The Third Avenue El. Let the express train speeds lift you out of your seat or settle back to enjoy all the things that made the Third Avenue El the most beloved, most exhilarating, and for some the most hated form of New York City transportation. The Third Avenue Elevated line originally constructed in the 1870s ran from Lower Manhattan to the Bronx. Giving way to real estate pressures the elevateds eventually closed, but not before these films could capture them snaking through the high rises in the 1950s. The outstanding filmming by Frank Pfuhler, Jr. shows four run pasts in, on, and over the great double track, double deck cantilever swing span across the Harlem River, each with all four 90 degree turns. The gingerbread fretwork, Hansel
& Gretel wrought iron, mandala-stained glass windows, and pot-bellied stoves are captured with exquisite stills by Lothar Stelter.

New York’s Last Trolleys. The last line is the Queensborough Bridge Railway, covered in fascinating detail from Queens Plaza on Long Island to the underground terminal in New York City. The film features some of the last trips in 1956 and transportation of car 1001 to the Brantford Museum in Connecticut. 

New York Elevateds: Winter & Summer in the Mid 1950s. With every run past identified by map, the film captures as many as possible of the antique cars in operation before the re-equipping of rolling stock in the 1950s. gate cars—many built in 1904 and 1905—and glimpses of what was then considered modern: the R12, R14, R15 and the Worlds Fair Blue Bird specials of 1964-65. Detailed coverage includes the Polo Grounds Shuttle, the Dyre Ave line from rags to riches, and conversion of the Myrtle Ave from elevated to subway, as well as crossing gates still at work. In addition to many routine snow scenes, full blown blizzards on the Flushing, Myrtle Ave and Brighton Beach lines are shown.