After Laurelton at around the 8:14 mark there was a long ago spur that cut south across the Belt Parkway/Conduit Blvd thru Brookville Park & the sourthern most section of Rosedale, thru Hook Creek Park & North Woodmere Golf Course - running Parallel between Oakland Ave & Arbuckle Ave across W Broadway past Cedarhurst Park where it curved southwest to merge with the Far Rockaway Branch. This junction was called the "Cedarhurst Cut-off". The ROW was built in 1871 and went thru off & on service which ended in 1934. If you know where to look, there is evidence of where the ROW used to run thru Brookville Park & also remnants of the rail bridge at North Woodmere Park that can still be seen today.
This is my home branch, seen this view many times. There is a long history behind this branch and the impact it had on LIRR service in Queens that remains controversial to this day.
For fans not familiar with the different power systems in electrified territories on the 2 Railroads run by MTA ( LIRR and Metro North), LIRR uses over running third rail with a protector board suspended over it. Metro North uses under running third rail. On the portion of the New haven line between Pelham and New Haven there is overhead cantenary. Because of the two different third rail systems, the new LIRR east side access into Grand Central terminal is being built under metro north with no track connections between the two railroads.
Excellent video! Conductor most likely needed door access at the end there. Want a very hard one? Try West Hempstead. Took me a bunch of tries to get one there.
It is the alerter which is part of the automatic speed control system. The engineer has a certain amount of time to acknowledge the alert by pressing a button. If he fails to respond the ASC stops the train by applying the brakes.
Far Rockaway isn't much just a single platform. The original station was low level outside platforms on the 1942 elevated structure. It was torn down after the present station opened at Nameoke Ave. in 1958 and the property sold and redeveloped as a shopping center. The current NYCTA Mott Ave. station also opened in 1958 across the street from the old LIRR station. The line was severed at that point after the NYCTA bought the Rockaway branches south of Ozone Park from the LIRR in 1952 and rebuilt them for subway operation. The first subway trains operated to the Rockaways on June 28, 1956.
safety rules require the conductor to stand next to the front window adjacent to the engineer at the last stop. you can hear him say he has to be where the cameraman was.
You will notice No Freight Sidings off the main line, that way nothing comes on Long Island except by truck through toll booths that pay for the New York City subways and buses.
It's true that most of the freight which is hauled by the NY and Atlantic on the LIRR travels on the Main Line to points farther east on Long Island. At one time there was a considerable amount of freight traffic on the Far Rockaway and other branches. Today most of the freight moves in electrified territory take place at night due to the amount of passenger traffic carried in the daytime.
Forgive my ignorance, but when I was a kid I thought that this line had quite a number of block signals. So few seen here. Were they removed? Is this dark territory now, controlled solely by dispatchers?
Excellent job and if you want a cheaper ride from Penn Station to Far Rockaway Take the A Train since it would have costed you $2.75 but not sure to how much would the cost be between Penn Station and Far Rockaway via Long Island Railroad? For Example Valley Stream to Bellmore Do I have to change at Jamaica for a Babylon train or Lynbrook for the Babylon train that stops at Bellmore
@Ali Muhammad that's from Far Rockaway to 34th street Penn Station? For me A train from Far Rockaway to 42nd Port Authority bus terminal via 34th Penn Station & Jay Street Metro tech so that I don't have to change A C & E trains at Penn Station rush hours 2 & 3 trains Atlantic Terminal or E train at Jamaica for 42nd Street Port Authority bus terminal from Long Island Railroad Far Rockaway train.
The bell you hear is an alert for the operator that the cab signals have detected a restricted block . He must acknowledge it by stepping on a foot pedal and apply the brakes. If he fails to slow or stop the on board system will initiate a "penalty application" to slow or stop the train. LIRR uses a ringing bell to alert the operator and Metro North uses a series of rapid beeps.
Years ago the trains used to fly after leaving Jamaica and all the way through Locust Manor & Laurelton then slow a bit as it turned and met with Sunrise Hwy... This was crawling . Someone should have drop kicked the A-hole on the phone and the one blowing their nose....I don't miss all the classless animals … Thank god I've been in Florida that past 15 years !
Frankly, I don't give a damn about Europe or Asia or Scandinavia, etc. If you are so enamored of overseas mass transit systems, why not go live there? Mass transit in NYC is a money-losing sewer. You can put a gazillion dollars into the system and it will still be a money-losing sewer. People in NYC and NYS and NJ and CT are taxed to the hilt. Those who can leave are doing so. These areas are losing population at an alarming rate. Mass transit everywhere is a money-losing sewer. Municipal mass transit systems were privately owned. For a lot of complicated reasons, the fare box didn't pay the freight. When the companies began to go bankrupt, the municipalities were left with 2 choices; public financing OR shut downs. Municipalities chose public financing. That's how we got today's mess.
