Grand Central: 1903

I'm supprised at how clean the streets are considering all the horses. They must have had a lot of street cleaners to keep it in that condition.

A search for Grand Central Eagles yields interesting stories.

The couple who found one in their back yard:
http://www.nytimes.com/1997/06/20/nyregion/rara-avis-an-iron-eagle-retur...

The story of one that ended up upstate:

http://upstateoddities.blogspot.com/2009/11/eagle-has-landed.html

Poor Grand Central Station only lasted 12 years: from 1898 to 1910.

Urban horseback riders at the turn of the last century were regarded in a similar way to how we view motorcyclists today; traveling light, moving fast, a bit intimidating (ex: mounted police), a little daredevilish & somehow just a touch less civilized. I mean, you never see the very Edwardian Sherlock Holmes mount a horse except in an emergency.

In many ways, today's bikers have adopted the horseman's accoutrements and lingo: leather chaps, buckskin and fringe, saddles and saddlebags, triple-trees, trick riding, trail runs, etc.

"I'm a Cowboy, on a Steel Horse I Ride!" - Bon (yech) Jovi

It is speculated the that eagle below the dome ended up in Essex, NJ at the Space Farms Zoo and Museum.

http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/1113715013034126691DiLhTm

Greg

This is the first urban horse & carriage era Shorpy picture in which I recall seeing a (civilian) man on horseback, rather than drawn in a wagon or carriage (he's right above the streetcar). Maybe I wasn't paying enough attention, though!!

I wonder if he ever took his horse up to Central Park for a lively canter.

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The man lower right in the white suit and pith helmet is a "White Wing." These were the first street cleaners in New York.

Wikipedia tells me AmEx started as an express mail and shipping operation. What do you think this wagon's delivering, and to whom?

The last of Manhattan's cable cars were converted to electric power around 1901. The car draws its current via a "shoe" that extends down through the slot seen running between the tracks. Same system used by electric streetcars in Washington, D.C., many examples of which can be seen on these pages:

I'd be pretty confident saying this is a "cable car." The Metropolitan Street Railway operated cable trolleys.

http://www.cable-car-guy.com/html/ccnynj.html#msry

San Francisco wasn't the only place that had them.

[In 1898 the Metropolitan Street Railway began converting its cable traction lines to underground electric power. - Dave]

It's surprising to see electric trolleys and horse-drawn trolleys sharing the same set of tracks, but also surprising to see an electric trolley with no overhead wires -- how did it pick up the electricity?

[Through the slot between the rails. - Dave]