Far Rockaway Branch | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Overview | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Status | Operational | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Owner | Long Island Rail Road | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Locale | Queens and Nassau County, New York, US | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Termini |
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Stations | 11 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Service | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Type | Commuter rail | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
System | Long Island Rail Road | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Services | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Operator(s) | Metropolitan Transportation Authority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ridership | 4,095,562 (annual ridership, 2022) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
History | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Opened | 1869 (as part of South Side Railroad of Long Island) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Technical | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Number of tracks | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Electrification | Third rail, 750 V DC | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Far Rockaway 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 Valley Interlocking, just east of Valley Stream station. From Valley Stream, the line heads south and southwest through southwestern Nassau County, ending at Far Rockaway in Queens, thus reentering New York City. LIRR maps and schedules indicate that the Far Rockaway Branch service continues west along the Atlantic Branch to Jamaica. [1] [2] This two-track branch provides all day service in both directions to Grand Central Madison and Penn Station, both in Midtown Manhattan.
The South Side Railroad (SSRLI) built the branch in 1869 under a subsidiary called the Far Rockaway Branch Railroad. While constructing it in summer 1869, the company installed about 700 feet (200 m) of tracks across William B. McManus's farmland near Lawrence. However, the transaction had not been completed, and McManus and some friends tore up the track the next night; after a legal battle, the company paid McManus. [4] : 30 The same year, the South Side established a subsidiary named the Hempstead and Rockaway Railroad (H&R) designed to connect the line to the up-and-coming Southern Hempstead Branch. The H&R was dissolved in 1871.
Due to the success of the branch, the South Side built the 200-foot (60 m) South Side Pavilion, a restaurant on the beach at what is today Beach 30th Street. With an additional subsidiary known as the Rockaway Railway (1871-1872; Not to be confused with the Rockaway Village Railroad), the line was extended west to the Seaside House (Beach 103rd Street) in 1872 and Neptune House (Beach 116th Street) in 1875. [4] : 30–32 The Far Rockaway Branch, along with the rest of the South Side Railroad, was acquired by the Long Island Rail Road in 1876.
Two stations on the branch were built as Arverne, both of which were built by Remington Vernam. The first of which was in 1888 at Gaston Avenue (Beach 67th Street). It had a large tower, was shaped like a Victorian hotel and had a connection to the Ocean Electric Railway, as did much of the Rockaway Beach and Far Rockaway branches. Due to a quarrel between the LIRR and Vernam, another Arverne Station was built at Straiton Avenue in 1892. From then on, the original Arverne station was known as Arverne-Gaston Avenue to distinguish it from the Arverne-Straiton Avenue. [5]
In 1908, the line between Cedarhurst and Far Rockaway was triple-tracked. [6] : 19 During the early 1940s, the right-of-way was relocated from a ground-level routing to a concrete trestle. The ROW crossed Mott Avenue in Far Rockaway and returned to ground level, passing over Nameoke Street, continuing to Gibson Station and ascending back on a trestle to Valley Stream.
Until 1950 trains from Penn Station could leave the Main Line at Whitepot Junction ( 40°43′31″N73°51′39″W / 40.7254°N 73.8608°W ) and head south past the Atlantic Branch connection at Woodhaven Junction ( 40°41′14″N73°50′36″W / 40.6871°N 73.8433°W ) to the Hammels Wye at 40°35′29″N73°48′32″W / 40.5913°N 73.8088°W , turning right there to Rockaway Park or left to Valley Stream and Jamaica and maybe on to Penn Station. Frequent fires and maintenance problems, notably a May 23, 1950 fire between Broad Channel and The Raunt, led the LIRR to abandon the Queens portion of the route on October 3, 1955, which was acquired by the city to become the IND Rockaway Line, with service provided by the A train. [7] Most Queens stations along the former Far Rockaway and Rockaway Beach Branches reopened as subway stations on June 28, 1956, [8] the exception being Far Rockaway–Mott Avenue station, which was split between the NYCTA and LIRR on January 16, 1958. [9]
Between the late 1960s and 1990s, various stations along the Far Rockaway Branch were given high-level platforms in order to accommodate modern M1, M3, and M7 railcars.
The Far Rockaway Branch has the distinction of containing the oldest surviving railroad station on Long Island, and the only existing building constructed by an LIRR predecessor, specifically Hewlett. In 2003, the LIRR closed that station replacing it with a new one diagonally across the railroad crossing on Franklin Avenue; however, the original SSRLI Depot has remained intact.
This section needs to be updated. The reason given is: New service pattern.(February 2023) |
West of Locust Manor, most trips go on to terminate at Grand Central or Penn Station, while some late night trains terminate at Jamaica. [2] Stations past Far Rockaway were abandoned in 1955, though many of them were reopened as subway stations on the IND Rockaway Line in 1956. The location of the former Atlantic Park station is uncertain.
Zone [10] | Location | Station | Miles (km) from Long Island City via the Lower Montauk Branch [11] | Date opened | Date closed | Connections and notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
3 | Locust Manor, Queens | Locust Manor | 12.2 (19.6) | 1869 | New York City Bus: Q3 , Q85 , QM21 | |
Springfield Gardens, Queens | Higbie Avenue | 1908 | 1960 | |||
Laurelton, Queens | Laurelton | 13.1 (21.1) | 1907 [12] | New York City Bus: Q77 , Q85 | ||
Rosedale, Queens | Rosedale | 14.0 (22.5) | 1870 [13] | New York City Bus: Q5 , Q85 , X63 | ||
4 | Valley Stream | Valley Stream | 16.1 (25.9) | 1869 [13] | Long Island Rail Road: Long Beach, West Hempstead branches Nassau Inter-County Express: n1, Elmont Flexi | |
Zone | Location | Station | Miles (km) from Valley Junction [11] | Date opened | Date closed | Connections and notes |
4 | Valley Stream | Gibson | 0.8 (1.3) | 1928 | Nassau Inter-County Express: n1 | |
Hewlett | Hewlett | 1.7 (2.7) | 1869 [13] | Nassau Inter-County Express: n1 , n31 , n32 Originally named Cedar Grove, then Hewletts | ||
Woodmere | Woodmere | 2.3 (3.7) | 1869 [13] | Nassau Inter-County Express: n31 , n32 | ||
Cedarhurst | Cedarhurst | 3.2 (5.1) | 1869 | Nassau Inter-County Express: n31 , n32 | ||
Lawrence | Lawrence | 4.0 (6.4) | 1869 [13] | Nassau Inter-County Express: n31 , n32 | ||
Inwood | Inwood | 4.4 (7.1) | 1905 | Nassau Inter-County Express: n31 , n32 Originally named Westville | ||
Far Rockaway, Queens | Far Rockaway (Nameoke Street) | 5.0 (8.0) | 1958 [7] | New York City Subway: A (at Far Rockaway–Mott Avenue) Nassau Inter-County Express: n31 , n32 , n33 MTA Bus: Q22 , Q113 , Q114 , QM17 | ||
Far Rockaway–Mott Avenue | 1869 [13] | 1958 [7] | Now Far Rockaway–Mott Avenue subway station | |||
Wavecrest | 1928 | 1955 | Now Beach 25th Street subway station | |||
Atlantic Park | 1875 | No remains left | ||||
Edgemere, Queens | Edgemere | 1895 | 1955 | Now Beach 36th Street subway station | ||
Frank Avenue | 1922 | 1955 | Now Beach 44th Street subway station | |||
Arverne, Queens | Arverne–Straiton Avenue | 1892 | 1955 | Now Beach 60th Street subway station | ||
Arverne–Gaston Avenue | 1888 | 1955 | Originally named Arverne, now Beach 67th Street subway station | |||
Rockaway Beach, Queens | Hammels | 1880 | 1941 | Replaced the Eldert's Grove station (1872-1887) | ||
Holland | 1880 | 1955 | Now Beach 90th Street subway station | |||
Playland | 1903 | 1955 | Now Beach 98th Street subway station | |||
Seaside | 1880 | 1955 | Now Beach 105th Street subway station | |||
Rockaway Park, Queens | Rockaway Park | 1882 | 1955 | Originally named Rockaway Beach, now Rockaway Park–Beach 116th Street subway station |
The Long Island Rail Road, often abbreviated as the LIRR, is a railroad 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. The railroad currently operates a public commuter rail service, with its freight operations contracted to the New York and Atlantic Railway. 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 2022, the system had a ridership of 70,342,700, or about 253,800 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2023.
The Atlantic Branch is an electrified rail line owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York. It is the only LIRR line with revenue passenger service in the borough of Brooklyn.
Hewlett is a station on the Long Island Rail Road's Far Rockaway Branch in Hewlett, in Nassau County, New York, United States. The station is located at Franklin Avenue between Broadway and West Broadway.
Lawrence is a station on the Long Island Rail Road's Far Rockaway Branch in Lawrence, in Nassau County, New York, United States. The station is officially located at Lawrence Avenue and Bayview Avenue, two blocks west of Central Avenue. However, the actual location is two blocks north of Central Avenue, and Bayview Avenue is on the opposite side of the tracks. Lawrence Station is 21.8 miles (35.1 km) from Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan.
Valley Stream is a train station located in Valley Stream, New York. It is on the Atlantic Branch of the Long Island Rail Road.
The Beach 67th Street station is a station on the IND Rockaway Line of the New York City Subway. Located at Beach 67th Street and Rockaway Freeway in Arverne, Queens, it is served by the A train at all times. The station is adjacent to Kohlreiter Square, a public green space on the north side of the station.
The Beach 60th Street station is a station on the IND Rockaway Line of the New York City Subway. Located in Queens on the Rockaway Freeway at Beach 60th Street, it is served by the A train at all times. The station opened in 1892, and was rebuilt in 1942 as an elevated station.
The Far Rockaway–Mott Avenue station is the eastern terminal station of the New York City Subway's IND Rockaway Line. Originally a Long Island Rail Road station, it is currently the easternmost station in the New York City Subway. It is served by the A train at all times.
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 line runs the length of Long Island, 115 miles (185 km) from Long Island City to Montauk. However, in LIRR maps and schedules for public use, the term Montauk Branch refers to the line east of Babylon; service from Jamaica to Babylon is covered by separate Babylon Branch schedules, while the line west of Jamaica is currently unused for passenger service. A select number of Montauk Branch trains operate via the Main Line during peak hours.
The Long Beach 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 Valley Interlocking, just east of Valley Stream station, where it merges with the Far Rockaway Branch to continue west as the Atlantic Branch. East from there the Long Beach Branch parallels the Montauk Branch to Lynbrook station, where it turns south toward Long Beach station. Trains operating on the Long Beach Branch continue west of Valley Stream via the Atlantic Branch to Jamaica station, with most continuing on to Grand Central or Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan. In 2018, the branch recorded an annual ridership of 4,849,085 based on ticket sales, down 1% from 2017.
Island Park is a station on the Long Island Rail Road's Long Beach Branch serving the residents of Island Park, Barnum Island, and Harbor Isle. The station can platform a 12-car train and is fully wheelchair accessible with ramps from street level. Parking facilities are also available. Southwest of the station the train crosses over Reynolds Channel.
The South Side Railroad of Long Island was a railroad company in the U.S. state of New York. Chartered in 1860 and first opened in 1867 as a competitor to the Long Island Rail Road, it was reorganized in 1874 as the Southern Railroad of Long Island and leased in 1876 to the LIRR. After a reorganization as the Brooklyn and Montauk Railroad in 1879 it was merged in 1889.
The Rockaway Beach Branch was a rail line owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in Queens, New York City, United States. The line left the Main Line at Whitepot Junction in Rego Park heading south via Ozone Park and across Jamaica Bay to Hammels in the Rockaways, turning west there to a terminal at Rockaway Park. Along the way it connected with the Montauk Branch near Glendale, the Atlantic Branch near Woodhaven, and the Far Rockaway Branch at Hammels.
East Rockaway is a train station serving the Long Beach Branch of the Long Island Rail Road. It is located at Atlantic and Ocean Avenues in East Rockaway, New York.
Ozone Park is a former Long Island Rail Road station in New York City. Located at 99th Street and 101st Avenue in Ozone Park, Queens, it was a major station along the Rockaway Beach Branch until the line's closure in 1962.
The Brooklyn Manor station was a station on the Long Island Rail Road's Rockaway Beach Branch located on the south side of Jamaica Avenue at 100th Street, straddling the border between Richmond Hill and Woodhaven in Queens, New York City. The station name referred to the nearby Brooklyn Manor section of Woodhaven, originally a 603-lot development bounded by Woodhaven Boulevard to the west, 96th/98th Streets to the east, Forest Park to the north, and Jamaica Avenue to the south. The station opened in January 1911, and was constructed as a replacement for the Brooklyn Hills station, which was located 3,000 feet (910 m) to the north. This station closed along with the rest of the Rockaway Beach Branch in 1962, and was subsequently demolished.
Parkside is a former elevated Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) station on the north side of Metropolitan Avenue on the border of the Rego Park, Forest Hills, and Glendale neighborhoods in Queens, New York City. Opened in 1927, the wooden station was part of the Rockaway Beach Branch and was the northernmost station on the branch before the junction with the Main Line at Rego Park Station and the terminus of the line at Grand Street station in Elmhurst. It also had a connecting spur to the Montauk Branch east towards Richmond Hill station. The station was closed in 1962, twelve years after the LIRR had abandoned the Rockaway portions of the line.
The Ocean Electric Railway was a street car line that operated on The Rockaways. It ran parallel to parts of the Rockaway Beach Branch and Far Rockaway Branch of the Long Island Rail Road. The headquarters of the OER were at the Far Rockaway Long Island Rail Road station which was then located across Mott Avenue from the existing Far Rockaway–Mott Avenue subway station. The Office of Superintendent - Trolleys at that location managed all the LIRR's owned trolley operations.
Hammels was a Long Island Rail Road station on the Rockaway Beach Branch in Hammels, Queens. It was located at what is today Beach 84th Street at the west leg of the Hammels Wye.
Kohlreiter Square is an 8.6-acre public green space located in the Arverne neighborhood on Rockaway Peninsula in Queens, New York. It located along the north side of Rockaway Freeway between Beach 67th and Beach 69th Streets. The park honors two generations of civic activists, Nathan A. Kohlreiter (1880–1961) and his son Fred Kohlreiter (1913–1990) who contributed to the political and social fabric of the neighborhood.