Port Washington Branch

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Port Washington Branch
Plandome station.
Overview
StatusOperational
OwnerLong Island Rail Road
LocaleQueens and Nassau County, New York, USA
Termini
  • Woodside
  • Port Washington
Stations13
Service
TypeCommuter rail
SystemLong Island Rail Road
Services
  Port Washington Branch
Operator(s)Metropolitan Transportation Authority
Daily ridership46,808 (average weekday, 2006)
Ridership8,321,271 (annual ridership, 2022)
History
Opened1854 (as Flushing Railroad)
Technical
Track gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Electrification750 V (DC) Third rail
Route map
Map
Legend
West Side Yard
Northeast Corridor
to Washington, D.C.
0.0 mi
0 km
 Penn Station
NJ Transit Amtrak
 Grand Central
East River Tunnels
3.7 mi
1.8 mi
Main Line
to Long Island City
Sunnyside Yard
Northeast Corridor
to Boston South
3.1 mi
5 km
 Woodside
"7" train"7" express train​
Winfield Junction (closed)
Main Line
toward Jamaica
Elmhurst (closed)
Corona (closed)
West Flushing
(closed)
6.7 mi
10.8 km
 Mets–Willets Point
"7" train"7" express train​
Whitestone Branch
Zone 1
Zone 3
7.5 mi
12.1 km
 Flushing–Main Street
"7" train"7" express train​
8.4 mi
13.5 km
 Murray Hill
9.2 mi
14.8 km
 Broadway
9.9 mi
15.9 km
 Auburndale
10.8 mi
17.4 km
 Bayside
12.1 mi
19.5 km
 Douglaston
12.7 mi
20.4 km
 Little Neck
Queens
Nassau
Zone 3
Zone 4
13.8 mi
22.2 km
 Great Neck
Manhasset Viaduct
15.4 mi
24.8 km
 Manhasset
16.5 mi
26.6 km
 Plandome
18.1 mi
29.1 km
 Port Washington
[1]
This diagram:

The Port Washington Branch is an

Little Neck, and then crosses into Nassau County for stops in Great Neck, Manhasset, and Plandome before terminating at Port Washington.[2][3]

The Port Washington Branch is the only LIRR branch to not serve

Woodside
station.

Route description

The Port Washington station from the corner of Main Street and Haven Avenue in Port Washington.
Winfield Junction
Manhasset Viaduct, viewed from East Shore Road
Manhasset Viaduct, viewed from below

The line has two tracks from Woodside to Great Neck and one track from east of Great Neck past

Plandome stations to Port Washington. This often causes slight delays during two-way rush hour operations. A second track cannot be added through Manhasset and Plandome due to the proximity of businesses to the narrow right-of-way in Manhasset, and the fact that the Manhasset Viaduct, which carries the line between Great Neck and Manhasset, has only one track.[4]

To reduce delays and provide consistent service along all portions of the line, most peak-hour trains are either local between Manhattan and

Bayside, Great Neck, Manhasset, Plandome station, and Port Washington, although several trains run nonstop between city terminals and Great Neck).[5]

Extra service is offered during the

Flushing Main Street; formerly a station used exclusively for events, Mets–Willets Point has been open full-time since April 2023.[6]

The route also runs over the Manhasset Viaduct, a high train trestle over the marshes at the southern end of Manhasset Bay. The bridge stands 81 feet (25 m) tall and runs 678 feet (207 m) across the bay, offering a view of the Manhasset Bay. Scenes from the Hearst-produced silent film serial "The Perils of Pauline" are said to have been shot on the trestle.[7]

There is only one grade crossing on the Port Washington Branch, located at

Little Neck Station
.

History

19th century

The Port Washington Branch was built by the

Great Neck
in 1866.

Originally intending to run further east to

Laurel Hill Station in 1875. Part of the right-of-way ran through what is today the Mount Zion Jewish Cemetery in Maspeth.[8]

By 1874, all branches of the Flushing and North Side Railroad, including the Main Line to Great Neck were incorporated into the Flushing, North Shore and Central Railroad, which included the

Long Island City and Flushing Railroad. The LIC&F was merged with the LIRR on April 2, 1889.[9]

Despite a failed attempt to extend the line from Great Neck to

Great Neck and Port Washington Railroad (GN&PW).[10] According to Manhasset's website, "in 1897, a contract was given to the Carnegie Steel Company
and a subsidiary, the King Iron Company, undertook the job of constructing the bridge." The trestle bridge cost about $60,000, and the first train to cross it was on June 23, 1898. The GN&PW was disestablished as a subsidiary in 1902, and that segment simply became part of the Port Washington Branch.

20th century

Two other early 20th-century stations built on the Port Washington Branch were in

Winfield Junction by June 23, 1910, to Whitestone Junction onto the Whitestone Branch to Whitestone Landing Station by October 22, 1912, and to its terminus in Port Washington by October 21, 1913.[11] In 1910, the Public Service Commission approved the LIRR's application to eliminate grade crossings along the line. These projects were prerequisites for the extension of the line's second track to Great Neck and Whitestone and the electrification of the line.[12]
: 21–22 

Grade crossing elimination projects took place during the 1910s and 1920s in Queens and Nassau County. These grade elimination projects included unique station reconstruction in places such as

Woodside Station
the transfer point between Main Line and Port Washington Branch trains.

Despite the elimination of the

Flushing-Main Street Station." A new station was built just in time for the 1939 New York World's Fair then reused for the United Nations, and then the 1964 New York World's Fair and simultaneously Shea Stadium
, for which it would be renamed in 1966. This was the last station to be built on the line. By 1985, when Elmhurst station closed, Shea Stadium station would also become the westernmost station on the Port Washington Branch before the junction with the Main Line.

In January 1987, the station building at the Plandome station was burned to the ground by vandals.[13][14] Following the fire, the station building was rebuilt as a more modern version of the original.[14][15]

21st century

In conjunction with the

Town of North Hempstead,[17]: 65  resulting in the project being postponed indefinitely.[22][18]
: 61 

Alongside these construction projects, a new bridge was built at Colonial Road near Great Neck station; it opened in May 2016 and replaced a 114-year-old span.[23][24][25][26][27]

Stations

West of Woodside, all trips go on to terminate at Penn Station or Grand Central.[3]

Zone[28] Location Station name
Miles (km)
from Long Island City[1]
 Date
opened 		Date
closed 		Connections and notes
1 Woodside, Queens Woodside Disabled access 3.1 (5.0) 1869[29]
Q70 SBS
Maspeth, Queens Winfield Junction 1854 1929
Elmhurst, Queens Elmhurst 1855 1985 Originally named Newtown
Corona, Queens
Corona 1853 1964 Originally named Fashion Race Course, then West Flushing
West Flushing
 1854
Mets–Willets Point 6.7 (10.8) 1939 New York City Subway:
Q48
Originally named World's Fair, then United Nations, then World's Fair again, then Shea Stadium
.
3 Flushing, Queens Flushing–Main Street Disabled access 7.5 (12.1) 1854[29] New York City Subway:
n20G
, n20x
Originally named Flushing
Murray Hill Disabled access 8.4 (13.5) 1889 New York City Bus:
n20G
, n20x
Broadway Disabled access 9.2 (14.8) 1866[29] New York City Bus:
n20G
, n20x
Originally named Flushing–Broadway
Auburndale, Queens Auburndale Disabled access 9.9 (15.9) 1901 New York City Bus:
n20G
, n20x
Bayside, Queens Bayside Disabled access 10.8 (17.4) 1886[29] New York City Bus:
n20G
, n20x
Originally named Bay Side
Douglaston–Little Neck, Queens Douglaston Disabled access 12.1 (19.5) 1866[29] New York City Bus:
n20G
, n20x
Originally named Little Neck
Little Neck Disabled access 12.7 (20.4) 1870[29] New York City Bus:
n20G
, n20x
4 Great Neck Great Neck Disabled access 13.8 (22.2) 1866[29] Nassau Inter-County Express:
n58

Originally named Brookdale
Manhasset Manhasset Disabled access 15.4 (24.8) 1899 Nassau Inter-County Express:
n21
, n20x
Plandome Plandome Disabled access 16.5 (26.6) 1909
Port Washington Port Washington Disabled access 18.1 (29.1) 1898 Nassau Inter-County Express:
n23

References

Wikisource has original text related to this article:
  1. ^ a b Long Island Rail Road (May 14, 2012). "TIMETABLE No. 4" (PDF). p. III; VI. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
  2. ^ "MTA Railroads Map". New York: Metropolitan Transportation Authority. March 16, 2023.
  3. ^ a b "LIRR Port Washington Branch Timetable". New York: Metropolitan Transportation Authority. May 23, 2023.
  4. ^ Image of single track across Manhasset Viaduct
  5. ^ "Changes to LIRR Port Washington Branch service in 2023" (Press release). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved September 18, 2023.
  6. ^ "MTA Long Island Rail Road Announces Around-the-Clock Service to Mets–Willets Point Beginning Monday, April 24" (Press release). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. April 21, 2023. Retrieved September 18, 2023.
  7. ^ Sloan, Allan King (October 2005). "The Manhasset Viaduct". King Bridge Company. Archived from the original on March 3, 2006.
  8. ^ 1924 Long Island Railroad Corporate Blueprint (Arrt's Arrchives)
  9. ^ "Corporate Succession Long Island Railroad". pennsyrr.com.
  10. ^ Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. NY-81, "Long Island Railroad, Manhasset Bridge, Manhasset Shore Road Vicinity, Flower Hill, Nassau County, NY", 1 photo, 1 data page, 1 photo caption page
  11. ^ "LIRR Branch Notes". trainsarefun.com.
  12. ^ "The Long Island Railroad Twenty-Ninth Annual Report For The Year Ending December 31st, 1910". Report of ..., Trustee[S] of the Property of the Debtor, for the Year Ended ...1949-1953. Long Island Railroad Company. 1911.
  13. ProQuest 285440103
    .
  14. ^ a b "Port Washington Branch". www.trainsarefun.com. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
  15. ProQuest 277892413
    .
  16. ^ a b "MTA Long Island Rail Road Committee Meeting" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. November 2017. p. 35. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 5, 2018. Retrieved May 24, 2018.
  17. ^ a b Joint Metro-North and Long Island Committees Meeting. mta.info (Report). November 2020. Archived from the original on October 13, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2022.
  18. ^ a b Joint Metro-North and Long Island Committees Meeting. mta.info (Report). November 2021. Archived from the original on July 7, 2022. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
  19. ^ Sweet, Jacqueline (December 6, 2022). "MTA Finishes Great Neck Pocket Track In Advance Of Grand Central Open". Patch. Great Neck, NY. Retrieved January 14, 2024.
  20. ^ "L60601YL Port Washington Yard Reconfiguration". web.mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Archived from the original on September 3, 2017. Retrieved September 3, 2017.
  21. ^ Castillo, Alfonso A. (November 29, 2015). "Outta space: Few places to park at LIRR lots". Newsday. Archived from the original on June 15, 2022. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
  22. ^ Kaplan, Anna M. (September 28, 2022). "Important LIRR Commuter Update: Express Trains Have Been Saved". nysenate.gov. Retrieved October 1, 2022.
  23. ^ Kreitzman, Wendy Karpel (November 19, 2010). "MTA Announces Second Pocket Track Proposed for LIRR in Great Neck". Great Neck Record. Archived from the original on December 9, 2010. Retrieved May 24, 2018.
  24. ^ "MTA LIRR Proposed Colonial Road Improvement Project". MTA Long Island Rail Road. March 23, 2011. Archived from the original on December 19, 2021. Retrieved November 18, 2011.
  25. ^ "MTA LIRR - Colonial Road Improvement Project". web.mta.info. Archived from the original on October 24, 2016. Retrieved October 23, 2016.
  26. ^ Zambuto, Sam; Arena, Salvatore (March 28, 2011). "LIRR Opens Info Center at Great Neck Station for Proposed Colonial Road Improvement Project". MTA Long Island Rail Road. Archived from the original on November 5, 2011. Retrieved November 18, 2011.
  27. ^ "The Completion of Colonial Road Bridge". Great Neck Record. July 23, 2016. Archived from the original on October 17, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2022.
  28. ^ "New Fares — Effective April 21, 2019". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  29. ^ a b c d e f g Vincent F. Seyfried, The Long Island Rail Road: A Comprehensive History, Part Two: The Flushing, North Shore & Central Railroad, © 1963

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