The Freight House
by Dave Keller 

"...When the LIRR opened through to Greenport on July 27, 1844, once it left Jamaica, it passed through an uninhabited wilderness and served none of the old established and populous villages strung out along the south shore. Persons wishing to reach Brooklyn and Manhattan by rail had to make their way along the primitive roads inland to one of the lonely LIRR stations in the center of the island, and as this traffic grew, various stage coach routes sprang up to meet the increasing demand for public transportation. Several lines like the Deer Park-Babylon stage and the Hempstead-Freeport stage ran on regular schedules and carried many passengers..."  Vincent F. Seyfried

By 1850, a railroad was completed along the shore line of Connecticut, thus opening an all rail route to Boston and the Long Island Railroad lost all its Boston business. This left the fledgling LIRR to seek alternate revenue sources. I'll submit that at this point freight may have become a reality as people hauling goods from the south shore to the Main line in the Long Island middle pine barren to ship became a fiscal reality. I would envision in the
very early days freight would just be added to a passenger car as the earliest form of less than carload goods! 

These earliest freight operations would comprise nothing more than merchandise inclusion at the local station stop handled by the station agent, later to be handled by a freight agent at a larger freight station facility.
 

Waverly Station (Holtsville) Agent Mrs. M. E. Bloomer  View SE -c. 1880 - Archive: Wm. Biesecker

Setauket combination depot freight house. View N/NE
The platform and freight ramp are on the west side. 10/1878 Photo: George Brainerd  Archive: John Lisi

Blue Point, South Side Rail Road view E - 1878 
Photo: George Brainerd Archive: Art Huneke
Note: High level express loading platforms (2), but no express house.  Dave Keller

Westhampton Station and Freight House 1879
Photo: George Brainerd  Archive: Dave Keller

Freight/Express house - Valley Stream at
Rockaway Ave. - View NE c.1902+

Peconic Station rear 1905 Photo: Josiah C. Case Archive: Queens Public Library
Note: An example of a small station that handled ticket sales, baggage AND express services as the short,
high-level platform at the rear would be the express loading dock for The Long Island Express.  Dave Keller
 

LIRR valuation photo of the freight station at Broadway, Flushing 11/4/1918
Archive: Dave Keller

FREIGHT & EXPRESS HOUSES: Larger depots had both express houses and a freight depot, Patchogue for example. These were long, rectangular buildings with hip roofs, and high-level platforms on multiple sides with the back open to allow trucks a loading or unloading dock. These freight depots, built of both wood or brick probably handled sufficient business to have their own freight agent.

This style was used at Patchogue, Babylon, Northport, Camp Upton, Huntington, Floral Park, etc. to name but a few and virtually existed over the entire LIRR. A similar style was used at Greenport, Oyster Bay, Oakdale, and
Amagansett, but were of brick construction.

Patchogue Freight House composite view SW 03/1946 Built c. <1900
Photo: Fred Weber  Archive: Dave Keller  Composite: Steven Lynch
 

Cedarhurst Freight House 1939 View "railroad west" towards Cedarhurst station (actual NE).
Archive: Art Huneke

 original brick freight house and where a much larger, wooden structure was added to its east side. (T. Sommer photo, Dave Keller archive and info)

SMALLER STATIONS: As for smaller stations:  Many of their freight houses were simply the former depot building.  When the depot was replaced by a "newer" structure, the earlier depot was moved down the track a ways, or the new depot relocated slightly east or west of the former location and the old depot structure became the freight/express house. Examples of this would be Hampton Bays, Springfield, Port Jefferson, to name but a few.  Dave Keller
 

Eastport - The former passenger station in use as a freight station in 1958.  (Irving Solomon photo for the Public Svc. Commission, Dave Keller archive)

Setauket - View NW c.1900 Archive: Dave Morrison
The freight ramp has been relocated to the east side of the freight house and the station platform extended east of the old freight office and former depot.
 

Lindenhurst Station combined Freight/Express House 1966 Photo/Archive: Dave Keller
 

Former Port Jefferson Station is use as the Freight/Express Office view W 1947
Photo: Fred Weber Archive: Dave Morrison

Sag Harbor Freight House and house track at right. 1930 Archive: Art Huneke


Sayville freight house at Greeley Ave., view W
of the house track and the passing siding at
MP49 11/19/1947

Cedarhurst Freight House and house track
View "railroad east" towards Far Rockaway (actual SW) 1939  Archive: Art Huneke

Lynbrook freight house and house track view east. 
c. 1930 Archive: Dave Keller

Vanderveer Park former passenger station in use as freight station along the Bay Ridge branch. A team yard was added, and is visible directly behind the old wooden structure.  1954 view S (Rolf Schneider photo, Dave Keller archive)


Vanderveer Park Team Yard sign 1954
Archive: Dave Keller

First MU train to arrive at Babylon May 20, 1925. View west of boxcars spotted on the house track at the Babylon freight house, roof of which is visible at left. Photo: James V. Osborne, Archive: Art Huneke
Info: Dave Keller

Early solid-rubber-tired trucks for Adams Express Co. at the Westhampton freight/express house in 1915 (Thomas R. Bayles photo, Dave Keller archive)

Oakdale view W of the freight house and house track. 1941 Archive: Dave Keller

Huntington freight station and house track west of New York Avenue. View NW Archive: Brad Phillips

Floral Park freight house elevated view from  "PARK" tower c.1960 Photo/Archive: Art Huneke

Freeport freight house, house/team tracks with temporary tracks 1959 - Archive: Dave Keller

Auburndale freight house, house/team tracks - View E from Utopia Parkway 6/17/1929
(LIRR Valuation- Dave Keller)
 

TEAM TRACKS: Prior to and later, with the demise of freight houses, freight cars are still spotted to be loaded or off-loaded by the specific business's employees, not LIRR employees on existing house/team tracks. 
Team tracks, named for the horse teams pulling the wagons, used to load/unload freight cars in the earliest days of railroads where cars are spotted for industries not having their own rail spurs.

LCL FREIGHT: Many freight shipments were called LCL (less-than-carload) as companies/individuals shipping merchandise didn't comprise an entire car load. Therefore, loads shared a boxcar with others similarly shipping merchandise less than a full boxcar load. Today's version of  LTL (less-than-truckload) operates in a similar fashion.

LIRRer "Less-Than-Carload" January 1954  Archive: Dave Morrison