LONG ISLAND RAILROAD SECTION HOUSES

 
Tower-DIVIDE-Hicksville-View SE-1962 (Keller).JPG (123090 bytes) HICKSVILLE: DIVIDE Tower -  view SE 1962

In the left background can be seen the old two story section house and section chief's office and parked on its west side is an old LIRR maintenance truck.  The new "DIVIDE" tower will be built directly in front of this old tower and when the elevated tracks are functional and the new tower placed into service, the old wooden landmark will be demolished into yet another pile of historic rubble.  (Dave Keller archive and data)

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HOLLIS: Looking NW on 7/01/1936, we see the depot, high-level concrete platforms and “IS” tower at Hollis. The building at the right is the section shanty. Visible in the center of the tracks are the crossover switches to allow trains to enter and leave Holban Yard which is located just west of the station and to the left out of the range of the photo.  A year later the tower would be renamed “HOLLIS.” Archive: Dave Keller

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MASPETH:  8/1/1944 Archive: Art Huneke

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 Section Shanty view S 1966 
Archive: Dave Keller

MINEOLA: Section House (location #7) as identified on Robert Emery's 1943 map of Mineola located between the Oyster Bay Branch and Main Line junction. 

 

 

Section Shanty- Mineola-View NE - 1969 (Keller).jpg (154336 bytes)
 Section Shanty view NE 1969
Archive: Dave Keller (right)
Dunton-Tower_1967_Keller.jpg (89746 bytes) MORRIS PARK: Section House (location #31) as identified on Robert Emery's 10/1958 map of Morris Park located next to DUNTON Tower. View NW 1967 
Photo/Archive: Dave Keller

 
1962pat-watertowergone-brickfreighthouse-expresshouse-supervisor'soffice.jpg (70207 bytes) PATCHOGUE: View west Section House/Supervisor's office 2nd floor. to the right: water tower, gas tank, LIRR brick freight house, express house 1962 Photo: Art Huneke (left)

Section House behind Freight station west side platform view S 03/1946 Built c. <1900 Photo: F. Weber,  Archive: Dave Keller  Composite: Steve Lynch

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section-house_west-Osborne-Ave_ Riverhead-10-1971_Keller.jpg (197105 bytes)

RIVERHEAD: Section house, just west of Osborne Ave. and west of the station. View is looking southwest. 10/1971

Photo/Archive: Dave Keller

 

They typically had wooden platforms out front to allow the rail car/hand car to be rolled out and set onto the tracks.  Section houses along the ROW weren't very large without offices with Patchogue as an exception as it was two story.  Most were little shacks which housed a handcar or, in later years, a small motor-driven rail car and maybe a tool room. Typical equipment in a section house: Hand Car, Speeder, tools, flares, turnout heaters, etc.