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Line 39:
=== Origins ===
What is now the Franklin Avenue Line was part of the modern-day [[BMT Brighton Line|Brighton Beach Line]] until 1920, when the two lines were split north of Prospect Park.<ref name="BDE-MontagueBegun-1920"/><ref name="Kennedy 2003"/> The [[Brooklyn, Flatbush, and Coney Island Railway]] (BF&CI), which built the Brighton Line, was incorporated in 1877 in order to connect Downtown Brooklyn with the hotels and resorts at Coney Island, Manhattan Beach, and Brighton Beach. The line opened on July 1, 1878, originally running from the [[Willink Plaza]] entrance of Prospect Park at Flatbush Avenue and Ocean Avenue to the Brighton Beach Hotel.<ref name="NYTImes-AnotherRR-Jul1878">{{cite news |title=Another Coney Island Railroad; Opening of the Brooklyn and Flatbush Line to Brighton Beach |url={{fullurl:File:Nytimes_1878-07-02_another-coney-island-railroad-opening-of-the-brooklyn-and-flatbush.jpg}} |access-date=December 11, 2019 |newspaper=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=July 2, 1878 |page=5 |quote=The Brooklyn, Flatbush and Coney Island Railroad was formally opened for public travel yesterday [July 1, 1878] }}</ref> However, the railroad desired to get the line closer to downtown Brooklyn. There was a problem: the line could not pass through Prospect Park, since the park had been built specifically as a retreat from the busyness of New York City.<ref name="Cudahy 2009"/>{{rp|90}} Therefore, the line was to be built in a trench through the hill in Crown Heights, connecting with the tracks of the [[Long Island Rail Road]] (LIRR) at [[Atlantic Avenue (New York City)|Atlantic Avenue]]. The route was built on the surface between Bedford Terminal (at Atlantic Avenue) and Park Place, and was built in an open cut to Prospect Park and beyond to Church Avenue in [[Flatbush, Brooklyn|Flatbush]] in order to avoid grade crossings and to placate the local community.<ref name="Cudahy 2009"/>{{rp|90}}<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |url=http://www.thethirdrail.net/0003/index.htm |title=The Third Rail - The New Franklin Shuttle - Preface |website=www.thethirdrail.net |access-date=June 21, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160314064623/http://thethirdrail.net/0003/index.htm |archive-date=March 14, 2016}}</ref> This portion of the Brighton Beach Line represented a routing compromise, since the bypass route through Crown Heights was {{convert|2.3|mi|km}} long, while the BF&CI's preferred direct routing to [[Downtown Brooklyn]] would have measured only {{convert|1.7|mi|km}}.<ref name="Cudahy 2009"/>{{rp|90}} The Crown Heights routing took the BF&CI north to the [[Bedford, Brooklyn|Bedford]] station of the LIRR. This portion of the BF&CI's mainline would become the Franklin Avenue Line.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |url=http://forgotten-ny.com/1998/10/franklin-avenue-shuttle-the-city-has-closed-this-line-for-reconstruction-but-while-it-was-open-it-was-probably-the-most-decrepit-route-in-the-city-here-are-some-pictures-from-just-before-the-renov/ |title=The lore of the franklin Avenue Shuttle |last=Walsh |first=Kevin |date=October 4, 1998 |website=forgotten-ny.com|access-date=June 21, 2016}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite web |url=http://www.lirrhistory.com/joint.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000706201041/http://www.lirrhistory.com/joint.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=July 6, 2000 |title=Joint LIRR / BRT Elevated/Rapid Transit Service |last=Anderson |first=Bob |website=www.lirrhistory.com|access-date=June 21, 2016}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite web |url=http://www.arrts-arrchives.com/brbch2.html |title=Brighton Beach Line Part 2 |last=Huneke |first=Art |website=www.arrts-arrchives.com|access-date=June 21, 2016}}</ref> Later on, in order to accommodate larger locomotives for LIRR through-service, the open cut had to be dug deeper.<ref name=":0" />
This portion formally opened on August 19, 1878, about six weeks after the rest of the Brighton Line opened.<ref name="Cudahy 2009"/>{{rp|90}}<ref name=":0" /><ref name=BDE-Notice-1878/> This portion of the Brighton Beach Line went north to the LIRR's Bedford station,<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5" /> where Brighton trains could merge onto LIRR tracks and operate to the [[Atlantic Terminal|Flatbush Avenue Terminal]] at [[Flatbush Avenue (Brooklyn)|Flatbush Avenue]] and Atlantic Avenue.<ref name="Cudahy 2009"/> However, the LIRR later gained control of the [[New York and Manhattan Beach Railway]], a competitor of the BF&CI, and on December 14, 1883, ended the agreement to provide equal access to the Flatbush Avenue Terminal.<ref name="BDE-Notice-1878">{{cite news |title=Notice of Opening |url=https://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn83031151/1878-08-18/ed-1/seq-1/ |access-date=2021-05-09 |work=[[Brooklyn Eagle|Brooklyn Daily Eagle]] |date=1878-08-18 |pages=1 |via=NYS Historic Newspapers |quote=top of column 2: The Brooklyn, Flatbush and Coney Island Railway Company Commencing at 6:30 A,M., Monday, August 19 ... regular schedule trains will be run from the Long Island Depot ... through to Brighton Beach}}</ref><ref name="Cudahy 2009"/>{{rp|91}} The BF&CI was forced to end its trains at Bedford, a situation which led to its [[bankruptcy]] in 1884.<ref name="Cudahy 2009"/>{{rp|91, 113}} Three years later, the BF&CI line was reorganized as the Brooklyn and Brighton Beach Railroad.<ref name="Cudahy 2009"/>{{rp|91}}<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5" />
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