UNPUNCHED - PERFECT ROUND NUMBER 002000 - HORSE CAR MENUS

Extremely rare vintage streetcar transfer specimen dating to circa 1913, documenting the Edwardian era electric and horsecar operations of the Belt Line Railway Corporation in Manhattan.

This is a spectacular historical document issued under Company President F. W. Whitridge. This single-panel transfer serves as a primary source snapshot capturing specialized transit connectivity deployed during a peak era of New York municipal growth.

Ultimate Geographic Keyword Powerhouse

This specific transfer is an absolute goldmine for Manhattan history enthusiasts, explicitly detailing a layout of crossroads and lines including East Belt Line South, Belt Line Railway Corporation, To 42d St Crosstown cars only W at 42d St and 1st Ave, To 29th St line W at 1st Ave and 29th St, To Ave B line S at 14th St, and To Grand St line W or East Belt Horse cars S at Corlears St.

Historic Line Coverage and Overprint Variation

It documents specialized southbound waterfront service patterns and key technical transferring options. The text outlines rules required for passengers moving seamlessly across major crosstown lines, highlighted by a large red numeral one overprint on the center panel. Notably, the route menu explicitly lists active connectivity to remaining East Belt Horse cars operating at Corlears Street.

Backside Penal Law Warning Message

The reverse side features a beautifully preserved, bold legal notice layout titled Section 1566 of the Penal Law, State of New York. The text explicitly outlines strict conditions stating that street railroad transfer tickets are not to be given away or sold. It warns that unlawful distribution constitutes a misdemeanor carrying a penalty of a 500 dollar fine, imprisonment for one year, or both.

Condition and Provenance

This item is part of a substantial transit collection recently added to our store, featuring decades of curated New York transit history. The vibrant reddish-pink card stock shows expected uniform age toning and standard handling wear consistent with its century plus age. The physical grade is designated as Very Good condition, surviving completely unpunched across the hourly time grid matrix and remaining an undated daily specimen layout. The right margin exhibits a standard hand-torn dispenser pattern, while the left margin retains a readable company credit block printed by the Globe Ticket Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Both sides retain exceptional typographic clarity with deeply inked red and black text, showcasing a jaw-dropping perfect zero round serial number of exactly 002000.

Historical Context

The Belt Line Railway Corporation operated an important network of surface tracks across Manhattan, functioning as a vital component of early transit before modern bus systems unified the city. This circa 1913 specimen illustrates a fascinating transitional moment when early electric streetcars ran concurrently with surviving horse-drawn cars. The lack of a specific hand-stamped date combined with the clean, unpunched state and the milestone serial number suggests this piece was preserved directly from a fresh commuter pad at the start of a production run.

Please visit our store to see the rest of this newly listed collection, featuring many more rare transfers from this historic era.