Montauk Branch

Montauk Branch
The Cannonball runs express through Bay Shore to the Hamptons along the Montauk Branch.
Overview
Type	Commuter rail, freight rail
System	Long Island Rail Road
Status	Operational
Locale	Long Island, New York, USA
Termini	Long Island City Montauk
Stations	33
Services	West Hempstead Branch   Babylon Branch   Montauk Branch
Operation
Owner	Long Island Rail Road
Operator(s)	Metropolitan Transportation Authority (passenger) New York and Atlantic Railway (freight)
Technical
No. of tracks	2 (from Long Island City to Sayville) 1 (east of Sayville)
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)

[ v t e ] Montauk Branch

Legend NY Waterway 1.9 Long Island City Main Line (east) Lower Montauk Penny Bridge closed 1998 Haberman closed 1998 Bushwick Branch freight only Fresh Pond closed 1998 Bay Ridge Branch/New York Connecting Railroad Glendale closed 1998 Richmond Hill closed 1998 Atlantic Branch (west) Morris Park Facility Main Line (west) AirTrain JFK Zone 1/Zone 3 11.3 Jamaica Atlantic Branch (east) Main Line (east) 14.0 St. Albans Queens/Nassau County border Zone 3/Zone 4 West Hempstead Branch Long Beach Branch (west) 19.5 Lynbrook Zone 4/Zone 7 Long Beach Branch (east) 20.9 Rockville Centre 22.9 Baldwin 24.1 Freeport 25.9 Merrick 27.2 Bellmore 28.2 Wantagh 29.4 Seaford 30.3 Massapequa 31.0 Massapequa Park Nassau/Suffolk County border Zone 7/Zone 9 32.9 Amityville 34.0 Copiague 35.5 Lindenhurst Central Branch 38.2 Babylon Zone 9/Zone 10 42.3 Bay Shore Fire Island Ferries 44.8 Islip 46.9 Great River 49.0 Oakdale 51.5 Sayville Sayville Ferry Service 55.6 Patchogue Davis Park Ferry Zone 10/Zone 12 59.4 Bellport 64.0 Mastic–Shirley Manorville Branch abandoned 1949 Eastport closed 1958 73.1 Speonk Zone 12/Zone 14 75.9 Westhampton 83.7 Hampton Bays 90.9 Southampton 96.1 Bridgehampton Sag Harbor Branch abandoned 1939 103 East Hampton 106 Amagansett 117 Montauk The Babylon Branch is highlighted. Distances shown in miles from New York Pennsylvania Station.

The Montauk Branch is a rail line owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York. The branch runs the length of Long Island, 115 miles (185 km) from Long Island City on the west to Montauk on the east. However, in LIRR maps and schedules for public use the term Montauk Branch refers to the line east of Babylon; the line west of there is covered by Babylon Branch schedules to Jamaica.^[1][2]

Route description

The westernmost portion of the Montauk Branch in Queens, known as the "Lower Montauk", runs from Long Island City to Jamaica, mostly at street level with grade crossings. The five stations along the Lower Montauk (Richmond Hill, Glendale, Fresh Pond, Haberman, and Penny Bridge) were closed on March 13, 1998,^[3] due to low ridership and incompatibility with then-new bi-level coach cars that can only use high platforms (only Richmond Hill had a high platform). In 2012, full control of the Lower Montauk portion of the line was transferred to the New York and Atlantic Railway for freight operations.

After Penn Station opened in 1910 the Lower Montauk became the freight route, and when the present Jamaica station opened in 1913 the two Lower Montauk tracks continued past the south side of the station, south of Hall tower and the south Union Hall Street platform and on to Holban Yard. Those two tracks now carry trains to/from the Hillside Facility that has replaced Holban Yard; they can also carry nonstop Main Line trains past Jamaica station. East from Jamaica the Montauk Branch runs between the Main Line tracks (with two usually-westward Main Line tracks north of it and two eastward tracks south of it) until it rises to cross above the other tracks at 40°42′21″N 73°47′04″W / 40.70585°N 73.7845°W / 40.70585; -73.7845 and turns southeast to swing parallel to the Atlantic Branch at 40°40′01″N 73°44′49″W / 40.667°N 73.747°W / 40.667; -73.747. The Montauk Branch east of Jamaica is 0.7 mile longer than the Atlantic.

88th Street grade crossing over the Lower Montauk Branch; Woodhaven Boulevard overpass in background.

Lower Montauk passing over Grand Avenue, Queens

The portion from Jamaica to Babylon has been electrified since 1925. From Babylon east to Montauk, diesel-electric or dual-mode electric/diesel-electric locomotives haul trains of passenger coaches.

The Montauk Line has heavy ridership and frequent service as far as Patchogue and commuter service as far as Speonk. In the summer, with travelers going out to The Hamptons, Fire Island and other beaches, additional service is operated to the far eastern terminal at Montauk, such as the Cannonball, a Friday afternoon train departing from New York Penn Station and running non-stop between Manhattan and Westhampton. The Montauk Branch, along with the parallel Atlantic Branch, spawns three subsidiary branches: the West Hempstead Branch, Far Rockaway Branch, and Long Beach Branch.

The electrified portion of the Montauk Branch ends at Babylon; the electric service to Babylon is often identified as a separate service, the Babylon Branch. Some of the Montauk's diesel trains begin or end their runs at Babylon station, connecting with electric trains there. Other Montauk diesel trains operate into New York City, to Jamaica, Hunterspoint Avenue, Long Island City, or New York Penn Station. The terminal stations in diesel territory, east of Babylon, are Patchogue, Speonk, and Montauk. The Montauk Branch is double-tracked from just east of Long Island City all the way through Babylon, becoming single track at Y Interlocking (located east of the Sayville Station) (a short section of track east of Long Island City is single tracked). Most Montauk Branch diesel trains operate west to NYC via the diesel-only Central Branch, joining the Main Line east of Bethpage. Only a few actually run via the Montauk Branch west of Babylon, under normal conditions on the Main Line.

The Montauk was home to the last tower in North America that regularly used "hooping" train operations: PD Tower, in Patchogue. "Hooping" is the transfer of instructions to the engineer and conductor by attaching the folded orders to the "hoop", a rod several feet long with a loop at the end that is passed from the ground to a moving train by catching the loop on one's arm. The last train to get hooped at PD was train 2730 on May 6, 2006.^[4]

The Montauk Branch enjoys frequent service and has heavy ridership because it serves the suburban communities on Nassau County's and westernmost Suffolk County's south shore. It is grade-separated on embankments or elevated structures from Jamaica Station to Babylon Station.

History

Currently, the Montauk Branch intersects with the Bushwick Branch, Bay Ridge Branch, West Hempstead Branch, and Central Branch, as well as the Main Line at Long Island City and Jamaica and the Atlantic Branch at Jamaica and Valley Stream; the Far Rockaway Branch and Long Beach Branch are connected via the Atlantic Branch at Valley Stream. In the past, junctions existed with the Rockaway Beach Branch (a quarter mile east of Woodhaven Boulevard), Southern Hempstead Branch (Valley Stream to Hempstead), Manorville Branch (Eastport to Manorville on the Main Line), and Sag Harbor Branch (Bridgehampton to Sag Harbor). In early times, the Scoot ran frequently between Greenport on the North Fork, "around the horn" on the Manorville Branch, and east to Sag Harbor. In their day, both of those villages were very busy, bustling ports.

Formation and early days: 1860s to 1925

The South Side Railroad of Long Island built the line from Bushwick, Brooklyn to Patchogue in the 1860s, and completed the new line to Long Island City in 1870.^{[citation needed]} With the reorganization of the South Side as the Southern Railroad of Long Island in 1874 and its lease by the LIRR in 1876, this line became the Southern Railroad Division,^[5] Southern Railroad of Long Island Division, or simply Southern Division.^[6] Effective Sunday, June 25, 1876, all Southern Division passenger trains were rerouted to use the LIRR main line from Berlin Junction (west of Jamaica) to Rockaway Junction, and the LIRR's Rockaway Branch to Springfield Junction, where it crossed the Southern. This change resulted in the closure of the Southern's Berlin, Beaver Street (Jamaica), Locust Avenue, and Springfield stations.^[7] The old line between Jamaica and Springfield, which became freight-only, was renamed the Old Southern Road.^{[citation needed]} The Southern was reorganized as the Brooklyn and Montauk Railroad in 1879,^[8] and on March 14, 1880, the name was changed from the Southern Division to the Montauk Division.^[9] Thus the old South Side Railroad, except between Jamaica and Springfield Junction, was now the Montauk Division.

The LIRR opened the Sag Harbor Branch, including the present Montauk Branch from Eastport to Bridgehampton, on June 8, 1870.^[10] On July 27, 1881, after the South Side became part of the LIRR, its line – then the Montauk Division – was extended east to the Sag Harbor Branch at Eastport.^[11] The Sag Harbor Branch east of Eastport became part of the Montauk Division,^[12] and the old line from Manor (Manorville) to Eastport became the Manor Branch.^[13] An extension to Montauk, splitting off the old Sag Harbor Branch at Bridgehampton, opened to Amagansett on June 1, 1895^[14] and to Montauk by September,^[15] and the line between Bridgehampton and Sag Harbor reverted to the old Sag Harbor Branch name.^[16]

Babylon electrification: 1925 to present

Electrification of the Montauk Division from Jamaica to Babylon was completed on May 20, 1925,^[17] and normal operation began the next day.^[18] The Central Extension between Bethpage and Babylon was reopened for freight trains that had run via the Montauk Division.^[19]

The Montauk station was initially near the center of a sleepy fishing village at the north end of Fort Pond (where Austin Corbin built a pier in his unsuccessful effort to have trans-Atlantic ships dock there.) The Great Hurricane of 1938 devastated the terminus area and tore up sections of the roadbed. The population center then moved two miles (3 km) to the south, away from the station.

1998 saw the closure of three lightly used stations: Center Moriches, Quogue, and Southampton College. Southampton College was temporarily reinstated in 2004, complete with a steel walkway over Sunrise Highway to the Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, during the U.S. Open (golf) tournament. At the conclusion of the tournament, the walkway was dismantled and the station stop discontinued.

Stations

West Hempstead Branch trains split off after St. Albans. Babylon Branch trains terminate at Babylon, while Montauk Branch trains continue beyond.

Jamaica is about 11.25 miles (18 km) from Penn Station.

Station/ location	Miles (kilometers) from Jamaica[20]	Connections / Notes
Long Island City Long Island City	9	Subway: 7 <7> trains at Vernon Boulevard – Jackson Avenue Bus: Q103 NY Waterway
Jamaica Jamaica	0.0 (0.0)	LIRR: Babylon Branch, Belmont Park Branch, Far Rockaway Branch, Hempstead Branch, Long Beach Branch, Oyster Bay Branch, Port Jefferson Branch, Ronkonkoma Branch and West Hempstead Branch trains Subway: E J Z trains at Sutphin Boulevard – Archer Avenue – JFK Airport Bus: Q6, Q8, Q9, Q20A, Q20B, Q24, Q25, Q30, Q31, Q34, Q40, Q41, Q43, Q44, Q60, Q65 AirTrain JFK
St. Albans Linden Boulevard and Montauk Street, Saint Albans	2.8 (4.5)	New York City Bus: Q4
New York City / Long Island border
Nassau County, New York
Lynbrook Sunrise Highway and Peninsula Boulevard, Lynbrook	8.7 (14.0)	LIRR: Long Beach Branch trains Nassau Inter-County Express: n4, n25, n31, n32, n36
Rockville Centre North Village Avenue and Front Street, Rockville Centre	10.3 (16.6)	Nassau Inter-County Express: n14, n15, n16
Baldwin Sunrise Highway and Grand Avenue, Baldwin	12.2 (19.6)	Nassau Inter-County Express: n35
Freeport between Henry Street and Benson Place, Freeport	13.7 (22.0)	Nassau Inter-County Express: n4, n19, n36, n40, n41, n43, n62 (n88 summer service to Jones Beach)
Merrick Sunrise Highway, between Hewlett Avenue and Merrick Avenue, Merrick	15.1 (24.3)	Nassau Inter-County Express: n51
Bellmore Sunrise Highway and Bedford Avenue, Bellmore	16.6 (26.7)	Nassau Inter-County Express: n45, n46, n50
Wantagh Wantagh Avenue and Railroad Avenue, Wantagh	17.0 (27.4)	Nassau Inter-County Express: n73, n74
Seaford Sunrise Highway and Jackson Avenue, Seaford	18.7 (30.1)	Nassau Inter-County Express: n54
Massapequa Sunrise Highway east of Broadway (New York State Route 107), Massapequa	19.7 (31.7)	Nassau Inter-County Express: n54, n55, n80, n81
Massapequa Park Sunrise Highway and Park Boulevard, Massapequa Park	20.0 (32.2)	Nassau Inter-County Express: n54, n55, n80, n81
Nassau County / Suffolk County border
Amityville John Street, between Sunrise Highway and New York State Route 27A, Amityville	22.2 (35.7)	Nassau Inter-County Express: n54 Suffolk County Bus: 1A, S1, S33
Copiague Marconi Boulevard and Great Neck Road, Copiague	23.4 (37.7)	Suffolk County Bus: 1B, S20, S31
Lindenhurst Wellwood Avenue and East Hoffman Avenue, Lindenhurst	24.7 (39.8)	Suffolk County Bus: 1B, S20, S35
Babylon Railroad Avenue just west of Deer Park Avenue, Babylon	27.6 (44.4)	Most Montauk Branch trains operate via the Central Branch, which diverges west of this station. LIRR: Babylon Branch trains Nassau Inter-County Express: n19, n72 Suffolk County Bus: S20, S23, S25, S27, S29, S40, S42 (S47 seasonal service to Robert Moses State Park)
Bay Shore Park Avenue and Oak Street, Bay Shore	31.7 (51.0)	Ferries to Fire Island
Islip Islip Avenue (NYS Route 111), between Sunrise Highway and Montauk Highway, Islip	34.1 (54.9)
Great River Connetquot Avenue and Hawthorne Avenue, Great River	36.2 (58.3)
Oakdale Montauk Highway and Oakdale-Bohemia Road, Oakdale	38.4 (61.8)
Sayville Lakeland Avenue and Depot Street, Sayville	40.8 (65.7)	Ferries to Fire Island
Patchogue Division Street between West Avenue and South Ocean Avenue, Patchogue	44.9 (72.3)	Ferries to Fire Island
Bellport Station Road and Montauk Highway, Bellport	48.8 (78.5)
Mastic–Shirley William Floyd Parkway and Northern Boulevard, Shirley	53.3 (85.8)
Speonk Phillips Avenue and Depot Road, Speonk	62.6 (100.7)
Westhampton Station Road and Depot Road, Westhampton	65.3 (105.1)
Hampton Bays Ponquogue Avenue and Good Ground Road, Hampton Bays	72.2 (116.2)
Southampton North Main Street, between Prospect Street and Willow Street, Southampton	80.3 (129.2)
Bridgehampton Maple Lane and Butter Lane, Bridgehampton	85.0 (136.8)
East Hampton Railroad Avenue, between Newtown Lane and Race Lane, East Hampton	91.9 (147.9)
Amagansett Main Street and Abrahams Landing Road, Amagansett	95.3 (153.4)
Montauk Edgemere Street and Fort Pond Road, Montauk	106.8 (171.9)

Full list, including all former stations

References

1. ↑ MTA LIRR – LIRR Map
2. ↑ LIRR Montauk Branch Timetable
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Sengupta, Somini (1998-03-15). "End of the Line for L.I.R.R.'s 10 Loneliest Stops". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-12-24. "After 122 years, Glendale saw its last train on Friday." 
4. ↑ Block Operator Chris Soundy hooping some of the last orders from “PD” tower to the engineer of eastbound DE-30ac #420 (Photo: by Pat Masterson May 4, 2006
5. ↑ Long Island Railroad Company, Long Island and where to Go, 1877
6. ↑ "Long Island". Brooklyn Daily Eagle (Brooklyn, NY). August 22, 1877. p. 1. 
7. ↑ "Railroad Changes". Brooklyn Daily Eagle (Brooklyn, NY). June 27, 1876. p. 2. 
8. ↑ Vincent F. Seyfried, The Long Island Rail Road: A Comprehensive History, Part One: South Side R.R. of L.I., 1961
9. ↑ "Railroad Reorganization". Brooklyn Daily Eagle (Brooklyn, NY). March 15, 1880. p. 10. 
10. ↑ "Railroad Dedication". Brooklyn Daily Eagle (Brooklyn, NY). June 6, 1870. p. 2. 
11. ↑ "Another Link". Brooklyn Daily Eagle (Brooklyn, NY). July 22, 1881. p. 4. 
12. ↑ "Golden Days". Brooklyn Daily Eagle (Brooklyn, NY). August 1, 1881. p. 4. 
13. ↑ "A Forest Fire". Brooklyn Daily Eagle (Brooklyn, NY). June 13, 1896. p. 4. 
14. ↑ "Latest Long Island News". Brooklyn Daily Eagle (Brooklyn, NY). June 1, 1895. p. 7. 
15. ↑ "The Fall Time Table". Brooklyn Daily Eagle (Brooklyn, NY). September 7, 1895. p. 7. 
16. ↑ "New Block Signals". Brooklyn Daily Eagle (Brooklyn, NY). March 8, 1896. p. 7. 
17. ↑ Arrt's Arrchives: Babylon Electrification
18. ↑ PRR Chronology, PRR Chronology, 1925 PDF, June 2004 Edition
19. ↑ Vincent F. Seyfried, The Long Island Rail Road: A Comprehensive History, Part Two: The Flushing, North Shore & Central Railroad, ©1963
20. ↑ Station pages linked from LIRR Map
21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 21.4 21.5 21.6 21.7 21.8 21.9 21.10 21.11 21.12 21.13 21.14 21.15 21.16 21.17 21.18 21.19 21.20 21.21 21.22 21.23 21.24 21.25 21.26 21.27 21.28 21.29 21.30 21.31 21.32 21.33 21.34 21.35 21.36 21.37 21.38 21.39 21.40 21.41 21.42 "Long Island Railroad's Summer Schedule". Brooklyn Daily Eagle (Brooklyn, NY). May 30, 1897. p. 8. 
22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 "Rapid Transit Extension". Brooklyn Daily Eagle (Brooklyn, NY). June 24, 1890. p. 1. 
23. ↑ Arrt's Archives, LIRR Timetable from 1869
24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 Unofficial LIRR History Website (Babylon/Montauk Branch Stations)
25. ↑ Earliest Stations of the LIRR (LIRR Unofficial History Website)

External links

Media related to Montauk Branch (Long Island Rail Road) (category) at Wikimedia Commons

• The LIRR Says Goodbye to the Lower Montauk Branch (The LIRR Today)
• The Cannonball (The LIRR Today)
• Montauk Branch (The LIRR Today)

v t e Long Island Rail Road Main routes Main Line Atlantic Montauk Branch services Babylon Belmont Park Central City Terminal Zone Far Rockaway Hempstead Long Beach Oyster Bay Port Jefferson Port Washington Ronkonkoma West Hempstead Freight operations Operator New York and Atlantic Railway Freight-only branches Bay Ridge Bushwick Mitchel Field Defunct branches Bethpage Cedarhurst Cut-off Creedmoor Evergreen Manhattan Beach Manorville Northport Rockaway Beach Sag Harbor Southern Hempstead West Brighton Beach White Line Whitestone Acquired railroads Brooklyn and Jamaica Railroad Flushing and North Side Railroad South Side Railroad of Long Island Central Railroad of Long Island Other East Side Access History Rolling stock Stations Morris Park Facility Hillside Facility West Side Yard Lower Manhattan/JFK connector