Cedarhurst Cut-off

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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 (near Hollis) 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.

[edit] History

The New York and Rockaway Railroad was incorporated December 30, 1871 to build from the LIRR Main Line east of Jamaica south to Rockaway^[1] in competition with the South Side Railroad's Far Rockaway Branch. In exchange for completing it, the LIRR agreed to lease the line on March 2, 1871. It opened from the Main Line south to Springfield Gardens on June 21, 1871,^[2] and to Mott Avenue in Far Rockaway on May 14, 1872.^[3]

After the LIRR and South Side were brought under common ownership in 1876, the line was abandoned from Springfield Junction south to Cedarhurst on June 2. The portion north of Springfield Junction was connected to the old South Side main line, and is still the main Montauk Branch line.^[4] The line between Springfield Junction and Cedarhurst has been rebuilt and abandoned twice, with electrification, but was never used after 1876.^[5]

The New York and Rockaway Railroad was sold at foreclosure on May 27, 1903 and reorganized as the Jamaica and South Shore Railroad on October 18.^[6] The Jamaica and South Shore was merged into the LIRR on December 6, 1912.^[7]

[edit] References