save the Tottenville to SI Ferry line. The two branches, North Shore and South Beach, closed in 1953. There are interesting remnants left, especially the North Shore, where it's possible to still find tracks. The Verrazano opened in the 60s so obviously it could not have been a factor in the branches' abandonments.
This is the most excited anyone has ever been about the Staten Island Railroad. Two of my colleagues take this commute twice a day to/from Manhattan, I salute them for their dedication to Staten Island because I would just move. They don't use the buses because the traffic is unpredictable and it's very expensive, plus it takes longer. In the couple times I've ridden it I noticed that it's used heavily in the afternoon by middle and high school students traveling between the middle stations. I do find it funny when someone is amazed at how suburban it is, every borough other than Manhattan has areas like that, some nicer than others but it's not uncommon.
This is an in-depth video which I really enjoyed. As a New Yorker, Staten Island is the sometimes forgotten borough. I didn’t even know this train station existed.
Watching from UK here , very good informative video 👍🏿 loving the Geoff Marshall style of video learned a lot about the Subway , this line seems similar to a lot of outer suburban lines we have here keep up the good work
Passenger service was eliminated on the North Shore branch in 1953 and was used for freight for awhile. The South Beach branch was also discontinued in 1953. There was also a spur to the Proctor & Gamble factory which was constructed in 1907. That is where Ivory Soap was manufactured. Proctor & Gamble is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio where it's always been. Also, Eugenius Harvey Outerbridge is named for the "Crossing". It was completed in 1928.
Great vid! Love the pigeons who live inside the St George Staten Island Ferry terminal. Also great job getting that roll sign bullet switched! Jealous!
What’s funny is that I didn’t even ask! The conductor was super nice! He saw that I was recording and offered to switch the rollsign for me. He also tried to show me the R211S but it wasn’t there.
Yeah as you mentioned, the Ballpark station didn't last long, the station opened in 2001 when the ballpark opened and then it closed in 2010 (trains last served the Ballpark station in September 2009). The SI Yankees team itself stopped operations in 2020, replaced by the Staten Island FerryHawks. Huguenots are Protestants who fled persecution in France. Huguenots settled in the area in the 17th century and formed one of the first permanent settlements on Staten Island, led by Daniel Perrin (originally from the Channel Island of Jersey) who arrived in NY Harbor in 1665. Staten Island is known as Richmond County because it was named after Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond, an illegitimate son of King Charles II in 1683! When it became a borough in 1898, it was called the Borough of Richmond, and the borough wouldn't be renamed to Staten Island until 1975! Tottenville's Conference House is a place of historical significance when it comes to the American Revolution as it was the site of the Staten Island Peace Conference, an unsuccessful attempt to find a swift negotiated end to the revolution, which was hosted there by Loyalist Colonel Christopher Billop, on September 11, 1776. Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Edward Rutledge rowed over from patriot-held Perth Amboy and the meeting lasted for three hours, ending with the patriots politely declining the diplomatically handcuffed Howe's offer (Howe was only given the ability to issue pardons and amnesties), leading to another seven years of war.
I'd love to see this line in Train Sim World 4. Despite being a linear commuter line, it's still so unusual due to its isolated location. I quite like the old R44 units too; they look like a smaller version of the Metro North M3A.
I grew up in South Amboy, where on the beach and with a pair of binoculars, I could see the SIRR, Staten Island Rail Road. My dad grew up in Perth Amboy a few blocks from the ferry terminal, which is now a historic land mark. He liked fishing and if he wasn't catching anything, he would take the ferry to Staten Island, to see is he had better luck. I don't know when the ferry service ended, 1950's maybe, the one ferry I knew of was called the Irvington. South Amboy is working a new ferry service , which one of the routes will make a stop in Tottenville.
Re "South Amboy is working a new ferry service , which one of the routes will make a stop in Tottenville." As a Staten Islander, that sounds awesome. I hope it will accommodate bicycles. I wonder how much it will cost. Maybe I can then take my bike and explore the Amboys, Woodbridge, etc. We can now take our bikes over the Goethals (for many years we could not), the Bayonne has always allowed us to ride our bikes ovedr. I have explored both Elizabeth/Linden/Rahway by bike on the Goethals from Staten Island, and also Bayonne, Jersey City and Hoboken by riding over the Bayonne on my bicycle. Once upon a time, way before my time, the Outerboirdige also accomodated cyclists and pedestrians. If this ferry thing you speak of comes true, I'm heading your way next! Watch out! Woo-hoo!
The two best stations to stop off at if you go again would be New Dorp and Eltingville, the towns adjacent are pretty nice and have lots of good shops and restaurants. Al though being on SI, still very car-centric
Hi Nathan! I came across your channel after your "The Elusive Z Train" video was recommended to me. After watching the video, I was immediately interested in your channel's content. I checked out your previous videos and even the ones uploaded after the Z Train video. Your videos are extremely informative and entertaining. Plus, your enthusiastic personality makes them even more enjoyable. Please keep uploading awesome content like this. You have earned a sub from me with all notifications enabled! :)
First rode it in the 60's, Fare was ticketed in 3 zones from St. George, I think 20, 35 and 40 cents. Cars went back to the 1920's and had some grade crossings. It's about the same distance as the PATCO Speed Line- 14 mi from Center City Philly to Lindenwold. NJ.
The conductors used to walk the train to collect fares, like on the LIRR. If you got on at Great Kills and were going to even Eltingville the conductor would pop out of the end of the car and come along and collect the fare and give you your ticket. So even for a 3 car train they had two conductors (as I remember it). I guess they figured it would be cheaper just to let you ride for free than to hire two conductors for every train for the limited number of people who ride between stations, since probably 90% get off at St. George, where they do have to pay. And it's too expensive to retro-fit all the other 20 stations with turnstiles, and then have to hire security guards for each station to stop turnstile jumping.
Staten Island is a very very unique and quiet borough of NYC. Lots of SIM express buses in Staten Island. There should be an express bus that travels to/from the Tottenville station to Midtown..considering the SIM2,SIM25 and SIM26. They should also extend the NJ Transit to/from Tottenville and Perth Amboy as a shuttle train so passengers can transfer trains between Perth Amboy and New York Penn Station or to Newark Penn Station
Some of the rail tracks used to be at street level with railroad crossings. I remember there was nothing to protect anyone from wandering onto the tracks when it was street level which led to some deaths. This is why it was put below ground in these areas in the late 60's . The train cars back then were black and had rattan benches .
Prior to the introduction of the Metro-Card, the conductors on board the SIR trains collected fares, and passed out train tickets, just like the LIRR and Metro-North railroads. So while the stations themselves may not have had turn-styles in those days the fares were collected by the train conductors. Long Island Railroad and Metro North stations also do not have "turn-styles." Many SIR riders also use the MTA buses to connect to the SIR while traveling on the island - so their fares are "captured" that way - since the SIR would be a "free transfer."
There was a ferry between Tottenville and Perth Amboy NJ across the water. Been gone as a service for years but on the Perth Amboy side they did refurbish the ferry slip.
@@qjtvaddict PA of NY/NJ has the monopoly on interstate mass transit between NY and NJ. Besides if the North Shore of the SIRT was ever re-activated it is already connected to NJ. Perth Amboy has NJT North Jersey Coast midtown direct service to NYP already.
Where you are standing in Tottenville is exactly where the ferry used to be. The Perth Amboy end still exists, even though it isn't used. And about an hour walk from where you are in Tottenville is the southernmost point in the city and state of New York.
I've never taken the Staten Island railway (railroad?) before this was real neat. Was surprised to see how much it reminded me of the lirr (I live in eastern Queens so I'm much more familiar with that). Also I didn't even realize there are buses on Staten Island 😅
Fire vid Nathan. Glad you enjoyed your trip. Staten Island really is beautiful, ppl just shit on it to go with the crowd. Few things: St. George is pronounced Saint George, idk what you’re trying to say Huguenot is pronounced you-ga-not. It’s like an even worse Americanization of Utrecht Ave in brooklyn lmaoo If you got any other questions about SI or especially the SIR lemme know
.......in French,it's pronounced hwezh.a noh,in British English, Hugh ga no,in American English Hugh ga not,in culturally/linguistically inbred Staten Island it's you guh not( no "h" is pronounced).BTW.....5th generation ( on my father's side,of partial Huguenot ancestry) Staten Islander here.
I didn't find the "St. George" pronunciation to be weird. Sounded a tad British if anything but not odd. Kind of like St. John → Singen, just not as extreme.
@@alexhajnal107 I thought he was saying sit George at first, and was simply reading “ st. “ it’s not too common to find individual neighborhoods with “saint” in the name
funny u mention bringing a bike on it.. like 12 year ago i bought a dirt bike and before i even know how to ride it i brought it home on the train from eltingville station lol all the way up those stairs
Nathan, I'm thinking about doing an adventure like that too in Staten Island. The last stop, do you know the address or name of a street and side street that is near that last stop. I plan on getting a ride to that spot and taking the train all the way to the Manhattan ferry.
Hey. The last stop was Tottenville which is at the end of Bentley Street and Main Street in the neighborhood of Tottenville. Hope that helps and I hope you enjoy your adventure!
Truly absolutely true. I grew up at the Qns/Nassau border and now live in Stapleton Staten. People act like Staten is some alien planet but it's insanely similar to Eastern Queens.
Just a note to get from the last free Stapleton station to the FREE Ferry is 30 mins of walking. Source: I walked to Stapleton for the “Cheapest Way Possible”.
Wonder how long it would take to bike that. 10 minutes? Aside: I walked the length of the island once which was pretty neat (Tottenville to St. George roughly along the train route).
04:06 IIRC, although the cars look very similar the loading gauge is a lot wider than that on the IND or BMT. This used to be part of the B&O Railroad and was built to railroad, not metro, standards.
Track specs in the NYC subway, SIR and most railroads in the United States are the same standard gauge. The cars don’t “look”similar, they are actual R-44’s (modified for FRA requirements) same as what used to run on the A Line.
@@Railoffroader2 Are the widths of the car bodies the same? My understanding is that the Staten Island cars' bodies are wider than the IND/BMT ones. (That's my recollection as well but it's been ages since I rode it.)
@@alexhajnal107 An R-44 is an R-44, NYCT or SIR, they were all built by the same manufacturer at the same time. All the same. Just like the new R-211’s are the same size as the ones in the subway.
I didn't think those houses were close at all. I'm used to the Chicago L where there are only a few feet between the tracks and apartment buildings. Red line.
I took the SIR back in 2012. From St George, and back man I felt like I was in another world. Also, when you get to Tottenvile you could see the bridge going into Jersey. Also feels like GTA 3. The trian smells like pickles, and Mustard.
The wooded area near Pleasant Plains is North Mount Loretto State Park, although what you were looking at was just scrub growing in the railroad right of way.😉
Thanks for an interesting tour. One small request - can you slow down your pans? In fact a lot of your camera movement mimicks your natural eye movement which isn’t how we view a moving image on a screen. It’s complicated but it involves a process called accommodation that our eyes and brain undergo to understand what we’re seeing.
Hi. Thanks for the feedback! I will definitely take this into consideration when recording future videos. Unfortunately, since I have a few videos prerecorded, you may not see my recording change for a few months.
When the St. George Terminal opened in the early 1900s, there were three separate SIR lines that converged at the ferry terminal. Two of them closed in 1953 but the platforms remain.
I’m not sure about the SIR specifically (and if you say SIR around here it’s Seattle international raceway lol) but many transit vehicles have sensors that detect people getting on OR off the train (they’re typically set for one or the other). So it’s likely turnstile activity isn’t the only method they have.
@@Luna_Potato It's got a population density that's between the two, and a transit network more akin to NJ than most of NYC, so almost everyone drives.
The vertically hung US flag is hanging the right way, with the stars on the left. The is because the stars (Union) are on the upper left corner when hung horizontally.
@@dubreil07 I don't know how it is now, but when I was a kid (a long time ago), we on Staten Island hated New Jersey and New Jerseyites, LOL. I guess old fashioned tribalism. "You stay out of our neighborhood" type stuff.
@@dubreil07 It does have more bridge connections to NJ than NY, but no transit links besides that one bus route. Very frustrating for those of us with family divided by the Arthur Kill who don't want to pay the toll 😅
@@dubreil07 It's very connected to New Jersey just like Manhattan is very connected to New Jersey. Manhattan has two tunnels, a bridge and PATH railway and New Jersey Transit connecting it to NJ around the clock, Staten Island has three bridges connecting it to New Jersey and one limited bus route that operates ony during rush hours. But the people like to point out how close to New Jersey Staten Island is and that it has bridges connecting it to NJ never say that about Manhattan, for some reason.
That the Staten Island Ferry and most of the length of the Staten Island Railway are free shows that charging a fee at the point of use for public transit is a choice.
The Staten Island Railway,was,a very long time ago,the most Northern outpost of the Baltimore&Ohio Railroad! When the line was upgraded and electricity was put on,it used car types of the Brooklyn Rapid Transit[AB Steels],slightly modified,as there was to be a tunnel from Brooklyn(never completed),and that was the through connection! Bit of a long history,and much omitted,and I apologize! Thank you,and some of my ancestors founded Tottenville,so I've got a bit of interest in that particular piece of real estate! Oh,if you ride the Oyster Bay line,on the Long Island,its quite a bit like the SIRT,and fun to ride! Thank you 😇 😊!
As someone who watches train videos from EU, East Asia - especially Japan. That Staten railway seems very 3rd world. So loud and jarring like its still 100 years old. Many of the Japanese trains that are built in the 70~80s are still operational in Rural Japan. Those stations are old and basic - but quite clean and have safer platforms. Hopefully the replacement will be a whole lot better, they should be. The quality of the track is also a factor.
Yeah, that’s unfortunately the state of American rail infrastructure. I am looking forward to the new R211Ss and I’ll go back to see them in service when I get the chance.
@@nathantransitj In general, we are not a mass transit country. New York is of course the most vast interconnected system in the whole country. The automobile and lots of land is a factor. It's been awhile since I've been on a 100-year-old trolley... Which is what your video reminded me of. By the way, interesting and good shots of the details.. unused platforms, the weirdly thin walkways. Later, I'll try to find a good Japanese one I've washed from an older rural rural line. And paste it... It is so different from anything I've ridden.
@@TexasCat99 The sad thing is 100 years ago you could literally get from anywhere in the US to anywhere in the US via public transport (rail mostly or by boat in more remote places).
@@alexhajnal107 But money from the auto industry to wipe out transportation did the damage. Of course, the big thing Japan and Europe had over the USA is that their cities were leveled. They had to build from scratch and were able to plan how to build out public transportation to GROW their cities. And smaller land area to work with too.
Never tried this line, so thank you for the video! The Bay Terrace signs confused me, I didn't know Staten Island had one too, I'm used to Bay Terrace in Queens near the Nassau border. Also, the Huguenots were a French religious group of Calvinist tradition of Protestantism around 1593. Maybe it's something to do with that. Maybe not.
Interesting point about the flag: That's actually the correct way to hang a US flag vertically. It's one of the only flags in the world where the preferred vertical presentation is flipped compared to the preferred horizontal presentation.
That not true you can the bus the S89 to Nj light rail form elkvill over the Bayonne bridge. but it’s limited service for rush hour only service ,on the south side of the island
@@MTATransitFanner324 At least that bridge now has a bike/pedestrian path (unlike Outerbridge Crossing). Still not optimal though. (Is it just me or is NYC the only city that doesn't have bike racks on its buses?)
North Shore branch was abandoned in 1953 due to low ridership and has mostly fallen into disrepair. Parts of it literally have collapsed into the Kill Van Kull waterway. It would need a total rebuild costing billions of dollars and likely would still have low ridership.
So Nathan made a cool video for all to enjoy. Can we dispense with the “but it’s NOT A SUBWAY” nonsense and just enjoy the kid’s video? Jeez, y’all are such Grinches.
You’re right, the Chicago EL is more of a “So called Railroad” than staten Island RW. The Chicago EL has railroad crossings and all that and Staten Island RW don’t. People think by calling it. A railroad is more special than NYCT. Nope it’s not , it’s a cute little rail system compared to the big boys LIRR, NYCT and Metro-North.❤
Also... I think Staten Island in general, especially the neighborhoods around the rail line, are still more or less 'urbanized' & 'dense' haha! It might seem very 'suburban' by NYC standards. But compared to many other major cities it is not. In fact, if I remembered correctly, the population density of Staten Island is even greater than here in Baltimore, haha!
Staten Island’s population density is higher than Los Angeles by 400 people per square mile. It’s just not ridiculously overcrowded like the other four boroughs.
Misconception that SI is cheaper to live in. The cost of missed opportunity for essentially living in NJ, while paying NY taxes, plus the bridge tax every day, it all adds up.
Yeah, I understand. The problem is that I’m still using my built-in phone mic (good mics are expensive!) and I haven’t found a good way to shield it without looking ridiculous. At some point, once I earn enough to invest in a real mic, audio will improve! Sorry for now.
From the start of the railway service until the north shore line was officially abandoned, the SI Railway was under the auspices of the FRA and the R44s were modified to comply with the rules (glazing, couplers, etc.).
Freight trains still cross over from Jersey to the far western reaches of the old North Shore branch, where the container port is located. Those can be some L - O - N - G trains!
Yes, but the connection between Cranford Junction and St. George has been lost and was officially abandoned, with the FRA losing jurisdiction over the line.
@alexhajnal107 There is nothing left - and it's a shame. I still have vague memories of a freight yard where the ballpark and outlets are now and freight service to the Advance and Nassau Smelting, both of which are gone too.
@@chipdunham8859 Hopefully something will be done with it. Right now it's just a 750m dead-end road. Would be great if it connected up with the St. George terminal (it looks like that may be in progress).
They don’t. The engineers sit in the front, drive the train, and eye the tracks and signals. Conductors do not drive trains, they open/close doors and check the platforms at each stop. Many people get the two mixed up.
The Staten Island Railway needs more work to modernize more of its stations and make them compliant with the 1990 Americans With Disabilities Act. Your statement about bicycles is incorrect. All the rail systems in the metro area will accept bikes. you just need to know how to be courteous and thoughtful about boarding. If you wanted to be able to explain what each neighborhood is about and how Huguenot came to be named, you can read about Staten Island online and in your local public library, consult maps of Staten Island, then put it all together in your narration.
Tompkinsville used to be free, but the MTA realized people were getting out and walking to the Ferry (it’s not that far) and they were losing a lot of revenue, so when they remodeled the station they put in turnstiles.
Yup when we were kids going to the city on the weekend we would get off at Tompkinsville & walk to St. George to beat the fare
Lived four years on staten island when I went to Wagner. Never used the train. Should have
100% 😂
Yeah I had a pass when I visited so it would make no difference to me but I do recall walking to tompkinsville. Because I wanted to see what that was all about
The railroad was first incorporated in 1851 and was originally financed thanks to Cornelius Vanderbilt. The line was completed to Tottenville in 1860, however it wasn't extended to Tompkinsville until 1884, and finally St. George in 1886. Most of the former North Shore Branch stations opened in 1886 as well. Erastus Wiman organized the Staten Island Rapid Transit Company in 1880 and partnered with the B&O to build a large rail and ferry terminal to centralize all the ferry landings. St George got its name from developer George Law, whom Erastus Wiman promised to "canonize" in exchange for relinquishing the land rights for the terminal. The reason the SIR is electrified is because the SIRT did so under the B&O in anticipation of a tunnel to Brooklyn.
In 1889, construction began on the Baltimore and New York Railway between Arthur Kill and the Jersey Central at Cranford, thus passenger trains used to go to New Jersey from Staten Island using the North Shore Branch (today CSX freight trains do so). The North Shore Branch closed in 1953 but in 1957, Elizabeth II used the North Shore Branch as part of her journey from DC to NYC and took the Staten Island Ferry!
AMAZING COMMENT!! THANK YOU!!😎😎😎❤
The ferry boat that you arrived in SI on, the SSG Michael H. Ollis, was named after was a Staten Island native who was killed at age 24 while shielding a Polish soldier from an insurgent bomber in Afghanistan in August 2013. The reason Tompkinsville has turnstiles is because when it didn't, one-fifth of passengers would get off at Tompkinsville and walk to St George to avoid paying the fare, so they built a new station house in 2010 which included turnstiles. Staten Island used to have two stations where you could only get off using ONE door on the last car, Nassau and Atlantic! Both were opened to serve factories (a smelting factory at Nassau and a terra cotta factory at Atlantic), and Nassau had a four car-long platform (extended from the original platform by the smelting factory) but the extension was walled-off. Nassau and Atlantic closed in 2017 for Arthur Kill.
The reason the Staten Island Ferry is free is because the fee for it was eliminated in 1997 by former Mayor Giuliani as part of the "One city, one fare" system the MTA started that year. So Staten Islanders wouldn't be paying extra when they transfer to the subway at South Ferry! The Staten Island Ferry originated in 1817 when the Richmond Turnpike Company started a steamboat service from Manhattan to Staten Island. Cornelius Vanderbilt bought the Richmond Turnpike Company in 1838, and it was merged with two competitors in 1853. The combined company was in turn sold to the Staten Island Railroad Company in 1864. The Staten Island Ferry was then sold to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1884, and the City of New York assumed control of the ferry in 1905.
In effect making the Staten Island Ferry the first municipal transportation agency operated by New York City.
The other reason the ferry is a "free" ride is that according to the city charter, from when the five boroughs were incorporated into Greater New York, there was supposed to be "free and easy" access from one borough to all other boroughs. This free and easy access existed between the other four boroughs. For example, you could walk from Brooklyn to Manhattan over the Brooklyn Bridge without paying, from the Bronx & Queens to Manhattan by other foot bridges and, theoretically, if you wanted to, from the Bronx to Brooklyn through Manhattan, etc. But you had to pay to reach the other boroughs from Staten Island, either by ferry or, later, by the bridges to New Jersey or the Verazzano Bridge, all of which were toll bridges. Making the ferry free fulfilled this requirement though it took about 90 years for it to happen. It was really a gift from Giuliani to Staten Islanders for them providing him the winning margin of votes when he was first elected.
But why do you have to pay to exit the 2 stations in the first place and then pay again when you get to Manhattan?
@@jordancorporan6075 Until the Gold Metro-Card started July 1997, the conductors on the SIR collected the fares - punched tickets, etc. Riding the SIR you will notice that there are very few fully enclosed station structures to easily install turnstiles. When the Metro-Card started there the St George station has a fully enclosed waiting area leading to the track platforms - a great place for turnstiles. Since the great majority of SIR riders use it to get to the Ferry to/from Manhattan - placing the turnstiles captures the fares of 90-percent of the riders. Many SIR riders also use an MTA bus to reach the SIR, so their fares would be a transfer. The fairly fewer riders riding from one SIR station to another without going to the ferry, and also not using a bus are really few riders willing to wait the 30 minutes between SIR trains. A New York Times article talked about some folks getting off at the Tompkinsville station (last stop before the ferry) getting off the train and walking the distance to the ferry, thus getting a "free ride." Online transit fans blew their freaking minds - not realizing that only 2 trains an hour (one every 30 minutes) stop at that station rush hours, that the SIR "express trains" always bypass that station, as well as some local trains, and lastly that walking the distance to the ferry from that station at rush hours could easily mean missing the ferry when the ferries are 15 in and 20 minutes apart. At other times of the day the ferries are/we're 30 and 60 minutes apart - so missing the ferry for a "free ride" on the SIR only really works for folks that have plenty of time to waste. However the MTA decided to build a new fully enclosed "head house" containing turnstiles to reduce the possibility of the "free rides". Now except for the St George terminal, and the Ellington Transit Center in the middle south of the island - there were no other places on Staten Island for a person to put money on their Metro-Cards, those were the only Metro-Card machines on the entire island of close to 500,000 folks! The newer Tompkinsville station provided the third place on the whole island with Metro-Card machines. According to the MTA plenty of stores sell/sold Metro-Cards with fixed amounts of rides. If a person had a problem with the card they would have to journey to Manhattan for any resolution. Only St George had any MTA booth staff - usually only rush hours - help resolve issues. Concerning the Metro-Card, Staten Island is a backwater place with the fewest resources. Hope this helps.
I ain't reading allat
Perth Amboy used to have Ferry service into Staten Island until 1968. The Outerbridge essentially made it useless but since then, there hasn't been any sort of replacement outside of driving. There's a Ferry Slip in Perth Amboy that serves as a quasi-museum and you can see most of Staten Island from said slip.
Fun video. You spent a lot of time on it and it shows. Don't mind the critics.
“It’s like an alien planet.” Welcome to Staten Island 😂😂
😂😂😂😂
No offense, that's The Bronx for me. It's like you need supplies and a space suit to get out to the BX. I still love this city though!
I’ve been waiting for you to do the Staten Island Railway, thanks ❤
I'm behind the curve on this.
Thank you for posting such cool content!
this video inspired me to bike to staten island (via the S53!) twice in one week. might even go again soon! biked the south shore along beachfront+hylan blvd to arrive to tottenville before taking the SIR back. very funny to see what it looked like barely a month ago in contrast to how the early spring feels. thanks for the inspiration!
That’s so cool!! Glad you enjoyed it :)
Thanks for a great video.
The orientation of the American Flag decal on the cars is correct.
Fun fact: In the old days there were even more stations and many more branches that carry passengers on the SIR.
It's also real railroad. The subway cars are specially fitted to meet FRA regulations because they theoretically share the tracks with freight.
so what happened to the old SI stations and branches?
@@minor1822 Declining passenger traffic (and freight) due to the proliferation of roadways, buses, and trucks.
Not to mention the Verrazano Bridge.
@@kjrehberg It was the buses, when NYC slashed the fares. They wanted to abandoned ALL passenger service, but NYC stepped in to save the Tottenville to SI Ferry line. The two branches, North Shore and South Beach, closed in 1953. There are interesting remnants left, especially the North Shore, where it's possible to still find tracks. The Verrazano opened in the 60s so obviously it could not have been a factor in the branches' abandonments.
This is the most excited anyone has ever been about the Staten Island Railroad. Two of my colleagues take this commute twice a day to/from Manhattan, I salute them for their dedication to Staten Island because I would just move. They don't use the buses because the traffic is unpredictable and it's very expensive, plus it takes longer. In the couple times I've ridden it I noticed that it's used heavily in the afternoon by middle and high school students traveling between the middle stations. I do find it funny when someone is amazed at how suburban it is, every borough other than Manhattan has areas like that, some nicer than others but it's not uncommon.
The original track right-of-way was the B & O Railroad, and the tracks went past the St. George Terminal westbound to the Gothels Bridge.
If one were to enter at St George and exit at Tompkinsville, would the system recognize it and only charge you once, it would you get double charged
This is an in-depth video which I really enjoyed. As a New Yorker, Staten Island is the sometimes forgotten borough. I didn’t even know this train station existed.
Watching from UK here , very good informative video 👍🏿 loving the Geoff Marshall style of video learned a lot about the Subway , this line seems similar to a lot of outer suburban lines we have here keep up the good work
Passenger service was eliminated on the North Shore branch in 1953 and was used for freight for awhile. The South Beach branch was also discontinued in 1953. There was also a spur to the Proctor & Gamble factory which was constructed in 1907. That is where Ivory Soap was manufactured. Proctor & Gamble is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio where it's always been. Also, Eugenius Harvey Outerbridge is named for the "Crossing". It was completed in 1928.
Great vid! Love the pigeons who live inside the St George Staten Island Ferry terminal. Also great job getting that roll sign bullet switched! Jealous!
What’s funny is that I didn’t even ask! The conductor was super nice! He saw that I was recording and offered to switch the rollsign for me. He also tried to show me the R211S but it wasn’t there.
The SIR has the friendliest conductors in the system.
@%SuprToe are you doing the sir the night trains part two
The ferryboat pigeon is the official bird of Staten Island. And contrary to some cranky pants commenters, Staten Islanders are pretty friendly.
No. Didn't work in SIR this time, either.@@alexthemtaandr211weatherfa2
Yeah as you mentioned, the Ballpark station didn't last long, the station opened in 2001 when the ballpark opened and then it closed in 2010 (trains last served the Ballpark station in September 2009). The SI Yankees team itself stopped operations in 2020, replaced by the Staten Island FerryHawks. Huguenots are Protestants who fled persecution in France. Huguenots settled in the area in the 17th century and formed one of the first permanent settlements on Staten Island, led by Daniel Perrin (originally from the Channel Island of Jersey) who arrived in NY Harbor in 1665. Staten Island is known as Richmond County because it was named after Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond, an illegitimate son of King Charles II in 1683! When it became a borough in 1898, it was called the Borough of Richmond, and the borough wouldn't be renamed to Staten Island until 1975!
Tottenville's Conference House is a place of historical significance when it comes to the American Revolution as it was the site of the Staten Island Peace Conference, an unsuccessful attempt to find a swift negotiated end to the revolution, which was hosted there by Loyalist Colonel Christopher Billop, on September 11, 1776. Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Edward Rutledge rowed over from patriot-held Perth Amboy and the meeting lasted for three hours, ending with the patriots politely declining the diplomatically handcuffed Howe's offer (Howe was only given the ability to issue pardons and amnesties), leading to another seven years of war.
My wife is descended from Charles Lenox. We're still poor, though, get invited to the coronation or anything! 😅
I really enjoy your commentary, you are too funny at times. Don't change 😄
I'd love to see this line in Train Sim World 4. Despite being a linear commuter line, it's still so unusual due to its isolated location. I quite like the old R44 units too; they look like a smaller version of the Metro North M3A.
Love these videos Nathan, keep ‘em coming. And yes, it’s a subway in all but name.
Nice Snowy Video. Thanks From San Diego.🌴
I grew up in South Amboy, where on the beach and with a pair of binoculars, I could see the SIRR, Staten Island Rail Road. My dad grew up in Perth Amboy a few blocks from the ferry terminal, which is now a historic land mark. He liked fishing and if he wasn't catching anything, he would take the ferry to Staten Island, to see is he had better luck. I don't know when the ferry service ended, 1950's maybe, the one ferry I knew of was called the Irvington. South Amboy is working a new ferry service , which one of the routes will make a stop in Tottenville.
Re "South Amboy is working a new ferry service , which one of the routes will make a stop in Tottenville."
As a Staten Islander, that sounds awesome. I hope it will accommodate bicycles. I wonder how much it will cost. Maybe I can then take my bike and explore the Amboys, Woodbridge, etc. We can now take our bikes over the Goethals (for many years we could not), the Bayonne has always allowed us to ride our bikes ovedr. I have explored both Elizabeth/Linden/Rahway by bike on the Goethals from Staten Island, and also Bayonne, Jersey City and Hoboken by riding over the Bayonne on my bicycle. Once upon a time, way before my time, the Outerboirdige also accomodated cyclists and pedestrians. If this ferry thing you speak of comes true, I'm heading your way next! Watch out! Woo-hoo!
I wonder if they could reimplement a ferry service between Perth Amboy and Totttenville once more.
@@ejm1225 Would be awesome. I'd take my bike on it.
I grew up taking the railway from the ferry to my grandmas, nice to see a video on it, thanks
The two best stations to stop off at if you go again would be New Dorp and Eltingville, the towns adjacent are pretty nice and have lots of good shops and restaurants. Al though being on SI, still very car-centric
Hi Nathan! I came across your channel after your "The Elusive Z Train" video was recommended to me. After watching the video, I was immediately interested in your channel's content. I checked out your previous videos and even the ones uploaded after the Z Train video. Your videos are extremely informative and entertaining. Plus, your enthusiastic personality makes them even more enjoyable. Please keep uploading awesome content like this. You have earned a sub from me with all notifications enabled! :)
Thank you so much!! I’m glad you enjoy my content and I hope I can continue to improve!
First rode it in the 60's, Fare was ticketed in 3 zones from St. George, I think 20, 35 and 40 cents. Cars went back to the 1920's and had some grade crossings. It's about the same distance as the PATCO Speed Line- 14 mi from Center City Philly to Lindenwold. NJ.
The conductors used to walk the train to collect fares, like on the LIRR. If you got on at Great Kills and were going to even Eltingville the conductor would pop out of the end of the car and come along and collect the fare and give you your ticket. So even for a 3 car train they had two conductors (as I remember it). I guess they figured it would be cheaper just to let you ride for free than to hire two conductors for every train for the limited number of people who ride between stations, since probably 90% get off at St. George, where they do have to pay. And it's too expensive to retro-fit all the other 20 stations with turnstiles, and then have to hire security guards for each station to stop turnstile jumping.
Staten Island is a very very unique and quiet borough of NYC. Lots of SIM express buses in Staten Island. There should be an express bus that travels to/from the Tottenville station to Midtown..considering the SIM2,SIM25 and SIM26. They should also extend the NJ Transit to/from Tottenville and Perth Amboy as a shuttle train so passengers can transfer trains between Perth Amboy and New York Penn Station or to Newark Penn Station
As a former Staten 🏝️er.. i agrees with yous 🤝
Liked and subscribeds 👍
excellent informative friendly and intelligent video thank you Nathan
We need a transit connection to NJ! Hudson Bergen light rail connection would be huge
Some of the rail tracks used to be at street level with railroad crossings. I remember there was nothing to protect anyone from wandering onto the tracks when it was street level which led to some deaths. This is why it was put below ground in these areas in the late 60's . The train cars back then were black and had rattan benches .
Your video made me laugh/smile since I live in Bay Terrace near the train station.
Prior to the introduction of the Metro-Card, the conductors on board the SIR trains collected fares, and passed out train tickets, just like the LIRR and Metro-North railroads. So while the stations themselves may not have had turn-styles in those days the fares were collected by the train conductors. Long Island Railroad and Metro North stations also do not have "turn-styles." Many SIR riders also use the MTA buses to connect to the SIR while traveling on the island - so their fares are "captured" that way - since the SIR would be a "free transfer."
There was a ferry between Tottenville and Perth Amboy NJ across the water. Been gone as a service for years but on the Perth Amboy side they did refurbish the ferry slip.
Better idea extend SIR to NJ
@@qjtvaddict PA of NY/NJ has the monopoly on interstate mass transit between NY and NJ. Besides if the North Shore of the SIRT was ever re-activated it is already connected to NJ. Perth Amboy has NJT North Jersey Coast midtown direct service to NYP already.
It was operated by the B&O RR, which owned the SI railroads.
You keep up with good work Nathan
Where you are standing in Tottenville is exactly where the ferry used to be. The Perth Amboy end still exists, even though it isn't used.
And about an hour walk from where you are in Tottenville is the southernmost point in the city and state of New York.
I've never taken the Staten Island railway (railroad?) before this was real neat. Was surprised to see how much it reminded me of the lirr (I live in eastern Queens so I'm much more familiar with that). Also I didn't even realize there are buses on Staten Island 😅
Fire vid Nathan. Glad you enjoyed your trip. Staten Island really is beautiful, ppl just shit on it to go with the crowd. Few things:
St. George is pronounced Saint George, idk what you’re trying to say
Huguenot is pronounced you-ga-not. It’s like an even worse Americanization of Utrecht Ave in brooklyn lmaoo
If you got any other questions about SI or especially the SIR lemme know
He’s a transplant and has no idea about SI
.......in French,it's pronounced hwezh.a noh,in British English, Hugh ga no,in American English Hugh ga not,in culturally/linguistically inbred Staten Island it's you guh not( no "h" is pronounced).BTW.....5th generation ( on my father's side,of partial Huguenot ancestry) Staten Islander here.
@@johnlong1538 yuuuugannoT , pronounced with the same sneer “yyuuggee” is
I didn't find the "St. George" pronunciation to be weird. Sounded a tad British if anything but not odd. Kind of like St. John → Singen, just not as extreme.
@@alexhajnal107 I thought he was saying sit George at first, and was simply reading “ st. “ it’s not too common to find individual neighborhoods with “saint” in the name
Right when I saw that title I knew what you were talking about :)
At 2:44 you can notice the R32 subway car, retired there.
Oh wow SI got R32. Never knew that.
It’s probably a work train
That’s the Laser Train, it’s the newest work train on the SIR. Just got it a few months ago.
funny u mention bringing a bike on it.. like 12 year ago i bought a dirt bike and before i even know how to ride it i brought it home on the train from eltingville station lol all the way up those stairs
this is world class reporting !! no lame stream media will give us this perspective and viewpoint ! thank you !!
Question I got is why do you have to pay to exit the SIR system in those 2 stations? Wouldn’t you be paying twice once you get to Manhattan ?
Staten Island ferry is free, and you get one free transfer after exiting the barriers.
The ferry to Perth Amboy closed in 1963. You can see the old pilings for the terminal right behind Nathan in the video.
Nathan, I'm thinking about doing an adventure like that too in Staten Island. The last stop, do you know the address or name of a street and side street that is near that last stop. I plan on getting a ride to that spot and taking the train all the way to the Manhattan ferry.
Hey. The last stop was Tottenville which is at the end of Bentley Street and Main Street in the neighborhood of Tottenville. Hope that helps and I hope you enjoy your adventure!
Have you been to any OTHER borough?
Most of eastern Queens looks EXACTLY like that.
Truly absolutely true. I grew up at the Qns/Nassau border and now live in Stapleton Staten. People act like Staten is some alien planet but it's insanely similar to Eastern Queens.
Just a note to get from the last free Stapleton station to the FREE Ferry is 30 mins of walking. Source: I walked to Stapleton for the “Cheapest Way Possible”.
Wonder how long it would take to bike that. 10 minutes? Aside: I walked the length of the island once which was pretty neat (Tottenville to St. George roughly along the train route).
@@alexhajnal107 if you let gravity take Yinz, 5-9 minutes. Otherwise. 7.75 to 14.35 minutes.
04:06 IIRC, although the cars look very similar the loading gauge is a lot wider than that on the IND or BMT. This used to be part of the B&O Railroad and was built to railroad, not metro, standards.
Track specs in the NYC subway, SIR and most railroads in the United States are the same standard gauge.
The cars don’t “look”similar, they are actual R-44’s (modified for FRA requirements) same as what used to run on the A Line.
@@Railoffroader2 Are the widths of the car bodies the same? My understanding is that the Staten Island cars' bodies are wider than the IND/BMT ones. (That's my recollection as well but it's been ages since I rode it.)
@@alexhajnal107 An R-44 is an R-44, NYCT or SIR, they were all built by the same manufacturer at the same time.
All the same. Just like the new R-211’s are the same size as the ones in the subway.
I didn't think those houses were close at all. I'm used to the Chicago L where there are only a few feet between the tracks and apartment buildings. Red line.
In the other 4 boroughs, the elevated lines of the NYC subway are very close to buildings.
I took the SIR back in 2012. From St George, and back man I felt like I was in another world. Also, when you get to Tottenvile you could see the bridge going into Jersey. Also feels like GTA 3. The trian smells like pickles, and Mustard.
Pickles and mustard???????? Idk bro somebody must’ve been making hoagies on your train 😂
The wooded area near Pleasant Plains is North Mount Loretto State Park, although what you were looking at was just scrub growing in the railroad right of way.😉
Thanks for an interesting tour.
One small request - can you slow down your pans? In fact a lot of your camera movement mimicks your natural eye movement which isn’t how we view a moving image on a screen. It’s complicated but it involves a process called accommodation that our eyes and brain undergo to understand what we’re seeing.
Hi. Thanks for the feedback! I will definitely take this into consideration when recording future videos. Unfortunately, since I have a few videos prerecorded, you may not see my recording change for a few months.
Why does it need all those platforms if it runs on 15-30 minute intervals?
When the St. George Terminal opened in the early 1900s, there were three separate SIR lines that converged at the ferry terminal. Two of them closed in 1953 but the platforms remain.
Because it used to have three branches
Flags the right way, blue stars always on the left
French Huguenots refugees settled on southern SI. When I was a kid, we'd go on one of the remaining trestles that used to serve South Beach Branch.
Hmmm..running the SIRT to Perth Amboy would be interesting. I wonder if Perth Amboy commuters to NYC would continue taking the NJCL OR SIRT/Ferry.
The fact the R32 3389 now LT001 is sitting there & R211S 100-104 is soon enter service in April.
It's entering Service in April now?
Fwiw, bikes are allowed on MTA subway trains, Metro North, LIRR, and all the ferries. Just not the buses! (unless you have a folding bike)
You don't even need a bike pass for Metro North any more.
I’m not sure about the SIR specifically (and if you say SIR around here it’s Seattle international raceway lol) but many transit vehicles have sensors that detect people getting on OR off the train (they’re typically set for one or the other). So it’s likely turnstile activity isn’t the only method they have.
It is technically a separate "thing" from the NYC subway system. It shares common overall management and ownership like the LIRR and Metro North do.
Staten Island is more like a town. It's nice. 👍👍👍👍
My nephew drives one of the express buses that goes to Staten Island.
As someone who lives in the nj suburbs of nyc, Staten Island definitely feels way more like an nj suburb than part of nyc
@@Luna_Potato It's got a population density that's between the two, and a transit network more akin to NJ than most of NYC, so almost everyone drives.
They should have a Ferry going to Jersey from Totenville...
1:25 what if you wanted to go between tompkinsville and st george? its $6!?
its a 10 minute walk between those stations, so i doubt very many people do that.
@@DistrosProjects And half a dozen bus routes will take you between the two stations for one fare.
The vertically hung US flag is hanging the right way, with the stars on the left. The is because the stars (Union) are on the upper left corner when hung horizontally.
it’s crazy how disconnected staten island is from jersey. even if u drive the toll is $17. the only public transit is the s89 over the bayonne bridge
Funny cause most New Yorkers think Staten Island is very connected to Jersey
@@dubreil07 I don't know how it is now, but when I was a kid (a long time ago), we on Staten Island hated New Jersey and New Jerseyites, LOL. I guess old fashioned tribalism. "You stay out of our neighborhood" type stuff.
@@dubreil07 It does have more bridge connections to NJ than NY, but no transit links besides that one bus route.
Very frustrating for those of us with family divided by the Arthur Kill who don't want to pay the toll 😅
@@Joesolo13 Getting a sail/motor boat is an option. (I'm being serious)
@@dubreil07 It's very connected to New Jersey just like Manhattan is very connected to New Jersey.
Manhattan has two tunnels, a bridge and PATH railway and New Jersey Transit connecting it to NJ around the clock, Staten Island has three bridges connecting it to New Jersey and one limited bus route that operates ony during rush hours. But the people like to point out how close to New Jersey Staten Island is and that it has bridges connecting it to NJ never say that about Manhattan, for some reason.
I've lived in the North Jersey/NY/SoConn Metro area. Taken the Subway, LIRR, Metro North, NJT, and PATH. Only once have been on that SI Railway.
4:10 r211 sir prototype will be in service in April and the production sets are sitting at Yonkers
Always enjoy your reports
Neat video. BTW the US. FLAG was correct - field of blue is always top left.
That the Staten Island Ferry and most of the length of the Staten Island Railway are free shows that charging a fee at the point of use for public transit is a choice.
There's a one-year experiment going on right now with the M106 being free to ride.
3:32 Is there anyone who knows if you can buy any of these? 🥺
The Staten Island Railway,was,a very long time ago,the most Northern outpost of the Baltimore&Ohio Railroad! When the line was upgraded and electricity was put on,it used car types of the Brooklyn Rapid Transit[AB Steels],slightly modified,as there was to be a tunnel from Brooklyn(never completed),and that was the through connection! Bit of a long history,and much omitted,and I apologize! Thank you,and some of my ancestors founded Tottenville,so I've got a bit of interest in that particular piece of real estate! Oh,if you ride the Oyster Bay line,on the Long Island,its quite a bit like the SIRT,and fun to ride! Thank you 😇 😊!
very enjoyable
As someone who watches train videos from EU, East Asia - especially Japan. That Staten railway seems very 3rd world. So loud and jarring like its still 100 years old. Many of the Japanese trains that are built in the 70~80s are still operational in Rural Japan. Those stations are old and basic - but quite clean and have safer platforms.
Hopefully the replacement will be a whole lot better, they should be. The quality of the track is also a factor.
Yeah, that’s unfortunately the state of American rail infrastructure. I am looking forward to the new R211Ss and I’ll go back to see them in service when I get the chance.
@@nathantransitj In general, we are not a mass transit country. New York is of course the most vast interconnected system in the whole country. The automobile and lots of land is a factor.
It's been awhile since I've been on a 100-year-old trolley... Which is what your video reminded me of.
By the way, interesting and good shots of the details.. unused platforms, the weirdly thin walkways.
Later, I'll try to find a good Japanese one I've washed from an older rural rural line. And paste it... It is so different from anything I've ridden.
@@TexasCat99 The sad thing is 100 years ago you could literally get from anywhere in the US to anywhere in the US via public transport (rail mostly or by boat in more remote places).
@@alexhajnal107 But money from the auto industry to wipe out transportation did the damage. Of course, the big thing Japan and Europe had over the USA is that their cities were leveled. They had to build from scratch and were able to plan how to build out public transportation to GROW their cities. And smaller land area to work with too.
Never tried this line, so thank you for the video! The Bay Terrace signs confused me, I didn't know Staten Island had one too, I'm used to Bay Terrace in Queens near the Nassau border. Also, the Huguenots were a French religious group of Calvinist tradition of Protestantism around 1593. Maybe it's something to do with that. Maybe not.
There's always Metro Rail in Buffalo which is...half subway half tram?
And it switches to street running in the CBD no less.
Interesting point about the flag: That's actually the correct way to hang a US flag vertically. It's one of the only flags in the world where the preferred vertical presentation is flipped compared to the preferred horizontal presentation.
I grew up riding on R44s when I lived in NYC in the 70s/80s🥰
That not true you can the bus the S89 to Nj light rail form elkvill over the Bayonne bridge. but it’s limited service for rush hour only service ,on the south side of the island
I’ve rode the S89 a bunch of times, great bus
Do they allow bikes on the S89?
@@alexhajnal107No! They should make bike racks on the S89 once you get to the Bayonne Bridge
@@MTATransitFanner324 At least that bridge now has a bike/pedestrian path (unlike Outerbridge Crossing). Still not optimal though. (Is it just me or is NYC the only city that doesn't have bike racks on its buses?)
@@alexhajnal107 I think the only two are the S53 and S93 and I believe in Queens is the Q50 and the Bx23 in the Bronx
The Huguenot's were a French religious group who settled on Staten Island in the 1500's and also other parts of New England.
Great video, thanks!
mt legal. nesse não andei, só no ferry de staten island, pq disseram que da pra ver a estatua da liberdade sem pagar kkkkk
e realmente dá.
Wait there’s an abandoned branch do the tracks still exist they should bring it back that would be great for the island
North Shore branch was abandoned in 1953 due to low ridership and has mostly fallen into disrepair. Parts of it literally have collapsed into the Kill Van Kull waterway. It would need a total rebuild costing billions of dollars and likely would still have low ridership.
The freight bridge over to New Jersey was refurbished maybe 10 years ago and is now used to access the container terminal
Very nice You Tube site. Thanks.
Arthur kills has really nice art that you missed :0 like glass too
Aww :(
The fact SIR also has a laser train is also really interesting
Great video, have you done one on the PATH?
Not yet!
So Nathan made a cool video for all to enjoy. Can we dispense with the “but it’s NOT A SUBWAY” nonsense and just enjoy the kid’s video? Jeez, y’all are such Grinches.
You’re right, the Chicago EL is more of a “So called Railroad” than staten Island RW. The Chicago EL has railroad crossings and all that and Staten Island RW don’t. People think by calling it. A railroad is more special than NYCT. Nope it’s not , it’s a cute little rail system compared to the big boys LIRR, NYCT and Metro-North.❤
A polite suggestion to please avoid panning the camera so sharply, as it is quite difficult to watch or make out what is going on. Thanks!
There are only a handful of stations that are 6 & 3 out of six get used on the regular
Also... I think Staten Island in general, especially the neighborhoods around the rail line, are still more or less 'urbanized' & 'dense' haha! It might seem very 'suburban' by NYC standards. But compared to many other major cities it is not. In fact, if I remembered correctly, the population density of Staten Island is even greater than here in Baltimore, haha!
Staten Island’s population density is higher than Los Angeles by 400 people per square mile. It’s just not ridiculously overcrowded like the other four boroughs.
Misconception that SI is cheaper to live in. The cost of missed opportunity for essentially living in NJ, while paying NY taxes, plus the bridge tax every day, it all adds up.
also if you put something soft over your mic, it dampens the wind a bit, homemade windscreen.
Yeah, I understand. The problem is that I’m still using my built-in phone mic (good mics are expensive!) and I haven’t found a good way to shield it without looking ridiculous. At some point, once I earn enough to invest in a real mic, audio will improve! Sorry for now.
doesn't need to be fancy, just a band-aid and a cotton-ball can save a whole day's worth of footage 🩹 or screw it up completely so test first 😉
@@yelowpunk Thanks for the suggestion! I’ll definitely test it first!
Staten Island is very car centric, unlike the other Boros. Also, there’s always a party going on at Angelina‘s
It is fairly car centric here. With only one train line with 30(!!) minute headways it shouldn’t be any surprise.
From the start of the railway service until the north shore line was officially abandoned, the SI Railway was under the auspices of the FRA and the R44s were modified to comply with the rules (glazing, couplers, etc.).
Freight trains still cross over from Jersey to the far western reaches of the old North Shore branch, where the container port is located. Those can be some L - O - N - G trains!
Yes, but the connection between Cranford Junction and St. George has been lost and was officially abandoned, with the FRA losing jurisdiction over the line.
@@chipdunham8859 I was there recently and there's no sign of any remaining track west of the ballpark.
@alexhajnal107 There is nothing left - and it's a shame. I still have vague memories of a freight yard where the ballpark and outlets are now and freight service to the Advance and Nassau Smelting, both of which are gone too.
@@chipdunham8859 Hopefully something will be done with it. Right now it's just a 750m dead-end road. Would be great if it connected up with the St. George terminal (it looks like that may be in progress).
Wait the conductors usually sit in the middle? Why? How do they look for hazards on the track?
They don’t. The engineers sit in the front, drive the train, and eye the tracks and signals. Conductors do not drive trains, they open/close doors and check the platforms at each stop. Many people get the two mixed up.
Essentially, the conductor commands the train while the train operator (engineer) drives the train.
The Staten Island Railway needs more work to modernize more of its stations and make them compliant with the 1990 Americans With Disabilities Act. Your statement about bicycles is incorrect. All the rail systems in the metro area will accept bikes. you just need to know how to be courteous and thoughtful about boarding. If you wanted to be able to explain what each neighborhood is about and how Huguenot came to be named, you can read about Staten Island online and in your local public library, consult maps of Staten Island, then put it all together in your narration.
idek, the Staten Island Railway was directly a subway & like the MTA NYCT even doe the retro •44/46• trains are the same tbqh.
That line is 42 minutes? Wow stops must be far apart
Cool video about Staten Island.... Looks like a paid Shuttle Train 🚆 going through the island 🏝️