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The Kaufman Electrification Act of 1923, enacted by the New York State Assembly, mandated electrification of all railroads in New York City by January 1, 1926. The bill was sponsored by recently elected Republican Assemblyman Victor R. Kaufman and signed by Governor Al Smith on June 2, 1923.〔''(Ponder New Law )''. The New York Times, June 5, 1923.〕 The Act made no exclusions, affecting mainline traffic and freight yards in all boroughs of New York City, including the isolated rail system of Staten Island. The railroads objected, initiated lawsuits and partially succeeded in overturning the Act as unconstitutional. The deadline stipulated in the Act was moved twice, in 1924 and 1926;〔Churella, p. 26.〕 diesel locomotives were permitted, and steam locomotives continued to run in Brooklyn and Queens. The Act hastened dieselisation of the American railroads, creating the small initial market for diesel locomotives.〔 The first operational diesel switchers were delivered to the Central Railroad of New Jersey (The Bronx) and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (Manhattan) in 1925. The city of Baltimore enacted a similar law, ''Ordinance 746–748'', in June 1929.〔 ==Background== In 1846 the City of New York allowed the Hudson River Railroad Company to lay the tracks for its new line to Albany directly on the streets, "westerly of and including Eighth Avenue or Hudson Street.〔''Annual Report 1930'', p. 82.〕 For more than seventy years steam trains ran directly on major streets and avenues of New York.〔 The elevated rapid transit lines on the Manhattan were converted from steam to third rail electrical traction in 1900–1903,〔Cudahy, p. 16.〕 the passenger trunk lines were gradually electrified over the next decades. On January 8, 1902 fifteen commuters from New Rochelle were killed when a local train from White Plains missed a red light and rear-ended a train stopped in Park Avenue Tunnel.〔Douglas et al., p. 19.〕 The accident was linked to exhaust smoke obstructing view of traffic signals. The resulting public outcry led to calls for electrification of the line and replacement of the then-overcrowded Grand Central Depot. In 1903 state legislators passed a law banning steam locomotives from Manhattan after June 30, 1908 and demanding electrification of New York Central Railroad (NYCRR).〔Cudahy, p. 17.〕 The company, which had already contemplated electrification, introduced electric traction on its Manhattan trunk lines in the end of 1906.〔 The NYCRR mainline employed third rail electric supply because low clearance in the tunnels ruled out use of overhead lines.〔 The trains changed electric locomotives for steam engines at Croton-Harmon and North White Plains.〔 Other incoming trunk lines were largely electrified by 1923.〔Solomon, p. 35.〕 The isolated Staten Island Railway, operated by Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, remained powered by outdated coal-fired 4-4-0 camelbacks and 2-2-4s hauling wooden cars.〔Harwood and Wilson, p. 131.〕 However, freight and switching operation remained powered by coal-firing steam engines, contributing to air pollution and road accidents. The NYCRR was the only railroad with north-south tracks connecting Manhattan to upstate New York; the Pennsylvania Railroad operated an east-west passenger service through the Penn Station in midtown Manhattan. All other mainline railroads terminated along the New Jersey and Brooklyn shorelines and ferried their railcars to Manhattan by car floats. They operated dozens of big and small rail yards on Manhattan and employed scores of coal-fired switchers. The worst offender were the West Side freight yards below 33rd Street, where coal-firing switchers hauled their cargoes along 11th Avenue, popularly called the "Death Avenue",〔''(Central Asks New 11th Av. Track Plan )''. The New York Times, November 12, 1923.〕 and adjacent streets.〔〔Site of present-day West Side Yard and Hudson Yards Redevelopment Project.〕 The government handled safety and pollution problems separately: ordinances to eliminate grade crossings were effected on a case-by-case basis, complete elimination of steam traction became the target of the 1923 bill introduced by Victor R. Kaufman. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Kaufman Act」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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