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Brooklyn City Railroad

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Brooklyn City Railroad

The Brooklyn City Railroad (BCRR) was the oldest and one of the largest operators of streetcars (horsecars and later trolleys) in the City of Brooklyn, New York, continuing in that role when Brooklyn became a borough of New York City in 1898.

The BCRR was incorporated on December 17, 1853 (172 years ago) (1853-12-17), with capital of $2,500,000, a large sum in those days. Its first line, the Myrtle Avenue Line, was the first horsecar line in Brooklyn, and opened on July 3, 1854 (171 years ago) (1854-07-03). The line operated from Fulton Ferry via Fulton Street and Myrtle Avenue to the former stagecoach stables at Marcy Avenue. The New York State Legislature permitted it to reduce its capital to $1,000,000 in 1855.

The following lines were operated by the BCRR at the time of its 1893 lease to the BHRR:

The Fort Hamilton and Hamilton Avenue lines were the first selected to have electric traction installed.

In 1893, the Long Island Traction Company (LIT), a holding company, acquired the Brooklyn Heights Railroad (BHRR), operator of a short cable car line on Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights and used this latter company as its operating arm. The BHRR obtained a 999-year operating lease on the Brooklyn City the same year. By this time the Brooklyn City operated 27 streetcar lines.

The LIT was foreclosed and reorganized in 1895 as the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT), which soon acquired, through lease or ownership interests in company's shares, most of the trolley and rapid transit lines in Brooklyn.

The BRT (also known as "the rapid transit company" during its years of acquisition) became the public face of transportation in Brooklyn. Nevertheless, the BRT operated all of its lines through its operating companies, some of which were created just for that purpose, and others that were leased or subsidiaries, such as the Brooklyn City. Patrons may have noticed this in subtle ways, such as that streetcar transfers had the letters "B.C.R.R." imprinted on their face.

In 1919, the BRT went into receivership as the result of a number of factors, such as the serious inflation of World War I, and not helped by the Malbone Street Wreck on the Brighton Line, which killed at least 93 people on November 1, 1918.

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