Long Beach Branch

Long Beach Branch

Long Beach Branch train #853 departs Lynbrook, en route
to New York Penn Station.
Overview
Type Commuter rail
System Long Island Rail Road
Status Operational
Locale Nassau County, New York, USA
Termini Jamaica
Long Beach
Stations 5
Services
  Long Beach Branch
Operation
Opened 1880 (as New York and Long Beach Railroad)
Owner Long Island Rail Road
Operator(s) Metropolitan Transportation Authority
Technical
Track gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Electrification 750 V (DC) Third rail
Route map
Legend

Lynbrook ◄ Babylon Branch (east) ►
Centre Avenue
East Rockaway
Atlantic Avenue closed 1951
Oceanside
Simpsons Channel
Jekyl Island closed 1922
Island Park
Reynolds Channel
Wreck Lead closed 1927
Long Beach Marine Railway Company
abandoned 1890
Queenswater closed 1936
Club House closed 1909
Long Beach

Distances shown in miles from Pennsylvania Station.

The Long Beach Branch is an electrified rail line and service owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York. The branch begins at Valley Interlocking, at Valley Stream station, where the Atlantic Branch tracks from the west are redesignated Long Beach Branch and the Far Rockaway Branch curves south. East from there the Long Beach Branch parallels the Montauk Branch to Lynbrook, where it turns south toward Long Beach. [1][2]

History

The Long Beach Train Station

The Long Beach Branch began as the New York and Long Beach Railroad Company from Lynbrook to Long Beach in 1880. The original southern terminus was along the Atlantic Ocean. LIRR leased and operated the NY&LB RR from 1880 to 1904, at which time the NY&LB RR merged with the LIRR. Five years later, the station was moved from the ocean front to Reynolds Channel, where it remains today.

A five-mile (8 km) extension to Point Lookout, New York owned by the Long Beach Marine Railway Company existed between 1881 and 1895. When the LIRR bought the line in 1886, they continued to operate passenger trains along the line until 1890.[3]

The branch was extended westward from Lynbrook to Valley Stream in 1910 as part of its integration into the Atlantic Branch. The line was double-tracked from Valley Stream to Lynbrook in late 1910, then from East Rockaway to Wreck Lead (“WL”) on January 15, 1927. Electrification of the main tracks from Valley Stream to Long Beach was finished in September 1910. Electrification came to freight sidings between 1928 and 1930. Color light signals were installed in January 1927; they were later replaced by PRR-style position light signals.

Hurricane Sandy service disruptions

Hurricane Sandy struck Long Island on October 29–30, 2012, and the Long Beach Branch was the most seriously affected of all the LIRR lines. Third rail power was lost, as three of the four substations on the line were knocked out. The line between Island Park and Long Beach was strewn with debris, and switch motors at Long Beach station, along with other signal and communications components on the line, were rendered inoperative due to immersion in salt water. Partial service was restored on November 14, when a diesel-operated shuttle between Lynbrook and Long Beach began operating on a modified weekday schedule, with shuttle buses being utilized on weekends and Thanksgiving in place of train service. Full electric service, initially not expected to return until January 2013,[4] was restored much earlier than anticipated, on November 25, 2012.[5]

Service

On weekdays, many Long Beach Branch trains serve Penn Station, with limited service to/from Atlantic Terminal, and run express between Valley Stream and Jamaica. On weekends and on some trains during weekday peak periods, trains also stop at Locust Manor, Laurelton and Rosedale on the Atlantic Branch. On weekends all trains serve Penn except for some post-midnight trains to/from Atlantic Terminal and one to Jamaica.

Stations

Zone Station Miles (km)
from NYP[6]		 Date
opened		 Date
closed		 Connections / notes
3 For continuing service to Jamaica and points west, see Atlantic Branch
4 Lynbrook 19.5 (31.4) 1867[7] LIRR: Babylon Branch
NICE Bus: n4, n25, n31, n32
Originally Pearsall's Corners, then Pearsall's
7 Centre Avenue 20.4 (32.8) 1898 Originally South Lynbrook
East Rockaway 20.9 (33.6) 1880
Atlantic Avenue 1898 1951
Oceanside 21.4 (34.4) 1897
Barnum Island Channel Bridge
Jekyl Island 1901 1922 Originally named Barnum Island, then Island Park
Island Park 23.6 (38.0) 1898 NICE Bus: n15
Originally The Dykes
Reynolds Channel Bridge
Wreck Lead 1888 1927
Queenswater 1898 1936 Originally Inner Beach, then Queenswater
Club House 1898 1909
Long Beach 24.9 (40.0) 1880 NICE Bus: n15, n33
Long Beach Bus: Point Lookout, East Loop, West End Route, Shoppers Special

References

External video
LIRR Time Lapse: Penn Station to Long Beach, MTA's LIRR; May 20, 2010; 2-minute YouTube video clip
LIRR Time Lapse: Long Beach to Penn Station, MTA's LIRR; May 20, 2010; 2-minute YouTube video clip
  1. ↑ "MTA LIRR - LIRR Map". mta.info.
  2. ↑ LIRR Long Beach Branch Timetable
  3. ↑ "LIRR Branch Notes". trainsarefun.com.
  4. ↑ "LIRR Restores Limited Weekday Train Service on Long Beach Branch". mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved November 15, 2012.
  5. ↑ "LIRR Restores Weekend & Weekday Electric Train Service on Long Beach Branch starting Nov. 25". mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved November 25, 2012.
  6. ↑ Station pages linked from LIRR Stations Archived September 7, 2014, at the Wayback Machine.
  7. ↑ Vincent F. Seyfried, The Long Island Rail Road: A Comprehensive History, Part One: South Side R.R. of L.I., © 1961

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