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LIRR: East
River to Jamaica
By Peggy Darlington and David Paul
Gerber
We will begin our city journey at Long
Island City station, which is a 2 car hi-level island
platform with one stair and one wheelchair ramp alongside Borden
Ave. The platform is newly relocated, and is sandwiched in
between yard tracks (they are Tracks #2 and #3). The original
low platform was against the old chain link fence on Track #1.
The station first opened on May 9th, 1861 and has its
platform and station house enlarged over the next 20 years. A
second station house was built in 1891 and was restored in 1903 from
a fire the year before. However, the station house was a
victim to Robert Moses and his Queens Midtown Tunnel in 1938, as the
tunnel portals actually run one block to the north of the station.
The Queens Midtown opened for passenger car service in 1940
The
Montauk Branch contains 5 stations that were closed due to low usage
in 1998. These stations are;
Penny Bridge, Haberman,
Fresh Pond, Glendale
and Richmond Hill.
Leaving
here trains have a choice of the Montauk branch or going on to
Hunter's Point and the line from NY Penn Station
Hunter’s
Point
which is a single island platform with two tracks, just to the east
of the Hunters Point Ave station on the #7 IRT subway line.
This is a part-time station that serves LIRR peak direction
customers destined for the East side of Manhattan, via. the #7 line.
Two staircases on both sides of Hunterspoint Ave, have an overhead
sign detailing the current PM departures at that station (The AM
peak period is for inbound trains only as arrivals, and is
technically closed). The ticket office, built in 1914 and is
the 3rd depot for this station, is a small boxed
structure on the platform that is only open on PM peak Fridays
during the summer season, which runs from Memorial Day to Labor day
weekends. The station is closed all other times.
Although the station is two tracks, there are other tracks adjoining
the south track, and plenty of other LIRR, AMTRAK, and NJ Transit
trains can be seen entering the East River tunnels, as well as the
#7 trains entering and leaving the Steinway tube portal. The
LIRR is currently building a two track (minimum) connection to
Metro-North trains at Grand Central Terminal, with further proposed
plans to extend the LIRR into lower Manhattan’s CBD. Called
the East Side Access project, this will allow for the first time in
the LIRR’s 170 year old history, to route trains to Grand Central
Terminal, and allowing Long Island and Eastern Queens commuters, a
one seat ride to the East side of Manhattan. If this happens,
expect Hunters Point and Long Island City
stations to join the abandoned stations
list, since these stations will no longer be needed. This
station is also the starting point for the LIRR’s most successful
train service, the Cannonball to the Hamptons and Montauk on Fridays
year-round, with an additional train Thursdays and evenings before
July 4th. For more information on the Cannonball,
and the entire Montauk Branch, please see the Montauk branch Page.
Both Long Island City and Hunterspoint Ave
stations are only in use during AM and PM peak rush periods; no
service is available on weekends.
Next up is
Woodside which is a rail fans dream come true. Entrance is
via a mezzanine shared with the subway but with separate fare
control for the subway. The LIRR station is built into a hillside.
From North to South tracks and platforms are as follows: Wall-
Platform C for track 1, platform B (an island) for tracks 2 for Port
Washington bound trains and 3: trains to NY from Port Washington. A
bypass track and finally a wall platform, Track 4 serving trains to
Jamaica. You can see the IRT #7
trains stopping at the station above Woodside.
Grand Street
Abandoned station on what is probably the current Grand Ave.
This stop was used by both Main Line and Rockaway Branch trains.
The shelter shed existed for on 10 years from 1913 to 1922. In
1925, the LIRR ceased operating trains to this station
Rego Park
Abandoned station that only served trains to the Rockaway branch.
Consistent with the
Rockaway branch abandonment, this station was closed in 1962.
Matawok
From what I know, this is the shortest time frame on LIRR that any
station existed (3 years and 1 month). Just west of
Forest Hills station, the station opened in 1922 and closed
in 1925.
Forest Hills
follows and is on an embankment. The station was rebuilt in 1994 and
has four tracks and two wall platforms. The station has nice Terra
Cotta roofs. The station is well maintained and the
surrounding street area has old fashioned street lights. Both
platforms have a station house and can only hold four cars.
The station house opened in 1911. This station is a short two
block walk to the INDForest Hills subway station.
Next up is Kew
Gardens which has a similar layout of four tracks and two
wall platforms holding four cars. The station house is brick with
cream and red trim. Originally called Kew station in 1909, the
named was changed to the current Kew Gardens station in 1914.
Westbridge
Abandoned station, also know at High Bridge station, this
was located at Jamaica Ave, the station house was at street level.
Although the station was closed in 1939, some current street maps
still have the station listed as a freight only station to this day;
quite to the contrary that freight is no longer used here.
This station was another railfan’s delight as Jamaica BMT el. trains
can be seen overhead the main line tracks at the platform when the
subway ran to 168th Street and Jamaica Ave.
Finally we arrive at
Jamaica which is the hub of the LIRR system .The
station has eight tracks. From North to South the layout is:
Island platform-
Track 1 and track 2, island platform serving tracks 2 and 3, island
platform serving track 4 , and 5, Island platform serving
tracks 6 and 7, island platform serving tracks 7 and 8. The layout
permits one to exit both sides of trains on track 7 and 2 to make
connections. In most cases, Tracks 1-4 are for inbound trains, while
Tracks 5-8 are for outbound trains. The station has crossovers
and crossunders and is being rebuilt to serve the JFK Airtrain, and
has an indoor bridge to the Airtrain station from Track 8. A direct
entrance to the subway is also planned.
Long Island City
connects to Jamaica via a line with abandoned stations, Penny
Bridge, Haberman, Fresh Pond, Glendale, and Richmond Hill.
These 5 stations were abandoned in 1998 due to low usage, and are
still referred to railfans and train history buffs as the Montauk
branch. The line runs independently from Long Island City to
the interlockings before Jamaica, were it merges with the Penn
Station and Flatbush tracks. Some trains leaving Long Island
City have an option, as dictated by the LIRR’s schedules; if a LIC
train that makes a scheduled stop at Hunters Point, then it can only
use the Main Line, and not the Montauk branch. If the train
does not stop at Hunters Point, then most likely it will use the
Montauk branch, but main line is also possible. Both HP and
LIC trains do not stop at Woodside, Forest Hills, and Kew Gardens
stations. More detailed information on these 5 stations is
coming soon.
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