SOUTH SIDE RAIL ROAD DEPOT BUILT: 1868.  TERMINUS UNTIL 4/1869 WHEN LINE EXTENDED TO PATCHOGUE.  RAZED: 1906
2ND DEPOT OPENED: 8/03/1906, AGENCY CLOSED: 9/07/1996.
HI-LEVEL PLATFORMS AND SHELTER INSTALLED: 1999 TO ACCOMMODATE NEWLY-ARRIVED C3 BI-LEVEL CARS
WHICH WERE PLACED IN SERVICE JULY, 1999. (Robert L. Myers 1999 data)
1906 DEPOT RENOVATED: c. 2001    Research: Dave Keller

Photos/postcards Archive: Dave Morrison unless as noted

Long before cardboard boxes and plastic containers, barrels were the backbone of commerce on Long Island’s South Shore. They carried oysters and clams from the Great South Bay to markets across the Northeast and were used to ship everything from fish to produce. At one time, barrels were as essential to the local economy as the bay itself.

That story is also the story of Jesse Frank Corey.  Born in Sayville on December 1, 1869, Jesse’s life began with hardship. His father, David Corey, died when Jesse was young, forcing his mother, Sarah, to work as a domestic servant in the home of Bayport farmer and bayman Silas Seaman. Sarah later married Seaman, giving Jesse a stepfather whose life on the water shaped his own. Jesse became an accomplished bayman and for years captained the sloop Tessie Carman, even spending time as a crewman aboard Cornelius Vanderbilt’s racing yacht.  In 1904, when Clarence Hubbard opened the area’s first barrel factory in Bayport, Jesse was chosen to manage it. The factory became an important local employer, producing the barrels that packed the South Shore’s seafood harvest for shipment across the country.

Disaster struck in 1918 when the Bayport factory burned to the ground. But the business survived. A new plant was built in Sayville beside the railroad station by the Farmers Manufacturing Company of Norfolk, Virginia. It became known locally as the Virginia Barrel Company, and once again Jesse Corey was placed in charge.  Under his leadership, the factory turned out an astonishing 3,000 barrels every week, supplying the fishing and shellfishing industries that kept the South Shore economy thriving.  Jesse died in 1924 at just 55 years old after battling cancer. In a testament to both the family and the business, his widow, Mary McBride Corey, stepped in to manage the factory for a time before later marrying Jacob Stryker in 1930.

The company continued to grow, even expanding to Greenport, but fire remained its greatest enemy. Another devastating blaze destroyed the Sayville plant in 1933. It was rebuilt, only to be consumed once more in 1961, along with an adjacent building. That fire marked the end of barrel manufacturing in Sayville. The company was eventually absorbed by Greif Bros. Cooperage Corporation.
Today, oysters and clams leave the South Shore in refrigerated trucks instead of wooden barrels. Cooperages still exist, supplying wineries, distilleries, and specialty industries, but the days when thousands of barrels rolled out of Sayville every week are long gone.  The next time you pass the old railroad area in Sayville, imagine the smell of fresh-cut oak, the ring of coopers’ hammers, and stacks of newly made barrels waiting for the next train. It’s a forgotten chapter of our local history, one that helped build the South Shore, one barrel at a time. Story/Photo Archive: by Thomas McMahon, Edited by M. Anderson
 

Sayville Station interior trackside
2025 Archive: Thomas McMahon

Sayville Station View SW 9/29/1987 
Photo: Edward Hand

LIRR Sayville Map 1966

 
Montauk Branch - Sayville to Patchogue
Track profile map 1994

Typical uses of detonators include: A warning, caution or stop signal in dense fog, when signals are difficult to see.  A warning of a train stopped on the line ahead by an incident or accident—the train crew are usually responsible for placing the detonators.  A warning of ongoing engineering works ahead.
When a signaler or other railway employee requires to stop approaching trains in an emergency.
To alert crews working on the rails if a silent runaway train or train carriage is approaching.

As with all explosives, detonators can become unstable over time and must, therefore, be replaced regularly.  They are triggered by pressure, rather than impact. This makes them safe during transport, as they normally cannot detonate in a bag or storage container. Source: Wiki

Blueprint of Y cabin in 1917 
Cabin north side of tracks 
Archive: Art Huneke

 
Blueprint of Y cabin after Montauk Hwy. grade elimination project completed and former end of double track reinstated – 1930 Cabin moved to south side of tracks.  Archive: Art Huneke

"Y" Cabin east of Sayville c.1925
Photo: James V. Osborne
Archive: Dave Keller

Y" Cabin east of  Sayville c. 1929 prior to the grade elimination project.  View NW
Archive: Art Huneke Info: Dave Keller 

The double track was reconnected after the project and placed back in service to its original location, and the original cabin was left in situ.  Once the project was completed, the tracks placed back in service and the cabin moved to the south side of the tracks, it was re-manned. 

You’ll notice the temporary structure, which dates to the 1930 project is ALSO wearing the keystone call sign as is the original cabin in the c. 1929 view.  It is my opinion that the original cabin in photo #1 was given this sign sometime after the c. 1925 photo was taken.  It was removed and placed on the temporary cabin and, once the project was completed and the older cabin restored to duty, it was placed back on that structure to identify it.  The cabin was permanently placed out of service and removed on 6/7/1939 and a spring switch installed.  It was protected by “PD” signal #16 controlled from “PD” tower effective that date.  Research: Dave Keller
 

"Y" INTERLOCKING: (R.C.) EAST OF SAYVILLE (BLOCK STATION CONTROLLED FROM “PD.” IN SVC: 6/07/1939. OUT OF SVC: 5/06/2006 WITH CLOSING OF "PD" TOWER.)   Research: Dave Keller

On a scorcher of a June 4th, 2024 afternoon, two DE30's meet at "Y" Interlocking on the Long Island’s (former South Side Rail Road) Montauk Branch.  This Position-Light guarded switch marks the end of double tracked right of way on the railroad’s longest branch - all meets are conducted through sidings for the remaining 75 miles to Montauk Yard.  With westbound engine #404 shoving, Train #45 picks up speed through the interlocking as Train #76, a busy semi-express from Jamaica to Patchogue, sits patiently on the south opposing track.

Train #76 is usually through here by now, but is operating nearly 30 minutes behind schedule because of all-too-frequent signal & switch trouble leaving Jamaica.  They’ll finally be rolling into PD
a little before 5:00pm.  Taken along the trail at the beautiful Meadow Croft estate in Sayville, NY.  Photo/Archive: Joe Stroppel

A different signal system being used at Sayville to help manage the length of time the gates are down. It provides consistent warning times for crossings under the conditions of varying train speeds. These were installed at several crossing in the Sayville area in the 90's. 

This simply alerts the engineer to the limits of this system in operation.  The grade crossing predictors are able to detect whether the train is doing MAS or a reduced speed and time the crossing gates to lower based on the speed.  The SI (Special Instructions in pink) dictate what speed to do and if the gates don’t lower. Joe Vila

When they had low platforms, the platform extended right up to the crossing. When you pulled in, if you stopped half way in the station, the gates would come up; when you started from the station, about 3/4 of the way through, you would trip the gate circuit and the gates would come down.  End CP sign 12/31/07 Photo: Mike McDermet

The term controlled point is not used on the LIRR, rather they use remote controlled interlocking, etc. For instance, east of Sayville is a point remotely controlled by PD tower where the 2 tracks merge into one, and that is simply called "Y"

MORE: CP (Crossing Predictor)

G.O. 204 Special Instructions - Sayville Crossing Predictor 3/04/2024 - Archive: Edward Hand

Cannonball -Train 16 eastbound  - Y Interlocking Crossing Predictor sign at Signal 1W - 5/24/2024