Woodside (LIRR station)

Woodside is a station on the Long Island Rail Road's Main Line in the Woodside neighborhood of Queens. It is the first station passed by eastward trains from Penn Station, and it is the only Queens station that serves both the Port Washington Branch and the other LIRR branches that begin east of Jamaica station (with the exception of the Montauk Branch). East of Woodside the two-track Port Washington Branch turns east from the Main Line, while the four-track Main Line continues south-easterly to Jamaica Station.

Woodside has six tracks and three platforms. The four southernmost tracks passing through the station are the Main Line tracks; the two center tracks are through (express) tracks and do not have platform faces at Woodside. The two northernmost tracks are the Port Washington branch tracks, both of which have platforms. West of the station, the line merges with Amtrak's Hell Gate Bridge access tracks (part of the Northeast Corridor) at Harold Interlocking before entering the East River Tunnels to Manhattan. The Woodside – 61st Street (7 <7> trains) station is above Woodside station, on a high viaduct above Roosevelt Avenue. The station is ADA wheelchair accessible, by means of elevator, escalator, and ramps.

History

Woodside station was originally built by the Flushing and North Side Railroad on November 15, 1869, and was the first to be built by the F&NS after acquiring the troubled New York and Flushing Railroad. For a short period during the 1870s, it served not only the Port Washington Branch but the Woodside Branch, which ran across northwestern Queens, had one station at Junction Boulevard and 35th Avenue, and took commuters either to the former Whitestone Branch, or to what is today Corona Yard. Like all other stations on Long Island, it was acquired by the Long Island Railroad in 1876. Though the line was electrified on June 16, 1910, the station was closed in 1914 due to a grade elimination project and razed on November 17, 1915. The existing elevated station was opened on October 17, 1915. When Winfield station was closed in 1929, Woodside became the station for Main Line and Port Washington Branch trains before the split at Winfield Junction. A restoration project took place in 1999.

Platform and tracks

This station has three 12-car long high-level platforms. The northern one, a side platform next to Track 1 of the Port Washington Branch, is generally used by westbound or Manhattan-bound trains. The central one, an island platform between Track 2 of the Port Washington Branch and Track 3 of the Main Line, is generally used by eastbound or outbound Port Washington trains and westbound or Manhattan-bound Main Line trains. The southern one, a side platform next to Track 4 of the Main Line, is generally used by outbound or eastbound Main Line trains.

There are six tracks. Tracks 1 and 2 of the Main Line, not adjacent to any platform, are used by through trains.

References

1. ^ Vincent F. Seyfried, The Long Island Rail Road: A Comprehensive History, Part Two: The Flushing, North Shore & Central Railroad, © 1963
2. ^ Average weekday, 2006 LIRR Origin and Destination Study

External links

• Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Woodside_(LIRR_station) Woodside (LIRR station)] at Wikimedia Commons

• Official LIRR station information page for Woodside
• Station timetable for Woodside
• Unofficial LIRR History website
  • Woodside Station and IRT Flushing Line view
  • Port Washington Branch with Main Line in the background
• 61st Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Roosevelt Avenue and 61st Street entrance from Google Maps Street View