LIRR Christmas

Christmas Recollections of the LIRR

Bob Anderson -  c. early 1960's 6-8 years old

"...Brings back lots of memories. I went to sacred heart school in Bayside, and we helped decorate bayside station in the early sixties. I remember another tradition was Christmas carolers at Bayside station every year. It was like a scene out of "It's a Wonderful Life"; man I miss those days..."

Pat Scopelliti -   c.1958 10 years old

"...I remember the Christmas nativity scene setup at Hall Tower, especially on a snowy evening with the flames from the turnout points softly glowing. Can't see that anymore... and that's good? I also remember the Christmas decoration contests between all the stations. Can't do that stuff anymore either I imagine..."

The Man Who Made the Trains Run: Harry Glueck

"...Dad hated the snow.  I can’t remember how many Christmas and post-Christmas storms he worked 72 hours straight, with little or no sleep, either in Jamaica or in Hicksville.  Some trackmen wouldn’t pick up the phone when they were needed, others were true “railroad men” who like my father, came out and slugged away in the cold, thawing switches, digging out drainage conduits, and doing what needed to be done.  Until the seventeenth year of his retirement, when he succumbed to lung cancer, he still hated snow, although in the end, he rode his own Kubota tractor to clear his one driveway, and there was some satisfaction in that..." Author: Richard Glueck   Excerpt

Crossing Watchman George Basch protects the Greenpoint Avenue crossing in Blissville, LI City, NY on Christmas Day 1970, shortly before his retirement the following year. Shown here is one of the “newer” sheet metal crossing shanties that replaced a number of the older, wooden ones. Photo: Dave Keller