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| (896750) | |
LIRR Westbridge Station |
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Posted by NYRailman on Mon Feb 8 15:20:26 2010 Mitch45 is right. Just off the southend crossing of Jamaica Avenue you can see where the platforms used to be - the concrete footstones are still there & can be seen along the westbound side. The eastbound side no longer shows remnants due to the excavation & construction of the J-line Train tunnel that curves alongside where the eastern platform used to be. For a long while after the MTA J Train service was discontinued from crossing over the Jamaica avenue trestle where the Westbridge station was located, the steel trestles for the J line could still be seen. This was around 1988 to about 1990 (but that’s an entirely different story altogether). The Westbridge station officially closed in 1939 but still operated as a "Freight Station" for some years afterwards. There's also some extremely old wood which lays alongside the outer edge of the roadbed which is most likely from the Wooden shelter that used to be on the platform. My brother has confirmed this as he is a Trackworker for the LIRR. He has inquired about a lot of the abandoned stations & right-of-ways that no longer exists on the system thru conversations with some of the older employees who know the history of the LIRR. No other evidence besides what I’ve mentioned exist today (we're talking between 65 to 70 years later!) but it sure would've been nice to see what a lot of the old abandoned stations were like from back in those days. I’d love to take a walking tour of the old NY railways that are out of service now, as I understand it there are quite a few throughout the 5 boroughs. Does anyone else besides me ever wonder what our entire subway & commuter rail infrastructure in NYC would’ve been like if every single last ROW & station ever created was still intact & fully functional? |
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Re: LIRR Westbridge Station |
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Posted by Bob Andersen on Mon Feb 8 15:38:10 2010, in response to LIRR Westbridge Station, posted by NYRailman on Mon Feb 8 15:20:26 2010. Here's a picture of Westbridge from 1926 (Ziel collection)
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Re: LIRR Westbridge Station |
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Posted by NYRailman on Mon Feb 8 16:15:28 2010, in response to Re: LIRR Westbridge Station, posted by Bob Andersen on Mon Feb 8 15:38:10 2010. That's it in all its glory alright! Thanks for the pic Mr. Andersen! |
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iPhone 6 (4.7 Inch) Premium PU Leather Wallet Case - Red w/ Floral Interior - by Notch-It |
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Re: LIRR Westbridge Station |
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Posted by Mitch45 on Mon Feb 8 17:01:18 2010, in response to LIRR Westbridge Station, posted by NYRailman on Mon Feb 8 15:20:26 2010. Thanks for confirming my suspicions about the remains of the Westbridge station. Now I understand why there are no remains on the eastbound side of the main line.I would have loved to have seen the LIRR and the NYC subway when they were operating at their fullest. It must have been something to see. |
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Re: LIRR Westbridge Station |
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Posted by R42 4787 on Mon Feb 8 17:05:11 2010, in response to LIRR Westbridge Station, posted by NYRailman on Mon Feb 8 15:20:26 2010. Hagstrom still had Westbridge as a freight station until 1999. |
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Re: LIRR Westbridge Station |
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Posted by Fulton Frank on Mon Feb 8 17:06:55 2010, in response to Re: LIRR Westbridge Station, posted by Bob Andersen on Mon Feb 8 15:38:10 2010. Is this view looking WB or EB? I always thought it was looking east, but NYR seems to be implying the opposite? |
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Re: LIRR Westbridge Station |
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Posted by Bob Andersen on Mon Feb 8 17:54:04 2010, in response to Re: LIRR Westbridge Station, posted by Fulton Frank on Mon Feb 8 17:06:55 2010. From the angle of the el, it has to be looking eastbound. |
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Re: LIRR Westbridge Station |
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Posted by Chris R16/R2730 on Mon Feb 8 19:02:59 2010, in response to Re: LIRR Westbridge Station, posted by Bob Andersen on Mon Feb 8 17:54:04 2010. Yup. |
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Re: LIRR Westbridge Station |
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Posted by Chris R16/R2730 on Mon Feb 8 19:03:52 2010, in response to Re: LIRR Westbridge Station, posted by Mitch45 on Mon Feb 8 17:01:18 2010. The eastbound side was obliterated when the Archer Ave connection was built. |
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Re: LIRR Westbridge Station |
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Posted by Chris R16/R2730 on Mon Feb 8 19:13:20 2010, in response to LIRR Westbridge Station, posted by NYRailman on Mon Feb 8 15:20:26 2010. Where the heck did the name "Westbridge" come from?The Google, it does nuthing! 
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Re: LIRR Westbridge Station |
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Posted by trainsarefun on Mon Feb 8 19:19:53 2010, in response to Re: LIRR Westbridge Station, posted by Chris R16/R2730 on Mon Feb 8 19:13:20 2010. All that I can think of is that the station was called 'High Bridge' before it was 'Westbridge'.How high was the station off the ground? |
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Re: LIRR Westbridge Station |
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Posted by Fulton Frank on Mon Feb 8 21:58:43 2010, in response to Re: LIRR Westbridge Station, posted by Chris R16/R2730 on Mon Feb 8 19:02:59 2010. If we're looking east then there's no way the new curve of the el and its descent into the Archer tunnel would affect this platform. |
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Re: LIRR Westbridge Station |
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Posted by Fulton Frank on Mon Feb 8 22:00:45 2010, in response to Re: LIRR Westbridge Station, posted by Chris R16/R2730 on Mon Feb 8 19:03:52 2010. See my post above. The Archer Ave connection is east of the eastbound platform - far in the background of the photo. |
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Re: LIRR Westbridge Station |
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Posted by NYRailman on Sat Feb 27 23:32:30 2010, in response to Re: LIRR Westbridge Station, posted by Chris R16/R2730 on Mon Feb 8 19:03:52 2010. Sorry fellas, it seems my view of things come from the westbound side, curving out of Jamaica towards Penn Station. From the eastbound side there's nothing there, nothing left to see due to the Archer avenue J line rerouting into the tunnel that briefly runs alongside the LIRR. What little that's left to see of where Westbridge station was is on the westbound side, and the only way to make heads or tails of it is when the train is moving at the more slower speeds after departing from Jamaica station. Other than that it's even easier to miss at a glance than when you're passing by the old Whitepot Junction & Undercut (another interesting & lost history of the LIRR) up the tracks in Rego Park. I hope this clears things up a bit. |
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Re: LIRR Westbridge Station |
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Posted by NYRailman on Sun Feb 28 00:00:21 2010, in response to Re: LIRR Westbridge Station, posted by R42 4787 on Mon Feb 8 17:05:11 2010. That's right, I have no idea of why it was listed for so long after though. I have an old purchased hagstrom road & rail pocket atlas of the NY Five boroughs from the early 1980's and Westbridge was in there, too. Not only Westbridge but Union Hall St, Hillside, Laurelton, Rego Park, Grand Avenue, Elmhurst, Corona, Woodhaven, Ozone Park, Parkside, Brooklyn Manor, Richmond Hill, Penny Bridge, Fresh Pond, Haberman, Glandale, Long Island City, Springfield Gardens, just to name a few. There wer other spurs and old routes & stations from Metro North & Amtrak & the MTA subway system, too (who remembers the Third Avenue line which was the number 8 train in the Bronx?). |
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Re: LIRR Westbridge Station |
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Posted by VictorM on Sun Feb 28 10:05:52 2010, in response to Re: LIRR Westbridge Station, posted by Bob Andersen on Mon Feb 8 17:54:04 2010. It's definitely looking westbound (geographically northwest). The angle of the el would look the same from either direction. The platform was south of Jamaica Av. |
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Re: LIRR Westbridge Station |
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Posted by Qveensboro_Plaza on Sun Feb 28 10:26:22 2010, in response to Re: LIRR Westbridge Station, posted by VictorM on Sun Feb 28 10:05:52 2010. The 1924 aerial photo map clearly shows the station, and by clicking to see the same site in 2008, you can see how the LIRR main line has changed, and how the new Archer Ave ramp comes in along the west side. One of the things I have always had difficulty with was how the station fit in relation to the signal tower across the four tracks just south of Jamaica Avenue, but the tower doesn't seem to have been there in '24. |
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Re: LIRR Westbridge Station |
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Posted by wwwd on Sun Feb 28 13:59:18 2010, in response to Re: LIRR Westbridge Station, posted by Bob Andersen on Mon Feb 8 15:38:10 2010. Here's a link to two more interesting pictures of the Westbridge station and Jamaica el in 1916. Look at RH043 (I think 130 St was Maure Ave not Mauve Ave) and RH044.Richmond Hill |
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Re: LIRR Westbridge Station |
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Posted by wwwd on Sun Feb 28 14:35:53 2010, in response to Re: LIRR Westbridge Station, posted by Chris R16/R2730 on Mon Feb 8 19:13:20 2010. Maybe it's one of those little-known neighborhood names (Dunton, Winfield) that just disappeared from use entirely.It may have been an actual community though. Apparently there was a Westbridge Civic League that filed a complaint with the PSC complaining that Westbridge station should have rail service on a par with Kew Gardens and Forest Hills. In the Matter of the Complaint against The Long Island Railroad Company's Service to and from New York and Westbridge. I thought that since adjacent Kew Gardens was named after a London landmark, perhaps Westbridge or West Bridge was a similar attempt to endow a developing neighborhood with an English cachet. Unfortunately searching London neighborhoods made that idea a dead-end. |
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Re: LIRR Westbridge Station |
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Posted by ntrainride on Sun Feb 28 15:58:56 2010, in response to Re: LIRR Westbridge Station, posted by wwwd on Sun Feb 28 14:35:53 2010. Here's a street level view, don't know the year: And Matawok:  Snatched from http://www.trainsarefun.com/lirr/lirrshelter/lirrshelters.htm |
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Re: LIRR Westbridge Station |
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Posted by GP38/R42 Chris on Sun Feb 28 16:40:43 2010, in response to Re: LIRR Westbridge Station, posted by ntrainride on Sun Feb 28 15:58:56 2010. Those are interesting photos. I wonder if in the first photo, the station building dates to when the tracks were on ground level. |
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Re: LIRR Westbridge Station |
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Posted by Chris R16/R2730 on Sun Feb 28 16:51:04 2010, in response to Re: LIRR Westbridge Station, posted by GP38/R42 Chris on Sun Feb 28 16:40:43 2010. I would assume it would. The station building looks a little too large for a station with such a small platform area. |
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Re: LIRR Westbridge Station |
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Posted by Chris R16/R2730 on Sun Feb 28 16:51:25 2010, in response to Re: LIRR Westbridge Station, posted by ntrainride on Sun Feb 28 15:58:56 2010. Cool! |
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Re: LIRR Westbridge Station |
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Posted by R42 4787 on Sun Feb 28 17:11:44 2010, in response to Re: LIRR Westbridge Station, posted by wwwd on Sun Feb 28 14:35:53 2010. There was a section of London or street called Westbridge, I vaguely recall. |
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Re: LIRR Westbridge Station |
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Posted by Spider-Pig on Mon Mar 1 22:52:47 2010, in response to Re: LIRR Westbridge Station, posted by Mitch45 on Mon Feb 8 17:01:18 2010. This brings back the old time travel topic. If I could travel to any time FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE OF RAILFANNING I'd go to 1935. Although I'd miss the 1939 Wod Fir, There would still be all the els (except for Park Avenue Brooklyn), the Manhattan streetcars and some IND action. Not a big deal that the Sixth Avenue Line wasn't open yet, since I can ride that whenever I want now and all the IND lines look alike anyway.As for LIRR, IINM there was the Central Branch, Wading River, Sag Harbor, Manorville-Eastport, West Hempstead-Country Life Press and of course Rockaway. Whitestone would be fun. Ever more fun: Manhattan Beach. Maybe that's with the second trip through time. |
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Re: LIRR Westbridge Station |
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Posted by Spider-Pig on Mon Mar 1 22:56:28 2010, in response to Re: LIRR Westbridge Station, posted by NYRailman on Sun Feb 28 00:00:21 2010. Laurelton and LIC are still open. Of course, Penny Bridge, Haberman, Fresh Pond, Glendale and Richmond Hill lasted until 1998. I'm sorry I missed it :-( |
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Re: LIRR Westbridge Station |
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Posted by Spider-Pig on Mon Mar 1 22:56:50 2010, in response to LIRR Westbridge Station, posted by NYRailman on Mon Feb 8 15:20:26 2010. This is a great thread. |
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Re: LIRR Westbridge Station |
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Posted by Spider-Pig on Mon Mar 1 22:57:45 2010, in response to Re: LIRR Westbridge Station, posted by Qveensboro_Plaza on Sun Feb 28 10:26:22 2010. Is this 1924 aerial photo online by any chance? |
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Re: LIRR Westbridge Station |
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Posted by Qveensboro_Plaza on Tue Mar 2 07:59:09 2010, in response to Re: LIRR Westbridge Station, posted by Spider-Pig on Mon Mar 1 22:57:45 2010. I'm sorry, my html skills are lacking - but go to the website that someone posted here a few weeks ago:http://gis.nyc.gov/doitt/nycitymap/ I scrolled over to the site of the old Westbridge station and zoomed in, then you can shift the view from 1924 to 2006 and 2008 to see the same site. Hope this helps |
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Re: LIRR Westbridge Station |
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Posted by Newkirk Images on Tue Mar 2 08:22:54 2010, in response to Re: LIRR Westbridge Station, posted by wwwd on Sun Feb 28 13:59:18 2010. Here's a link to two more interesting pictures of the Westbridge station and Jamaica el in 1916. Look at RH043 (I think 130 St was Maure Ave not Mauve Ave) and RH044.  Bill Newkirk |
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Re: LIRR Westbridge Station |
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Posted by Newkirk Images on Tue Mar 2 08:27:11 2010, in response to LIRR Westbridge Station, posted by NYRailman on Mon Feb 8 15:20:26 2010. One way of figuring out which side this station is on is by judging the shadows on the shed and the ties on the "el" structure. I see foliage on the trees in the distance and judging by the shadows, it looks like this picture was exposed in an early summer morning.Bill Newkirk |
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Re: LIRR Westbridge Station |
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Posted by GP38/R42 Chris on Tue Mar 2 08:39:00 2010, in response to Re: LIRR Westbridge Station, posted by Qveensboro_Plaza on Tue Mar 2 07:59:09 2010. Wow, I was looking at the old Rockaway line, but I can't believe how many homes were knocked down to build Woodhaven Blvd! That was a narrow little street in 1924, they took down whole blocks of homes!! |
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Re: LIRR Westbridge Station |
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Posted by Qveensboro_Plaza on Tue Mar 2 08:54:24 2010, in response to Re: LIRR Westbridge Station, posted by GP38/R42 Chris on Tue Mar 2 08:39:00 2010. Also interesting to see how the Flushing line was still under construction in '24 -- you can see the shadows of the upright girders with no structure above them extending some blocks east of 103 Street in Corona. Roosevelt Avenue doesn't even extend to Flushing yet. There's no Roosevelt Ave. bridge across the Flushing river and the whole area that later became Shea/Citifield is nothing but marshland. |
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Re: LIRR Westbridge Station |
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Posted by R143 on Tue Mar 2 13:27:44 2010, in response to Re: LIRR Westbridge Station, posted by Qveensboro_Plaza on Tue Mar 2 07:59:09 2010. That is a great site . You can also do it for other areas with historicaerials.com or somthing like that . You can do more than just NYC , but that is a great site too , I like the way it is set up . |
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Re: LIRR Westbridge Station |
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Posted by ntrainride on Tue Mar 2 15:39:23 2010, in response to Re: LIRR Westbridge Station, posted by Spider-Pig on Mon Mar 1 22:56:28 2010. I'm glad I had the chance to board trains from Springfield Gardens and Union Hall Street. And Richmond Hill, going east and west. |
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Re: LIRR Rockaway Branch aka The Dead Tracks |
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Posted by NYRailman on Mon Jul 12 15:45:11 2010, in response to Re: LIRR Westbridge Station, posted by GP38/R42 Chris on Tue Mar 2 08:39:00 2010. Yeah, there's some major changes that took place on Woodhaven Blvd. Now it's a big wide strip from start to finish both ends!! Anyway, I'd love to do a walkthru of the Rockaway Branch from the Rego Park - Whitepot Junction to the Ozone Park MTA cut-off. I've taken pictures of various spots along the route but during the summer season the ROW is almost impossible to navigate given the virtual Rainforest state that its taken. I was told by a friend that lives in Rego Park that the best time to do it is during the cold weather season when the overgrowth dies off a bit. It's such a shame that most of the stations along the route with the exception of Woodhaven & Ozone Park are totally gone with no traces left. I might just give it a try. |
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Re: LIRR Rockaway Branch aka The Dead Tracks |
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Posted by error46146 on Mon Jul 12 16:15:03 2010, in response to Re: LIRR Rockaway Branch aka The Dead Tracks, posted by NYRailman on Mon Jul 12 15:45:11 2010. how would you get in though? i think they sealed off the fence at Dartmouth Street.. |
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Re: LIRR Rockaway Branch aka The Dead Tracks |
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Posted by Doctor B on Mon Jul 12 16:44:20 2010, in response to Re: LIRR Rockaway Branch aka The Dead Tracks, posted by NYRailman on Mon Jul 12 15:45:11 2010. I hosted a few walks of the Glendale Cutoff in the 1990's. There are tours posted online if you do a google search -- Forgotten NY and Oldnyc.com come to mind.These days the route is extremely tough to navigate due to the 48-year old forest that covers the r-o-w. |
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Re: LIRR Westbridge Station |
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Posted by #5 - Dyre Ave on Mon Jul 12 18:00:51 2010, in response to Re: LIRR Westbridge Station, posted by Spider-Pig on Mon Mar 1 22:52:47 2010. The Whitestone Branch. The City really dropped the ball on that one. That could have become an extension or branch of the Flushing Line. Would have meant fewer buses converging on Main Street in Flushing. What a shame. |
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Matawok Question (Re: LIRR Westbridge Station) |
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Posted by Mitch45 on Mon Jul 12 18:28:01 2010, in response to Re: LIRR Westbridge Station, posted by ntrainride on Sun Feb 28 15:58:56 2010. I note the footbridge over the Matawok station. Is that the same footbridge that today starts at the dead end at 67th Avenue, spans the main line and connects Burns and Austin Streets in Forest Hills? Or if it isn't the same bridge, was the Matawok footbridge located in the same place and the bridge now there is a replacement?If so, it would answer a childhood question that I've carried with me to the present day. I went to elementary school in Forest Hills and the old LIRR Rockaway Beach line practically ran right behind the school. The line had been out of service for 8 years when I started school (1970) and I have some great memories of climbing and playing on the tracks. The school is gone now but the tracks remain. I think my interest in rails started back then. Once in a while, my mother, who didn't drive, would pick me up from school early and take me to the doctor for shots (I had childhood asthma and suffer from it to this day). We would walk from the school over that footbridge at 67th Avenue and then turn right at Austin Street to take the QB local at 67th Avenue to Union Turnpike, my home stop. When we used to walk over the footbridge, sometimes there would be eastbound main line expresses roaring down toward Jamaica passing underneath. It was always a thrill to stop and watch the trains pass at high speed (this was the early '70s so the fast trains were probably M1's or M3's). But I always used to wonder about that footbridge. Who had built it and why there? And if someone went to the trouble of building a footbridge, why not also build an overpass for cars so that 67th Avenue wouldn't be a dead end at two ends? If the footbridge was, and still is, a remnant of Matawok station, then it makes sense. |
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Re: Matawok Question (Re: LIRR Westbridge Station) |
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Posted by Joe V on Mon Jul 12 18:43:51 2010, in response to Matawok Question (Re: LIRR Westbridge Station), posted by Mitch45 on Mon Jul 12 18:28:01 2010. I read in one of my books that the footbridge is an actual remnant of the Matawok station.Where did that name come from ? ! |
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Re: Matawok Question (Re: LIRR Westbridge Station) |
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Posted by Henry R32 #3730 on Mon Jul 12 19:00:03 2010, in response to Matawok Question (Re: LIRR Westbridge Station), posted by Mitch45 on Mon Jul 12 18:28:01 2010. I know that footbridge, a friend of mine used to live in the apartment building just next to it.It doesn't look like the same bridge but there being a replacement makes sense. If the closure of the station would have resulted in a division in the community, there would have been pressure to keep it open. Then it would need to be replaced like any other rr bridge. As for why it never graduated into a full blown overpass, it would have made 67th ave join the likes of 63rd drive and 71st ave, and I doubt the highly residential area would ever approve of that, let alone desire it. |
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Re: Matawok Question (Re: LIRR Westbridge Station) |
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Posted by Bob Andersen on Mon Jul 12 20:53:16 2010, in response to Matawok Question (Re: LIRR Westbridge Station), posted by Mitch45 on Mon Jul 12 18:28:01 2010. Here's the Emery map of the area. The inset in the upper left shows Matawok and the overpass. It looks like the new overpass was built in 1949.
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Re: LIRR Westbridge Station |
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Posted by G1Ravage on Tue Jul 13 05:13:06 2010, in response to Re: LIRR Westbridge Station, posted by Qveensboro_Plaza on Tue Mar 2 08:54:24 2010. Yup, 103 Street was still the terminal, and with its own tower (still standing) to boot! |
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Re: LIRR Westbridge Station |
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Posted by SMAZ on Tue Jul 13 05:24:23 2010, in response to Re: LIRR Westbridge Station, posted by Spider-Pig on Mon Mar 1 22:56:50 2010. This is a great thread.I agree. |
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Re: LIRR Rockaway Branch aka The Dead Tracks |
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Posted by murray1575 on Tue Jul 13 06:20:01 2010, in response to Re: LIRR Rockaway Branch aka The Dead Tracks, posted by NYRailman on Mon Jul 12 15:45:11 2010. I wouldn't go anywhere near that route. Among other things it is MTA property and you could get arrested for trespassing. I am sure that by this time (there hasn't been a train on that line in almost 50 years) there are an abundance of hidden hazards which could cause serious injury to anyone walking on or near the ROW. Be content with the pictures which already exist on Forgotten NY and other sites and what can be viewed safely from passing trains (A and J lines) and other public property. |
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Re: LIRR Rockaway Branch aka The Dead Tracks |
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Posted by Newkirk Images on Tue Jul 13 07:45:21 2010, in response to Re: LIRR Rockaway Branch aka The Dead Tracks, posted by NYRailman on Mon Jul 12 15:45:11 2010. I last walked the Rockaway Division back in 1991 when the foliage was not as bad as today. From Whitepot Jct. to Atantic Ave and back was about 4.2 miles. I walked the ROW with a friend in the early spring when foliage was at a minimum.Bill Newkirk |
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Re: LIRR Rockaway Branch aka The Dead Tracks |
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Posted by NYRailman on Wed Jul 14 14:45:58 2010, in response to Re: LIRR Rockaway Branch aka The Dead Tracks, posted by error46146 on Mon Jul 12 16:15:03 2010. My friend that resides in Rego Park told me that the ROW is still accessible in a few areas. There's one right off of Yellowstone Blvd, the Little League Baseball Fields in Forest Hills and several areas throughout Forest Park, access from the old Montauk Branch line is easy, there are maybe 2 others besides those. There's also my friends backyard which is not far off from the Whitepot Undercut-Junction from the Main Line. His parents extended their yard right up to the tracks back in the early 70's once they and everyone else that dwelled on the ROW were certain that there would never be active service on the line again. However, from his backyard it's rather eerie (especially at night) when he has told me that he's sometimes heard the sounds of kids or otherwise hanging out and walking thru the row in the thickness of the growth there. There's also been incidents of derelicts, a robbery or two which may answer the question of why they've tried to seal off any open areas to the tracks, and how the LIRR has sealed the Tunnel off on one end closest to Austin Steet with Railroad ballast to discourage drug users, explorers and wandering kids from going near the Main Line Junction. I know there are photos that exist on the forgotten-NYC website but I'd still like to see it for myself. It's been over a decade since the subtalk guys walked the ROW - I'd like to do a photo & video series that documents how things are "15 years later". |
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Re: LIRR Rockaway Branch aka The Dead Tracks |
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Posted by NYRailman on Wed Jul 14 14:54:26 2010, in response to Re: LIRR Rockaway Branch aka The Dead Tracks, posted by Newkirk Images on Tue Jul 13 07:45:21 2010. thanks Newkirk, that's a thought I'll consider. I won't do it alone though, it'll be with a small team. |
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Re: LIRR Rockaway Branch aka The Dead Tracks |
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Posted by NYRailman on Wed Jul 14 15:05:31 2010, in response to Re: LIRR Rockaway Branch aka The Dead Tracks, posted by murray1575 on Tue Jul 13 06:20:01 2010. Thanks Murray1575, while there are some areas that have been claimed by private developers along the ROW at some point the ROW itself isn't under any surveillance by the MTA any longer. They stopped doing that back in the 70's. Otherwise, point taken on the hazards that may exist along the way. |
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