Long Island City (LIRR station)

Long Island City Looking west at the station (to the right of the fence) and yard (to the left); the brick building to the right is ventilation for the Queens Midtown Tunnel Station statistics Address Borden Avenue & 2nd Street Long Island City, New York Coordinates 40°44′29″N 73°57′25″W / 40.74139°N 73.95694°W / 40.74139; -73.95694Coordinates: 40°44′29″N 73°57′25″W / 40.74139°N 73.95694°W / 40.74139; -73.95694 Lines   Main Line (City Terminal Zone)   Montauk Branch (City Terminal Zone) Connections New York City Subway:   at Vernon Boulevard – Jackson Avenue MTA Bus Company: Q103 New York Water Taxi Platforms 3 Tracks 14 Parking Yes; Other information Opened June 26, 1854 Closed December 18, 1902 Rebuilt 1861, 1870, 1875, 1878, 1879, April 1881, July 1891, April 26, 1903[1] Electrified June 16, 1910 Owned by MTA Fare zone 1 Formerly Hunter's Point Services Preceding station   LIRR   Following station Terminus Main Line (City Terminal Zone) Hunterspoint Avenue toward Long Island Montauk Branch (City Terminal Zone) Jamaica toward Long Island

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Long Island City is a rail terminal of the Long Island Rail Road in Long Island City, Queens. Within the City Terminal Zone and located at Borden Avenue and 2nd Street, it is the westernmost LIRR station in Queens and the end of both the Main Line and the Montauk Branch. The station is wheelchair accessible.

The station is served only during weekday rush hours in the peak direction (to Long Island City in the morning, from Long Island City in the evening) by diesel trains. Trains are normally run through from the Oyster Bay, Montauk, or Port Jefferson Branches via Hunterspoint Avenue. One train a day operates via the Lower Montauk Branch, heading westbound from Oyster Bay.

Contents 1 History 2 Platform and track configuration 3 Gallery 4 Sources 5 References 6 External links

[edit] History

Long Island City station was built on June 26, 1854, and was rebuilt seven times during the 19th Century. On December 18, 1902, both the two-story station building, and an office building owned by the LIRR were burned down in a fire.^[2] The station was rebuilt on April 26, 1903, and was electrified on June 16, 1910.

Before the East River Tunnels were built, the Long Island City station served as the terminus for Manhattan-bound passengers from Long Island, who would then connect to a ferry to the East Side of Manhattan. The passenger ferry service was abandoned on March 3, 1925, although freight was carried by car floats (see Gantry Plaza State Park) to and from Manhattan until the middle twentieth century.^[3] Today ferry service is operated by New York Water Taxi.

[edit] Platform and track configuration

This station has two concrete high-level island platforms and one makeshift wooden high-level side platform (only the wooden platform serves an electrified track). All three platforms are two cars long and are accessible from Borden Avenue, just west of Fifth Street. There are 14 tracks at this location (as the station also operates as a rail yard). The tracks not adjacent to any of the platforms are used for train storage.

[edit] Gallery

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  Two trains on a Tuesday

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  Idle on a Sunday

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  The wooden platform on a Wednesday morning

[edit] Sources

• "Long Island Rail Road Memories: The Making of a Steam Locomotive Engineer," by Richard J. Harrison (1981); Page 53.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official LIRR station information page for Long Island City
• Station timetable for Long Island City
• Long Island City Station (The SubwayNut)
• Station from Google Maps Street View

v · d · eMajor railroad stations of New York City and vicinity Active terminals Penn Station · Grand Central Terminal · Hoboken Terminal · Atlantic Terminal · Long Island City Major transfer stations Jamaica · Newark Penn Station · Secaucus Junction Historical terminals Communipaw · Exchange Place · Pavonia · Weehawken