Sag Harbor Branch

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Sag Harbor Branch
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Sag Harbor train station
Overview
StatusAbandoned
Locale Southampton (town), New York
Termini
Stations3
Service
TypePassenger and Freight
Operator(s) Long Island Rail Road
History
Opened1869 (1869)
ClosedMay 3, 1939 (1939-05-03) (Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor) [1] [2]
December 27, 1949 (1949-12-27) (Manorville-Eastport)
Technical
Line length4.8 miles (7.7 km)
Track gauge 4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm)
Manorville & Sag Harbor Branches

Contents

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Manorville
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Eastport
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Bridgehampton
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Noyack Road
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Sag Harbor

The Sag Harbor Branch was a branch of the Long Island Rail Road that was the eastern terminal on the south shore line of Long Island from 1869 to 1895 and then was a spur from Bridgehampton to Sag Harbor, New York from 1895 to 1939.

It originally continued west from Bridgehampton along the current Montauk Branch to Eastport and used what later became the Manorville Branch to the Main Line at Manorville.

History

The line was conceived and surveyed in 1854. In 1869 LIRR president Oliver Charlick wanted the branch to head off plans by the South Side Railroad to extend their line beyond Patchogue. A map of the branch can be seen along with the proposed SSRRLI extension from Patchogue. [3] The original plans called for the branch to leave the Main Line at Riverhead. But Riverhead refused to pay the LIRR for the benefits of being at a junction, so the west end was moved to Manorville in the pine barrens in 1869. During construction the Quogue station "on a Sunday morning" was moved by the village from its original and current location to a location on Old Depot Road. [4]

The Sag Harbor Line remained the farthest point on the LIRR's south shore line until 1895 when the LIRR extended the road at Bridgehampton to Montauk leaving the Sag Harbor section a spur of the Montauk Line. In 1906, a new station was opened in Sag Harbor named "Lamb's Corner". Sometime later, this station was renamed to "Noyack Road". During World War I, a freight spur was built onto the newly reinforced Long Wharf in Sag Harbor to deliver torpedoes for the E.W. Bliss Company for testing in the harbor.

The Sag Harbor branch was abandoned on May 3, 1939. [1] A former section of the line in Sag Harbor known as Wharf Street has been designated Suffolk County Road 81 and runs from NY 114 to the Sag Harbor Pier. [5] The rest of the road bed was transformed into the Long Pond Greenbelt. The road bed is now a hiking trail. The freight house at the Sag Harbor train station housed the Sag Harbor Garden Center's retail store [6] until February 1, 2022, when renovations began to transform to building into Kidd Squid Brewing Company's flagship tasting room, which opened in July 2022 and continues in operation today. [7]

Photograph of the Sag Harbor freight station in its current use as the flagship tasting room for the Kidd Squid Brewing Company Sag Harbor freight house.jpg
Photograph of the Sag Harbor freight station in its current use as the flagship tasting room for the Kidd Squid Brewing Company

Manorville Branch

The former road bed as it begins in Manorville West End of Manorville-Eastport Trail.JPG
The former road bed as it begins in Manorville
Road bed in the Long Pond Greenbelt Long-pond-trail.jpg
Road bed in the Long Pond Greenbelt

The track that became the Manorville Branch was originally a segment of the Sag Harbor Branch, running from Manorville on the Main Line southeast to Eastport on the Montauk Branch, which eventually became its own branch. A small portion of the right of way runs through what is today the Long Island Game Farm, while another segment runs through a Town of Brookhaven compost facility. In Eastport, the line ran beneath a bridge, which no longer exists, under Suffolk CR 51 then along the north end of Spadaro Airport, before merging with the Montauk Branch. It even contained a wye for westbound Montauk Branch trains that went over Montauk Highway until 1931.

The Manorville Branch was abandoned on December 27, 1949. In the 1950s, Suffolk County Department of Public Works planned to transform the former branch into a four-lane highway called Suffolk County Road 91 (Manorville Branch Road), but this proposal was abandoned on June 24, 1986, [5] [8] and as with the Long Pond Greenbelt, this road bed is also now a hiking trail.

Stations

The two branches are connected via the Montauk Branch. The Manorville Branch was abandoned in 1949, while the Sag Harbor Branch was abandoned in 1939.

StationMiles (km) from
Penn Station [9]
Date
opened
Date
closed
Connections / notes
For continuing service to Jamaica and points west, see Main Line (Ronkonkoma Branch)
Manorville 67.0 (108.0)June 14, 18451968Originally St. George's Manor, then Manor
Eastport 72.3 (116.4)1870October 6, 1958Originally Moriches, station moved in 1881
See Montauk Branch for interim stations
Noyack Road 1906May 3, 1939Originally Lamb's Corner
Sag Harbor 1870May 3, 1939

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Montauk Branch</span> Long Island Rail Road branch

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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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patchogue station</span> Long Island Rail Road station in Suffolk County, New York

Patchogue is a station of the Montauk Branch of the Long Island Rail Road in Patchogue, New York. It is on Division Street between West Avenue and South Ocean Avenue. The station is the eastern terminus for some trains on the branch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sayville station</span> Long Island Rail Road station in Suffolk County, New York

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 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northport station</span> Long Island Rail Road station in Suffolk County, New York

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bridgehampton station</span> Long Island Rail Road station in Suffolk County, New York

Bridgehampton is a station along the Montauk Branch of the Long Island Rail Road. It is located at Maple Lane and Butter Lane, in Bridgehampton, New York.

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

Manorville was a railroad station on the Main Line of the Long Island Rail Road in Manorville, New York. The station was built in 1844 and closed in 1968.

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

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue Point station</span> Railway station in Blue Point, the United States of America

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. It was located between Bayport and Patchogue stations, the former of which also closed on the same day. 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. Somewhat recently, the former site has been used by LIRR workers as a storage yard for road vehicles and equipment, being cleaned up in the process.

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

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brookhaven station (LIRR)</span> Railway station in Brookhaven, the United States of America

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

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sag Harbor station</span> Former train station on Long Island, New York

Sag Harbor was the terminus of the abandoned Sag Harbor Branch of the Long Island Rail Road, and was one of two stations within the village of Sag Harbor, New York. It opened in 1870 with the arrival of the LIRR into Sag Harbor, and was the eastern terminus of the LIRR on the south fork of Long Island until 1895, when the Brooklyn and Montauk Railroad built a line from Bridgehampton to Montauk, thus converting the line into a spur north of Bridgehampton. Besides the standard passenger station, it also contained a freight house, and "express building," two yards, a spur to "Long Wharf" which was owned by the LIRR affiliated Montauk Steamboat Company, a coal trestle, a turntable, and a three-story grain storage building owned by The station was rebuilt in 1909 in a manner similar to such stations as Riverhead, Bay Shore, Manhasset, and Bayside stations, among others. During World War I, it was used to transport torpedoes to Long Wharf in order to test them. It was abandoned in 1939 along with the branch. Today, Long Wharf is Suffolk County Road 81, and the former freight house became the Sag Harbor Garden Center's retail store until February 1, 2022, when renovations began to transform to building into Kidd Squid Brewing Company's flagship tasting room, which opened in July 2022 and continues in operation today.

Noyack Road was a railroad station on the Sag Harbor Branch of the Long Island Rail Road in Sag Harbor, New York. While the branch opened in 1869, this station was not added until 37 years later in 1906 as "Lamb's Corner". By 1915, it had been renamed as "Noyack Road".

Bartlett's was a private flag stop on the Long Island Rail Road's Main Line, that opened under the name Bellport in 1844 with the opening of the LIRR. Located 2+12 miles (4.0 km) east of Medford station and thus much further north than Bellport, it included a stagecoach connection down Bellport (Station) Road to Bellport Village, hence the station's name.

References

  1. 1 2 "SAG HARBOR BRANCH Part 5". arrts-arrchives.com/sagh5.html. ARRT'S ARRCHIVES. Retrieved August 6, 2012. Long Island Railroad - NOTICE - Pursuant to a certificate of the Interstate Commerce Commission made March 23, 1939, in Finance Docket No. 12101 -- Long Island Railroad Company Abandonment -- all service on Sag Harbor Branch, between Bridgehampton and Sag Harbor will be discontinued on and after May 3, 1939.
  2. "LONG ISLAND RAIL ROAD Alphabetical Station Listing and History" (PDF). June 28, 2012. Retrieved August 10, 2012. GENERAL ORDER #1002B/1013C, EFFECTIVE 5/3/39: SAG HARBOR BRANCH OUT OF SERVICE: 5/3/39
  3. "Part of Brookhaven". www.mapsofantiquity.com. Archived from the original (JPG) on January 9, 2015. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
  4. Ron Ziel and George H. Foster, Steel Rails to the Sunrise, 1965
  5. 1 2 "Suffolk County Roads 076–100". Archived from the original on April 21, 2010. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
  6. "Home - Sag Harbor Garden Center" . Retrieved June 9, 2016.
  7. Kilkelly, Bernie (October 1, 2022). "Newly-opened Kidd Squid Brewing Company Brings Liquid Treasures to Sag Harbor". Long Island Press. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
  8. "Suffolk County Road System List" (PDF). Retrieved June 9, 2016.
  9. Distances based on Yaphank at 60.4 (from Main Line (LIRR)) plus mileage measured on Google Maps, using map at http://trainsarefun.com/lirr/manorville/EmeryMapsManorvilleBranch.jpg as additional reference.