Port Morris Branch: Westchester Avenue Yard
The Port Morris Branch crosses under Westchester Avenue between Brook Avenue and St. Ann's Avenue. The White Plains Road line of the IRT (#2 train) emerges from a tunnel just east of the Port Morris Branch and is elevated over Westchester Avenue when it crosses the Port Morris Branch.
The area just north of Westchester Avenue between Brook Avenue and St. Ann's Avenue seems to have been the Westchester Avenue Yard at an intermediate point between the Oak Point yard to the south and the connection to the Harlem Line to the north. The southern part of the yard area was taken over by South Bronx High School for multi-sport athletic fields (the Merrill Lynch Field of Dreams), but a corridor was left for the rail line right-of-way and there was a pedestrian bridge over the line.
Unfortunately, for the circumferential line, the crossing was about equidistant between the 3rd Ave./149th Street Station to the west and the Jackson Avenue Station to the east, making a extremely unlikely that a tunnel or viaduct could have been built for direct transfer between the circumferential subway and the IRT. However, there was a post office and vacant lots adjacent to the tracks at this point, so this still could have been a good spot for a station. Curiously, my 2006 Hagstrom map gives the path of the Port Morris Branch as Hegney Place and there is a corresponding street sign on the south side of Westchester Ave. Hegney Place does run intermittently along the tracks north of here, so perhaps there is/was consideration of filling in the trench and conversion to a street.
West of the Westchester Avenue yard is a vibrant shopping district on Third Avenue.
Parts of a wall have what appears to be some kind of Art deco ornamentation. However, a gentleman who used to work for NYC Transit told me that they are probably clay liners for cable ducts that separated power cables for the third rail. Some of the ducts appear to be covered over with a concrete shell that was presumably removed when the cables were removed - either by the railroad or by metal scavengers from the neighborhood.
In 2012, Via Verde opened and covered a portion of the ROW just south of East 156th street, and the bridges north of 156th Street were filled in. This severed the line and reduced the possibility of reuse for transit.
Line hidden behind trees, viewed from the east on the Westchester Ave. IRT
Under the IRT Jackson Ave. Station
St. Mary's Park Houses
The Westchester Ave. IRT headed south
Under the IRT
IRT passing the prison on Westchester Avenue
IRT over Westchester Avenue at Eagle Avenue
The IRT descending into the tunnel at Bergen Avenue
Church and row houses on Caldwell Ave.
Substation off the Westchester Ave. IRT
13,200 volts
Post Office off St
Westchester Ave. IRT crossing over the Port Morris Branch
Port Morris Branch headed north from Westchester Ave. - site of future subway station?
Westchester Ave. bridge over the Port Morris Branch
Overgrown Port Morris Branch headed south from Westchester Ave.
Sign for Hegney Place off Westchester Ave. at the Port Morris Branch trench
Breeched fence beside the trench, giving squatters access
#2 IRT train passing over the trench
Vacant lot east of the tracks and south of Westchester Ave. - potential station location?
Older row houses and newer apartment buildings on St. Ann's Ave.
Jet leaving Laguardia Airport - there is considerable jet noise in this neighborhood
Third Avenue retail block
Third Avenue retail block
Third Avenue retail block
Third Avenue retail block
Older building off Third Avenue
Vacant lot west of the Westchester Avenue Yard
Vacant lot west of the Westchester Avenue Yard
Field of Dreams
Field of Dreams track
Field of Dreams baseball diamond
Old yard retaining wall by the Field of Dreams
Brooke Avenue along the Field of Dreams
Brooke Avenue running along the trench at 157th Street
Open area in the Westchester Avenue Yard north of the athletic fields
Westchester Avenue yard
Cable ducts
Cable ducts
Westchester Avenue Yard Retaining wall
Westchester Avenue yard looking north into the trench
Cable ducts on the south side of the bridge
Looking south on the right of way and the old railyard
Long-dead car in the old railyard
The pedestrian overpass over the right-of-way
Residual gravel ballast on the right-of-way
Track use restriction sign
Closed gate on the pedestrian overpass prohibiting access to the field of dreams
Looking north on the right-of-way under the pedestrian bridge
Old cast iron fence where Rae Street dead ends into the right-of-way
Fence ornament closeup
Fence around Crotona Academy - school looks like a prison
South Bronx High School
Front entrance to South Bronx High School - listing academies
The rear (west side) of South Bronx HS
Looking south on St. Ann's Avenue toward the elevated IRT line
Old tenament that survived the 70s across from the school-with Puerto Rican flag
Newer low-rise public housing across from the school - where tenaments didn't survive the 70s
Bronxchester Houses
Bronxchester Houses
Parking lot on a hill - 156th Street at St. Ann's Avenue
156th Street bridge over the Port Morris Branch
North side of the 156th Street bridge
Trench between 156th and Brook Avenue tunnel
Port Morris Branch north from Westchester Avenue
40.816587, -73.912735
Rae Street terminating at the Port Morris Branch
40.817510, -73.912361
Pedestrian overpass
40.817809, -73.912413
Pedestrian overpass
Field of Dreams
Via Verde
Via Verde
Via Verde
Via Verde
Via Verde
Via Verde
Via Verde
East 156th Street Bridge
40.819663, -73.911856
East 156th Street Bridge
East 156th Street Bridge
Filling of Five Bridges
Residual trench north of 156th Street
Residual trench north of 156th Street