After posting the first edition to this series, I realized that I left out something very important—what IRT actually means. The IRT was the Interborough Rapid Transit Company, the first of the three companies in NYC that ran subways. Soon after the creation of the IRT came the BRT (Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company, replaced by the BMT—Brooklyn Manhattan Transit Corporation), and finally in 1932, the city-owned and city-operated IND (Independent Subway System).
Going up the original IRT subway line, we come to the first abandoned station: Worth St. Unlike other abandoned IRT stations, the west platform (formerly the southbound local platform) is full length, fitting 10 car trains. Stations on the original IRT line were built with 5 car platforms, with all but the abandoned stations soon being extended to 10 cars. The northbound Worth St platform was left at 5 car-lengths.
The Worth St station was abandoned after the next station south, Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall was extended to 10 cars. Since the Brooklyn Bridge station was extended north towards Worth St (due to the south end of the station being in close proximity to the City Hall interlocking), the Worth St station outlived its useful life.
