Babylon Railroad

Last updated
Babylon Rail Road
Overview
Type Horsecar, then Streetcar
Locale Babylon Village
Operation
Opened 1871
Closed 1920
Technical
Track gauge 4 ft 8 12 in (1,435 mm)
Electrification Overhead lines

The Babylon Rail Road was a horsecar line in Babylon Village, New York, later converted to a trolley line. It was opened in 1871 and ceased operations in 1920.

Horsecar animal-powered tram or streetcar

A horsecar, or horse-drawn tram, is an animal-powered tram or streetcar.

Babylon (village), New York Village in New York, United States

Babylon is a village in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 420 at the 2010 census. Its location is approximately 25 miles (40 km) from New York City at the Queens border, and approximately 33 miles (53 km) from Manhattan.

New York (state) State of the United States of America

New York is a state in the Northeastern United States. New York was one of the original Thirteen Colonies that formed the United States. With an estimated 19.54 million residents in 2018, it is the fourth most populous state. To distinguish the state from the city in the state with the same name, it is sometimes called New York State.

The line's main purpose was to provide transportation between the Long Island Rail Road station at the north end of the village center, to ferries for Jones Beach and Fire Island destinations. In 1910 Babylon Railroad established a second line to Amityville Station. [1] They also planned a connection to the South Shore Traction Company (later Suffolk Traction Company) in Sayville, New York that was never built. [2] By 1918, the original line of the Babylon railroad ceased to operate, and the Babylon-Amityville Line was terminated two years later.

Long Island Rail Road commuter rail service in Long Island, New York

The Long Island Rail Road, often abbreviated as the LIRR, is a commuter rail system in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County on Long Island. With an average weekday ridership of 354,800 passengers in 2016, it is the busiest commuter railroad in North America. It is also one of the world's few commuter systems that runs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, year-round. It is publicly owned by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which refers to it as MTA Long Island Rail Road.

Ferry type of ship

A ferry is a merchant vessel used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi.

Jones Beach Island island in the United States of America

Jones Beach Island is one of the outer barrier islands off the southern coast of Long Island in the U.S. state of New York. It is named for Major Thomas Jones, who first came to Long Island in 1692, where he proceeded to build the island's first brick house near Massapequa. Jones built a whaling station on Jones Island near the present site of Jones Beach State Park in 1700. Jones Beach Island is sometimes referred to as Oak Beach Island and is the former home of the infamous Oak Beach Inn.

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Babylon, New York Town in New York, United States

Babylon is one of ten towns in Suffolk County, New York, United States. Located on Long Island, the town population was 214,191 as of the 2014 census. Parts of Jones Beach Island, Captree Island and Fire Island are in the southernmost part of the town. It borders Nassau County to the West, and the Atlantic Ocean to the South. At its westernmost point, its location is approximately 20 miles (32 km) from New York City at the Queens border, and approximately 30 miles (48 km) from Manhattan. There is also a village of Babylon located within the town.

Babylon Branch

The Babylon Branch is a rail service operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York. The term refers to the trains serving Montauk Branch stations from Valley Stream east to Babylon; in other words, the Babylon Branch is a rail service rather than an actual track. The electrification of the Montauk Branch ends east of the Babylon station, so the Babylon Branch is mostly served by electric trains.

New York State Route 110 highway in New York

New York State Route 110 (NY 110) is a major north–south state highway along the western border of Suffolk County, New York. It runs between the village of Amityville in the town of Babylon and Halesite in the town of Huntington. NY 110 comes close to the Nassau County line several times in the town of Babylon, which is only surpassed by NY 108 in distance to the county line for a state highway.

Babylon station station on the Long Island Rail Road in the village of Babylon, New York

Babylon is a station on the Long Island Rail Road in the village of Babylon, New York at Railroad Avenue west of Deer Park Avenue. It is on the Montauk Branch, and is the eastern terminus of the Babylon Branch service. To the west is the junction with the Central Branch, which heads northwest to join the Main Line at Bethpage Interlocking southeast of the Bethpage station. Babylon station is elevated with two island platforms and is wheelchair accessible through elevator access. The electrified portion of the Montauk Branch ends east of the station. Babylon is 38.9 miles from Penn Station, and travel time is 50 minutes to 1 hour 16 minutes, depending on the number of stops.

The Suffolk Traction Company is a former streetcar system in Suffolk County, New York. It operated primarily between Patchogue and Holtsville, but also included a route that served Blue Point, Bayport, and Sayville. It was opened in 1909 and ceased operations in 1919.

Vincent F. Seyfried (1918-2012) was an American historian of Long Island. His work between 1950 and 2010 includes eleven books on trolley systems in Queens and Long Island, twelve books on areas of Queens, a seven-volume set on the Long Island Rail Road, and a history of the founding of Garden City, where he was Village Historian from 1987 to 2006. He provided many entries on Queens history for The Encyclopedia of New York City (1995).

Sayville station

Sayville is a station on the Montauk Branch of the Long Island Rail Road in the village of Sayville, New York, on Depot Street between Greeley Avenue and Railroad Avenue. Ferries to Fire Island board from a port south of the station.

The Long Island Electric Railway was a streetcar company operating in Brooklyn, Queens, and Nassau County, New York, United States between 1894 and 1926. The company was partially owned by the Long Island Consolidated Electric Companies, a holding company for the Long Island Rail Road and partially by August Belmont and the Interborough Rapid Transit Company. It connected the east end of the Fulton Street El at Crescent Street station in City Line, Brooklyn with Jamaica, Queens, and ran from there to the Nassau County line at Queens Village and to Far Rockaway, Queens via Nassau County. It also had a connection to Belmont Park. The New York and Long Island Traction Company used trackage rights over its line from Crescent Street to Queens Village.

Garden City station (LIRR) station of the Long Island Rail Road

Garden City is one of five stations of the Long Island Rail Road that serves the village of Garden City, New York. It is on the Hempstead Branch and is at Seventh Street between Hilton and Cathedral Avenues, directly across the street from the Garden City Hotel. It is one of the few Long Island Rail Road stations with two station houses.

Amityville station

Amityville is the westernmost station on the Babylon Branch of the Long Island Rail Road in Suffolk County, New York. It is located on John Street in Amityville, New York, but the official description of its location is not as precise. The MTA describes the station as being located on John Street between Sunrise Highway and NY 27A west of NY 110. John Street is located between Sterling Place and West Oak Street.

Northport station

Northport is a station on the Port Jefferson Branch of the Long Island Rail Road. It is located at the corner of Larkfield Road and Bellerose Avenue, north of Suffolk CR 11 in East Northport, New York. This train station is located in the Northport-East Northport Union Free School District, and serves the hamlets of Northport and East Northport in the town of Huntington.

Central Railroad of Long Island was built on Long Island, New York, by Alexander Turney Stewart, who was also the founder of Garden City. The railroad was established in 1871, then merged with the Flushing and North Side Railroad in 1874 to form the Flushing, North Shore and Central Railroad. It was finally acquired by the Long Island Rail Road in 1876 and divided into separate branches. Despite its short existence, the CRRLI had a major impact on railroading and development on Long Island.

Holtsville station

Holtsville was a station stop on the Greenport Branch of the Long Island Rail Road. It was located off the southeast corner of the Waverly Avenue grade crossing on the south side of the tracks between Long Island Avenue and Furrows Road in Holtsville, New York.

Bayport station

Bayport was a station stop along the Montauk Branch of the Long Island Rail Road. It was located on Railroad Street between Oakwood and Snedecor Avenues in Bayport, New York, and was the easternmost station along the Montauk Branch in the Town of Islip.

Blue Point station

Blue Point was a station stop along the Montauk Branch of the Long Island Rail Road It was located on Martha Avenue on the south side of the tracks in Blue Point, New York, and was the westernmost station along the Montauk Branch in the Town of Brookhaven. Access to the station was through a driveway that emptied onto Blue Point Avenue. The station was originally opened on February 1, 1870, by the South Side Railroad of Long Island and closed on June 1, 1882. The second depot opened around June, 1900, evidently in conjunction with the bridge over Blue Point Avenue. The newer station also had a connection to the South Shore Traction Company trolleys, which were later replaced by Suffolk Traction Company trolleys. Blue Point station closed on September 6, 1980, in conjunction with the nearby Bayport Station. It was located between Bayport and Patchogue stations. The former station site, across from the Blue Point Wine & Liquor store, remains, to this day, gated off, and covered partially in trees, leaves, and weeds.

The Huntington Railroad was established on July 19, 1890 with a trolley line between Huntington Village and Halesite. It was eventually extended to Huntington Railroad Station, then along what is today mostly NY 110 through Melville, Farmingdale, and as far south as the docks of Amityville. Huntington Railroad had only one line throughout its history, although the length varied through the years.

Northport Traction Company

Northport Traction Company was a trolley service in the Town of Huntington in New York. It ran from 1902 to 1924 and served East Northport and Northport, New York. The company only had one line throughout its history which ran from Northport to Northport Harbor, at what is today Cow Harbor Park. Unlike Huntington Railroad to the west, Northport Traction Company never expanded beyond either Northport or East Northport, and no record exists of any proposal to do so.

The Manhattan and Queens Traction Company, also known as the Manahttan and Queens Transit Company, was a streetcar company operating in Manhattan and Queens County, New York between 1913 and 1937.

References

  1. "The 100th Anniversary of the (Amityville-Babylon) Trolley Line". Amityville Historical Society and Lauder Museum. Archived from the original on March 15, 2012.
  2. Meyers, Stephen L. (2006). "Five: The South Shore Lines and a Surprise". Images of Rail: Lost Trolleys of Queens and Long Island.