Editing Brooklyn Bridge (section)

=== Rail traffic ===
Formerly, rail traffic operated on the Brooklyn Bridge as well. Cable cars and elevated railroads used the bridge until 1944, while trolleys ran until 1950.<ref name="Small p. 20" /><ref name="nyt19500303" />

==== Cable cars and elevated railroads ====
[[File:New Brooklyn to New York via Brooklyn Bridge, no. 2 (1899).webm|thumb|left|alt=A short film by Thomas A. Edison, Inc., titled "New Brooklyn to New York Via Brooklyn Bridge". The short film was taken in 1899 and shows the view from the front carriage of a train on the bridge.|thumbtime=0:23|[[Thomas A. Edison, Inc.]]: "New Brooklyn to New York Via Brooklyn Bridge", 1899]]
The New York and Brooklyn Bridge Railway, a cable car service, began operating on September&nbsp;25, 1883; it ran on the inner lanes of the bridge, between terminals at the Manhattan and Brooklyn ends.<ref name="nyt18830925" /><ref name="Small p. 5" /> Since Washington Roebling believed that [[steam locomotive]]s would put excessive loads upon the structure of the Brooklyn Bridge, the cable car line was designed as a steam/cable-hauled hybrid. They were powered from a generating station under the Brooklyn approach. The cable cars could not only regulate their speed on the {{Frac|3|3|4}}% upward and downward approaches, but also maintain a constant interval between each other. There were 24 cable cars in total.<ref>{{harvnb|ps=.|Small|1957|pp=4–5}}</ref>

Initially, the service ran with single-car trains, but patronage soon grew so much that by October 1883, two-car trains were in use. The line carried three million people in the first six months, nine million in 1884, and nearly 20&nbsp;million in 1885 following the opening of the [[Brooklyn Union Elevated Railroad]]. Accordingly, the track layout was rearranged and more trains were ordered.<ref name="bc18830531" /><ref>{{harvnb|ps=.|Small|1957|p=9}}</ref> At the same time, there were highly controversial plans to extend the elevated railroads onto the Brooklyn Bridge, under the pretext of extending the bridge itself.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1885/05/12/archives/brooklyn-bridge-extension.html|title=Brooklyn Bridge Extension|date=May 12, 1885|work=The New York Times|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|access-date=June 28, 2019|archive-date=March 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309023602/https://www.nytimes.com/1885/05/12/archives/brooklyn-bridge-extension.html|url-status=live}}</ref> After disputes, the trustees agreed to build two elevated routes to the bridge on the Brooklyn side.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://bklyn.newspapers.com/clip/33325555/|title=Four Tracks. The Rapid Transit Commission Makes Up Its Mind|date=December 26, 1885|work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle|access-date=June 26, 2019|page=4|via=Brooklyn Public Library; newspapers.com|archive-date=January 25, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240125005600/https://bklyn.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-four-tracks-th/33325555/|url-status=live}}</ref> Patronage continued to increase, and in 1888, the tracks were lengthened and even more cars were constructed to allow for four-car cable car trains.<ref name="Small pp. 10-11" /> Electric wires for the trolleys were added by 1895, allowing for the potential future decommissioning of the steam/cable system.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1895/10/29/archives/brooklyn-bridge-and-electric-power-steps-taken-which-may-result-in.html|title=Brooklyn Bridge And Electric Power; Steps Taken Which May Result in Doing Away with the Cable System|date=October 29, 1895|work=The New York Times|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|access-date=June 26, 2019|archive-date=June 26, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190626145241/https://www.nytimes.com/1895/10/29/archives/brooklyn-bridge-and-electric-power-steps-taken-which-may-result-in.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The terminals were rebuilt once more in July 1895, and, following the implementation of new electric cars in late 1896, the steam engines were dismantled and sold.<ref>{{harvnb|ps=.|Small|1957|p=12}}</ref>

Following the [[City of Greater New York#Consolidation|unification]] of the cities of New York and Brooklyn in 1898, the New York and Brooklyn Bridge Railway ceased to be a separate entity that June and the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT) assumed control of the line. The BRT started running through-services of elevated trains, which ran from [[Park Row Terminal]] in Manhattan to points in Brooklyn via the [[Sands Street station]] on the Brooklyn side. Before reaching Sands Street (at [[Clark–Tillary Streets station|Tillary Street]] for [[Fulton Street Line (elevated)|Fulton Street Line]] trains, and at [[Bridge–Jay Streets station|Bridge Street]] for [[Fifth Avenue Line (Brooklyn elevated)|Fifth Avenue Line]] and [[BMT Myrtle Avenue Line|Myrtle Avenue Line]] trains), elevated trains bound for Manhattan were uncoupled from their steam locomotives. The elevated trains were then coupled to the cable cars, which would pull the passenger carriages across the bridge.<ref>{{harvnb|ps=.|Small|1957|p=15}}</ref>

The BRT did not run any elevated train through services from 1899 to 1901. Due to increased patronage after the opening of the [[Interborough Rapid Transit Company]] (IRT)'s [[Early history of the IRT subway|first subway line]], the Park Row station was rebuilt in 1906.<ref>{{harvnb|ps=.|Small|1957|pp=16–17}}</ref> In the early 20th century, there were plans for Brooklyn Bridge elevated trains to run underground to the BRT's proposed [[Chambers Street station (BMT Nassau Street Line)|Chambers Street station]] in Manhattan,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1902/07/02/archives/great-city-building-for-bridge-entrance-rapid-transit-board.html|title=Great City Building For Bridge Entrance; Rapid Transit Board Approves Engineer Parsons's Plan|date=July 2, 1902|work=The New York Times|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|access-date=July 1, 2019|archive-date=July 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190701145521/https://www.nytimes.com/1902/07/02/archives/great-city-building-for-bridge-entrance-rapid-transit-board.html|url-status=live}}</ref> though the connection was never opened.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1915/08/04/archives/city-has-an-idle-tunnel-unused-tube-connects-two-subway-lines-and.html|title=City Has an Idle Tunnel; Unused Tube Connects Two Subway Lines and Cost $868,000|date=August 4, 1915|work=The New York Times|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|access-date=July 1, 2019}}</ref><ref name="Small p. 18">{{harvnb|ps=.|Small|1957|p=18}}</ref> The overpass across [[William Street (Manhattan)|William Street]] was closed in 1913 to make way for the proposed connection. In 1929, the overpass was reopened after it became clear that the connection would not be built.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1929/05/08/archives/reopens-under-pass-at-brooklyn-bridge-walker-at-ceremony-clearing.html|title=Reopens Under Pass At Brooklyn Bridge; Walker at Ceremony Clearing Passage Closed for 16 Years-- Downtown Traffic Eased|date=May 8, 1929|work=The New York Times|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|access-date=July 1, 2019}}</ref>

After the IRT's [[Joralemon Street Tunnel]] and the [[Williamsburg Bridge#Rail tracks|Williamsburg Bridge tracks]] opened in 1908, the Brooklyn Bridge no longer held a monopoly on rail service between Manhattan and Brooklyn, and cable service ceased.<ref name="Small p. 18" /> New subway lines from the IRT and from the BRT's successor [[Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation]] (BMT), built in the 1910s and 1920s, posed significant competition to the Brooklyn Bridge rail services. With the opening of the [[Independent Subway System]] in 1932 and the subsequent unification of all three companies into a single entity in 1940, the elevated services started to decline, and the Park Row and Sands Street stations were greatly reduced in size. The Fifth Avenue and Fulton Street services across the Brooklyn Bridge were discontinued in 1940 and 1941 respectively, and the elevated tracks were abandoned permanently with the withdrawal of Myrtle Avenue services in 1944.<ref name="Small p. 20" />

==== Trolleys ====
{{See also|Brooklyn Bridge trolleys}}

A plan for trolley service across the Brooklyn Bridge was presented in 1895.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1895/07/24/archives/bridge-terminals-and-trolleys-mayor-schieren-presents-to-trustees-a.html|title=Bridge Terminals And Trolleys; Mayor Schieren Presents to Trustees a Plan for a Continuous Loop in Washington Street, Brooklyn|date=July 24, 1895|work=The New York Times|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|access-date=June 30, 2019}}</ref> Two years later, the Brooklyn Bridge trustees agreed to a plan where trolleys could run across the bridge under ten-year contracts.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1897/08/06/archives/trolley-cars-on-bridge-trustees-and-the-brooklyn-railroad-managers.html|title=Trolley Cars on Bridge; Trustees and the Brooklyn Railroad Managers Have Reached a Mutual Agreement|date=August 6, 1897|work=The New York Times|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|access-date=June 30, 2019}}</ref> Trolley service, which began in 1898, ran on what are now the two middle lanes of each roadway (shared with other traffic).<ref name="Small p. 14" /><ref name="nyt18980217" /> Brooklyn Bridge Local trolley service between the two ends of the bridge was introduced in January 1908.<ref name="Cudahy">{{Harvnb|Cudahy|2009|ps=.|pages=221–222}}</ref><ref name="pamphlet">{{cite book | title=Brooklyn Bridge: 1883--1933 | publisher=City of New York, Department of Plant and Structures | year=1933 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qAgFAAAAMAAJ | language=en}}</ref> The cable cars were discontinued immediately afterward, and the shuttle was also eliminated.<ref>{{Harvnb|Cudahy|2009|page=168}}</ref> After cable service was withdrawn, the trolley tracks on the Brooklyn side were rebuilt to alleviate congestion.<ref name="Small p. 18" /> Trolley service on the middle lanes continued until the elevated lines stopped using the bridge in 1944, when they moved to the protected center tracks. On March&nbsp;5, 1950, the streetcars also stopped running, and the bridge was redesigned exclusively for automobile traffic.<ref name="Small p. 20" /><ref name="nyt19500303" />