Farmingdale Station - Eastbound on LIRR main line - Huntington RR trolley line crossing View NW c.1915 Archive: Bill Mangahas

D56s #99 eastbound train at Farmingdale Station - c.1914 Archive: Dave Keller

Note: Photo was taken anywhere between August/1909 when the line was extended to Farmingdale and Amityville and September/1919 when the entire trolley company shut down.  A 10-year window. Research: Dave Keller  

Farmingdale crossing view SE 05/18/31

Crossing view N 05/18/31

Farmingdale view N  1/13/1937

View is looking north. The skewed siding was south of the Main Line. Removed in 1947 and replaced by a crossover/siding combination that allowed access to a new, also-skewed siding from the westbound main line track, with a trailing switch, across the eastbound main line track. Must’ve made freight moves more convenient to the crews. Research: Dave Keller

Farmingdale 5/18/31 view W

Merritts Road - Conklin St. (Hempstead Turnpike) - View N 1940 Archive: Thomas Valentino

Farmingdale Crossing Shanty c.1946 view E Photo: Fred Weber Archive: Dave Keller

One crossing watchman controlled both sets of gates at the Hempstead Tpke and Merritt Rd. crossings when at grade. May, 1925 was when the electrification to Babylon was placed in service and the LIRR had plans to electrify the practically no longer-used Central branch.  They re-laid all the tracks, installed new ties along with third rail ties and . . . never went any further with the project. Info: Dave Keller
 

RS1 #467,  #466 eastbound at Farmingdale, 1952
Photo: Jules P. Krzenski Archive: Dave Keller

RS3 #1559 Greenport train eastbound Farmingdale 9/23/1966
Photo: Harold Smith Archive: Dave Keller

What I thought was great was how this entire area had so many structures and old houses so close to trackside!  Sidings everywhere, manned crossing gates,  and an overall feeling of “tiredness”.  Definitely an “old” railroad community is portrayed here.

One shot I loved was an overall view of the station area looking east from the Secatogue Ave. crossing . . .  the old brick depot with attached power plant, open-air express platforms at both station platforms.  Wooden shelter shed across from the depot.  Covered stairwell for the below-track underpass, Pennsy baggage/express car laying up at the old express/freight house adjacent to the team tracks!

Another interest were 4 shots taken of the crossing of Main Street .  One view looking in each of the 4 directions.  What’s wonderful about these shots is that the old, manned crossing shanty that is a bit more substantial than most crossing shanties we’ve seen in photographs.  This is because, between 1918 and 1925, this structure was the block office of “A” cabin!  Semaphore signals were located at this spot as well.

When “B” tower was first opened in 1925, “A” cabin was no longer required as a block office so the signals were removed and the cabin was transformed into an oversized crossing shanty with watchman to crank up and down the gates. In the 1947 views, you can see the old crank stand adjacent to the cabin.

If Weber hadn't shoot these overall general views for the LIRR’s insurance department we'd have no photo evidence of any of this stuff.  Nobody went out of their way to take photos of trackside buildings or overall scenes.  Even railfans only shot action shots of trains or roster shots of locomotives and equipment and didn’t bother with the buildings!

George Votava, having taken thousands of LIRR negatives in his 50+ years of rail fanning  (mid-1930s to early 1980s) shot only a handful of LIRR stations to my knowledge and only one tower!  How sorry is that when you figure what structures were standing in the mid-1930s-50s!  Commentary: LIRR Historian Dave Keller  

Farmingdale Station View NE 4/08/18 Photo: Dave Morrison

Farmingdale Station View NW 4/08/18 Photo: Dave Morrison

Farmingdale Station View E 4/08/18 Photo: Dave Morrison

Farmingdale Station View W 4/08/18 Photo: Dave Morrison

In early years it was called the Central Extension, for at least the past 60 years it has been known as the Central Branch. In Vince Seyfried's LIRR History Vol II on page 140 it states " In 1925 the disused Central Extension between Farmingdale and Babylon was extensively overhauled for the use of through trains to Babylon and points east, this change being necessitated by the electrification of the Montauk Division." So my Uncle Ed White was right about the line being rarely used at the time of his photo. Jim Gillin

The Central Extension ran the occasional freight and that was it.  Passenger service ended before the end of the 19th century and the line was NEVER used as a connecting branch as was the high-volume Manorville-Eastport connection.  As a result, the Central Extension from Bethpage Jct. to Belmont Jct., Babylon fell into disrepair and was relegated to switching some sidings.  Montauk trains crossed over from the Main Line to the Montauk branch via Manorville and Eastport and the Central Extension was ignored. When the Montauk branch was electrified to Babylon in 1925, the Central Extension from Bethpage Jct. to Belmont Jct., Babylon was revitalized and heavily rebuilt with then-current-sized rail and new ties.  Third rail ties were also installed as it was originally intended to be electrified.  New signals were installed and the newly-renovated branch placed in service at or around the same time as the first electric trains ran to Babylon in May, 1925.  The Central extension never became electrified for some reason, but passenger trains began using it semi-regularly, and when the Manorville/Eastport spur was removed, the Central was used for all Montauk trains that ran via the Main Line to "B" tower at Bethpage Junction and return.  Info: Dave Keller

 
Waybill Maywood Siding 1909 Archive: Dave Keller

Whatever the load, it was carried by a LIRR freight car and was weighed in Hicksville, per the note at the very top

A shipment of lime from Amityville to St. Catherine's Infirmary at Maywood Siding, the famous siding along the Central Extension where Charles "Mile-a-Minute" Murphy made his famous bicycle ride behind a LIRR train in 1899 (only 10 years earlier!). The directions on the bill say "Central Extension . . . near Farmingdale." Guess the train crew didn't know where it was . . . 

Back then, lime was used for two major purposes: 
1. Dump down the openings under the outhouse seats to kill the smell and disintegrate the waste collected
2. Use to assist in the decomposition of dead bodies

Being an infirmary, they may have used it for both those purposes, such as when they had a "John Doe" or "Jane Doe" in the morgue.

Emery Map Central Ext.  MP 31- 32  Maywood 8/1958
Archive: Dave Keller


Emery Map Central Ext. MP 32-33 8/1958

Emery Map Central Ext.  MP33-34 Breslau 8/1958

Farmingdale Broad Hollow Rd wig-wag signal
View N 12/12/1928 Archive: Art Huneke 
Note: Manure siding out in this photo

The SSRR of LI opened a Breslau station on the south shore at Wellwood Ave. and the stop later became Lindenhurst.  In competition, the CRR of LI opened a Breslau station also at Wellwood Ave. only on the Central branch, north of the SSRR's Breslau stop.  The CRR's station didn't last long and was discontinued.  The red star is the location of the CRR of LI's Breslau station on the east side of Wellwood Ave. (Hagstrom 1960 - Breslau Gardens Archive: William Gilligan)  An interesting point is the name of the area . . . "Breslau Gardens."   The station stop is long gone, but the name remained (as of the time this map was printed), given to the area that later developed there.  Research: Dave Keller

Breslau Station, SSRR (in background) at left is Nehring's Hotel and the Wagner Building. At right is Gleste's Hotel and bank building. View E 6/06/1870 Archive: Dave Keller

The LIRR: Part One: South Side R.R. of Long Island
by Vincent F. Seyfried:

Lindenhurst: Thomas Wellwood, a real estate promoter, bought the village land in 1861, and was joined by Charles S. Schleier in October 1869, who renamed the new development after his native Breslau in Prussia and boomed it as a German colony. The village first appears on the timetable of September 1, 1868 as Wellwood and so remains through 1869. In May 1870 the station appears as Breslau. In June 1891 the Hon. Benjamin F. Tracy, owner of much of the shore-front acreage, successfully lobbied a petition through the Post Office Department to change the name to Lindenhurst, and the railroad station was so changed on July 14, 1891. 

 
Central Branch bridge over the Southern State Parkway at MP32 view east
7/25/10 Photo: Al Castelli

Wellwood Ave view W 10/23/2010
Photo: Al Castelli

Whistle Post view W to Straight Path Road 10/30/2010
 Photo: Al Castelli

View W near MP34 to Straight Path Road 10-23-10
Photo: Al Castelli

Emery Map Central Ext. MP 34-35 8/1958

Sunrise Highway Trestle 10/23/2010
Photo: Al Castelli

LIRR Central Branch and Grand Ave. crossing looking north in West Babylon.  8/05/2010

This small stream runs under the LIRR Central Branch NW of MP35 along South Railroad Ave. About 100 feet to the right, it goes under S. Railroad Ave., flowing south and going under Montauk Highway and into the bay. In that area it is known as Santapogue Creek.  8/05/2010 Photo: Al Castelli

MP35 Central Branch 7/25/2010 Photo: Al Castelli

Emery Map Central Ext. MP 35 to SD 22-26 West Babylon 8/1958


Central Extension east of Muncy Ave view NW 1st train into 
new elevated Babylon Station  Old ROW at left 8/26/64 
Photo: Brad Phillips

A zoomed in shot from the Muncy Ave. crossing shows the siding into the LIRR yard. The yard, at the
Albin Ave. crossing, stores maintenance-of-way equipment. View W.  7/25/2010 Photo: Al Castelli

The closed Muncy Ave. crossing on the LIRR Central Branch in West Babylon. South Railroad Ave. runs to the
left & right at this intersection. View N. 7/25/2010 Photo: Al Castelli

"Mile-A-Minute" Murphy
South Farmingdale Station, located just of MP30, is the site of "Mile-A-Minute" Murphy's record bicycle ride starting location. The sign reads: "Mile-A-Minute Murphy" - "This tablet commemorates Charles M. Murphy's World Record Bicycle Ride of 1 mile in 57 ⁴/5 seconds June 30, 1899 - Paced by a LIRR Train on Hempstead Plains"
(See above maps for start/end location)

Farmingdale Price Parkway Railroad Remnants

The Price Industrial Park is centered around Price Parkway in Farmingdale , N.Y.   It is north of the LIRR mainline and west of Route 110.  Freight service was provided to the area but the tracks in the industrial park have been long out of service.  The rail service extended just to the north of the industrial park and includes Avon Court .

Over the years this area has changed from basically a sand pit to a developed industrial area.  From the 1958 hand-drawn map by Bob Emery, it can be seen that in the early 1950s this area was served by a railroad spur off the LIRR’s mainline.  That spur is essentially what remains today.  The spur exists as two sections, one running north in a large curve (call this the north section), and the other running east along the mainline then curving north (call this the south section) where it connects with the north section.  Emery’s map as well as another hand-drawn map by Henry Raudenbush in 1952 shows the south section looping back west to join with the north section.  This also can be seen in a 1953 aerial photograph and most likely made the movement of cars through the Picone Brothers operation more efficient.

In the 1958 map, the area includes the sand/cement operations of Picone Bros and a few warehouses along Route 110.  The 1966 freight map makes no reference to Picone Bros. and doesn’t include the loop of the south section of track.  This map also includes more warehouses/businesses, and the 1978 map shows even more of these.  This latter map shows the spur closer to as it appears today.  The only map to include any reference to a road in the area is the 1958 map.  That reference is to a private road which appears to be where Price Parkway is.  Regarding Avon Court , the street sign at Route 110 includes a notation that it is a private road.  Also note that on several on-line maps, this road is labeled as Glove Circle .

Price Parkway itself has had several businesses over the years.  Along the mainline the predominant business was White Rose, a food distributor.  Along the curved section of the south track just west of Route 110 was a Levitz Furniture showroom/warehouse, previously a J. Homestock furniture showroom/warehouse.  Today, the White Rose location is the headquarters and main warehouse of P. C. Richard & Son, a regional appliance and electronics retailer.  The Levitz building was torn down and a Lowe’s home center was opened in 2006.  The Lowe’s building occupies the former Levitz parking lot, and the Lowe’s parking lot occupies the former Levitz building.  This latter building had a siding of which a small part still remains along the Lowe’s parking lot.

The buildings north of Price Parkway and those on Avon Court and Daniel Street for the most part haven’t changed much physically over the years.  The businesses they housed have changed, such as the former J. C. Penney warehouse with a siding and the former Sears warehouse.  The Sears warehouse is fronted on Daniel Street but the back of the building along Avon Court has a two-track siding.

The aerial photo from 1953, although not of the higher resolution of satellite images, provides a good view of what the area looked like almost 60 years ago.  A Google satellite photo available in 2007 showed the tracks serving the area clearly visible.  Although Lowe’s opened in 2006, this photo still showed the Levitz building.  A Google satellite image from today (2010) shows the area as it now exists.  Looking at a birdseye view from the BING web site, the image also is as it appears now.  However, changing the view of the BING image will show the area from a different aspect and a different time period – that of the construction of Lowe’s.  From that view, part of the siding that fed the Levitz building is visible in the construction area.

I visited the area several times in the 1980s and 90s and noticed the railroad tracks serving the area, but I never bothered to take any notes or photos.  An inquiry on one of the railroad web forums in 2007 prompted some research into this area as well as a visit to see and photograph what remained.  Much of the track still existed then, and still does today.  Some portions were removed or just paved over, like the double-track crossing Price Parkway .  The track crossing Avon Court for the Sears and Penney warehouses was still visible in 2007, but that road has since been repaved.

Other trackage still in existence is either partially buried in weeds or sandy soil, heavily overgrown, or clearly visible with some overgrowth.  From the Google image shown here with the notations, an accurate picture exists of the area.  Much of the track is easily accessible, while some is behind buildings.  The crossover behind The Place furniture store is partially visible in the sandy soil there.  The two tracks for the Sears siding are intact, and the switch to them is overgrown but easily seen in the weeds.

The switch into the whole complex from the mainline siding is in place as well as the switch that feeds the two sections of the spur.  Where the two tracks of this switch diverge and run along the two sides of the pond/storm basin, the earth is all sand with a heavy growth of weeds and various types of trees.  It resembles more of the Long Island pine barrens further east, but hints at the past history of sand mining and the associated gravel and concrete industry once there (and along other parts of Route 110 in Farmingdale). Al Castelli, July 2010