Long Beach Branch
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The Long Beach Branch is an
History
Origins
The Long Beach Branch began as the New York and Long Beach Railroad (NY&LB) Company, operating from
A five-mile (8 km) extension to Point Lookout, New York owned by the Long Beach Marine Railway Company existed between 1881 and 1895. The LIRR bought the line in 1886 and continued to operate passenger service until 1895.[3]
Pennsylvania Railroad ownership
The LIRR had planned to extend the Atlantic Branch north into
MTA takeover
On January 20, 1965, the State of New York announced its intentions to purchase the LIRR from the PRR. The LIRR was to be operated by the newly-formed
The Long Beach Branch's familiar orange color scheme ( ) was first implemented on May 20, 1974 as part of the MTA's Form 8 timetable.[11]
Hurricane Sandy and infrastructure modernization
Hurricane Sandy struck Long Island on October 29–30, 2012, and the Long Beach Branch was the most seriously affected of all the LIRR lines despite a full systemwide shutdown on October 29. Third rail power was lost, as three of the four substations on the line were knocked out.[12] The line between Island Park and Long Beach was strewn with debris, and switch motors at Long Beach station, along with other signal and communications components on the line, were rendered inoperative due to immersion in salt water. Bus service began between Lynbrook and Island Park on November 7.[13] Partial rail service was restored on November 14, when a diesel-operated shuttle between Lynbrook and Long Beach began operating on a modified weekday schedule,[14] with shuttle buses being utilized on weekends and Thanksgiving in place of train service. Full electric service, initially not expected to return until January 2013,[15] was restored much earlier than anticipated, on November 25, 2012.[16]
The total cost of post-Sandy restoration projects on the branch is expected to cost $68.6 million and be completed by September 2021.[17] The projects also include the raising of the Oceanside, Oil City, and Long Beach substations 15 feet (4.6 m) off the ground and an emergency generator for the Wreck Lead Bridge over Reynolds Channel.[17][18]
Positive train control, a federally-mandated technology to improve railroad safety, was implemented on the line on October 30, 2019.[19][20]
Stations
This section needs to be updated. The reason given is: New service pattern.(February 2023) |
Zone | Station | Date opened |
Date closed |
Connections / notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
For continuing service to Jamaica and points west, see Atlantic Branch
| |||||
3 | 12.2 (19.6) | 1869 | LIRR: Far Rockaway Branch | ||
13.1 (21.1) | 1907 | LIRR: Far Rockaway Branch | |||
14.0 (22.5) | 1870 | LIRR: Far Rockaway Branch | |||
4 | 15.7 (25.3) | 1869 | LIRR: Far Rockaway Branch LIRR: West Hempstead Branch | ||
Zone | Station | Miles (km)
from Valley Junction[4] |
Date opened |
Date closed |
Connections / notes |
4 | 1.5 (2.4) | 1867[21] | Pearsall's
| ||
7 | 2.4 (3.9) | 1898 | Originally South Lynbrook
| ||
2.9 (4.7) | 1880 | ||||
Atlantic Avenue
|
1898 | 1951 | |||
3.4 (5.5) | 1897 | ||||
Barnum Island Channel Bridge | |||||
Jekyl Island
|
1901 | 1922 | Originally named Island Park
| ||
5.9 (9.5) | 1898 | The Dykes
| |||
Reynolds Channel Bridge | |||||
Wreck Lead
|
1888 | 1927 | |||
Queenswater
|
1898 | 1936 | Originally Queenswater
| ||
Club House
|
1898 | 1909 | |||
6.9 (11.1) | 1880 |
References
External videos | |
---|---|
LIRR Time Lapse: Penn Station to Long Beach, MTA's LIRR; May 20, 2010; 2-minute YouTube video clip | |
LIRR Time Lapse: Long Beach to Penn Station, MTA's LIRR; May 20, 2010; 2-minute YouTube video clip |
- ^ "February 2020 MTA Board Action Items". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. February 26, 2020. p. 39.
- ^ a b "2018 Annual Ridership Report" (PDF). Long Island Rail Road. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
- ^ a b c Felix Reifschneider, History of the Long Island Railroad, 1925, reprinted winter 2001 in The Third Rail
- ^ a b c Long Island Rail Road (May 14, 2012). "TIMETABLE No. 4" (PDF). p. VI; VII. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
- ^ "MTA Railroads Map". New York: Metropolitan Transportation Authority. March 16, 2023.
- ^ "Long Beach Branch Timetable". New York: Metropolitan Transportation Authority. May 23, 2023.
- ^ "LIRR Early History". lirrhistory.com. Archived from the original on March 4, 2000. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Long Beach". Retrieved April 20, 2020.
- ^ "The Long Island Rail Road: A Comprehensive History Volume #5 (New York, Woodhaven & Rockaway Railroad; New York & Rockaway Beach railway; New York & Long Beach Railroad; New York & Rockaway railroad; Brooklyn rapid transit operation to Rockaway; Over L.I.R.R.)", by Vincent F. Seyfried
- ^ "PENNSYLVANIA'S NEW PLANS OUTLINED; Big Improvements to be Made in Long Island's Acquisition. NO THOUGHT OF MONTAUK POINT Ferry Connection from Jersey City to Bay Ridge and Tunnels to Follow, an Official Says". The New York Times. May 8, 1900. Retrieved May 23, 2018.
- ^ "LIRR Timetables". Trains Are Fun. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
- ^ "Major Long Beach Branch Restoration Project Begin". Metropolitan Transit Authority. April 12, 2014. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
- ^ "Hurricane Sandy Recovery Service As of November 7" (PDF). Long Island Rail Road. November 7, 2012.
- ^ "Limited service on Long Beach LIRR branch". L.I. Herald. November 14, 2012. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
- ^ "LIRR Restores Limited Weekday Train Service on Long Beach Branch". mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved November 15, 2012.
- ^ "LIRR Restores Weekend & Weekday Electric Train Service on Long Beach Branch starting Nov. 25". mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved November 25, 2012.
- ^ a b Castillo, Alfonso A. (October 30, 2018). "LIRR still years away from some Sandy repairs". Newsday. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
- ^ "Sandy Substation Restoration / Long Beach Branch (Completed 01/2018)". Long Island Rail Road. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
- ^ "LIRR adds Positive Train Control on four branches". Fox 5. October 30, 2019. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
- ^ "LIRR Commissions Positive Train Control on Four Branches" (Press release). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. October 30, 2019. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
- ^ Vincent F. Seyfried, The Long Island Rail Road: A Comprehensive History, Part One: South Side R.R. of L.I., 1961
External links
Media related to Long Beach Branch (category) at Wikimedia Commons