Central Branch (Long Island Rail Road)

Central Branch
Central Branch
	LIRR #408 (EMD DE30AC) leads an eastbound service on the Central Branch in West Babylon in 2012.
Overview
Status	Operational
Owner	Long Island Rail Road
Locale	Long Island, New York, USA
Termini	Bethpage; Babylon;
Stations	0 (2 former)
Service
Type	Commuter and freight rail
System	Long Island Rail Road
Services	Montauk Branch
Operator(s)	Metropolitan Transportation Authority (passenger); New York and Atlantic Railway (freight)
Technical
Line length	7 miles (11 km)
Number of tracks	1
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Electrification	None
Route map
	Legend
	Nassau
	Suffolk

Last updated November 09, 2022

The Central Branch is a rail line owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) in the U.S. state of New York, extending from 40°44′02″N73°28′12″W / 40.734°N 73.470°W / 40.734; -73.470 just east of Bethpage station to 40°41′46″N73°20′28″W / 40.696°N 73.341°W / 40.696; -73.341 just west of Babylon station. It was built in 1873 as part of the Babylon Extension of the Central Railroad of Long Island (CRRLI), which was owned by Alexander Turney Stewart. The branch was mostly unused following the 1876 merger of the CRRLI and the LIRR, but in 1925 it was rebuilt and reconfigured to connect Bethpage and Babylon stations.

Description

The Central Branch connects the Main Line (Ronkonkoma Branch service) at Beth Interlocking southeast of the Bethpage station with the Montauk Branch (Babylon Branch service) at Belmont Junction west of the Babylon station. This allows non-electric Montauk Branch trains that begin or end east of Babylon to use the Main Line from Bethpage to Jamaica.

The branch is colored as part of the Ronkonkoma Branch on some LIRR maps,^[1] but these trains appear on Babylon and Montauk Branch timetables.^[2]^[3] There were two stations along this stretch: Farmingdale (later renamed South Farmingdale) and Breslau. The South Farmingdale station had a sheltered platform^[4] and was the last station in service along this branch, discontinued on June 26, 1972.^[5] Today, there are several freight customers located along the branch, which is served several times weekly by the New York & Atlantic Railway.

It was along this stretch of the Central Branch that Mile-a-Minute Murphy set a record in 1899, pedalling a bicycle for one mile behind a train in less than one minute.^[6]

As part of the 2020–2024 MTA Capital Program, the Central Branch is proposed to be electrified with third rail. This will alleviate service disruptions by allowing electric trains to travel between the Ronkonkoma and Babylon Branches, which are both electrified.^[7] If implemented, this project would mark the first LIRR electrification project since the Ronkonkoma Branch in 1985–1987.

The Central Railroad of Long Island

The current Central Branch right of way dates back to 1873 when Alexander Stewart chartered and built the Central Railroad of Long Island. A line of tracks was built by the CRRLI from Flushing to Bethpage Junction, and later extended to the Babylon shoreline via the aforementioned Babylon Extension. At Garden City a spur line was also built to service residents of Hempstead. At the time, Stewart was building Garden City, one of the first planned suburban communities in the United States. The railroad had a dual purpose in that it was to service Stewart's Bethpage Brickworks (within the hamlet now called Old Bethpage), which was supplying the building materials to the Garden City construction site. The railroad also supplied the new residents of Garden City with both commuter service to Long Island City, where they could then connect to ferries into Manhattan. Service along the Babylon extension also was popular for excursions to the Babylon shoreline and to ferries to Fire Island.

In 1876 the CRRLI was acquired by the LIRR and Stewart's line became known as the LIRR's Central Branch. The portion from Flushing to the Creedmoor Rifle Range, which became Creedmoor State Hospital) was abandoned in 1879, although the tracks were not removed until World War I. The portion from Creedmoor to Floral Park survived as freight service and was known as the Creedmoor Branch until service ended in the late 1960s and the tracks removed from the LIRR map in the early 1970s. The LIRR used the Central's right of way between Floral Park and Garden City along with the Central's spur line to Hempstead to make up what is the railroad's current day Hempstead Branch. Past the Garden City station the Central Branch continued on a straight path through central Nassau County past the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum and Eisenhower Park until Bethpage Junction and then southeast to Babylon via the Babylon Extension.

In 1925 the Stewart's Central branch was severed from its connection to the Babylon extension with the reconfiguration of Bethpage Junction. The portion of the line from Garden City to just west of the disconnection at Bethpage Junction were called the Central Extension. The Babylon Extension was fully rebuilt, also in 1925, with the main purpose of providing a connection between the two main trunk lines of the LIRR, the Main Line and Montauk Branch, and thus became known as the aforementioned Central Branch. In 1939 the Central Extension between Garden City and the end of line in Bethpage was abandoned for regular passenger service. During World War II the eastern portion of the rail was removed and sold for scrap. After World War II a portion of the track was rebuilt to move materials for the construction of Levittown, however, it never again reached Bethpage Junction (thus, nor Babylon), and those tracks too were soon removed.

Related Research Articles

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 24/7 year-round. It is publicly owned by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which refers to it as MTA Long Island Rail Road. In 2021, the system had a ridership of 49,167,600, or about 216,500 per weekday as of the second quarter of 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Copiague station</span>

Copiague is a station on the Babylon Branch of the Long Island Rail Road, located in Copiague, New York. The station is located on Marconi Boulevard and Great Neck Road, one block north of Oak Street.

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.

The Montauk Branch is a rail line owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York. The branch runs the length of Long Island, 115 miles (185 km) from Long Island City on the west to Montauk on the east. However, in LIRR maps and schedules for public use the term Montauk Branch refers to the line east of Babylon; the line west of there is covered by Babylon Branch schedules, and a few Montauk Branch trains operate via the Main Line west of Babylon due to increased track capacities.

The Ronkonkoma Branch is a rail service operated by the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) in the U.S. state of New York. On LIRR maps and printed schedules, the "Ronkonkoma Branch" includes trains running along the railroad's Main Line from Hicksville to Ronkonkoma, and between Ronkonkoma and the Main Line's eastern terminus at Greenport. The section of the Main Line east of Ronkonkoma is not electrified and is referred to as the Greenport Branch.

The West Hempstead Branch is an electrified rail line owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) in the U.S. state of New York. It runs between Valley Stream, New York, and West Hempstead, New York.

The Hempstead Branch is an electrified rail line and service owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York. The branch begins at the Main Line at Queens Interlocking, just east of Queens Village station. It parallels the Main Line past Bellerose to Floral Park, where it splits southward and continues east via the village of Garden City to Hempstead Crossing. There it turns south to the final two stations, Country Life Press and Hempstead.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Floral Park station</span>

Floral Park is a Long Island Rail Road train station in Floral Park, New York, at Tulip and Atlantic Avenues, on the Main Line and Hempstead Branch just west of their split. Most trains serving this station run to or from Hempstead, but limited Main Line trains stop here on weekday mornings. The station is ADA accessible as of July 16, 2021.

The Main Line is a rail line owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York. It begins as a two-track line at the Long Island City station in Long Island City, Queens, and runs along the middle of Long Island about 95 miles (153 km) to the Greenport station in Greenport, Suffolk County. A mile east of the Long Island City station, the four tracks of the East River Tunnels join the two tracks from Long Island City; most Main Line trains use these tunnels rather than running to or from Long Island City.

The Long Island Rail Road is a railroad owned by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in the U.S. state of New York. It is the oldest United States railroad still operating under its original name and charter. It consolidated several other companies in the late 19th century. The Pennsylvania Railroad owned the Long Island Rail Road for the majority of the 20th century and sold it to the State in 1966.

The Bethpage Branch was a branch of the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR), running from the present-day split between the Ronkonkoma Branch and Central Branch north about 1+3⁄4 miles (2.8 km) to present-day Old Bethpage, New York.

Bethpage is a station along the Main Line of the Long Island Rail Road. It is located at Stewart Avenue and Jackson Avenue, in Bethpage, New York, and serves Ronkonkoma Branch trains. Trains that travel along the Central Branch also use these tracks, but none stop here.

Farmingdale is a historic railroad station in Farmingdale, New York, along the Main Line of the Long Island Rail Road. It is located just east of Secatogue Avenue, on South Front Street and Atlantic Avenue. The station has two platforms, with an underground pedestrian walkway connecting them. The station house is on the south platform. Parking is available on both sides of the tracks. The station is 32 miles (51 km) east of Penn Station and just 0.3 miles (0.5 km) west of the Nassau County–Suffolk County boundary. As of March 2, 2015, some trains originate and terminate here on both weekdays and weekends. The average journey time to and from New York City's Penn Station is roughly 55 minutes.

Bellerose is a station along the Main Line and Hempstead Branch of the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) which only serves trains along the Hempstead Branch. The station is at Commonwealth Boulevard and Superior Road, 0.25 miles (0.40 km) south of Jericho Turnpike, in Floral Park, New York and Bellerose, New York and has a full-service ticket machine on the north side of the station, next to the underpass entrance and a daily machine on the south side next to the underpass entrance.

The Creedmoor Branch was the name of a short branch that the Long Island Rail Road gave to the right of way of tracks between its Floral Park station and Creedmoor State Hospital in Queens, New York. The branch existed from 1879 to 1966 finally being torn up and demapped in the early 1970s.

The Garden City–Mitchell Field Secondary is a lightly used freight branch of the Long Island Rail Road. It is a spur off the Hempstead Branch.

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.

South Farmingdale was a station along the Central Branch of the Long Island Rail Road in South Farmingdale, New York, United States.

References

↑ MTA LIRR - LIRR Map
↑ LIRR Babylon Branch Timetable
↑ LIRR Montauk Branch Timetable
↑ South Farmingdale Station Shelter (1963 Photo by Dave Keller)
↑ Perlmutter, Emanuel (June 18, 1972). "L.I.R.R. Improving Service on All Lines Under a New Timetable". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved May 4, 2018.
↑ "Mile-a-minute Murphy". Sports Illustrated . September 5, 1955. Archived from the original on November 3, 2012. Retrieved May 6, 2011.
↑ Castillo, Alfonso A. (September 26, 2018). "LIRR: Powering up a link will improve response". Newsday. Retrieved September 27, 2018.

External links

Route map:

KML file (edit • help)

Template:Attached KML/Central Branch (Long Island Rail Road)

KML is not from Wikidata

Media related to Central Branch (Long Island Rail Road) at Wikimedia Commons
Works related to The Long Island Rail Road: A Comprehensive History, Part Two: The Flushing, North Shore & Central Railroad at Wikisource
Central Branch of the Long Island Rail Road(The Stewart Line) (Arrt's Arrchives)
The Stewart Line 2
1903 map showing Central Branch, then named "Hempstead Branch".

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[1] MTA LIRR - LIRR Map

[2] LIRR Babylon Branch Timetable

[3] LIRR Montauk Branch Timetable

[4] South Farmingdale Station Shelter (1963 Photo by Dave Keller)

[5] Perlmutter, Emanuel (June 18, 1972). "L.I.R.R. Improving Service on All Lines Under a New Timetable". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved May 4, 2018.

[si-6] "Mile-a-minute Murphy". Sports Illustrated . September 5, 1955. Archived from the original on November 3, 2012. Retrieved May 6, 2011.

[7] Castillo, Alfonso A. (September 26, 2018). "LIRR: Powering up a link will improve response". Newsday. Retrieved September 27, 2018.

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