LIRR LI City

LONG ISLAND CITY			LI City Aerial View 1936 Archive: NYS Collection
1955 and LI City is busy indeed!
The current Long Island Rail Road East Side Access Project: Click: Track 17
Sunnyside Yard Rendering C. 1905 In 1910 the Pennsylvania Railroad had completed its terminal in New York City, which was connected by tunnels to New Jersey, and under the East River to Long Island. At Sunnyside the large yard of the Pennsylvania Railroad was constructed. An agreement was made with that Railroad and the Pennsylvania Tunnel and Terminal Railroad Company whereby the cars of the Long Island Railroad would be carried through the tunnels under the East River into the Terminal at Seventh Avenue and Thirty-second Street, New York. Thus the Long Island Railroad acquired what successive administrations had striven for in vain, a terminal on Manhattan Island. In order to reach this terminal it was necessary to electrify from Jamaica to New York, which was accomplished in 1910, and the first train run into the Pennsylvania Station on September 10th of that year. Felix E. Reifschneider's 1925 Long Island Rail Road History
LI City Facilities Valuation Photo Collection c. 1919
LI City Boiler House 070/7/1919 Collection: Dave Morrison	LI City Canopy and Station c. late 1914-1920 Collection: Dave Morrison	LI City Coal Tower 07/07/1919 Collection: Dave Morrison	LI City Express Stable Entrance 07/14/19 Collection: Dave Morrison
LI City Ferry Entrance 06/23/19 Collection: Dave Morrison	LI City Freight Offices 07/14/19 Collection: Dave Morrison	LI City Ice House 06/24/19 Collection: Dave Morrison	LI City Pump House 06/23/19 Collection: Dave Morrison
LI City Shop Office c. 1918 Collection: Dave Morrison	LI City Switch House 06/22/20 Collection: Dave Morrison	LI City Wagon Repair Shop c. 1918 Collection: Dave Morrison	LI City Engine House c. 1918 Collection: Dave Morrison
Sunnyside Yard Rendering C. 1956 by Robert Wegner Trains Magazine

Office of Chief Engineer, Pennsylvania Railroad, May 20, 1946 Click on maps/photos to enlarge
LI City Float Bridges LI City Station LI City floats # 1-5 c.19xx? Hunter's Point 04/1998 -east Float docks 1 & 2 Photo: Bruce Carlson LIRR #421 S1 LI City with Idler MOW car taking delivery of Subway R32 cars. 11/1964 Delivery Subway R32s 11/64 Photo: Gerry Landau Archive: Art Huneke LIRR carfloat #20 perhaps on its way to the North Shore Yard (LI City Floats) 11th Street Crossing c. 1910 into North Shore Freight Yard LI City Hunter's Point Ave Station 1969 Photo: Dave Keller Crossing Tower 5th St. LI City 1971 Photo: Dave Keller Car Washer Hunter's Point Ave View E 1969 Photo: Dave Keller LIRR #610 Car Washer Hunter's Point Ave View E 08/10/1983 Archive: Dave Keller	Arch St. Team Yard Degnon Terminal Montauk Branch Cut-off Wheelspur Yard Dutch Kills Creek Newtown Creek	Yard A (North Yard) PRR Offices Sunnyside Coach Yard (South Yard)	Engine Facilities LIRR Yard -(Harold Ave REA Station & Offices South Yard, Harold Tower	NY Conn. RR to Hell Gate LIRR Main to Jamaica Gosman Ave Yard NYCRR Split
		Sunshine Biscuits Bldg. LIRR #448 1966 in front of Sunshine Biscuit Archive: Dave Keller LIRR #447 at Executone Systems Photo: Tim Darnell Yard A looking NW c. 1980 Photo: Steven Lynch Yard A LIRR #C64 N22 Photo c. 1964+ Steve Hoskins LIRR Yard A View N from Honeywell Ave ramp into yard c. 1980's Photo: B. Myers Dutch Kills Area Dutch Kills leading into Newtown Creek - southwest 2001 “DB Cabin Dutch Kills draw bridge (opened: 10/1915 north side of tracks - east of bridge) Collection: Dave Keller Newtown Creek - w from the Kosciusko Bridge Photo: Copyright 2000 Bernard Ente Newtown Creek 1860 illustrating the vast flat marshy undeveloped area that became the Sunnyside LIRR yard complex Dutch Kills during construction Newtown Creek over 125 years later - 1985	PRR Sunnyside Engine Sanding Facility c.1958 Dave Keller Archive PRR GG1s Sunnyside c.1958 Photo shows a 'mule' or 'barney' setup. (note 1) Note 2 rails between the running rails, used by a railed pusher to shove dead locos into shop area w/o catanary overhead. No steam locos in Sunnyside what so ever. Info: K.F. Groh Dave Keller Archive Location of above photo Map/Info: Steve Lynch Sunnyside Engine Facility c. 1980 Photo: Bob Redden Sunnyside Engine Facility c. 1980's Photo: B. Myers Sand Facilities Amtrak,ex-PRR c.1980 Photo: Steven Lynch LIRR #460 Alco S-2 with Idler Car c.1958 Dave Keller Archive C420 #229 lead on 4 Unit LI City 08/12/1981 Archive: Dave Keller Amtrak Sunny Side view from City Storage Bldg 11/07 Photo: Kevin Katta	LIRR Westbound Main LIRR Eastbound Main Harold Ave view NW 1922 NYS Collection Harold Ave view NW 1934 NYS Collection Harold Ave view NW LIRR main in back c.1980 Photo: Steve Lynch Harold Ave view NE driveway to REA c.1980 Photo: Steve Lynch National Carbine c.1915 Brett Bldg. c. 1915
	Degnon Terminal c.1966 Degnon Terminal c.1978 Queens Subway Loft Bldg. 10/15/1922 NY Times View toward Degnon , American Chicle Co. Photo: Steve Lynch c.1980 Montauk Branch Cut-off LI City Borden Ave 02/18/2008 Photo: Joe Gregory LIRR #462 on Montauk Cutoff 10/1974 Photo: A. Joseph Daly

LI City Station Area
R. F. Drahlman Steel at left LIRR #601 1970's Railfan Special LIRR #261 LICity LI City 1989	LIRR #228 01-31-79 LIRR #263 LICity Satellite view of this area	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.
LI City Westbound to LI City Passenger Yard view NE (see map to right) Archive: R. McEnery	Emery Map 09/1958 showing the location of photo to the right. Paragon Sign on building in red. Archive: Dave Keller
Dutch Kills - Texas Oil, Kearny
Dutch Kills Creek Area, c.1946	Texas Oil Co. refinery located at Review Ave and 29th St. just east of Dutch Kills Creek
	Texas Oil Co. View SW toward Greenpoint tanks.
Photos above of Texas Oil: Available from: Queenspix.com
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
Wheelspur Yard
	LI City detail of Hunter's Point and Newton Creek area. Circa 1946-1954 as the Pulaski Bridge is under construction on this map.	Wheelspur Yard -1904 Collection: Art Huneke
Wheelspur Yard - c.1948 Collection: Dave Keller	Looking NE towards “M” cabin and drawbridge. (Cabin at right background, Dutch Kills at far right, not visible in this shot.) Two Pennsy H9s locomotives laying up (there were usually a total of 3, one is behind the engine at the right and not visible) to supply the yard with steam heat. Headlights have been removed. In the center of the view are the coaling gondola and derrick to feed the tenders. In 1950 the H9’s were replaced by three Pennsy L1s (2-8-2) locomotives, so this shot precedes 1950. The yard was torn up in 1959. Info: Dave Keller	Montauk cutoff drawbridge at “M” cabin, looking west. Photo: Art Huneke 1955 As a point of reference, the photographer of this Wheelspur photo would have been standing approximately in front of the first or second string of passenger cars above. Info: Dave Keller
Phelps-Dodge Copper Refining and Chemical Production Plant 1920-1983
Laurel Hill Chemical Works 1881 G.H. Nichols Proprietors	View NE Laurel Hill Works at full build-out, circa 1933 (courtesy Allied Signal Archives)	"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!
Nichols started out making sulfuric acid from the sulfur in copper ore. The acid-making side of the business later became Allied Chemical, now merged into Allied-Signal.
Phelps-Dodge Emery map MP2 10/1958	Laurel Hill - Bliss LIRR Maps 1966 Phelps- Dodge location	1995 US topographic map
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 closed Collection: Art Huneke 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

Note 1:

This looks like a “Barney”arrangement. A small car, the barney, would run on those two inner rails, pulled by cables which you can see in the middle of the track. When up on the level with the normal track, it would stick up high enough to engage the coupler of an engine, which it could them move along the track. When not in use, it would be rolled down into the pit so as to clear normal movements. This sort of thing was used to push hoppers up into the car dumpers that used to exist at Jersey City and Weehawken , and also was used at CNJ’s Ashley inclined plane, pushing car up the mountain from Wilkes Barre.

I wasn’t aware that such a thing had existed at Sunnyside. Probably was originally put in when there was only 3^rd rail, and DD-1 and L-5 locomotives. You wouldn’t want 3^rd rail around a maintenance pit. That whole engine house was designed to work on a production line basis, engines moving through in one direction only. Using a steam switcher would have been a nuisance as it would have had to run around using another track. The barney avoided that and was probably electric powered, thus in keeping with the modern standards PRR had in mind in the whole Penn Station complex. Commentary: Henry Raudenbush 07/09/2008

LI Rail Road Emery Maps 1959 Click on maps/photos to enlarge
Float Lead Yard Emery Map 1	Arch Street Transfer Westbound Classification (8th Street) Yard Emery Map 2			Thomson St to Queens Blvd. Yard A Emery Map 3
Yard A Hump - Eastbound Classification Yard Emery Map 4		Yard A Hump to Harold Ave Yard Emery Map 5	Gosman Yard - US Postal Center Emery Map 6