Long Island Rail Road : Brooklyn to Far Rockaway

By Aaron I. Philipson

The terminal at Brooklyn is called Atlantic Terminal ( formerly Flatbush Avenue.) It is underneath the intersection of Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues and adjacent to the subway 2-3-4-5 lines station which is called Atlantic Avenue. It is over the B-Q stop also called Atlantic Avenue and connected by underground walkway to the D-M-N-R stop at Pacific Street.

The terminal comprises 6 tracks and 3 platforms. Tracks 1 and 2 can platform 10 cars, but the first 2 cars are never opened because the gap is too large between train and platform. Tracks 3 and 4 platform 8 cars with BROOK Tower at the east end of the platform. Track 5 platforms 6 cars and Track 6 platforms 4 cars but can accommodate a 6 car train. The west end of this platform is directly adjacent to the uptown 2-3 subway platform.

Some relatives depths of stations in the Atlantic Avenue/Pacific Street complex are as follows:

• LIRR Station, 20 feet below street
• IRT Station, 20 feet below street
• BMT (B/Q) Station, 50 feet below street
• BMT (D/M/N/R) Station, 40 feet below street

Leaving the terminal the line merges into two tracks which run beneath Atlantic Avenue. A storage yard is in an open cut south of the right-of-way. It is visible in two places, the switch out from the line and from an opening due west of that point. The line emerges from the tunnel just west of Nostrand Avenue and ascends to a viaduct in the middle of Atlantic Avenue.

The Nostrand Avenue station consists of two outside six car platforms with a ticket office at the west end of the eastbound platform. The line continues east in the middle of Atlantic Avenue on a steel subway-like viaduct. The outsides of the trains hang over the edges which creates an interesting sight from street level.

The line descends under Atlantic Avenue and then re-emerges in an open-cut in the middle of the lower level of the street at East New York station. This station has 2 side platforms handling 10 car trains, with a cross-under and ticket office beneath the tracks. The Atlantic Avenue "L" subway station is directly above the East New York Station.

Leaving East New York the line re-enters the tunnel under Atlantic Avenue and continues east in practically a straight shot to Jamaica. The Fulton Street subway passes underneath. Trains attain speeds of 70 MPH along this stretch which is quite impressive for an underground railway. The line passes the abandoned station at Woodhaven Blvd. and the cutouts to the old LIRR Rockaway branch are visible. This section of track has been used to store equipment in severe snowstorms in an attempt to keep the M1-M3's free of blowing and drifting snow.

he line emerges from the tunnel just east of Lefferts Blvd. The Dunton diesel shops are visible on the north side of the right-of-way. There is an employee stop called Boldin's Landing (?). This station can platform 2 cars each direction with a crossover at the west end. Eastbound trains platform the first 2 cars and westbound trains the last 2 cars. DUNTON Tower is on the north side of the line and the Long Island City branch runs on an embankment above it.

A one track siding goes off to the south leading to the Johnson Avenue yard. The line passes under the tracks leading to Penn Station and over the Van Wyck Expressway as it approaches Jamaica Station. JAY Tower is on the north side.

Far Rockaway trains usually platform on Track 6 at Jamaica as this track provides a straight shot to the Atlantic branch underjump which is located about 200 yards east of the station. HALL Tower, which controls movements east of Jamaica station is on the south side. The branch crosses under the mainline and heads southeast on a two track embankment. The Far Rockaway line shares this right-of-way with the Long Beach and West Hempstead branches, but the next three stations are served only Far Rockaway trains (although, some Long Beach trains do make these stops, especially on the weekends).

The next stop is Locust Manor, two outside 8 car platforms. After Locust Manor the branch curves east.

The next stop is Laurelton, a center 8 car platform. There is a ticket office at platform level in the middle of the station. Just east of this station the Montauk branch rejoins the Atlantic branch.

Lynbrook, our first stop after leaving the main line is unusual. It appears to be two islands serving four tracks but in fact is two separate stations each with an island and two tracks. this line uses the Western A crossover is present on this embankment located station's  platforms and tracks. The line runs on a 4 track embankment from this point to just east of the Lynbrook station.

The next stop is Rosedale, a duplicate of the Laurelton station. There is no access from the Montauk branch, the platform splits the two southernmost tracks only.

The line continues on to Valley Stream. A full set of switches is located west of the station, allowing access from the Montauk to Atlantic branches as well as "reverse platforming" at Valley Stream station. Long Beach branch trains are allowed to continue into the station at regular speed while Far Rockaway trains are given a slow approach which they follow until they are in the station. Valley Stream station is a center 8 car platform, similar to Laurelton and Rosedale except the ticket office is at street level. Again, their is no access to the Montauk branch tracks. VALLEY Tower is located about 100 yards east of the station.

From Valley Stream, the line turns south and descends to grade. There is a set of switches which allow trains to access either side of Valley Stream station. A pedestal position light signal governs this switch. From this point there are no other signals except for ATC. If a train has its speed control cut out, it must remain at this signal until all other trains have cleared the block, which extends to the end of the line at Far Rockaway.

The next station is Gibson, 2 outside 10 car platforms with a crossover pedestrian bridge at the south end. The line is running north and south at this point. The station house is at the north end. The ticket window has been closed for a few years, there is a Ticket Vending Machine outside. I believe there is an apartment in the upper portion of the station building.

The line continues south, rising to cross over Peninsula Blvd., then returning to grade where it will run to Far Rockaway. After crossing West Broadway the line turns back toward New York City. From this point on, eastbound trains will be traveling west and vice-versa. The next stop is Hewlett. The old low level station is visible along the curve with the station building at the west end. The high level platforms begin across Franklin Avenue. The eastbound platform is 8 cars long while the westbound can platform 10 cars.

The next stop is Woodmere, 2 outside 10 car platforms with the station near the east end of the station. The line continues to Cedarhurst. Right before the station was the old switch off for the Laurelton-Cedarhurst cutoff. There are no visible traces of this line (see Herbert George's book Change at Ozone Park: A History and Description of the Long Island Railroad Rockaway Branches for complete details.). The Cedarhurst station is 2 outside 10 car platforms. There are station houses on each side at the east end of the station. The westbound station house is used by a taxi company.

The next station is Lawrence, 2 outside 10 car platforms with the station located at the west end of the Westbound side of the station. This station. like Gibson has not been staffed for a few years. There is a Ticket Vending Machine outside.

The next-to-last stop is Inwood, 2 outside 4 car platforms. Most of the station is located under NYS highway 878, also known as the Nassau Expressway. There is no station house.

The branch crosses Doughty Blvd. and then re-enters the borough of Queens. A 2 track storage yard is located on the south side of the right-of-way. The line is tracked in a double "Y" fashion which allows access to the yard and to the 10 car center platform at Far Rockaway station. The station ticket office is at the west end of the platform at Nameoke Avenue. There is no visible remnant of when the line continued on and connected to the present "A" train terminal at Mott Avenue. It is a 5 minute walk to the "A" train, though the neighborhood is not very safe. See Herbert George's book for more information.

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