Patchogue (LIRR station)

Patchogue

Patchogue Station from the entrance at Division Street & Cedar Avenue; December 26, 2007
Location Division Street & South Ocean Avenue
Patchogue, New York
Coordinates 40°45′43″N 73°00′57″W / 40.761841°N 73.015735°WCoordinates: 40°45′43″N 73°00′57″W / 40.761841°N 73.015735°W
Owned by Long Island Rail Road
Line(s)
Platforms 1 side platform
Tracks 2
Connections Suffolk County Transit: S40, S54, S61, S63, S66, S68, 7A, 7B
Patchogue Village Bus
Construction
Parking Yes ($2.00 for 12 hours)
Bicycle facilities Yes
Disabled access Yes
Other information
Fare zone 10
History
Opened April 1869 (SSRRLI)[1]
Rebuilt 1888, 1963, 1997
Traffic
Passengers (2006) 2,327[2]
Services
Preceding station   LIRR   Following station
Montauk Branch
toward Montauk

Patchogue is a station of the Montauk Branch of the Long Island Rail Road in the village of Patchogue, New York. It is on Division Street between West Avenue (Suffolk County Road 19) and South Ocean Avenue. This train station is located in the Patchogue-Medford Union Free School District.

Ferries to Fire Island board from a port near the station.[3]

History

Between 1869 and 1879 Patchogue Station was the east end of the South Side Railroad of Long Island. It even had spurs and roundhouses between West and Railroad Avenues, as well as another spur between River Avenue and West Avenue for the textile plant that now serves as the Patchogue Campus of Briarcliffe College. Prior to acquisition by the Long Island Rail Road there was a proposal by the SSRRLI to extend the main line southeast towards Bellport, then northeast to Brookhaven and Southaven. The station in Brookhaven was to be named "Fireplace" after Fireplace Neck.[4] The station was rebuilt in 1889 and again on July 30, 1963.[5][6] As part of the 1963 reconstruction, Railroad Avenue was terminated at Sephton Street, along the north side of the tracks, and the baggage and express house was torn down for additional parking. When Blue Point Station was closed by the Long Island Rail Road in 1980, former Blue Point commuters opted to use Patchogue station. High-level platforms were added in 1997 for dual-deck trains.

PD Tower

Flower garden that was once the site of the PD Tower.

In 1912, the Long Island Rail Road added a control tower to Patchogue Station on South Ocean Avenue, for both the Montauk Branch and the former trolley line owned by the Suffolk Traction Company. The tower was designated by the LIRR as the "PD Tower" and was also used for hooping. In 1970, all switches and crossing were automated, but hooping continued. At this point, the tower's structure began to decline. Residents began referring to it as the "Leaning Tower of Patchogue." On August 23, 2006 the tower was finally torn down.[7] Today, a flower garden can be found where the tower used to stand.

Platform and tracks

  ■Montauk Branch no stop (passing track)
1 ■Montauk Branch toward New York (Sayville)
■Montauk Branch toward Montauk (Bellport)

The station has one six-car-long high-level platform on the south side of the two tracks; the north track, not next to the platform, is a siding.

Connections

References

  1. ↑ Vincent F. Seyfried, The Long Island Rail Road: A Comprehensive History, Part One: South Side R.R. of L.I., © 1961
  2. ↑ Average weekday, 2006 LIRR Origin and Destination Study
  3. ↑ "Life's a Beach on Long Island; The MTA LIRR is the "Greenest Way" to a Summer in Blue Ocean and White Sand Luxury". MTA. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  4. ↑ Craige & Company's 1870 Southside Railroad of Long Island Map (Arrt's Arrchive)
  5. ↑ LIRR Station History (Dave Keller's Long Island Rail Road Photos & Recollections)
  6. ↑ Morrison, David D.; Pakaluk, Valerie (2003). Long Island Rail Road Stations. Images of Rail. Chicago: Arcadia Publishing. p. 96. ISBN 0-7385-1180-3. Retrieved 2011-11-25.
  7. ↑ Bleyer, Bill (August 23, 2006). "Historic LIRR tower is demolished". Newsday. Retrieved 2006-12-30.

External links

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