Rockaway Junction | ||||||||||||||||
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General information | ||||||||||||||||
Location | 178th Place South of 93rd Avenue Hillside, Queens (near Jamaica) | |||||||||||||||
Coordinates | 40°42′24″N73°46′58″W / 40.706529°N 73.782715°W | |||||||||||||||
Owned by | Long Island Rail Road | |||||||||||||||
Line(s) | Main Line and Montauk Branch | |||||||||||||||
History | ||||||||||||||||
Opened | June 1875 or June 24, 1890 | |||||||||||||||
Closed | Late 1905–1910 | |||||||||||||||
Electrified | August 29, 1905 | |||||||||||||||
Services | ||||||||||||||||
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Rockaway Junction was a junction and station on the Long Island Rail Road's Main Line and Montauk Branch in Hillside, Queens, New York City, United States. It was located in the vicinity where the Montauk Branch now crosses over the two eastbound passenger tracks and the two freight tracks of the Main Line, just west of the Hillside Facility, although at the time of the station's existence it was at ground level along with the junction itself.
The junction was formed in 1871, when the LIRR's Rockaway Branch (now the Montauk Branch) was built south from the Main Line. [1] It was not a station until June 1875, [2] when it first appeared on a timetable as the first stop of the Rockaway Branch, and superseded the nearby Willow Tree station and when the local Atlantic Avenue rapid transit trains were extended from Woodhaven Junction through Jamaica to Rockaway Junction, their new terminal. [3] Other sources say it opened on June 24, 1890, when at the same time the Canal Street station opened. [4] By 1897, these local trains continued along the Main Line to Hempstead or the Montauk Division to Valley Stream. [5]
Electric service to Rockaway Junction began on August 29, 1905, [6] but the station house was torn down between 1905 and 1906 for construction of the Holban Yard, a major LIRR freight yard. However, Rockaway Junction still appeared on timetables until 1910. [7] The junction itself was eliminated when the tracks were elevated between 1929 and 1931, and included a bridge for the Montauk Branch to cross over the two eastbound passenger tracks and the two freight tracks of the Main Line, just west of the Holban Yard. Roughly eight decades after the station closed, the Rockaway Junction site and nearby Holban Yard became the site of the LIRR's Hillside Maintenance Facility.
This station is often confused with the nearby Hillside station, due to their locations (Hillside was located two blocks west at 177th Street), and the fact that their years overlap. Hillside's opening is unknown (although suspected to be in 1909) and closed in 1911. It reopened in May 1911 and closed in 1966, while Rockaway Junction opened in 1890 and closed in 1905/1906 and still appeared on timetables until 1910.
The Long Island Rail Road, or 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 2023, the system had a ridership of 75,186,900, or about 276,800 per weekday as of the second quarter of 2024.
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.
Far Rockaway is the terminus of the Long Island Rail Road's Far Rockaway Branch in the Far Rockaway neighborhood of Queens in New York City. The station is located at Nameoke Avenue and Redfern Avenue.
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 and Central Branch during peak hours.
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 Long Island City station in Long Island City, Queens, and runs along the middle of Long Island about 95 miles (153 km) to Greenport station in Greenport, Suffolk County. At Harold Interlocking approximately one mile east of Long Island City, the tracks from the East River Tunnels and 63rd Street Tunnel into Manhattan intersect with the Main Line, which most trains use rather than using the Long Island City station.
The Manhattan Beach Branch, Manhattan Beach Line, or Manhattan Beach Division was a line of the Long Island Rail Road, running from Fresh Pond, Queens, south to Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, New York City, United States. It opened in 1877 and 1878 as the main line of the New York and Manhattan Beach Railway. The tracks from Flatbush south to Manhattan Beach were removed from 1938 to 1941, while most of the rest is now the freight-only Bay Ridge Branch.
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.
Dunton was a ground-level station on the Long Island Rail Road's Montauk Branch, Atlantic Branch, and later the Main Line in Dunton, Queens, New York City, United States. It was closed in 1939 when the Atlantic Branch was placed in a tunnel east of East New York.
Springfield Junction was a junction between the Long Island Rail Road's Montauk Branch and Atlantic Branch in Laurelton, Queens, New York City, United States. It was located at the place where those two branches now begin to parallel, just east of Laurelton station and half a mile east of Springfield Boulevard. No rail station was located at the junction itself, however Springfield Gardens station was located nearby.
Hillside was a junction and station on the Long Island Rail Road's Main Line and Montauk Branch in Hillside, Queens, New York City, United States. It was located east of where the Montauk Branch now crosses over the two eastbound passenger tracks and the two freight tracks of the Main Line, just west of the Hillside Facility.
The Hillside Facility, also called the Hillside Support Facility or the Hillside Maintenance Complex, is a maintenance facility of the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) in Jamaica, Queens, New York City. The Hillside facility was built between 1984 and 1991 on the grounds of a section of Holban Yard, a railroad freight yard. The facility covers 30 acres (120,000 m2) east of the former Hillside station and can maintain 60 cars at a time.
Eastport was a railroad station built on the former Manorville Branch of the Long Island Rail Road in Eastport, New York. It was opened in 1870 and closed in 1958. It was the easternmost station along both branches in the Town of Brookhaven.
Brooklyn Hills is a former Long Island Rail Road station, located at Myrtle Avenue in Forest Park, Queens, New York City, near Glendale, Queens. Opened in 1882, the station was part of the now-defunct Rockaway Beach Branch to the Rockaway Peninsula; during most of its time in operation, trains to the station originated from the Montauk Branch. The station was closed in 1911, replaced with the nearby Brooklyn Manor station at Jamaica Avenue. The entire line ceased operations on June 8, 1962.
The Evergreen Branch was a branch of the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) that ran in Brooklyn and part of Queens in New York City. The line, at its fullest extent, ran between Greenpoint, Brooklyn and Ridgewood, Queens. The line consisted of two leased portions. The first portion, between Greenpoint and Jefferson Street, was leased from the Glendale and East River Railroad. The second portion, from Jefferson Street to Ridgewood, was leased from the Brooklyn and Rockaway Beach Railroad Company, and was known as the Evergreen Branch, a name later extended to the rest of the line.
The Bushwick Branch, also called the Bushwick Lead Track, is a freight railroad branch in New York City. It runs from the East Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn to Fresh Pond Junction in the Glendale neighborhood of Queens, where it connects with the Montauk Branch of the Long Island Rail Road. It is owned by the LIRR but operated under lease by the New York and Atlantic Railway, which took over LIRR freight operations in May 1997.
Glendale was a Long Island Rail Road station along the Lower Montauk Branch, located in Glendale, Queens at Edsall Avenue and 73rd Street, near Central Avenue, at the All Faiths Monuments factory for the All Faiths Cemetery. This station had two "platforms" which were just strips of pavement besides the tracks signed as the station, and two tracks.
Springfield Gardens was an island platform station that existed along the Babylon-Montauk Branch of the Long Island Rail Road, in the Springfield Gardens, Queens section of Queens, New York City. The station was located between St. Albans and Rosedale Stations, north of Springfield Junction. The only visible evidence of the station today is a wide gap between the tracks.
Woodhaven is a former railroad and trolley station on the Atlantic Branch of the Long Island Rail Road. Though it was also on one of the same lines as Woodhaven Junction the two stations were distinguished from one another. Woodhaven was located on Atlantic Avenue, east of 87th Street.
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.
Willow Tree was a Main Line Long Island Rail Road station that was opened on the north side of the tracks and the west side of 183rd Street, then known as Hamilton Street. It was located in what is today the Hollis section of Queens, New York City.
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