The route that is the current Q Train began as the Brighton Line, a mid 19th century tourist railway through Southern
Brooklyn that took holiday makers to the resort at
Coney Island. This is the portion of the current Q route from approximately Church Ave. to near Brighton Beach.
Eventually, the Brighton Line was acquired, along with the rest of the South Brooklyn railways, by the Brooklyn Raid Transit Corporation, or BRT, later the Brooklyn Manhattan Transit corporation, or BMT. The BMT operated the vast elevated transit network in Brooklyn at the turn of the century, and was one of the two private companies, along with the Interboro Rapid Transit, that built the initial portions of the New York City subway and whose systems, along with the city built Independent, were consolidated to form the subway system as we know it.
The BMT initially tied the Brighton line into the rest of its network through the route of the current Franklin Avenue Shuttle from Parkside to Fulton Avenue, where it connected to the Fulton Avenue Elevated and service to Manhattan via the Brooklyn Bridge.
By 1920 the BMT had already completed one subway route between south Brooklyn and Manhattan, the line that runs up Brooklyn's Fourth Avenue, across the East River on one of two routes, and up Broadway (today's R Train). Several other older railways from Southern Brooklyn were connected into this line for through service and could run either through the Montague Street tunnel to the Broadway line in the financial district, or over the south side Manhattan Bridge tracks to Canal Street, where they joined it. The two Manhattan access lines, via the bridge and via the tunnel, diverged at De Kalb Avenue.
Later, in the Dual Contracts era of subway construction, in which the city planned the routes of the BMT and IRT, the BMT tied the Brighton Line into this De Kalb Avenue network of Manhattan access with the subway under Flatbush Avenue. There was now a route identical to today's Q train in the portion from Brighton Beach to the Manhattan Bridge. At the time trains from Brighton went either through the tunnel or over the bridge to the Broadway line, neither of which they do today.
In 1940 the city consolidated the three formerly separate transit systems and began the task of unifying them. The next major step in the evolution of the route of Today's Q was the Chrystie Street connection, completed in 1967, which connected tracks on the north side of the Manhattan Bridge to the new Sixth Avenue express tracks. This was a major step in the unification of the system. Trains from Brighton and under Flatbush could now cross the Manhattan Bridge and continue via Sixth Avenue. When letters were introduced for the new lines, this route was assigned to the B Train with the 'QB' running as an express route.
Eventually the Brighton/Flatbush/Sixth Avenue route was reassigned to the D, and when double letters were eliminated in 1986 the QB became the Q.
The Queensbridge portion of the line was the last to be completed and it was not finished until 1991, when the 63rd street tunnel was completed and tied into the Sixth Avenue express. Thus the Q assumed its current form, from Brighton, under Flatbush, across the Manhattan Bridge, via the Sixth Avenue express, and through the 63rd street tunnel to Queensbridge.
The 63rd street tunnel portion, including the Lexington Avenue, Roosevelt Island, and Queensbridge stops is very unique interesting because it is some of the newest construction on the system. The tunnels are glistening white concrete, the legacy of a tunnel that was sunk into place from the surface as in much modern tunnel construction; and the stations are deep, cavernous, and bright, similar to modern rapid transit systems and unlike most of the rest of the New York city subway.
The Q line currently runs exclusively R40 stock, cars from the late 60s which feature unique slanted car ends.
There are major changes in store for the Q. Construction will close the south side tracks on the Manhattan Bridge, and the Q will likely be rerouted to the north side tracks, which connect to Canal Street and the Broadway line. Also the 63rd street tunnel has recently been connected to the Queens Boulevard line, so through service will be instituted. Either the Q may assume this route, or possibly some other train.