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New York, New York:
Long Island Rail Road

Description

The Long Island Rail Road is the oldest U.S. railroad in continuous existence under the same name. It was incorporated in 1834 with the goal of building the first rail route from New York City to Boston, via a ferry connection between Greenport, New York (near the northeast end of Long Island) and Stonington, Connecticut. In 1836 the LIRR leased the Brooklyn & Jamaica Railroad, which had just finished building its line between its namesake towns, and started to build eastward from Jamaica. In 1844, through service began to Greenport (with connections to Boston via the ferry to Connecticut).

In 1850, a railroad was completed along the Connecticut shore of Long Island Sound, taking away most of the LIRR's long-distance traffic. The LIRR was forced to adapt to a purely local role, building and buying lines that mainly carry commuters to and from New York City. It is now an agency of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which also controls New York's subway system, buses in New York and on Long Island, and the Metro-North Commuter Railroad.

The LIRR carries more passengers than any other railroad in the U.S., over about 700 miles of track. Much of the system is electrified, using third-rail power and multiple-unit trains that that look like overgrown subway trains. The outer branches use trains of coaches pulled by diesel locomotives. All lines except the Port Washington branch funnel into Jamaica, where some trains terminate and others continue to Penn Station in Manhattan, Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn, and Long Island City in Queens.

Other Sites

Pictures

Unfortunately, I have not yet had an opportunity to explore the LIRR seriously. These pictures are incidental to a brief visit to Long Island in July 2001.

The LIRR station in Merrick (where my wife and I were visiting a friend) was the starting point for a day trip to New Jersey to see the Newark City Subway, the Hudson-Bergen light rail line, and the Port Authority Trans-Hudson.

[picture] During the 1960s and 1970s the Babylon branch was rebuilt to eliminate grade crossings. The tracks now run on viaducts through the town centers, with elevated stations that are all rather similar in appearance. Here, at Merrick, parking lots extend along both sides of the viaduct for a couple of blocks in both directions from the station.

[picture] Looking from the east end of the platform at Merrick, we watch the rear end of a train bound for Penn Station.

[picture] On the platform at Merrick, rush-hour commuters know where the car doors will be, so they cluster at those locations.

[picture] And now their train arrives...

I also had a few hours one afternoon to explore along the Babylon branch eastward from Merrick to Lynbrook:

[picture] The Baldwin station appears to be somewhat older than Merrick. It was undergoing renovation.

[picture] At Baldwin, I tried to get back far enough to include a complete train in this picture, but didn't quite succeed. These trains are long!

[picture] From the east end of the platform at Lynbrook, we see a train from Babylon approaching. The two tracks at the right are the Long Beach branch, which diverges to the south here.

This page was last updated on 29 May 2005, and reviewed on 22 September 2007.

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