Montauk Branch

Montauk Branch
The Cannonball runs express through Bay Shore to the Hamptons along the Montauk Branch.
Overview
Type	Commuter rail, freight rail
System	Long Island Rail Road
Status	Operational
Locale	Long Island, New York, USA
Termini	Long Island City Montauk
Stations	33
Services	Montauk Branch (City Terminal Zone)   West Hempstead Branch   Babylon Branch   Montauk Branch
Operation
Owner	Long Island Rail Road
Operator(s)	Metropolitan Transportation Authority (passenger) New York and Atlantic Railway (freight)
Technical
No. of tracks	2 (from Long Island City to Sayville) 1 (east of Sayville)
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)

Montauk Branch

Legend NY Waterway 1.9 Long Island City Main Line (east) Lower Montauk  Penny Bridge closed 1998 Haberman closed 1998 Bushwick Branch freight only Fresh Pond closed 1998 Bay Ridge Branch/New York Connecting Railroad Glendale closed 1998 Richmond Hill closed 1998 Atlantic Branch (west) Morris Park Facility Main Line (west) AirTrain JFK Zone 1/Zone 3 11.3 Jamaica Atlantic Branch (east) Main Line (east) 14.0 St. Albans Queens/Nassau County border Zone 3/Zone 4 West Hempstead Branch Long Beach Branch (west) 19.5 Lynbrook Zone 4/Zone 7 Long Beach Branch (east) 20.9 Rockville Centre 22.9 Baldwin 24.1 Freeport 25.9 Merrick 27.2 Bellmore 28.2 Wantagh 29.4 Seaford 30.3 Massapequa 31.0 Massapequa Park Nassau/Suffolk County border Zone 7/Zone 9 32.9 Amityville 34.0 Copiague 35.5 Lindenhurst Central Branch 38.2 Babylon Zone 9/Zone 10 42.3 Bay Shore Fire Island Ferries 44.8 Islip 46.9 Great River 49.0 Oakdale 51.5 Sayville Sayville Ferry Service 55.6 Patchogue Davis Park Ferry Zone 10/Zone 12 59.4 Bellport 64.0 Mastic–Shirley Manorville Branch abandoned 1949 Eastport closed 1958 73.1 Speonk Zone 12/Zone 14 75.9 Westhampton 83.7 Hampton Bays 90.9 Southampton 96.1 Bridgehampton Sag Harbor Branch abandoned 1940 103 East Hampton 106 Amagansett 117 Montauk The Babylon Branch is highlighted. Distances shown in miles from New York Pennsylvania Station.

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 and as part of the City Terminal Zone to Long Island City.^[1][2]

Route description

The westernmost portion of the Montauk Branch in Queens, known as the "Old Montauk" or "Lower Montauk", runs from Long Island City to Jamaica, mostly at street level with grade crossings. On weekdays this part of the line sees one regular passenger train that makes no stops on the Old Montauk itself. The five stations along the Old Montauk (Richmond Hill, Glendale, Fresh Pond, Haberman, and Penny Bridge) were closed on March 13, 1998^[3] due to low ridership and incompatibility with then-new bi-level coach cars that can only use high platforms.

After Penn Station opened in 1910 the Lower Montauk became the freight route, and when the present Jamaica station opened in 1913 the two Lower Montauk tracks continued past the south side of the station, south of Hall tower and the south Union Hall Street platform and on to Holban Yard. Those two tracks now carry trains to/from the Hillside Facility that has replaced Holban Yard; they can also carry nonstop Main Line trains past Jamaica station. East from Jamaica the Montauk Branch runs between the Main Line tracks (with two usually-westward Main Line tracks north of it and two eastward tracks south of it) until it rises to cross above the other tracks at 40°42′21″N 73°47′04″W / 40.70585°N 73.7845°W / 40.70585; -73.7845 and turns southeast to swing parallel to the Atlantic Branch at 40°40′01″N 73°44′49″W / 40.667°N 73.747°W / 40.667; -73.747. The Montauk Branch east of Jamaica is 0.7 mile longer than the Atlantic.

88th Street grade crossing over the Montauk Branch; Woodhaven Boulevard overpass in background.

Passing over Grand Avenue, Queens

The portion from Jamaica to Babylon has been electrified since 1925. From Babylon east to Montauk, diesel-electric or dual-mode electric/diesel-electric locomotives haul trains of passenger coaches.

The Montauk Line has heavy ridership and frequent service as far as Patchogue and commuter service as far as Speonk. In the summer, with travelers going out to The Hamptons, Fire Island and other beaches, additional service is operated to the far eastern terminal at Montauk, such as the Cannonball, a Friday afternoon train departing from Hunterspoint Avenue and running non-stop between Jamaica and Westhampton. The Montauk Branch, along with the parallel Atlantic Branch, spawns three subsidiary branches: the West Hempstead Branch, Far Rockaway Branch, and Long Beach Branch.

The electrified portion of the Montauk Branch ends at Babylon; the electric service to Babylon is often identified as a separate service, the Babylon Branch. Some of the Montauk's diesel trains begin or end their runs at Babylon station, connecting with electric trains there. Other Montauk diesel trains operate into New York City, to Jamaica, Hunterspoint Avenue, Long Island City, or New York Penn Station. The terminal stations in diesel territory, east of Babylon, are Patchogue, Speonk, and Montauk. The Montauk Branch is double-tracked from Long Island City all the way through Babylon, becoming single track at Y Interlocking (located east of the Sayville Station). Most Montauk Branch diesel trains operate west to NYC via the diesel-only Central Branch, joining the Main Line east of Bethpage. Only a few actually run via the Montauk Branch west of Babylon, under normal conditions on the Main Line.

The Montauk was home to the last tower in North America that regularly used "hooping" train operations: PD Tower, in Patchogue. "Hooping" is the transfer of instructions to the engineer and conductor by attaching the folded orders to the "hoop", a rod several feet long with a loop at the end that is passed from the ground to a moving train by catching the loop on one's arm. The last train to get hooped at PD was train 2730 on May 6, 2006.^[4]

The Montauk Branch enjoys frequent service and has heavy ridership because it serves the suburban communities on Nassau County's and westernmost Suffolk County's south shore. It is grade-separated on embankments or elevated structures from Jamaica Station to Babylon Station.

History

Currently, the Montauk Branch intersects with the Bushwick Branch, Bay Ridge Branch, West Hempstead Branch, and Central Branch, as well as the Main Line at Long Island City and Jamaica and the Atlantic Branch at Jamaica and Valley Stream; the Far Rockaway Branch and Long Beach Branch are connected via the Atlantic Branch at Valley Stream. In the past, junctions existed with the Rockaway Beach Branch (a quarter mile east of Woodhaven Boulevard), Southern Hempstead Branch (Valley Stream to Hempstead), Manorville Branch (Eastport to Manorville on the Main Line), and Sag Harbor Branch (Bridgehampton to Sag Harbor). In early times, the Scoot ran frequently between Greenport on the North Fork, "around the horn" on the Manorville Branch, and east to Sag Harbor. In their day, both of those villages were very busy, bustling ports.

Formation and early days: 1860s to 1925

See also: South Side Railroad of Long Island

The South Side Railroad of Long Island built the line from Bushwick, Brooklyn to Patchogue in the 1860s, and completed the new line to Long Island City in 1870.^{[citation needed]} With the reorganization of the South Side as the Southern Railroad of Long Island in 1874 and its lease by the LIRR in 1876, this line became the Southern Railroad Division,^[5], Southern Railroad of Long Island Division, or simply Southern Division.^[6] Effective Sunday, June 25, 1876, all Southern Division passenger trains were rerouted to use the LIRR main line from Berlin Junction (west of Jamaica) to Rockaway Junction, and the LIRR's Rockaway Branch to Springfield Junction, where it crossed the Southern. This change resulted in the closure of the Southern's Berlin, Beaver Street (Jamaica), Locust Avenue, and Springfield stations.^[7] The old line between Jamaica and Springfield, which became freight-only, was renamed the Old Southern Road.^{[citation needed]} The Southern was reorganized as the Brooklyn and Montauk Railroad in 1879,^[8] and on March 14, 1880, the name was changed from the Southern Division to the Montauk Division.^[9] Thus the old South Side Railroad, except between Jamaica and Springfield Junction, was now the Montauk Division.

The LIRR opened the Sag Harbor Branch, including the present Montauk Branch from Eastport to Bridgehampton, on June 8, 1870.^[10] On July 27, 1881, after the South Side became part of the LIRR, its line – then the Montauk Division – was extended east to the Sag Harbor Branch at Eastport.^[11] The Sag Harbor Branch east of Eastport became part of the Montauk Division,^[12] and the old line from Manor (Manorville) to Eastport became the Manor Branch.^[13] An extension to Montauk, splitting off the old Sag Harbor Branch at Bridgehampton, opened to Amagansett on June 1, 1895^[14] and to Montauk by September,^[15] and the line between Bridgehampton and Sag Harbor reverted to the old Sag Harbor Branch name.^[16]

Babylon electrification: 1925 to present

Electrification of the Montauk Division from Jamaica to Babylon was completed on May 20, 1925,^[17] and normal operation began the next day.^[18] The Central Extension between Bethpage and Babylon was reopened for freight trains that had run via the Montauk Division.^[19]

The Montauk station was initially near the center of a sleepy fishing village at the north end of Fort Pond (where Austin Corbin built a pier in his unsuccessful effort to have trans-Atlantic ships dock there.) The Great Hurricane of 1938 devastated the terminus area and tore up sections of the roadbed. The population center then moved two miles (3 km) to the south, away from the station.

1998 saw the closure of three lightly used stations: Center Moriches, Quogue, and Southampton College. Southampton College was temporarily reinstated in 2004, complete with a steel walkway over Sunrise Highway to the Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, during the U.S. Open (golf) tournament. At the conclusion of the tournament, the walkway was dismantled and the station stop discontinued.

Stations

West Hempstead Branch trains split off after St. Albans. Babylon Branch trains terminate at Babylon, while Montauk Branch trains continue beyond.

Jamaica is about 11.25 miles (18 km) from Penn Station.

Station/ location	Miles (kilometers) from Jamaica[20]	Notes
Long Island City Long Island City	9
Jamaica Jamaica	0.0 (0.0)	Transfer to all but Port Washington Branch trains
St. Albans Linden Boulevard and Montauk Street, Saint Albans	2.8 (4.5)
Lynbrook Sunrise Highway and Peninsula Boulevard, Lynbrook	8.7 (14.0)	Transfer to Long Beach Branch trains
Rockville Centre North Village Avenue and Front Street, Rockville Centre	10.3 (16.6)
Baldwin Sunrise Highway and Grand Avenue, Baldwin	12.2 (19.6)
Freeport between Henry Street and Benson Place, Freeport	13.7 (22.0)
Merrick Sunrise Highway, between Hewlett Avenue and Merrick Avenue, Merrick	15.1 (24.3)
Bellmore Sunrise Highway and Bedford Avenue, Bellmore	16.6 (26.7)
Wantagh Wantagh Avenue and Railroad Avenue, Wantagh	17.0 (27.4)
Seaford Sunrise Highway and Jackson Avenue, Seaford	18.7 (30.1)
Massapequa Sunrise Highway east of Broadway (New York State Route 107), Massapequa	19.7 (31.7)
Massapequa Park Sunrise Highway and Park Boulevard, Massapequa Park	20.0 (32.2)
Amityville John Street, between Sunrise Highway and New York State Route 27A, Amityville	22.2 (35.7)
Copiague Marconi Boulevard and Great Neck Road, Copiague	23.4 (37.7)
Lindenhurst Wellwood Avenue and East Hoffman Avenue, Lindenhurst	24.7 (39.8)
Babylon Railroad Avenue just west of Deer Park Avenue, Babylon	27.6 (44.4)	Most Montauk Branch trains operate via the Central Branch, which diverges west of this station. Transfer from Babylon Branch trains
Bay Shore Park Avenue and Oak Street, Bay Shore	31.7 (51.0)	Ferries to Fire Island
Islip Islip Avenue (NYS Route 111), between Sunrise Highway and Montauk Highway, Islip	34.1 (54.9)
Great River Connetquot Avenue and Hawthorne Avenue, Great River	36.2 (58.3)
Oakdale Montauk Highway and Oakdale-Bohemia Road, Oakdale	38.4 (61.8)
Sayville Lakeland Avenue and Depot Street, Sayville	40.8 (65.7)	Ferries to Fire Island
Patchogue Division Street between West Avenue and South Ocean Avenue, Patchogue	44.9 (72.3)	Ferries to Fire Island
Bellport Station Road and Montauk Highway, Bellport	48.8 (78.5)
Mastic–Shirley William Floyd Parkway and Northern Boulevard, Shirley	53.3 (85.8)
Speonk Phillips Avenue and Depot Road, Speonk	62.6 (100.7)
Westhampton Station Road and Depot Road, Westhampton	65.3 (105.1)
Hampton Bays Ponquogue Avenue and Good Ground Road, Hampton Bays	72.2 (116.2)
Southampton North Main Street, between Prospect Street and Willow Street, Southampton	80.3 (129.2)
Bridgehampton Maple Lane and Butter Lane, Bridgehampton	85.0 (136.8)
East Hampton Railroad Avenue, between Newtown Lane and Race Lane, East Hampton	91.9 (147.9)
Amagansett Main Street and Abrahams Landing Road, Amagansett	95.3 (153.4)
Montauk Edgemere Street and Fort Pond Road, Montauk	106.8 (171.9)

Full list, including all former stations

Miles from Jamaica	Name	Opened	Closed
	Long Island City earlier Hunter's Point	June 26, 1854	present
	Penny Bridge	June 26, 1854	March 16, 1998[3]
	Laurel Hill	1890	1900
	Haberman	September 1910	March 16, 1998[3]
	Maspeth	February 1895	1924 or 1925
5.73[21]	Fresh Pond earlier Bushwick Junction	June 1869	March 16, 1998[3]
	Ridgewood	June 2, 1883	1924
4.50[21]	Glendale	June 1869	March 16, 1998[3]
2.64[21]	Richmond Hill earlier Clarenceville	July 1868	March 16, 1998[3]
1.06[21]	Dunton originally Van Wyck Avenue, then Berlin	June 1869	June 1876 November 1939
0.00	Jamaica	1836	present
	Union Hall Street earlier New York Avenue	ca. 1890	1976
	Canal Street	June 24, 1890[22]	1899
0.97[21]	Hillside earlier Rockaway Junction	June 24, 1890[22]	ca. 1930?
	St. Albans	July 1, 1898	present
3.65[21]	Springfield Gardens earlier Springfield	1870s	October 30, 1979
5.05[21]	Rosedale earlier Foster's Meadow	May 1870	present (Atlantic Branch only)
6.95[21]	Valley Stream	June 1869	present (Atlantic Branch only)
8.52[21]	Lynbrook originally Pearsall's Corners, then Pearsall's	October 28, 1867	present
9.81[21]	Rockville Centre	October 28, 1867	present
11.83[21]	Baldwin originally Baldwinsville, then Baldwins	October 28, 1867	present
13.18[21]	Freeport	October 28, 1867	present
14.90[21]	Merrick	October 28, 1867	present
16.17[21]	Bellmore	May 1870	present
17.20[21]	Wantagh earlier Ridgewood	October 28, 1867	present
	Seaford	May 26, 1899	present
19.00[21]	Massapequa earlier South Oyster Bay	October 28, 1867	present
	Massapequa Park	December 3, 1933	present
	Unqua	1880	1881
21.89[21]	Amityville	October 28, 1867	present
	Copiague	1902	present
	Belmont Junction	January 1875	late 1876
24.45[21]	Lindenhurst originally Wellwood, then Breslau	September 1, 1868	present
27.19[21]	Babylon earlier Seaside	October 28, 1867	present
31.30[21]	Bay Shore originally Penataquit, then Bayshore	May 20, 1868	present
32.80[23]	Islip Centre	December 1, 1868	June 1869
33.73[21]	Islip	September 5, 1868	present
	Club House	May 1870	1897
	Great River	1897	present
38.03[21]	Oakdale	December 1868	present
40.46[21]	Sayville	December 1868	present
42.37[21]	Bayport	March 1869	1980
	Blue Point	May 1870 June 1900	June 1, 1882 1980
44.54[21]	Patchogue	April 1869	present
	East Patchogue
	Hagerman	October 1890	1928 or 1929
48.38[21]	Bellport originally Accobomac then Brewster Place[24]	1882	present
50.21[21]	Brookhaven	1884	October 6, 1958
	Mastic–Shirley	July 15, 1960	present
54.30[21]	Mastic earlier Forge	1882	July 15, 1960
56.94[21]	Center Moriches earlier Moriches	1881	March 16, 1998
58.37[21]	East Moriches	1897	October 6, 1958
60.54[21]	Eastport earlier Moriches	March 1870	October 6, 1958
62.07[21]	Speonk	February 1870	present
64.93[21]	Westhampton	1870	present
67.67[21]	Quogue	June 1875	March 16, 1998
	East Quogue earlier Atlanticville[25]	1871	unknown
72.69[21]	Hampton Bays earlier Good Ground	February 1871	present
	Canoe Place	1935	1953
	Suffolk Downs	1907	1921
76.00[21]	Shinnecock Hills	1887	September 1932
	Southampton Campus earlier Golf Grounds	April 1907 May 24, 1976	1939 March 16, 1998
79.85[21]	Southampton	February 1871	present
82.52[21]	Watermill earlier Water Mill	1875	ca. 1968[24]
85.11[21]	Bridgehampton	June 1870	present
87.61[21]	Wainscott	1898	ca. 1936
91.55[21]	East Hampton earlier Easthampton	1895	present
94.71[21]	Amagansett	1895	present
	Napeague Beach	1895	December 5, 1927
	Fanny Bartlett	1924	December 31, 1928
	Promised Land	1924	December 31, 1928
106.34[21]	Montauk	1895	present

References

1. ^ MTA LIRR – LIRR Map
2. ^ LIRR Montauk Branch Timetable
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Sengupta, Somini (1998-03-15). "End of the Line for L.I.R.R.'s 10 Loneliest Stops". New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9800E6D81439F936A25750C0A96E958260. Retrieved 2007-12-24. "After 122 years, Glendale saw its last train on Friday." 
4. ^ Block Operator Chris Soundy hooping some of the last orders from “PD” tower to the engineer of eastbound DE-30ac #420 (Photo: by Pat Masterson May 4, 2006
5. ^ Long Island Railroad Company, Long Island and where to Go, 1877
6. ^ "Long Island". Brooklyn Daily Eagle: p. 1. August 22, 1877. http://eagle.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/Default/Scripting/ArchiveView.asp?BaseHref=BEG/1877/08/22&Page=1&skin=BE. 
7. ^ "Railroad Changes". Brooklyn Daily Eagle: p. 2. June 27, 1876. http://eagle.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/Default/Scripting/ArchiveView.asp?BaseHref=BEG/1876/06/27&Page=2&skin=BE. 
8. ^ Vincent F. Seyfried, The Long Island Rail Road: A Comprehensive History, Part One: South Side R.R. of L.I., 1961
9. ^ "Railroad Reorganization". Brooklyn Daily Eagle: p. 10. March 15, 1880. http://eagle.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/Default/Scripting/ArchiveView.asp?BaseHref=BEG/1880/03/15&Page=10&skin=BE. 
10. ^ "Railroad Dedication". Brooklyn Daily Eagle: p. 2. June 6, 1870. http://eagle.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/Default/Scripting/ArchiveView.asp?BaseHref=BEG/1870/06/06&Page=2&skin=BE. 
11. ^ "Another Link". Brooklyn Daily Eagle: p. 4. July 22, 1881. http://eagle.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/Default/Scripting/ArchiveView.asp?BaseHref=BEG/1881/07/22&Page=4&skin=BE. 
12. ^ "Golden Days". Brooklyn Daily Eagle: p. 4. August 1, 1881. http://eagle.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/Default/Scripting/ArchiveView.asp?BaseHref=BEG/1881/08/01&Page=4&skin=BE. 
13. ^ "A Forest Fire". Brooklyn Daily Eagle: p. 4. June 13, 1896. http://eagle.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/Default/Scripting/ArchiveView.asp?BaseHref=BEG/1896/06/13&Page=4&skin=BE. 
14. ^ "Latest Long Island News". Brooklyn Daily Eagle: p. 7. June 1, 1895. http://eagle.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/Default/Scripting/ArchiveView.asp?BaseHref=BEG/1895/06/01&Page=7&skin=BE. 
15. ^ "The Fall Time Table". Brooklyn Daily Eagle: p. 7. September 7, 1895. http://eagle.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/Default/Scripting/ArchiveView.asp?BaseHref=BEG/1895/09/07&Page=7&skin=BE. 
16. ^ "New Block Signals". Brooklyn Daily Eagle: p. 7. March 8, 1896. http://eagle.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/Default/Scripting/ArchiveView.asp?BaseHref=BEG/1896/03/08&Page=7&skin=BE. 
17. ^ Arrt's Arrchives: Babylon Electrification
18. ^ PRR Chronology, PRR Chronology, 1925PDF, June 2004 Edition
19. ^ Vincent F. Seyfried, The Long Island Rail Road: A Comprehensive History, Part Two: The Flushing, North Shore & Central Railroad, ©1963
20. ^ Station pages linked from LIRR Map
21. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq} "Long Island Railroad's Summer Schedule". Brooklyn Daily Eagle: p. 8. May 30, 1897. http://eagle.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/Default/Scripting/ArchiveView.asp?BaseHref=BEG/1897/05/30&Page=8&skin=BE. 
22. ^ ^{a b} "Rapid Transit Extension". Brooklyn Daily Eagle: p. 1. June 24, 1890. http://eagle.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/Default/Scripting/ArchiveView.asp?BaseHref=BEG/1890/06/24&Page=1&skin=BE. 
23. ^ Arrt's Archives, LIRR Timetable from 1869
24. ^ ^{a b} Unofficial LIRR History Website (Babylon/Montauk Branch Stations)
25. ^ Earliest Stations of the LIRR (LIRR Unofficial History Website)