LONG ISLAND CITY Page 1

Harold Interlocking 10/02/2014

LI City Passenger Yard

LI City Station view W c.1905 colorized postcard. Before 1910, there were no East River tunnels to Manhattan. LIRR commuters had to take a train to Long Island City and board a ferry for a half hour ride to 34th St. or James St.

Hunterspoint LI City map zoom 1903 
Archive: New York Public Library Note: 34th St. and James St. Ferry slips as indicated at left/above.

Hunterspoint LI City map zoom 1919 
Archive: New York Public Library

Emery map - LI City East River to Vernon Ave. 9/1958
Archive: Dave Keller

R. F. Drahlman Steel at left LIRR #601 1970's Railfan Special


LI City Passenger Yard - Aerial view W of C420 #227, GP38 #259, C420 #228, GP38 #267 and trains. 2/09/1978 
William Madden photo, Dave Keller archive

Still some steam heat coaches, which would not go away for another 13 months, the last being the 4:34 Hunterspoint to Port Jeff. Not all P72 had been converted to "electric heat" as stenciled near the doors, indicating their running heat off their diesel gen sets, and not all MP72 had yet been converted to push pull, hence some B&M coaches remained until March 1979. Joe Versaggi

LIRR #228-#227-#252 LI City 1/31/1979

Montauk Branch - Passenger Yard to POND
Track profile map 1994

 
 LI City LIRR #261  LIRR #263

LI City 9/21/2004  Archive: Chris & Amy Cate

It's the twilight years for the old, venerable, Long Island City terminal building as we view the structure looking towards the NW in this June 24, 1932 image.

Originally opened in July, 1891 to replace an earlier structure that had been built and enlarged numerous times over a 30-year period, this building was a bustling place for many years.  Besides ticket windows and passenger waiting rooms, the building also housed the LIRR's general offices, the dispatcher's office indicated as "X" on train orders and a large trainmen's room where train crews could lay over between runs.  This was THE major western-most terminal on Long Island in the early years with a massive passenger and express yard and interlocking Tower A, a 4-story structure that contained 167 levers to operate signals and switches. 

Passengers would take the LIRR to this location then cross the street and take a steam ferryboat across the East River into Manhattan.  This was the standard inconvenient operating procedure for many years. Then, on December 18, 1902, a fire devastated the terminal building and all of the railroad's employee records and other important documents were lost forever. It was rebuilt and reopened on April 26, 1903.  An addition to the south side of this building housed the Adams Express Company's offices but these had been removed at the time of the above image.  In the above image, the south wall shows the location of the covered alleyway that was between the terminal and the Adams Express Company buildings.  

Business began to drop off upon the opening of Penn Station and the East River Tunnels in September of 1910.  Passengers no longer needed to take a ferry to access Manhattan, but could get to their destination without the inconvenient change at Long Island City.  As a result, the importance of Long Island City as a terminal began to wane. Another blow to the terminal was the opening of the new Jamaica station and LIRR general offices in 1913.  Both the general offices and the dispatcher's office moved from the Long Island City terminal and were relocated in the new Jamaica structure. Despite these blows, the building remained in use for another 25 years. 

The structure is already showing its age in the above image.  The wooden canopy overhang that ran the entire length of the building on the track side to keep inclement weather away from the passengers is in a dilapidated state and is showing disrepair.  Some of the upstairs windows appear to be broken, giving one the impression that the upstairs portion was already abandoned, either completely or in part.  At the far right are two Pullman parlor cars and in the background is the PRR's electric power plant. 

But the inevitable is on the horizon.  The once-busy structure would be razed six years later during the construction of the Queens-Midtown tunnel.  Photo: Percy Loomis Sperr Data/Archive: Dave Keller)

 
LI City, while not one of the main NYC terminals, can be quite the busy place in the morning. On summer Fridays, while the revenue trains file into the yard, crews also shuffle around engines and cars, building the consists for the afternoon rush out east. Here, we see LI 501 building the consists for 2708 and 5050, then positioning itself on the head of 2708. (8/12/22) Photo/Archive: Thomas Farmer

LI City PRR Power House 10/31/1925 
view east from 2nd Ave

Built in 1905, as part of an enormous expansion and electrification project of the Long Island Railroad and Pennsylvania Railroad, which culminated with the completion of New York City’s Penn Station in 1910. 

First planned as two separate power stations in Jamaica, Queens and West Side Manhattan, the project was relocated to Long Island City, as this location was central to Manhattan and Brooklyn. This original power station used steam turbines, powered by burning coal, to boil water for steam. By the time Penn Station was opened, it was providing 32,500 kW of energy to tunnels into the station.

LIRR passenger yard and terminal at Long Island City, NY c. 1914. Looking west, the covered passenger platforms are at the center and right, the terminal building is in the distance beyond and at the left is the express house with covered express platforms and express cars visible on their layup tracks.  An oddity is an MU motor coach in the center of the image but no electrification is present.  Tell tails are visible across the entire image warning train crews of the overpass upon which the photographer has taken this shot.  (Dave Keller archive and data)

 
  LI City Satellite/Aerial View 2011

 
LI City morning action 10/05/2021
Photo/Archive: Joe Stroppel

1. LI City Borden Ave view W 1955 Photo: Art Huneke


2. SW1001 #100 Derailment at "newer" 
Yardmaster's Office view W 08/15/1977 (Keller)


3. LI City Westbound to LI City Passenger Yard view NE
1970 or later, as the car behind the locomotive is one of the two former Erie-Lackawanna Phoebe Snow tavern lounge observation cars  Info: Jack Deasy


3. FM H16-44 #1504 westbound train Borden Ave view NE 
9/1963 Photo: Art Huneke 

Emery map of Vernon Av. to Dutch Kills Creek 09/1958 showing the location of the water tower view 
(arrow #1), derailment view (arrow #2), and C420 westbound passenger trains (arrow #3) which are posted to the left of this map.  Emery Map Archive:  Dave Keller

Looking east along Borden Ave., Long Island City in 1915, we see the LIRR's passenger yard at the right with tracks crossing Borden Avenue just west of Van Al^st Street (now 21^st St) as they head towards the Hunterspoint Ave. station.  The water tank was erected by the Pennsylvania Tunnel & Terminal RR. Company (PT&TRR) during the construction of Sunnyside Yard. Two direction trolley tracks and overhead trolley wire of the Steinway Lines are visible along Borden Avenue.  The trolley connected with the 34th St. ferry, located at the west end of Borden Avenue, across the street from the old brick terminal building.  (Art Huneke archive, Art Huneke and Dave Keller data.)

LIRR GP38-2 #258 at Flag Water Proofing & Restoration, 11th St. Switchman's Cabin  view W 3/1994

LIRR #405 S1 switching PRR coach past water tank 
LI City 1954 Archive: Dave Keller

LIRR #407 S1 switching PRR coaches LI City 
1954 Archive: Dave Keller

LI City Station Area - Hunterspoint Ave Wash Rack 

Hunterspoint Ave Station -  Car Wash  Rack - View E
The platform for Hunterspoint Ave. is at the far left.
1969 Photo/Archive: Dave Keller

Sunnyside Yard zoom 1956 Hunterspoint car wash rack

Hunterspoint Ave. wash rack view E
  9/29/1987  Photo/Archive: Edward Hand

Emery map zoom LI City  9/1958 Hunterspoint car wash rack
Location #24 is the control house for the car wash rack (see photo below)
and #28 is the car washing machine.

LI City Station Area - Hunterspoint Ave Station

LIRR #228 Hunterspoint Station arriving from LI City
yard for the evening rush. c. 1976   Photo: A. J. Daly

LIRR #228 Hunterspoint Station departing eastbound.
c. 1976   Photo: A. J. Daly


LIRR #228 pulling in to Hunterspoint Station from LI City
yard for the evening rush. c. 1976   Photo: A. J. Daly

Hunterspoint Ave. Station View W 4/25/1988 Photo: Edward Hand

FA #613westbound at Hunterspoint  Ave. Station
View E c.1972 (Hoskins-Lynch)

Bridge above the M1 and push-pull train is the Montauk Cutoff.  Ex-PRR's "F" tower in left background.  The top of the East River tunnel portals "B" and "D" are to the right of the covered platform. The car wash rack control house stood atop the two portals where you see the little building with door.  Info: Dave Keller 

Dutch Kills - Texas Oil, Kearny

Texas Oil: 2 track siding, PRR, Office of Chief Eng. 05/20/1946
Texas Oil: 1 track siding Emery map, 11/14/1960 
Texaco: 1 track siding 3 car capacity 06/1966, LIRR map
Texaco: gone 1978, Degnon Terminal map

Texas Oil Co. c.1952

Texas Oil Co. at Review Ave. c.1952

In the mid-1800s, the area adjacent to Newtown Creek was one of the busiest hubs of industrial activity in New York. More than 50 industrial facilities were located along its banks, including oil refineries, petrochemical plants, fertilizer and glue factories, sawmills, and lumber and coal yards.

The creek was crowded with commercial vessels, including large boats bringing in raw materials and fuel and taking out oil, chemicals and metals. In addition to the industrial pollution that resulted from all of this activity, the city began dumping raw sewage directly into the water in 1856. 

Today, as a result of its industrial history, including numerous spills, Newtown Creek is reported by US Environmental Protection Agency to be one of the nation's most polluted waterways.
Courtesy Newtown Creek Alliance

Wheelspur Yard blueprint  c.1910 Collection: Art Huneke 

Wheelspur Yard - Dutch Kills turntable 1915
Archive: Art Huneke

 
Turntable and Coaling Tower - Wheelspur Yard,  LI City early 1900's  view W Archive: Dave Keller Note: Montauk branch tracks at the far left to the left of the semaphore signals and mast.

Coaling Tower LI City early LIRR 1921 valuation photo. - View W
Note: The added water tank as well as cantilevered semaphore signals adjacent to the coaling facility for the Montauk branch tracks.

The extensive Wheelspur Yard area was razed south of the Montauk Branch, as it crossed Dutch Kills,  later to become the NY Poultry Terminal as the engine yard was no longer needed prior to the  "...January 10, 1941 Construction of a live poultry market in Long Island City to handle all the live poultry coming into the city was authorized yesterday by the Board of Estimate, which voted an issue of $460,000 in serial bonds to finance the new market..." The New York Times Archives

Further information indicates the market active:
War Food Administration Food Distribution Administration City of NY Dept, of Markets - New York Department of Agriculture and Markets Bureau of Markets

DAILY LIVE POULTRY MARKET REPORT Wednesday - August 18, 1943
"...There were 21 cars, including 8 from yesterday's market on track at Long
Island City this morning..."

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Montauk cutoff drawbridge at “M” cabin, looking west. Photo:  Art Huneke 1955

As a point of reference, the photographer of this Wheelspur photo (left) would have been standing approximately in front of the first or second string of passenger cars above. Info: Dave Keller

   
West end of Wheelspur Yard  7/25/2015

NYA LI City freight station - Wheelspur Yard  7/30/17 Photo: Kevin Wong

      Phelps-Dodge Copper Refining and Chemical Production Plant 1920-1983

Phelps-Dodge 06/06/1951 Aerial view Archive: Phil Goldstein

The Laurel Hill copper refinery was built in 1905 by the Nichols Refining Company for electrolytic refining of  'blister' copper.  Most of the copper was done for Phelps-Dodge Company, and came from it's smelters in Arizona.  In 1928, Nichols built another refinery near El Paso, Texas.  In 1930 Phelps-Dodge acquired both refineries.  After P-D acquisition, the Laurel Hill refinery processed scrap copper from the eastern US, and blister copper from the southwest, and possibly some from South America.  P-D closed the Laurel Hill facility in 1984.

An electrolytic copper refinery would take 'blister' copper (95-99% pure copper), and by an electro-chemical process produce 99.99% pure copper (electrical grade) cathodes.  The waste 'sludge' from this process would be mostly gold, silver and/or other precious metals. This would be treated at a precious metal refinery, often on-site at the copper refinery.
The end products at Laurel Hill would have included copper cathodes (sheets), and copper 'wirebar' (a 265-pound bar that would be melted and drawn into wire).

A photo taken in the 1950 or 60's shows standard gauge 40' boxcars with cast copper anodes being unloaded, and the anodes being placed on narrow gauge 8 wheel flatcars, appx 30 anodes on the narrow gauge rack type car. Since each anode weighs appx. 600-750 pounds,  I'd assume some type of mechanical motive power was in use.

Plymouth Locomotive Works ( a 'critter' locomotive builder in Ohio) did build at least three 21" gauge locomotives for P-D at Laurel Hill:

All were Plymouth model "RGT" with Hercules gas engines.   a 5-ton in 1959,  a 6-1/2 ton in 1959, and  a 6-1/2 ton in 1960.
I've never seen pictures of these, they probably were built open, without traditional cabs.  These would be about the size of a tractor.  There may well have been additional locomotives.

Both responses indicate use of rubber tired tractors to move the in-plant cars.  This is very probable too, as most(if not all) of the narrow gauge track would have been imbedded in pavement, or the floors of the buildings.

This style of narrow-gauge tramway was very common in older industrial plants and in other copper refineries.  Anaconda's refinery in New Jersey had 30"gauge, US Metals in New Jersey had 24"gauge, the ASARCO refinery in Baltimore had a 21.5"gauge Outside Flange tramway.  The current P-D refinery near El Paso still has 30"gauge in use.  By the 1960's plants were being built without the trams, using overhead cranes, trucks and large forklifts to do the job.

Laurel Hill Chemical Works 1881 
G.H. Nichols Proprietors later Nichols Copper Co. prior to Phelps Dodge 1930s

"Dead Man's Curve", so named because of the many workers who were killed by oncoming trains while crossing the tracks to and from work at the "Laurel Hill Works"

View west of  46th St./ Clifton Avenue crossing, site of the old Laurel Hill station. Clifton Ave crossing closed 1918 

Employees crossing the tracks to get to work got hit by westbounds not making the station stop or, after the station was discontinued, not preparing to make ANY stop!

Phelps-Dodge cars were stored in Bliss yard where the afternoon Bliss job would bring new cars in from Yard A and make up the afternoon train, following the drill order, for the Laurel Hill job. 

"...Bliss was used by LIRR freight and had an engine terminal so that steam engines did not have to run reverse all the way to Morris Park. This was also gone by 1957. In my time, Bliss yard was used to store cars for Phelps Dodge, Van Iderstine and other customers between Greenpoint Ave and PD. Also cars for Murers sidings were stored here. Crews reported at Yard A and brought cars to Bliss before making up their trains for their respectful switching areas.
The afternoon Bliss job made up the train for the crew that switched Phelps Dodge..." JJ Earl

Laurel Hill job went to work at Yard A and usually went right to Laurel Hill siding to gather all westbounds ordered out from Phelps Dodge and several other sidings in the area. These westbounds were taken to Yard A and the crew would return to Bliss, put the engine in the west end of it’s train in the yard. The conductor rode on the rear (lead) car, using a back-up hose so that he had control of the air brake. 

The move was made with hand signals. In the dark these were made using an electric lantern. 
When all was ready, the crew shoved the train the mile to Laurel Hill switch and the first customer was Phelps Dodge. 

Phelps Dodge had four tracks, all on a downgrade toward Newtown Creek and great care had to be taken that these heavy copper cars did not get away while shoving in. The usual drill called for about fifteen to twenty cars in and the same number out every night. Author: JJ Earl

Phelps-Dodge  2000
Photo: Bernie Ente

Phelps-Dodge Nichols Siding 1974
View west  Photo: Richard F. Makse

Location: The private grade crossing into the Phelps Dodge copper refinery. Nichols Siding, named after the Nichols Copper Co In the 50's and 60's. 

The lead to Phelps-Dodge is the track to the left of the train. This landmark industrial site on Newtown Creek, was long the LIRR's best freight customer and was so important as to justify its own freight clerk and station designation ("Laurel Hill"), a job that worked in one of the myriad ancient brick buildings of the complex until the early 60's. Phelps-Dodge, a company with ancient roots in NYC and a supply link to copper mines off the SP and the Tucson, Cornelia and Gila Bend in far away Arizona, signaled to the world why the ancient and fragrant colonial waterway of Newtown Creek represented the greatness of New York at the inland port of Maspeth.  Info: Richard F. Makse

Penny Bridge Station - Eastbound Montauk Train - View E
1954 Photo: Walter J. Edwards Archive: Dave Keller

During its existence, the station served local industry as well as the Calvary Cemetery. Before the Kosciuszko Bridge was built, it also served businesses on the Brooklyn side of Newtown Creek (the name referring to the Penny Bridge that formerly connected Laurel Hill Boulevard to Meeker Avenue before it was closed in 1939) prior to the closure and removal of the bridge. Wiki

 
Penny Bridge - View E c.1984
Photo/Archive: Andrew Sorrentino