Last weekend a friend and I checked out the Brooklyn 58th St. car house. I'd driven by there before but never took the time to look closer. It's easily the most impressive relic of Brooklyn trolley days and the exterior is not that different from when it was in service.
The carbarn takes up an entire block between 58th and 59th Streets and 2nd and 3rd Ave. It's on a slope so the upper level by 3rd Ave. and the Gowanus Expressway is one story but it goes to three levels on the west side. I've been told that there were inclined tracks on the inside so cars could move from one level to another.
There's no evidence of tracks entering from the outside as the sidewalks and driveways have been repaved for truck loading. A lot of warehouse type businesses are currently using the space. Things were slow on a Saturday and the few workers we saw didn't speak English or were clueless about tracks inside. I'm thinking there must be some rails still in the floor or other evidence of past use. Maybe on a weekday there would be more people around who would know or let trolley fans take a look around.
Like I said, the exterior is intact except for a few modern signs and roll down doors. On the east and west face are big stone signs with "B.C.R.R. 1892" (Brooklyn City Railroad) Greiller and Watson's Brooklyn Trolleys has a couple of pictures but otherwise I've never seen a lot of pictures of this car barn.
This is a natural for modeling though it's too big for full size. The redbrick walls and industrial windows look like any number of kits and modular wall systems.
Check it out if you're in the area, along with the NYNJ former Bush Terminal freight operation nearby.
The carbarn takes up an entire block between 58th and 59th Streets and 2nd and 3rd Ave. It's on a slope so the upper level by 3rd Ave. and the Gowanus Expressway is one story but it goes to three levels on the west side. I've been told that there were inclined tracks on the inside so cars could move from one level to another.
There's no evidence of tracks entering from the outside as the sidewalks and driveways have been repaved for truck loading. A lot of warehouse type businesses are currently using the space. Things were slow on a Saturday and the few workers we saw didn't speak English or were clueless about tracks inside. I'm thinking there must be some rails still in the floor or other evidence of past use. Maybe on a weekday there would be more people around who would know or let trolley fans take a look around.
Like I said, the exterior is intact except for a few modern signs and roll down doors. On the east and west face are big stone signs with "B.C.R.R. 1892" (Brooklyn City Railroad) Greiller and Watson's Brooklyn Trolleys has a couple of pictures but otherwise I've never seen a lot of pictures of this car barn.
This is a natural for modeling though it's too big for full size. The redbrick walls and industrial windows look like any number of kits and modular wall systems.
Check it out if you're in the area, along with the NYNJ former Bush Terminal freight operation nearby.
