West Hempstead Branch

The West Hempstead Branch is an electrified rail line owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) in the U.S. state of New York.

The branch separates from the Main Line just east of Jamaica Station, and runs southeastward to West Hempstead. The line has one track between Westwood station and Hempstead Gardens and two from there to the end of the line in West Hempstead, the southbound or east track being a siding.

Since Valley Stream only has platforms on the Atlantic Branch, which parallels the Montauk Branch to the south, most West Hempstead Branch trains that serve Valley Stream are shuttles that terminate there.^[2][3]

As the smallest LIRR commuter branch,^[4] West Hempstead was one of the last in the system to modernize. It was the last of the electrified LIRR branches to receive high level platforms, in the early 1970s, and the last of the electrified branches to be fitted with Automatic Train Control (known as Automatic Speed Control by the LIRR), which it received in October 2009 during a system overhaul and upgrade at Valley Interlocking. Nevertheless, the branch is one of the most vulnerable lines and has been threatened with abandonment in recent years.^[5] In September 2010, the line lost weekend service^[6], except for St. Albans, which is served by trains on the Babylon Branch on weekends. (No trains stop at both St. Albans and Valley Stream.)

History

The West Hempstead Branch was the indirect successor to the old South Side Railroad’s Southern Hempstead Branch, which ran a similar route north from Valley Stream to Hempstead, before being torn up in the 1880’s. Built in 1893 by the New York Bay Extension Railroad Co. and merged with the LIRR in 1902, the West Hempstead Branch originally extended beyond its current terminus and through Hempstead. It connected with the current day Hempstead Branch at Country Life Press.^[7] From the Country Life Press station, the line had several routings it could take. It could loop west and continue down the Hempstead Branch to Jamaica. Through an elaborate wye system, trains could also loop east and continue down the Central Branch to Babylon (the split between the Hempstead and Central Branches occur just west of Country Life Press). Trains could also head north on the wye and continue all the way north to Mineola and connect with either the Main Line and Oyster Bay Branches.

On October 19, 1926, the entire line was elecrified. The connection to the Oyster Bay Branch was severed in 1928, while the portions of the line between Mineola and Country Life Press and between Country Life Press and West Hempstead were taken out of revenue passenger service in the late 1930’s due to the costly grade crossing elimination improvements imposed upon the LIRR by the Interstate Commerce Commission. Freight trains and non-revenue rerouting trains continued down these portions until the late 1960’s when they were finally torn up. The rights-of-way, however, remain intact.^[8]

Stations

References

1. ^ "WILL HAIL ELECTRIC TRAIN; West Hempstead Branch Towns to Celebrate New Service Today". New York Times. 19 October 1926. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F00812F938581A738DDDA00994D8415B868EF1D3. Retrieved 1 November 2011. "The first electric train of the Long Island Railroad to run over the recently electrified West Hempstead branch will leave the Pennsylvania Terminal this afternoon, carrying railroad officials and delegations from the communities affected. The train will be an express to Mineola, where the principal celebration will be held." 
2. ^ MTA Long Island Rail Road system map
3. ^ LIRR West Hempstead Branch timetable
4. ^ Ain, Stewart (10 March 2002). "West Hempstead Line's Squeaky Wheels". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/10/nyregion/west-hempstead-line-s-squeaky-wheels.html. Retrieved 1 November 2011. "West Hempstead branch had a daily ridership of 3,550, the lowest of the railroad's 11 branches. That compares with 58,000 [sic] on the Oyster Bay branch, which has the next smallest number of riders." 
5. ^ Ain, Stewart (8 August 2004). "M.T.A.'s Threat Drops Some Jaws". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/08/nyregion/mta-s-threat-drops-some-jaws.html. Retrieved 1 November 2011. "Brian Dolan, a spokesman for the railroad, said the elimination of the [Oyster Bay, West Hempstead, and Greenport] branches would be a 'drastic step we would hope we would not have to implement.' He said the move was being considered because of a projected $1.3 billion budget shortfall that the transportation authority, the railroad's parent, is facing in 2006." 
6. ^ Alcindor, Yamiche (18 September 2010). "An empty feeling on LIRR's West Hempstead branch". Newsday. http://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/an-empty-feeling-on-lirr-s-west-hempstead-branch-1.2301080. Retrieved 1 November 2011. "The elimination of the branch's 17 weekend trains is aimed at helping the struggling Metropolitan Transportation Authority close a $900-million budget gap. The cutback will save $474,000 a year, officials have said." 
7. ^ West Hempstead Branch Stations (Unofficial LIRR History web site)
8. ^ Mineola to West Hempstead (Unofficial LIRR History Website; Abandoned ROW's)

External links

• West Hempstead Branch Stations (Unofficial LIRR History web site)
• NYCSUBWAYS.org: West Hempstead Branch