History
The first line of what is now the Staten Island Railway opened in 1860 connecting Tompkinsville (Vanderbilt Ferry landing) to Tottenville, the current southern terminus. At that time the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was seeking to develop passenger and freight service to New York City. They purchased the little railroad which had as of yet no connection with New Jersey. A large rock formation lay north of Tompkinsville. The B&O financed a double-track 610-foot-long (190 m) tunnel through solid rock under the U.S. Lighthouse Service (Later Coast Guard) base at Tompkinsville terminating at a rocky tide swept point on Staten Island's extreme northeastern corner. The area was renamed St. George in honor of a prominent Staten Island attorney. A new central ferry terminal railyard, car-float bridge and rapid transit terminal was constructed over fill barged in from the excavation of New York "skyscrapers". There was still no connection to New Jersey. The B&O purchased a horse car line extending along Richmond Terrace terminating at a ferry to Elizabeth. Opposition from property owners caused the B&O to barge in two miles of rock fill and along the Kill Van Kull for its tracks. At Old Place, a farm was purchased and renamed "Arlington" by the B&O railroad. The latter became the terminal for the North Shore branch.
If the SIR were considered part of the subway, this would be the oldest continually operated subway system right-of-way in New York City. In common with the BMT lines to Coney Island, the SIR started as a normal passenger and freight railroad line. In 1880, the Staten Island Rapid Transit (SIRT) was incorporated and it leased the Staten Island Railway in 1884. Seeking a greater presence in the New York market and improved freight connections for its New York harbor car float operations, the B&O acquired control of the SIRT in November, 1885. By 1886, the railroad was operating ferries to Elizabeth and Perth Amboy Ferry Slip. In 1895, the B&O contracted for the construction of new expanded train and ferry terminals at St. George and Tottenville.
At the end of 1925 SIRT operated 23.5 miles of road and 110.7 miles of track. That year it reported 5.8 million ton-miles of revenue freight; in 1967 it reported 14 million ton-miles.
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