Sea Beach Railway Company stock certificate c1896 (New York) 

Brooklyn to Coney Island street railway company. Top wide vignette is the company nameplate in fancy font. Unissued and not cancelled. Circa 1896 from incorporation. Measures approximately 12 x 9 inches.

The corporate roots trace back to the late 19th century involving the New York and Sea Beach Railroad serving Coney Island beachgoers.

The New York and Sea Beach Railroad was organized on September 25, 1876, as a steam-powered excursion railroad. It opened from a junction with the Brooklyn, Bath and Coney Island Railroad (West End Line) and concurrently-opened New York, Bay Ridge and Jamaica Railroad (Manhattan Beach Line) to Coney Island on July 18, 1877.

The old railroad crossed the Bay Ridge Branch with a pronounced S-curve just east of Seventh Avenue. On the Coney Island end, the original path curved left soon after the curve to the right at the northern edge of the Coney Island Yards, ending at the combined Sea Beach Palace hotel and depot.

On May 22, 1883, the company was reorganized as the New York and Sea Beach Railway Company and was allowed to operate from New York Harbor to the Sea Beach Palace in Coney Island. The company went bankrupt, and a receiver was appointed on January 15, 1896, before the company was sold at foreclosure by the Sea Beach Railway, which was incorporated on August 29, 1896.

The Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT) bought the company's stock on November 5, 1897, along with the elevated Sea View Railway on Coney Island, and assigned it by lease to the Brooklyn Heights Railroad.

Starting around 1908, electric trains began operating as a branch of the BMT West End Line from Bath Junction to Coney Island, with trains coming from Park Row in Manhattan via the Brooklyn Bridge and BMT Fifth Avenue Line.

Streetcars ran over the rest of the line to Bay Ridge, from New Utrecht Avenue and 62nd Street to 65th Street and Third Avenue. In 1907, connecting tracks were built connecting to the West End Line just north of Coney Island Creek in order to bring Sea Beach trains into West End Depot.

As part of the Dual Contracts, and while the Fourth Avenue Subway Line was being constructed the BRT dug a four-track open cut and built high-level platforms for subway operation on the Sea Beach Line. Trolley cars started using the new open cut between Avenue T and 86th Street on January 9, 1914. Service was gradually extended until the new Sea Beach Line opened for full subway service. Two subway cars with poles were run between Third Avenue and New Utrecht Avenue and started operating on March 16, 1915.

In 1924, the BMT assigned numbers to its services. The Sea Beach Line service became the 4. This has since become the N train. In general, Sea Beach service has always run express in Manhattan and on Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn, ending at 42nd Street and later 57th Street.

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