LIRR Cannonball 
Non-stop express service direct from 
Penn Station to Westhampton Beach  May-September, 2013
 

Cannonball eastbound at speed 60+ mph Amityville c.1963 Photo: Brad Phillips

New premium express non-stop "Cannonball East/West" direct from Penn Station to The Hamptons/Montauk and return with Hamptons Reserve Service.  Issue for May 29-September 2, 2013

This was the first time in LIRR history that the Cannonball departed from Penn station. Prior to this date on the timetable, the Cannonball had always departed from Hunterspoint Avenue. 

The first stop after Penn was Westhampton, it did not stop at Jamaica as in prior years.

I was on that 1st train from Penn in one of the 2 Hampton's Reserve cars. Reserve seating and waiter/waitress service at your seat. No standees in the 2 Hampton's Reserve cars.

The Cannonball was soon becoming too popular and crowded. One train had 1,800 passengers with 1200 seats! The LIRR had to limit the number of passengers on the Cannonball to twelve cars and two DM locomotives. This year was the 1st time since WWII that the LIRR did NOT run the Cannonball.  Archive: NRHS-LIST  Steve Quigley

The Cannonball and the Long Island Railroad
by Vincent Seyfried

Transcript of Lecture Delivered on Sunday November 29, 1998 at
The East Hampton Library. 159 Main Street, East Hampton, NY 11937
Click here for Lecture

Train 22, Friday 09/04/1964 

236 TECKAWITHA 
235 COMMACK 
234 RONKONKOMA 
233 MINEOLA 
232 PATCHOGUE 
231 ONTEORA 
230 MOHAWK CLUB 
229 CUTCHOGUE 
228 WANTAGH 
227 QUOGUE 
226 MONTAUK 
225 CAYUGA CLUB 
224 MASTIC 
223 NOYACK 
222 MANHASSET 
221 AMAGANSETT 
220 SETAUKET 

Source: "The Route of the Weekend Chief" by Mike Boland in the Autumn 1995 issue of  "The Keystone".  The numbers are reservation line numbers, not the actual car numbers. Above are three actual LIRR consists from the Heavyweight Cannonball Era: 1964 through 1968

PRR #120, owned then by George Pins, plus two others private cars bring up the rear of Train #12, The Advance Cannonball, on July 20, 1975. #12 
was Mr. Mac's train and personally greeted George and the other PV owners when the train was loading at Hunterspoint Avenue. Back then, in the decades before 9/11, 
Jamaica's roof was accessible by staff. Not so much today. And the landscape, in a much more crowded New York City, has lost the simplicity of the LIRR's. Richard Maske

It ran in advance of the Cannonball to carry the overflow of parlor car riders that didn't all fit on the Cannonball. 15 cars on the Cannonball,
all sleepers used in parlor service, and still not enough seats during the summer months! Info: Dave Keller
 

First passing of the Cannonball over the newly completed railroad trestle overpass that eliminated the old grade crossing at Rt. 112 (Medford Avenue).
Brooklyn Eagle 9/18/1940

Advance Cannonball 16 C-Liner 2402
5 PRR parlors, 6 coaches eastbound at Hicksville 7/10/1953 Archive: Mike Boland

PA20-5 2007 and PRR Parlor Car "GLADE" near "B" Tower Bethpage 1957
J. P .Krzenski photo/Dave Keller archive

FM 2002 Babylon 1957
Photo:  Jules  P. Krzenski

ALCO RS3 #'s 1553, 1552, coupled, are pulling 16 cars of all-parlor-car train #22 the "Cannonball" eastbound for Montauk through Merillon Ave., Garden City Park, NY. on June 29, 1962.  The open-end observation car "Jamaica" (1st) is bringing up the rear of this Friday-only train. (George E. Votava photo, Dave Keller archive)

Parlor JAMAICA 17 car Cannonball at Montauk 7/28/1962
Photo: George E. Votava 
Archive: Dave Keller

Cannonball Train 22 RS3s 1553-1552 6-car eastbound passing
New Hyde Park 6/29/1962
Archive: Mike Boland
 

     
Parlor Setauket Cannonball at Montauk 1962
Collection: Dave Keller

RS3 #1552, #1551 All parlor Cannonball at Montauk 
7/28/1962 - Photo: George E. Votava  Archive: Mike Boland

Cannonball ALCO's RS3 #1556-1557 at Rego Park
7/01/1966  (Zahn-Boland)

Cannonball ALCO's RS3 #1556-1557 at Rego Park 
7/28/1966 (Zahn-Boland)

SETAUKET #2038 Brightwaters
c. 1962 Photo: Steve Hoskins

C-Liner #2403 Cannonball at Montauk - Parlors SETAUKET and JAMAICA (right), both with drumheads. Summer 1962 or 1963 (Krause-Morrison)

The "Cannonball" drumhead would be on the "SETAUKET" (car #2038). This observation car became the 2nd "Jamaica" (car #99).  Info: Dave Keller

Cannonball at Napeague Beach 7/1964
Photo: Ron Ziel

Cannonball C420 leased BAR - All sleeping cars out east in  early 1970's Archive: Mike Boland

Only a single ALCO #027 AGP-20 (later class L-1) was required to power "The Cannonball" since it only carried 10 parlor cars. It gradually increased during May and June, finally reaching its typical high-season consist of 17 heavyweights. Sitting at Hunterspoint Avenue as its seated load begins boarding. On this day May 21, 1965, it had a 19 man crew:
Engineer & Fireman
Conductor, 2 brakemen and one collector
18 parlor car attendants
1 parlor car supervisor

Many of the customers had three or four cocktails at $1.25 a drink as the train made its first stop in Westhampton. The captains of industry in impeccable suits with Brooks Brothers shirts and Florsheim Imperials enjoyed a relaxing air-conditioned ride courtesy of George Pullman.  The Long Island Rail Road was still a part of the great Pennsylvania Railroad and the parlor cars always made a buck. Info: Richard Makse

The "Cannonball" bombing through Mineola at what appears to be 70 mph.  The photo of a "Yellow Bird", still in pastel blue and  yellow, prior to MTA repaint in a darker shade of blue and deeper yellow. 

Note: The PRR cars being used as lightweight parlor's.   Richard Glueck

LIRR Parlors passing JAY Tower 1968+ Photo/Archive: Richard Glueck

LIRR Parlors passing JAY Tower 1968+ Photo/Archive: Richard Glueck

LIRR #1560 at JAY Tower - 1968
Photo/Archive: Richard Glueck

The Summer of 1968-1969 was a transition year for East End LIRR parlor service. The heavyweight 28-1s were being retired and replaced by ANYTHING the LIRR could get their hands on: KCS, NH (PC) and PRR (PC) sleeping cars, which were used in parlor service.  The 28-1's and other heavyweights were retired in two groups, I believe, in 1968 and 1969.  In fact, the LIRR purchased a good number of sleeping cars from the PRR/PC and the NH(PC).

PRR cars were still in Tuscan Red with PENNSYLVANIA lettering, which the LIRR painted over with their own Tuscan Red, via a patch job, before all the cars were repainted, but not originally named in the 1970's.  That happened a little later and photos reveal the paint jobs to add a name over the old 20XX number.  NH cars were stainless steel and came in a variety of NH paint schemes with one or two actually painted in the PC scheme.  There were trains with 28-1 heavyweights and "new" "lightweight" cars in the same consist, but I believe this ended in 1969.   Mike Boland

LIRR #252 eastbound Cannonball at PD Tower c.1995
Photo/Archive: William H. Birkholz

LIRR Train #2798 "Cannonball" at Hunterspoint Ave., LI City 
9/02/2011 Photo/Archive: Marc Glucksman

On Friday, September 2, 2011, DM30AC 516 leads train 2798 (Cannonball) to the Hunterspoint Avenue Station in Long Island City, New York. Its signature drumhead logo is a unique feature amongst scheduled commuter trains in the metropolitan New York Area. In 2013, the service would operate out of New York Penn Station for the first time, and still does today.  Marc Glucksman

Cannonball Train #2798 eastbound JAY Tower 9/02/2022 Photo/Archive: Jason Baxter

Photos/Archive/Captions
by Richard F. Makse

Parlor #2049 2nd Massapequa at Montauk
8/29/1970 (Votava-Keller)

 MORE Parlor Car Interiors

These cars are former New Haven “POINT” 500 number series 14 roomette 4 double bedroom sleeper that had Penn Central logos placed on the rectangular panels on the side of the car, replacing the New Haven logos. The seven POINT’s acquired by LIRR were 503, 506, 509, 512, 518, 520 and 525. Penn Central absorbed New Haven operations on 12/31/1968. These were leased to the LIRR in 1968.

After the demise of the LIRR parlor cars, the 'Hamptons Reserve' program was an effort to market that minimal accommodation to a crowd that was more
 accustomed to the luxury of traditional parlor car service.  It provides reserved seats, single serving gin bottles and crackers.
 

MORE Push-Pull Parlor Cars

Parlor Car/Club Car Memos

Parlor Car/Club Car Premium Service
Historical Research: Derek Stadler

Throughout its history, the LIRR has provided premium service on select Montauk Branch trains at a special price.  Rolling stock featured luxurious amenities in a parlor or club car where some of the rich and famous hobnobbed on their summer trip to the East End.  Speonk Station was a stop on many of the premium trains from their inception to the end of the twentieth century.

In their heyday, parlor car consists included the following named-trains.  For eastbound service to Montauk in the summer of 1939, the weekday morning Hampton Express from Jamaica (train number 8) stopped in Speonk at 11:25 a.m.  It ran as number 10 on Saturdays, and as number 6 on Sundays, direct from New York’s Penn Station following a locomotive switch in Queens from electric to steam.  There were also two late afternoon trains daily.  The first was the Cannon Ball from Penn Station (number 20) with a stop in Speonk at 5:36 p.m.  The second was the South Shore Express from Penn Station (number 26) with a stop in Speonk at 6:18 p.m.  The Shinnecock Express from Penn Station (number 12) ran only on Saturdays, stopping in Speonk at 2:23 p.m.  Westbound from Montauk, the daily South Shore Express to Penn Station (train number 27) stopped in Speonk at 9:50 a.m.  In the afternoon the New York Express to Penn Station (number 5) stopped in Speonk at 3:57 p.m.  Lastly, there were two evening named-trains.  The daily Cannon Ball to New York (number 21) stopped in Speonk at 7:52 p.m. and the Hampton Express to Jamaica (number 9) stopped at 8:22 p.m.  On Saturday number 21 ran as number 11 to Jamaica.[52]

Parlor car service to Montauk was thoroughly revised in the summer of 1963, with some departures now leaving from Hunterspoint Avenue Station rather than Jamaica.  Direct service was longer provided to and from Manhattan after the discontinuation of electric locomotives in the early-1950s.  All passengers from Penn Station were now required to change to electric trains, typically at Jamaica Station, since smoke restrictions prohibited diesel trains from entering the East River tunnels.  The daily Cannon Ball from Jamaica (number 24) stopped in Speonk at 6:09 p.m., running express to Sayville Station then local to Montauk.  However, on Fridays the Cannon Ball ran express to the Hamptons from Jamaica.  The Advance Cannon Ball (number 16) departed Jamaica at 3:42 p.m. and ran express to Speonk, arriving at 4:57 p.m.  Two other named trains provided service to Speonk on late Friday evenings.  The East Ender (number 26) and the Weekender (number 28).  For the return ride on Sundays, the Ebb Tide (number 4007), the Twilighter (number 4015), and the Beachcomber (number 4017) serviced Speonk in the late afternoon and early evening.[53]

The final summer of parlor car service was 1999.  The following year Hamptons Reserve Service became the new premium, available only east of Speonk.  On the final timetable in the summer of 1999, the Friday train to Montauk (number 2716) leaving Jamaica at 6:17 p.m. featured parlor car service and arrived in Speonk at 7:55 p.m.  There were also two Sunday trains from Montauk with parlor cars that stopped in Speonk, number 8703 at 2:53 p.m. and number 8713 at 8:47 p.m.[55]

Club cars were also available for private use.  Beginning in the 1920s, cars were rented to commuter groups on several LIRR branches.  Riders paid two fares, one for the right to ride and one for the right to ride in luxury.  By the late-1950s, a private club car ran to and from Speonk for a $695 monthly rental fee.  It featured card tables, a porter, and a white-jacketed waiter serving cups of tea or glasses of ginger ale since there was no liquor license.[56]

Although there were four private club cars in the 1950s, there were only two by 1980.  One of these ran to and from Speonk and Hunterspoint Avenue.  By this time, the club cars were from the mid-1970s re-conditioned parlor car stock.  It featured red-and-black movable padded chairs, a toilet, and interior walls covered with carpet.  The monthly fee was now $958, except in summer when twenty percent was taken off the price since the cars were given up and used for East End parlor service on summer Friday evenings.  The group consisted of sixty members, each paying $200 per year, most of whom were stock brokers, investment bankers, and architects.[57]

To satisfy commuter thirst for spirits, bar cars were added to LIRR trains.  On March 24, 1960, a bar car was added as the fourth car of train number 40 to Speonk which departed Hunterspoint Avenue at 5:14 p.m.  Initially, it was largely ignored and only attracted half the business of other bar cars.  However, business improved and the car drew a regular contingent.  By 1962, the new group of friends organized a Christmas party.  Each commuter contributed $3 in advance and the total was sent to Walter F. McNamara, manager of special services and unofficial vice-president in charge of booze.  While railroad cars hosted proms and other events in the past, this was the first Christmas party.  Commuters decorated the interior with tinsel and wreaths and hired a three-piece band that played the latest dance craze, the twist.  The tradition continued for several years.  By 1965, more than a hundred commuters paid $6 each for a Christmas party.[58]

Speonk Bound Bar Cars:  Although the Speonk bar car was crowded daily, the LIRR eliminated it in late March of 1971.  Officials claimed some regular commuters complained that they were paying for “someone else’s ride” since many crammed into the bar car where it was difficult for conductors to collect fares.  While bar sales provided more than $750,000 in profit, the railroad lost more than $10 million a year in passengers riding free, many of them who allegedly spent most of the time in the bar car.  In place of the car, stainless-steel rolling carts were installed in several coaches to serve morning coffee and food on the 6:18 a.m. train to Hunterspoint Avenue (number 33) and liquor and snacks on train number 40.  The change allowed the railroad to collect passenger fares since there was no room to crowd around carts.[59]

Passengers responded immediately, blasting the portable carts.  One major commuter complaint was that the carts came off the train at Babylon Station since it had the last raised platform at train level.  This left the remainder of the ride a “dry run.”  Within a week, the bar car was back.  The railroad retracted their former reason and claimed that several cars were taken off for much needed repairs.  Whether the result of passenger reaction or because the cars really needed to be serviced, riders were “set up” again.[60]

After the revival of the Speonk bar car, the MTA stated that it was not buying any more bar cars and the eighteen in service would not be replaced.  Nevertheless, as the 1970s and 1980s progressed, bar cars became very popular.  While some commuters read newspapers or books, others drank scotch or beer on the evening ride to Speonk.  John Swensen, a UPS driver from Sayville, held high regard for the LIRR’s alcohol service in a Newsday interview.  “I love this railroad,” he said “every night I ride the [bar] car…by the time I get to God’s Country, I’m happy again.”  He also commended the fees: “look at those prices, an ounce and a half of scotch for a $1.15…where else can you get that, but on the LIRR; this is the only place to drink, let me tell you.”   Lastly, he recommended that they never be discontinued: “it’s like a big party, people have a shot or two on the train, it takes away the frustration of the day…they get off at their station, they’re happy again…they give their wife a big kiss, everything is beautiful…if they ever cut out this car, you’d have a terrible mess out there.”[61]

The camaraderie among riders carried over into time off the train.  By 1980, organized softball games were played between different bar cars.  In one of the first, the 5:14 p.m. Hunterspoint Avenue train to Speonk (number 44) beat the the 5:57 p.m. Hunterspoint Avenue train to Speonk (number 46) by the score of 12 to 4 in a game at Heckscher State Park.  Railroad personnel also participated.  E.G. Smalls, number 44’s bartender, played in the game and commented: “this is the hardest train on the LIRR…we party five days a week.”[62]  A short time later a softball league for LIRR riders was established and began play on April 12, 1981, with LIRR President Gabreski throwing out the first pitch.  The concept of a league came from Michael Vermeulen, an over-the-counter stock options trader, who rode train number 46.  Vermeulen said the idea was born out of the commuter’s worst enemy, boredom.  With softball advertisements in several train cars, a total of six teams were established.[63]

In all, commuters liked the friendly, hometown tavern atmosphere that took their minds off what they said was poor train service.  Willie Wilson, a former Pullman porter who was now manager of the LIRR beverage service system, said the cars kept families together.  He commented in a Newsday article: “the wife don’t have to wait for the husband…if the husband gets a drink on the train, he don’t stay in New York, and the wife has got him right there at the station when he gets off… it helps keep families together.”[64]  However, a state comptroller’s audit issued in January 1979 cited that bar cars lost money and called for their abolition.  In 1976, bar cars were $548,000 in the red and in 1977 the number was $255,000.  Although revenue increased sixteen percent in the first quarter of 1978, bar cars lost $120,000 in total for the year.  The audit also pointed out that if commuters drank just eighteen percent more the LIRR beverage service system would break even.[65]

Rather than drop bar cars, the railroad tried to make them more profitable.  One approach was to get rid of nonproductive bar cars.  One bar car removed was on the 4:46 p.m. Hunterspoint Avenue train to Speonk (number 42).  The railroad also reassigned bar carts to more profitable trains and closed two of its three sites for storing liquor and food.  To turn an even greater profit, prices were raised by ten to fifty cents an item in April 1981 to keep up with rising costs of supplies and labor.[66]

By 1981, the railroad managed to make a profit in beverage service.  With seven bar cars in service, including train number 44, and several bar carts system-wide, the profit was $33,423 in 1980 and $28,218 in 1979.[67]  However, by the late 1980s bar cars were phased out.  In the 1990s there was only one in service, the 5:44 p.m. Hunterspoint Avenue train to Port Jefferson (number 664).  It also was discontinued with the arrival of a new fleet of cars at the turn of the twenty-first century.[68]   Excerpt Courtesy of  Derek Stadler  Speonk and Remsenburg: A History of Rail Service
 

Parlor Car Timetables/Brochure

I retrieved this unique piece (onboard LIRR 2050) in the early-morning hours of November 23, 1975, when I photographed parlor Mastic in (retirement) storage at Montauk yard.  The form was folded in "thirds", and the attendant (thus) used the reverse side to itemize what his passengers ordered in the way of drinks and snacks enroute to their East End destinations... Ed Frye
 

     Bedroom "A": Southampton; unidentified drinks / peanuts
     Bedroom "B": unoccupied
     Bedroom "C": Southampton; 2 colas (?) / cheese & peanuts
     Bedroom "D": Montauk; Gin-and-Tonic. Westhampton: Bloody Mary
     Roomette 1: Quogue; no order
     Roomette 2: East Hampton; no order
     Roomette 3: East Hampton; no order
     Roomette 4: unoccupied
     Roomette 5: Quogue; Scotch
     Roomette 6: Bridgehampton; no order
     Roomette 7: Hampton Bays; no order
     Roomette 8: Montauk; no order
     Roomette 9: Bridgehampton; no order
     Roomette 10: Bridgehampton; Vodka Tonic
     Roomette 11: East Hampton; no order
     Roomette 12: Amagansett; Ginger Ale / peanuts
     Roomette 13: Southampton; no order
     Roomette 14: Easthampton; Bourbon-and-Soda

Train #18 to Montauk

During the Summer of 1978, "I made it my mission" to cover Train #18, the Friday night eastbound run to Montauk featuring the last three "survivors" of ex-intercity cars running in LIRR parlor car service...Aquebogue, Tuckahoe, and Asharoken (marshaled in that exact order, "west" to "east").  I recovered from Tuckahoe, once a barbershop/lounge, this brochure showcasing the LIRR's "Sunrise Fleet" of P72-converted parlor cars. The NRHS Tri-State Chapter, in their Block Line publication (now entitled Railspace Magazine),  published my accounts of Number 18 that summer.  Ed Frye

The eastbound cars trailing Aquebogue, Tuckahoe, and Asharoken were all "standard-fare" P-72 coaches; a bar-generator car may have been "sandwiched" in between them. There were no "power packs" in the lineup. Montauk. 7/29/1978. Photo/Archive Ed Frye
 

Outside swing hanger, disc brake with Canton “I” beam equalizer trucks identical to the trucks under my private car MOUNT VERNON (former UP “PACIFIC ISLAND”). Disc brake equipped lightweight passenger cars were a rarity on LIRR. Info: John Deasy

Minimum Parlor Car Ticket Requirements

The conductor's/trainman's fare card for minimum parlor car ticket requirements, effective March 30, 1972. All of the heavyweight cars were gone and replaced with lightweights EXCEPT for P74EL #2037, the Onteora (formerly Tuscarora Club). Archive: Jeff Erlitz

This document is guidance to Conductors and Trainmen as to what charges (coach fare + parlor car seat charge) must be collected from passengers occupying parlor space. It is also something they could show to passengers in case they had any questions about what charges are applicable.

It covers the accommodations available for sale in the lightweight parlor fleet in the 1968-1975 era, plus the heavyweight 2037 TUSCARORA CLUB.
 
Seats in the lounge found in former B&O, EL, FEC, PRR and UP cars.
Swivel Chairs found only in 2037 TUSCARORA CLUB.
Open Sections found in former NH cars.
Roomettes found in former KCS and NH cars.
Double Bedrooms found in former B&O, KCS, NH and PRR cars) required payment of 2 coach fares + 2 parlor seat charges.
Compartments found only in former PRR ‘IMPERIAL” 4-4-2 sleepers) required payment of 4 coach fares + 4 parlor car seat charges.
Drawing Rooms found only in former PRR ‘IMPERIAL” 4-4-2 sleepers) required payment of 4 coach fares + 4 parlor car seat charges.

The larger private rooms are more expensive, as you would expect.

Some passengers would have bought their ticket in advance from a station ticket agent, while others would pay a cash fare on the train. I think the majority reserved their parlor seat in advance, but I’m sure there were some walk-ups who asked the train crew if there were any unsold parlor car space available for occupancy. Info: Jack Deasy Long Island Rail Road Parlor Cars
 

Drumheads

Cannonball Drumhead - 1962

Cannonball Drumhead - 1968

Drumhead c.1985
Photo: Art Huneke

Drumhead c.1985
Photo: Art Huneke

GP-38 #259 at Greenport zoom 7/23/1994 
Archive: Carol Mills

LIRR 170th Anniversary drumheads Sunner 2004

Two locomotives are assigned to the Cannonball as this
is the longest C3 train that the LIRR runs - now 12 cars - since it has been operated through from Penn Station or previously from Hunterspoint Avenue (east on Friday, west on Sunday evenings)

Each DM/DE 30 got a drumhead sign placed on the front end. What made the 2004 signs interesting is that both were different instead of an identical pair placed on both DM/DE 30 units.  Info: Mike McEnaney

Reserved-seat service on the first 3 cars of the Cannonball during the summer,  includes bar and snack cart service. c.2010

Non-stop express service direct from 
Penn Station to Westhampton Beach  May-September, 2013

LIRR #514 at Penn Station 4/18/2013

The LIRR is announcing plans for the first non-stop express service direct from Penn Station to Westhampton Beach this summer. The ride will take 94 minutes. 

Memorial Day weekend  featuring today's Cannonball making its first seasonal eastward express run, 5/26/2023, from Penn Station for the 2023 Summer Season: (New) Train #16
4:07 PM - Leaves Penn Station
5:41 PM - Westhampton
6:03 PM - Southampton
6:13 PM - Bridgehampton
6:25 PM - East Hampton
6:48 PM - Montauk

The Cannonball is one of the longest diesel train that the LIRR operates - 12 C3 cars with two DM30 locomotives on either end - requiring 6+6 double stops at intermediate stations.  Mike McEnaney

The Trains of Summer
Seasonal passenger services bring people to their happy places
Ellis Simon May 31, 2023

The Cannonball is enormously popular with New Yorkers, especially singles, looking to get away from the city for a weekend of socializing, catching a few rays, and distressing. It runs 12 cars long and is powered by 3,000 horsepower DM-30AC locomotives at both ends.

In fact, it may be too popular. Due to its length, it must make two stops at each station. Even with 1,500 seats it frequently is so overcrowded that the Federal Railroad Administration has investigated complaints in prior years. Although the situation eased during the COVID pandemic, Cannonball ridership could climb again now that restrictions have been lifted.

Riders who want to avoid The Cannonball’s mob scene can choose from one of six other trains running to the East End on summer Fridays. Alternatively, the well-heeled can pay an additional $20 fare for a reserved seat in one of the train’s last two cars, where they can avail themselves of full bar service.

Between 1957 and 1972 the LIRR acquired approximately 75 second-hand parlor cars, sleeping cars, club cars, lounge cars, and observation cars that were made surplus by the decline in rail travel.

The Cannonball, which dates to 1899, was an all parlor-car train in the 1960s and 1970s. Between 1957 and 1972 the LIRR acquired approximately 75 second-hand parlor cars, sleeping cars, club cars, lounge cars, and observation cars that were made surplus by the decline in rail travel. They ran on the Cannonball and other LIRR summer-only name trains such as the Sundowner and Weekender. Today, The Cannonball’s Hamptons Reserve cars are the last vestige of the LIRR’s once vast first class service.

The LIRR serves other beach destinations besides the Hamptons. It runs a weekends-only express between Penn Station and Long Beach, where the station is just six blocks from the Ocean Beach Park. It also has extra trains to Freeport where passengers can board buses to Jones Beach State Park. In addition, it offers packages to Fire Island via its stations in Bay Shore, Sayville, and Patchogue.

The LIRR's Name Train. The 12 cars of the "Cannonball", now numbered Train 16, are the consist of the longest coach train on the MTA LIRR. And at $30.50 (if purchased on the Train Time app) It is also the most expensive! In 2013, the service would operate out of New York Penn Station for the first time since the inauguration of the "Cannon Ball Express" in 1899. DM30ACs 517 and 520 carried the drumhead with the unique logo on Friday, August 11, 2023, bracketing the C3 coaches and enabling the train to efficiently change ends and return from Montauk. The train is seen passing through Southampton, New York, about 25 miles from its final destination.  River Rail Photo Marc Glucksman 8/11/2023