page_title: Bus depots of MTA Regional Bus Operations
section_title: West 5th Street Depot
hierarchical_section_title: Bus depots of MTA Regional Bus Operations / Former depots / West 5th Street Depot
caption_attribution_description: English: Identifier: streetrailwayjo231904newy (find matches) Title: The Street railway journal Year: 1884 (1880s) Authors: Subjects: Street-railroads Electric railroads Transportation Publisher: New York&#160;: McGraw Pub. Co. Contributing Library: Smithsonian Libraries Digitizing Sponsor: Smithsonian Libraries View Book Page: Book Viewer About This Book: Catalog Entry View All Images: All Images From Book Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book. Text Appearing Before Image: vate rights of way on the surface tothis terminal. This permits high-speed operation and rapid transit inthe true sense of the word. Formerly,however, the elevated trains werebrought into the terminal and un-loaded upon the level, under condi-tions met in surface-car operation,with all the attendant inconveniencesof loading and unloading. The new arrangement of tracks,which was worked out m rebuildingthe Culver terminal, is shown in theaccompanying yard plan. The ele-vated train service will be taken careof separately from the surface lines,as shown, the principal feature of thenew terminal being this provision forthe rapid handling of the crowds bythe elevated trains. Four terminaltracks are installed for this purpose, the two upon the east sidebeing intended for the Brighton Beach Route elevated trains,and the other two, to the west, for the express and local trainsoperating over the Fifth Avenue elevated division. As may benoted, convenient track connections are provided for easily Text Appearing After Image: FIG THE ELEVATED TRAIN LOADING AND EXIT GATES AT THE CULVER DEPOTAT CONEY ISLAND handling trains under very close headway; train movementswill be greatly facilitated by the very complete system of inter-locking switches and signals which has been installed to coverall elevated train movements throughout the yard. The arrangement of the elevated train terminal is shown inan accompanying photograph, Fig. 1. Elevated platforms, ofa height of 42 ins. above rail level, are provided on both sides June ii, 1904.) STREET RAILWAY JOURNAL. 885 of every terminal track, five in all, two of which are nsed for of the confusion by the separating of the two classes of trafficpassengers entering outgoing trains, while the other three pro- permits trains to be unloaded, loaded and sent out again withvide exits for incoming trains. In this way incoming pas- the least possible delay. It is, indeed, thought that this arrange- Note About Images Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original work.
context_page_description: MTA Regional Bus Operations operates local and express buses serving New York City in the United States out of 29 bus depots. These depots are located in all five boroughs of the city, with one located in nearby Yonkers in Westchester County. 21 of these depots serve MTA New York City Transit's bus operations, while the remaining eight serve the MTA Bus Company. These facilities perform regular maintenance, cleaning, and painting of buses, as well as collection of revenue from bus fareboxes. Several of these depots were once car barns for streetcars, while others were built much later and have only served buses. Employees of the depots are represented by local divisions of the Transport Workers Union of America, particularly the TWU Local 100 and 101, or of the Amalgamated Transit Union's Local's 726 for all depots in Staten Island, 1056 for Casey Stengel, Jamaica, and Queens Village Depots, and 1179 for JFK & Far Rockaway Depots.
context_section_description: The West 5th Street Depot was located at the northwest corner of West 5th Street and Surf Avenue in Coney Island, Brooklyn (40.575235°N 73.973338°W), adjacent to the Brighton Beach neighborhood, and across from the current New York Aquarium, as well as near the former Luna Park amusement park. It was originally the site of a railroad and trolley terminal called the Culver Depot, built by the Prospect Park and Coney Island Railroad, operators of the Culver surface line along present-day McDonald Avenue in 1875. This depot was built on Surf Avenue between West 5th Street and West 8th Street, serving surface railroad and later Brighton and Culver elevated trains, as well as streetcars. The terminal also served the streetcar lines of the competing Coney Island and Brooklyn Railroad, including its Smith Street Line. A second adjacent facility on West 5th Street, also known as the Smith Street Trolley Depot, was built by the Coney Island and Brooklyn Railroad in 1912 exclusively for streetcars. Both streetcar companies as well as the Culver and Brighton lines would become part of the BRT by middle of the decade. By 1920, all elevated trains were moved west to the BRT's West End Depot, and the original Culver terminal was razed in 1923, with all streetcar service going to the West 5th Street Depot. As a streetcar facility, it featured a concrete storage garage at its north end, and a two-floor passenger terminal building at its south end facing Surf Avenue, with seven track loops in the center of the complex for terminating streetcars. The passenger concourse featured a restaurant, and a carousel which would later be moved to Manhattan to become the Central Park Carousel. The depot would be absorbed into municipal operations during unification in 1940.
  On October 30, 1956, the last streetcars operated to the depot along McDonald Avenue, at which point it was likely converted for bus service. The bus depot was closed on July 27, 1960, replaced by the Fresh Pond Depot in Queens. The depot was closed due to traffic congestion in Coney Island. By 1962, the site of the depot and former terminal was cleared. It is now the site of the Brightwater Towers apartment complex, built in the 1960s shortly after the depot was demolished.
caption: Site of the West Fifth Street Depot from the day when it was the Culver Depot
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