Hamilton Beach (LIRR station)

Hamilton Beach
Station statistics
Address 104th Street
Howard Beach, Queens, New York City
Lines
Platforms 2 side platforms
Tracks 4
Other information
Opened 1919
Closed 1955
Rebuilt No
Electrified July 26, 1905
Code None
Owned by LIRR
Fare zone 1
Services
None
Preceding station   LIRR   Following station
Rockaway Beach Branch

Hamilton Beach was a former Long Island Rail Road station on the Rockaway Beach Branch. It was located between two streets in Hamilton Beach, Queens, one of which no longer exists, and is part of land owned by JFK Airport.

History

Hamilton Beach Station was originally built in 1919 by the Long Island Rail Road nearly 12 years after the disastrous fire that destroyed the Howard's Landing station and the hotel that it served. It also served as a replacement for Ramblersville, which was eventually renamed Howard Beach Station. Throughout its existence, the station was never anything more than two sheltered shacks along both platforms. It was the southernmost station having four tracks of the Rockaway Beach Branch, which narrowed down to two tracks at the "WD Tower," and crossed Jamaica Bay.

Further south in Jamaica Bay, a fire destroyed the line at The Raunt on May 7–8, 1950, transforming Hamilton Beach into the terminus of the legitimate Rockaway Beach Branch. Trains that actually went to the line's namesake followed the rest of the Atlantic Branch onto the Far Rockaway Branch, where it merged at Hammels Wye.[1] The Rockaway Beach Branch was sold to the New York City Transit Authority in 1955, and Hamilton Beach Station closed on June 27, along with nearby Howard Beach Station. Most stations on the line south of Ozone Park closed on October 3, 1955, before being reopened as subway stations along the IND Rockaway Line on June 28, 1956. Hamilton Beach station was not one of them.

References

  1. ^ "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

External links