The 19th century witnessed many discussions about the development of rapid transit in New York City. By 1850 these discussions were not about whether rapid transit should be build but rather about what it should look like. On April 13, 1872 Scientific American stated: "Everybody in New York wants rapid transit, but, strange to say, the moment that anybody sets to work with a definite plan for its realization, they are vigorously opposed and the work prevented." This was the case with many plans which for whatever reason could not get government support or proper funding. Some, however, were not pursued because they were simply not practical.

Let's look at some of the early proposed (and sometimes partially built) railways for New York City for which we have visual materials. Roger P. Roess and Gene Sansone discussed these and other proposals in their recent book: The Wheels that Drove New York: A History of the New York City Transit System (2013) as did James Blaine Walker in his Fifty Years of Rapid Transit (1918). Please also note that SIBL offers access to the Compendex Historical Archive (1884-1969) database which is believed to be the most comprehensive interdisciplinary engineering database in the world.

It appears that in the 1860s discussions about rapid transit for New York City entered a new stage as shown in numerous publications on the subject:

• G.M.W., A project to be submitted to a committee of the legislature for the relief of Broadway (1866);
• C. L. Nicholas, Facts and documents as the basis of estimating what the prejudices of a New York millionaire may cost its citizens (1866) [Concerning the suit of Alexander T. Stewart against the city of New York in relation to the erection of an elevated railway by the Broadway and Yonkers Patent Railway Company]
• Exposé of the facts concerning the proposed elevated patent railway enterprise in the city of New York (1866)

On January 31, 1867 at the last session of the Senate of New York State's Legislature the following resolution was adopted: "That a select committee of three be appointed to sit during the recess, with the mayor of the city of New York, the State Engineer, and the engineer of the Croton Board, to ascertain and report to the Senate the most advantageous and proper route or routes for a railway or railways, suited to the rapid transportation of passengers from the upper to the lower portion of the city of New York, having in view the greatest practicable benefit and safety to the public, and the least loss and injury to property on or adjacent to said route or routes."

Report of a Special Commission Designated by the Senate to Ascertain the Best Means for the Transportation of Passengers in the City of New York was published the same year. More than 20 plans of underground, depressed, and elevated railways submitted to the committee were discussed in the report. Below see a few drawings from this report.

Some of the railways proposed in 1867 were described in separate publications:

• Elevated margin steam railroad. Transportation for passengers. Relief for New York (1867);
• Samuel W.H. Ward, Plan of an elevated railway submitted to a special committee: appointed by the Senate of the state of New-York (1867).

Continued in Part 2.