Southern Hempstead Branch

Last updated

Southern Hempstead Branch
Overview
System Long Island Rail Road
Status Abandoned
Locale Long Island, New York, USA
Termini Valley Stream
Hempstead
Stations 5
Operation
Opened 1870
Closed May 1879
Owner Long Island Rail Road
Operator(s) Long Island Rail Road
Technical
Number of tracks 1
Track gauge 4 ft 8 12 in (1,435 mm)

The Southern Hempstead Branch was a branch of the Long Island Rail Road from Valley Stream to Hempstead. It was established in 1870 and abandoned in May 1879, and is not the same route as the current West Hempstead Branch. [1] [2]

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.

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

Hempstead is a village located in the town of Hempstead, Nassau County, New York, United States. The population was 53,891 at the 2010 census, making it the most populated village in New York.

West Hempstead 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.

Contents

History

Hempstead residents were annoyed with the bad service provided by the LIRR on their Hempstead Branch, and planned the New York and Hempstead Plains Railroad, which was to cross the South Side Railroad at Valley Stream and end at the 65th Street Ferry in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, but only built east of Valley Stream. Prior to the establishment of the NY&H, the SSRLI established a short-lived subsidiary named the Hempstead and Rockaway Railroad designed to connect the Far Rockaway Branch Railroad to the Southern Hempstead Branch. The H&R was dissolved in 1871. There were also plans to extend the line eastward into what is today North Massapequa. [3] Reliant on the South Side, the two companies often shared equipment. A railroad supplier named Pusey became president in 1871, but failed to do what he had promised and was soon discharged. Without notifying the company, the bondholders illegally appointed receiver Seaman Snediker, a friend of Pusey's, under foreclosure, and they took the railroad on January 8, 1872. The owners discovered this the next morning and took control of the railroad's only locomotive and two cars had been taken away by bank creditors. The South Side leased the NY&HP in June 1873. [4]

Hempstead Branch

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.

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.

65th Street Yard

The 65th Street Yard, also Bay Ridge Rail Yard, is a rail yard on the Upper New York Bay in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. Equipped with two transfer bridges which allow rail cars to be loaded and unloaded onto car floats, the last of once extensive car float operations in the Port of New York and New Jersey. Located adjacent to the Brooklyn Army Terminal, it provided a major link in the city's rail freight network in the first half of the twentieth century. It was later used as a conventional railroad yard at the end of the LIRR/NY&A Bay Ridge Branch. The new transfer bridges were constructed in 1999, but remained unused until the transfer bridges were activated in July 2012.

The railroad left the South Side Valley Stream station at Fifth Street and struck out northeastward. It crossed Franklin Avenue, Malverne, close to the present little stream between Wheeler Avenue and Cornwell Avenue; here was situated the little hamlet and station of Bridgeport. The track then paralleled Cornwell Avenue exactly, crossing Hempstead Avenue, where was located the tiny settlement and station of Norwood. The Pine Brook was crossed on a little bridge only a foot or two above water level. At Woodfield Avenue and Oak Place was Woodfield depot. Immediately to the east the track crossed the Schodack Brook on an embankment and culvert about five or six feet above the stream bed. As the track approached Hempstead village, it crossed the Horse Brook or Rockaway Brook on a small bridge and then paralleled the brook a few blocks, terminating at a little station on the west side of Greenwich Street midway between Front Street and Prospect Street. Here there was a short stretch of double track but no turntable. Service was maintained with about six trains a day in each direction. [5]

Stations

The entire line was abandoned in 1879.

StationMiles (km)
to Penn Station
Date
opened
Date
closed
Connections / notes
Montauk Branch diverges
Valley Stream Wheelchair symbol.svg 17.9 (28.8)June 1869 [6] BSicon BAHN.svg LIRR: Babylon, Far Rockaway. Long Beach, and West Hempstead Branches
Aiga bus trans.svg NICE Bus : N1, N2
Bridgeport 18701879Located on Franklin Avenue
Norwood 18701879Located on Franklin Avenue
Woodfield 18701879Located on Hempstead Avenue
Hempstead 18701879Located on Greenwich Street

Related Research Articles

Atlantic Branch

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 that runs in the borough of Brooklyn.

East New York station

East New York is a station on the Long Island Rail Road's Atlantic Branch in the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City, where that branch passes through the historic Jamaica Pass. It is generally served by the Far Rockaway, Hempstead, and West Hempstead Branches of the LIRR. The East New York station also formerly served the LIRR's Bay Ridge Branch until passenger service on that branch ended in 1924.

Far Rockaway Branch

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. This two-track branch provides all day service in both directions to the Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn, with limited weekday peak service to/from Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan. During peak hours, express service may bypass Jamaica station.

Rosedale station (LIRR) commuter rail station in Queens, New York City, New York, United States

Rosedale is a station on the Long Island Rail Road's Atlantic Branch in the Rosedale neighborhood of Queens, New York City. The station is at Sunrise Highway, Francis Lewis Boulevard and 243rd Street. Rosedale is part of the CityTicket program and is in Zone 3.

Hewlett station

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, and is 19.5 miles (31.4 km) from Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan.

Woodmere station

Woodmere is a station on the Long Island Rail Road's Far Rockaway Branch in Woodmere, in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, United States. The station is located at Woodmere Boulevard and Cedar Lane, between Central Avenue and West Broadway, and is 20.1 miles (32.3 km) from Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan.

Lawrence station (LIRR) LIRR rail station in Lawrence, New York, United States

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.

Far Rockaway station (LIRR) railway station

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 Street and Redfern Avenue, and is 23.0 miles (37 km) from Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan, and mean travel time is 56 minutes, although most off-peak trains terminate at Atlantic Terminal, thus requiring a transfer for service to Penn Station.

Valley Stream station

Valley Stream is a station on the Long Island Rail Road's Atlantic Branch serving the residents of Valley Stream, and is the first station in Nassau County. The station is located at Franklin Avenue and Sunrise Highway, west of Rockaway Avenue, and is 17.7 miles (28.5 km) from Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan via the Atlantic Branch east of Jamaica. The station is wheelchair accessible with an elevator from street level; parking facilities and taxis are available.

Montauk Branch

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 to Jamaica.

West Hempstead station

West Hempstead is the terminal station at the east end of the Long Island Rail Road's West Hempstead Branch serving West Hempstead, New York, United States. It is located at Hempstead Avenue and Hempstead Gardens Drive.

Cedarhurst Cut-off

The Cedarhurst Cut-off was a rail line owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York. The line split from the LIRR's Main Line at Rockaway Junction and ran south via Springfield Gardens and Cedarhurst and on to Far Rockaway. The part north of the crossing of the old Southern Railroad of Long Island at Springfield Junction is now part of the Montauk Branch, while the rest has been abandoned in favor of the ex-Southern Far Rockaway Branch.

Rockaway Junction station

Rockaway Junction or Woodhull Park, 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.

East Rockaway station

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.

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.

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.

References