Rockaway Beach Branch

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Southbound track at White Pot Junction
Southbound track at White Pot Junction
Underpass for northbound track
Underpass for northbound track
This article is about the LIRR branch to the Rockaways from the north (Rego Park and Glendale). For the branch from the northeast (Hillside), see New York and Rockaway Railroad. For the branch from the east (Valley Stream), see Far Rockaway Branch. For the current New York City Subway current subway, see IND Rockaway Line.

The Rockaway Beach Branch was a rail line owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in Queens, New York City, United States. The line left the Main Line at Whitepot Junction in Rego Park, heading south via Ozone Park and across Jamaica Bay to Hammels in the Rockaways, turning west there to a terminal at Rockaway Park. Along the way, it junctioned with the Montauk Branch near Glendale, the Atlantic Branch near Woodhaven, and the Far Rockaway Branch at Hammels. After a 1950 fire, the Jamaica Bay bridge was closed, and the line south of Ozone Park sold to the city, which rehabilitated it and connected it to the New York City Subway system as the IND Rockaway Line.

[edit] History

The New York, Woodhaven and Rockaway Railroad was incorporated on March 21, 1877[1] and organized March 24 to build a 3 foot 6 inch (1067 mm) narrow gauge line from Greenpoint, Brooklyn (connecting with the New York and Manhattan Beach Railway) via Cypress Hills and Woodhaven to Rockaway Beach.[2][3] The plans were later changed (on March 13, 1878[4]) to build a standard gauge line from Hunter's Point rather than Greenpoint. An agreement was made with the Long Island Rail Road in 1880 to operate over its Montauk Division to Bushwick and Hunter's Point (via trackage rights from Glendale Junction) and Atlantic Division to Flatbush Avenue (carried by LIRR locomotives from Woodhaven Junction).[5] In order to support the extra traffic, the LIRR agreed to double-track the Montauk Division west of Richmond Hill and the Atlantic Division west of Woodhaven Junction. After a delay caused by financial problems,[6] the line opened on August 26, 1880, and the LIRR stopped running trains from its New York terminals to Rockaway Beach via Valley Stream and its Far Rockaway Branch. It continued to operate through trains to Far Rockaway, as well as trains between Long Beach and Rockaway Beach.[7][8][9]

The company went bankrupt and was sold under foreclosure on July 30, 1887 to Austin Corbin, owner of the LIRR, who reorganized it as the New York and Rockaway Beach Railway on August 19, 1887 and transferred the property on September 1, 1887. The old Far Rockaway Branch west of Arverne was soon connected to the NY&RB at Hammels,[1][10] and was abandoned west of the new connection.[citation needed] The NY&RB began operating trains to Far Rockaway over this connection.[11]

From July 17, 1898 to 1917, the Brooklyn Elevated Railroad (later Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company) operated trains from Williamsburg (later Lower Manhattan) to Rockaway Beach, using a connection to the Atlantic Avenue Division at Chestnut Street Junction and the Rockaway Beach Division south of Woodhaven Junction.[12][13][14]

The NY&RB was operated independently until July 1, 1904, when the LIRR leased it as the Rockaway Beach Division.[15] The line south of Woodhaven Junction was part of the LIRR's first electrification, along with the Atlantic Avenue Division west to Flatbush Avenue, with electric passenger service beginning July 26, 1905.[16] Steam trains continued to serve Rockaway Park from Long Island City until June 16, 1910, when the electrified Glendale Cut-off opened, extending the line north from Glendale on the Montauk Division to White Pot Junction at Rego Park on the Main Line. At the same time, the Rockaway Beach Division was electrified north of Woodhaven Junction, and the Main Line was electrified west of Rego Park (and into Penn Station when the East River Tunnels opened on September 8, 1910).[17] The New York and Rockaway Beach Railway was merged into the LIRR on July 19, 1921.[18]

A fire on the trestle across Jamaica Bay cut service on the middle section of the line in 1950.[19] Service continued west of Hammels via the Far Rockaway Branch.[citation needed] The city bought the line south of Ozone Park and, after rebuilding the trestle, began operating it as the IND Rockaway Line in 1956.[20]. The line north of Liberty Avenue was originally not abandoned but just put out of service due to an intended connection to the IND Queens Boulevard Line subway line. However,the cost of the project caused it to be shelved. The rest of the line was closed in 1962.[21]

The abandoned tracks still exist along most of the route as the line was never officially abandoned due to the intended connection to the IND Queens Boulevard Line subway. They can be easily be seen, especially along the abandoned elevated embankment, which still stands in Woodhaven and Ozone Park north of where it becomes part of the IND Rockaway Line.

[edit] List of stations

Miles Name Opened Closed
Rego Park May 1928 June 8, 1962
Parkside September 15, 1927 June 8, 1962
Brooklyn Hills 1911
Brooklyn Manor January 9, 1911 June 8, 1962
Woodhaven Junction by 1893 June 8, 1962
Ozone Park by 1883[22] June 8, 1962
Aqueduct 1883 October 3, 1955
Howard Beach
earlier Ramblersville		 by 1905 June 27, 1955
Hamilton Beach October 16, 1919 June 27, 1955
Howard by 1905
Goose Creek by 1905 September 1935
The Raunt 1900 May 23, 1950
Broad Channel 1900 May 23, 1950
Beach Channel May 31, 1905
Hammels
earlier Hammel		 August 26, 1880[9] 1941
Holland August 26, 1880[9] October 3, 1955
Playland
earlier Steeplechase		 April 1903 October 3, 1955
Seaside August 26, 1880[9] October 3, 1955
Rockaway Park August 26, 1880[9] October 3, 1955

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Interstate Commerce Commission, Valuation Report: New York and Rockaway Beach
  2. ^ "Another Railroad Fight", Brooklyn Daily Eagle, June 8, 1877, p. 2. 
  3. ^ PRR Chronology, 1877PDF (156 KiB), June 2006 Edition
  4. ^ PRR Chronology, 1878PDF (126 KiB), June 2006 Edition
  5. ^ "A Queer Railroad Job", Brooklyn Daily Eagle, April 25, 1880, p. 4. 
  6. ^ "Caravansary", Brooklyn Daily Eagle, July 23, 1880, p. 4. 
  7. ^ "To Rockaway", Brooklyn Daily Eagle, August 23, 1880, p. 4. 
  8. ^ "Developing", Brooklyn Daily Eagle, August 26, 1880, p. 1. 
  9. ^ a b c d e "Opened", Brooklyn Daily Eagle, August 26, 1880, p. 4. 
  10. ^ Peter Ross, A History of Long Island From its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time, History of the Long Island Railroad, 1903
  11. ^ "New York and Rockaway Beach Railway", Brooklyn Daily Eagle, August 15, 1888, p. 1. 
  12. ^ "L Trains to Rockaway", Brooklyn Daily Eagle, July 16, 1898, p. 14. 
  13. ^ "New Rockaway Route Open", Brooklyn Daily Eagle, July 17, 1898, p. 9. 
  14. ^ PRR Chronology, Discontinuance/Last Runs of Passenger ServicePDF (40.6 KiB), Edition of June 30, 2003
  15. ^ PRR Chronology, 1904PDF (61.9 KiB), March 2005 Edition
  16. ^ Arrt's Arrchives: July 26, 1905
  17. ^ PRR Chronology, 1910PDF (53.7 KiB), March 2005 Edition
  18. ^ PRR Chronology, 1921PDF (100 KiB), June 2004 Edition
  19. ^ PRR Chronology, 1950PDF (50.5 KiB), December 2004 Edition
  20. ^ PRR Chronology, 1956PDF (45.9 KiB), December 2004 Edition
  21. ^ PRR Chronology, 1962PDF (72.8 KiB), June 2004 Edition
  22. ^ "A Grand Success", Brooklyn Daily Eagle, May 14, 1883, p. 1. 


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