Despite no longer being used for passenger service, the Lower Montauk Branch is still displayed as being part of the LIRR on the subway map as of 2023.
Such a great ride. I did it once in 1995 when the stations were still open. Train was empty, but the ride was far more peaceful than the main line through Woodside.
Riding in the old rustbuckets behind the gp38-2's could give you a good view of parts that were more like riding in the country side. Definitely peaceful.
This is amazing footage! Thank you letting me get a glimpse of what it was like! Now their is talks about making the bay ridge branch into a subway line.
The Line that crosses over @ 5:46 is the LIRR-Bay Ridge Branch that runs from the ship yards north of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge in Bay Ridge Brooklyn. The line runs east & turns northward thru Brooklyn into Queens and joins up with the Amtrak Northern Corridor route at the Sunnyside Junction cut-off to run over the East River Crossing (aka Hell's Gate Bridge) thru the Bronx to Connecticuit and all points Northeast. That used to be a passenger line up until the late 1930's - early 40's. There are some abandoned stations still visible on the line (Myrtle Avenue in Queens & East New York in Brooklyn). The Montauk line will most likely still have some sort of service on it in the future as there are Freight trains which use the line to bring goods into Long Island at least 1 to 2 times a week. I know this because I live close by the Richmond Hill station and see trains roll by. I remember the closing of the stations on the ROW very well. Me & my brother used to hang out at the RH station in the 90's when it was still active during the evening rush hours. Station signs remained visible on the platform until around the turn of the century when they were removed. They gated the entrances to the platform and later took out the stairs that led to the platform sometime around 2006-2008.
I saw this line's stations (Richmond Hill, Glendale, Fresh Pond, Haberman, Penny Bridge) on a timetable and, in 1960s Suffolk County, pictured their locales as fairly rural. Long ago, perhaps, but the industrial locale that I found in the mid 1970s (when I first rode the line) surprised me. And the stations. Except for Richmond Hill, nothing but dirt platforms and signs. I hiked the route, took photos in 1977 and at abandonment in 1997, and got an abandonment brochure off the LIRR. I also attended the abandonment hearings. I paid more attention to this line than the LIRR ever did!
This is amazing footage!!! You are documenting history!!! Note, the train passing under the Kosciusko Bridge which was recently torn down and replaced!!!
They should repair the Old Rockaway Line given that the buses along Woodhaven Blvd are not always that reliable and it would give folks getting to Queens Plaza Mall area an alternate commute.
eles214 the problem with the Old Rockaway line is that it’s been sealed off, the track grade has been removed and it’s right in between Nostrand Ave and Atlantic Terminal which would be a MAJOR problem since there are only 2 tracks in and out. A project like that would require both tracks for workers and special trains and all service terminating at Jamaica.
eles214 I seriously love the idea and wish the LIRR hadn’t closed so many tracks/branches or sold them off, but reopening Old Rockaway would be a 10 year project and cost around $40 Million.
Christopher Jazzstar wish that would happen i mean that track has been sitting their abandoned since the 70s mta could put a new line that connects to forest hills 71st ave since the rockaway branch connects their at 71st or rego park that would go from there to the far rockaways connecting with the A trains its really simple clean and rebuild tracks add switches and done the future line is complete. Let me know what you guys think
The LIRR cancelled passenger service to the branch due to low ridership not making the mandatory station upgrades to be accessible to all under the Americans with disabilities act.
The stations on the branch were abandoned because of low ridership. Most of the stations are now better served by the subway. The one train that rides on the branch now probably only has about 30 people total on the whole train. These commuters are mostly transferring to the 7 train to get to the east side and will probably be better served by the new tunnel to Grand Central. Other than that one LIRR train, the line is used for freight.
If you notice the torn wooden bridge slightly after the 3:00 mark, that's the remnant of the wooden tressel from the LIRR Rockaway Beach Branch, and the baseball fields after that is where the connecting crossover track from the Rockaway Beach to the Lower Montauk Branch used to be... and sad to say I never rode on the Lower Montauk Branch
Hi Roberto Lillo, the spur/connection that you reffered to was called the Glendale Cutoff. There are still remnants of it that can be seen - although its overgrown on one end & just mostly traces on the other.
In typical pack rat style, I have everything (including handouts from the abandonment hearing at Glendale). The brochure shows by very simple maps the stations to be abandoned and gives alternative bus/subway routes. Handouts I think stated hearing locations, stations listed for abandonment, etc. The photos (b/w in 1977, color in 1997) show how stations went downhill (Richmond Hill losing scant station lighting, Penny Bridge its old shed) or even improved slightly (Glendale went from nothing in 1977 to at least a sign in 1997).
Wow...I was sad to hear when they closed the stops to this line but after viewing your video, this was the right move. With the exception of the Richmond Hill station, all are in locations I wouldn't travel in. And if you were closing down those stops, might as well the Richmond Hill station, although as a residential area, perhaps something could have been done. Its a shame given the history of the Long Island City station.
@@35mm21 Unfortunately, unless the opportunity to reopen the Woodhaven Junction Station on the LIRR Brooklyn line is part of the new Transportation Bill, I just don't see it happening with the LIRR. Especially when you look at the East NY and Nostrand Ave stations, which are in depressed, high crime locations. Those stations are unmanned, which is the direction the LIRR is going with most stations. It might serve a purpose in the Woodhaven area, but as it is underground, it would need to be manned, have police presence, and also warrant appropriate ridership levels. I just don't see it happening.
They took out the curving ramp that allows trains to got from the main line to the Lower Montauk Branch (as the tracks are known, being they were originally built as part of the Montauk Branch) without having to pull into the Long Island City station yard, as a) there are no freight customers on the Main Line between Jamaica and Long Island City and all freights run out of the Fresh Pond Yard, which is east of LIC on the Lower Montauk, so there's no need to run a train that way b) it was in terrible shape, rusted through at spots, and c) was in the way of construction of the East Side Access connection to Grand Central, which is the biggest change to the LIRR since the opening of Penn Station in 1910, so is definitely the priority.
chromixmusic I've stood on those tracks and always wondered what line it was....I knew it was activated because I saw the signals always lit up, but never saw a train pass... I'm a LIRR fanatic, and have been on every line except this one !
Hello :: Can you please tell me why is the lower montauk branch abandonded? Also about how many people ride on this train and do freight trains use the branch?
Jonathan c They would have to build platform stations, improve signaling and RR crossings and include positive train control (ptc) at high expense for so few riders.
I believe that regular subway lines can easily cover what this branch was doing...and you mentioned heavy expenses with mandatory updrades. It did nake sense.
It used to before the LIRR leased it out to NYA as a secondary freight only route because the federally mandated installation of PTC would have been too expensive. All diesel trains out of LIC and Hunters Point Ave. stations now use the main line to Jamaica and other points east.
Also that this line is like 100 years old and is the LIRR planning to upgrade it with new concrete ties? Since that I live near the branch too. Do you think that this train will not run after the east side access has been completed?
They should have built actual stations on the line. I think people in those nieghbourhoods would probably take the train into LIC to get the ferry to 34th Street nowadays.
+Ennio Cavuoto They don't run along this track, however. Long story short, they take a different route, leaving the one in the video completely abandoned (at least to commuter traffic).
I am so troubled by the graffiti and overall sightlines of the branch. I thought that the landscape in Queens would be a little more presentable. How/why, has America allowed its cities to become so rundown?
I think institutional racism would be the answer. Take a good look at the Forest Hills station and the East New York station. One looks picturesque, the other was buried by multiple highway projects until it came to resemble a sewer more than a train station. White folks left East New York a while ago, and then so did the public funding. Funny how that works.
@@chromixmusic ... Wow - someone else out there who thinks the way I do. I didn't want to say anything, but the Democrat-run cities, towns, and states are a testimony of every bit of it. Can you imagine what would have happened back in the day if we as kids tried to deface public property!?
@@chromixmusic ... I also wish to say thanks for your post. I enjoyed it, immensely! You also have and interesting content library - go music!!! Happy Fourth!
@@georgemurphy2579 Thank you so much! Enjoy your holiday. You may be happy to know this video is being used for efforts to revive this line. I hope we see it happen so others and see this for themselves!
The Long Island city line and Hunters point Ave perfectly served the east side of Manhattan with a one stop ride on the IRT 7 subway to Grand Central No new pork barrel no show corrupt democrat and union deals needed to build t expensive and not needed new tunnel
Just wanted to note it's no longer possible to see this route as the LIRR has abandoned the whole line as of November 2012, just before Sandy.
Is it possible you can give permission for me to use some of this footage on a project I'm working on? PLEASE email me at philcam at gmail.com
That's odd ,I just got off at Penny bridge to work at dumont
Despite no longer being used for passenger service, the Lower Montauk Branch is still displayed as being part of the LIRR on the subway map as of 2023.
Such a great ride. I did it once in 1995 when the stations were still open. Train was empty, but the ride was far more peaceful than the main line through Woodside.
Riding in the old rustbuckets behind the gp38-2's could give you a good view of parts that were more like riding in the country side. Definitely peaceful.
This is amazing footage! Thank you letting me get a glimpse of what it was like! Now their is talks about making the bay ridge branch into a subway line.
The Line that crosses over @ 5:46 is the LIRR-Bay Ridge Branch that runs from the ship yards north of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge in Bay Ridge Brooklyn. The line runs east & turns northward thru Brooklyn into Queens and joins up with the Amtrak Northern Corridor route at the Sunnyside Junction cut-off to run over the East River Crossing (aka Hell's Gate Bridge) thru the Bronx to Connecticuit and all points Northeast. That used to be a passenger line up until the late 1930's - early 40's. There are some abandoned stations still visible on the line (Myrtle Avenue in Queens & East New York in Brooklyn). The Montauk line will most likely still have some sort of service on it in the future as there are Freight trains which use the line to bring goods into Long Island at least 1 to 2 times a week. I know this because I live close by the Richmond Hill station and see trains roll by. I remember the closing of the stations on the ROW very well. Me & my brother used to hang out at the RH station in the 90's when it was still active during the evening rush hours. Station signs remained visible on the platform until around the turn of the century when they were removed. They gated the entrances to the platform and later took out the stairs that led to the platform sometime around 2006-2008.
Not no more no
Good thing that Bay Ridge Branch will soon be used for the Interborough Express
@@aqua2poweros699 at least hopefully lol.
I saw this line's stations (Richmond Hill, Glendale, Fresh Pond, Haberman, Penny Bridge) on a timetable and, in 1960s Suffolk County, pictured their locales as fairly rural. Long ago, perhaps, but the industrial locale that I found in the mid 1970s (when I first rode the line) surprised me. And the stations. Except for Richmond Hill, nothing but dirt platforms and signs. I hiked the route, took photos in 1977 and at abandonment in 1997, and got an abandonment brochure off the LIRR. I also attended the abandonment hearings. I paid more attention to this line than the LIRR ever did!
Do you still have any artifacts from that time? I'm really curious to see some of them.
This is amazing footage!!! You are documenting history!!! Note, the train passing under the Kosciusko Bridge which was recently torn down and replaced!!!
It would be cool if there was some type of passenger service on this line again, but I'm glad they're still using it for freight.
doctor zaius I know. I work here!
What time does the freight train pass by?
Daniel Lucas work where?
Gracie Maribelle no more freight no
I work as security in the Fresh Pond Rail yard.
Cooll
How much for a tour lol
I think the MTA should buy back the Lower Montauk Branch, and convert it into a subway line. The same should go for the Rockaway Beach Branch.
They should repair the Old Rockaway Line given that the buses along Woodhaven Blvd are not always that reliable and it would give folks getting to Queens Plaza Mall area an alternate commute.
eles214 the problem with the Old Rockaway line is that it’s been sealed off, the track grade has been removed and it’s right in between Nostrand Ave and Atlantic Terminal which would be a MAJOR problem since there are only 2 tracks in and out. A project like that would require both tracks for workers and special trains and all service terminating at Jamaica.
eles214 I seriously love the idea and wish the LIRR hadn’t closed so many tracks/branches or sold them off, but reopening Old Rockaway would be a 10 year project and cost around $40 Million.
Christopher Jazzstar wish that would happen i mean that track has been sitting their abandoned since the 70s mta could put a new line that connects to forest hills 71st ave since the rockaway branch connects their at 71st or rego park that would go from there to the far rockaways connecting with the A trains its really simple clean and rebuild tracks add switches and done the future line is complete. Let me know what you guys think
possible
The LIRR cancelled passenger service to the branch due to low ridership not making the mandatory station upgrades to be accessible to all under the Americans with disabilities act.
Gavin Bryan you are a real nice dude
Pennybridge still open
The stations on the branch were abandoned because of low ridership. Most of the stations are now better served by the subway. The one train that rides on the branch now probably only has about 30 people total on the whole train. These commuters are mostly transferring to the 7 train to get to the east side and will probably be better served by the new tunnel to Grand Central. Other than that one LIRR train, the line is used for freight.
lolol an 11 year old comment talking about East Side Access and it still isn't open
WOW! I never knew there were grade crossings outside of Long Island City!
If you notice the torn wooden bridge slightly after the 3:00 mark, that's the remnant of the wooden tressel from the LIRR Rockaway Beach Branch, and the baseball fields after that is where the connecting crossover track from the Rockaway Beach to the Lower Montauk Branch used to be... and sad to say I never rode on the Lower Montauk Branch
Hi Roberto Lillo, the spur/connection that you reffered to was called the Glendale Cutoff. There are still remnants of it that can be seen - although its overgrown on one end & just mostly traces on the other.
In typical pack rat style, I have everything (including handouts from the abandonment hearing at Glendale). The brochure shows by very simple maps the stations to be abandoned and gives alternative bus/subway routes. Handouts I think stated hearing locations, stations listed for abandonment, etc. The photos (b/w in 1977, color in 1997) show how stations went downhill (Richmond Hill losing scant station lighting, Penny Bridge its old shed) or even improved slightly (Glendale went from nothing in 1977 to at least a sign in 1997).
They're there, trust me. They may not be there on all platforms since they're TH-cam's built-in comment system. I can see it on all my PC's though.
It is not abandoned, but the lower Montauk was turned over to the New York and Atlantic Railroad. It is now freight only.
pbatomm
Sebisguz12 no more no ,no no
and at 7:39 is awesome!! ive been on the tracks on foot with my camera. its called the maspeth industrial center
0:09 engine #503 damage from accident
Jim Quinn what happened?
@@jazzstar145 it struck a shopping cart and caught on fire
ayden Amaya that’s was a little over dramatic of #503 😂
@@jazzstar145 thats actually what happened. It struck a shopping cart and the third rail caused the front of the engine to catch on fire
Fantastic look back on history
Wow...I was sad to hear when they closed the stops to this line but after viewing your video, this was the right move. With the exception of the Richmond Hill station, all are in locations I wouldn't travel in. And if you were closing down those stops, might as well the Richmond Hill station, although as a residential area, perhaps something could have been done. Its a shame given the history of the Long Island City station.
@@35mm21 Unfortunately, unless the opportunity to reopen the Woodhaven Junction Station on the LIRR Brooklyn line is part of the new Transportation Bill, I just don't see it happening with the LIRR. Especially when you look at the East NY and Nostrand Ave stations, which are in depressed, high crime locations. Those stations are unmanned, which is the direction the LIRR is going with most stations. It might serve a purpose in the Woodhaven area, but as it is underground, it would need to be manned, have police presence, and also warrant appropriate ridership levels. I just don't see it happening.
They tore down the ramp to this route now apparently at Hunters point av sadly
They took out the curving ramp that allows trains to got from the main line to the Lower Montauk Branch (as the tracks are known, being they were originally built as part of the Montauk Branch) without having to pull into the Long Island City station yard, as a) there are no freight customers on the Main Line between Jamaica and Long Island City and all freights run out of the Fresh Pond Yard, which is east of LIC on the Lower Montauk, so there's no need to run a train that way b) it was in terrible shape, rusted through at spots, and c) was in the way of construction of the East Side Access connection to Grand Central, which is the biggest change to the LIRR since the opening of Penn Station in 1910, so is definitely the priority.
Dave Zanko correct on all points and east side acces will be ready 2032
East side across is trimming
You said that the abandoned stations were noted. I didn't see any notations.
Does this go through Forest Park?
Yep! Very pretty little slice of the journey too.
chromixmusic I've stood on those tracks and always wondered what line it was....I knew it was activated because I saw the signals always lit up, but never saw a train pass... I'm a LIRR fanatic, and have been on every line except this one !
Yes
So fascinating 👍🏽👍🏽
One problme is this line is no more but on the subway map they still show it
The tracks are still there, but only freights ply these rails now.
The LI City train here goes on the other tracks south of Kew Gardens/Forest Hills etc right?
Actually southwest
Hello :: Can you please tell me why is the lower montauk branch abandonded? Also about how many people ride on this train and do freight trains use the branch?
Jonathan c They would have to build platform stations, improve signaling and RR crossings and include positive train control (ptc) at high expense for so few riders.
I believe that regular subway lines can easily cover what this branch was doing...and you mentioned heavy expenses with mandatory updrades. It did nake sense.
I recognized the Colin Ferguson train cars (M3) from 1993 @ 14:45!! LOL
just curious. Do you know the line you went over at 5:46
that was the bay ridge branch. Abandoned of passenger service in 1924 and since then it was used for freight
...but is it no longer used for equipment moves?
Does The Oyster Bay Branch Use The Lower Montauk
It used to before the LIRR leased it out to NYA as a secondary freight only route because the federally mandated installation of PTC would have been too expensive. All diesel trains out of LIC and Hunters Point Ave. stations now use the main line to Jamaica and other points east.
No!!
Also that this line is like 100 years old and is the LIRR planning to upgrade it with new concrete ties? Since that I live near the branch too. Do you think that this train will not run after the east side access has been completed?
Closed sorry kiddo
You missed the abandoned station at Richmond Hill
A Parliamentary Run, is it?
:13 Milwaukee Road caboose!
Yo mean 0:13
They should have built actual stations on the line. I think people in those nieghbourhoods would probably take the train into LIC to get the ferry to 34th Street nowadays.
So many abandoned sidings !
does this line still run and at what times?
+Eric G web.mta.info/lirr/Timetable/Station2/HPA-LICMF.pdf. Basically 7 trains in the morning to Long Island City and 5 trains at night leaving
+Ennio Cavuoto They don't run along this track, however. Long story short, they take a different route, leaving the one in the video completely abandoned (at least to commuter traffic).
+Eric G Passenger service on this line ended in 2012.
+Eric G They switched the route
-0:15, Dover 😏
I am so troubled by the graffiti and overall sightlines of the branch. I thought that the landscape in Queens would be a little more presentable. How/why, has America allowed its cities to become so rundown?
I think institutional racism would be the answer. Take a good look at the Forest Hills station and the East New York station. One looks picturesque, the other was buried by multiple highway projects until it came to resemble a sewer more than a train station. White folks left East New York a while ago, and then so did the public funding. Funny how that works.
@@chromixmusic ... Wow - someone else out there who thinks the way I do. I didn't want to say anything, but the Democrat-run cities, towns, and states are a testimony of every bit of it. Can you imagine what would have happened back in the day if we as kids tried to deface public property!?
@@chromixmusic ... I also wish to say thanks for your post. I enjoyed it, immensely! You also have and interesting content library - go music!!!
Happy Fourth!
@@georgemurphy2579 Thank you so much! Enjoy your holiday. You may be happy to know this video is being used for efforts to revive this line. I hope we see it happen so others and see this for themselves!
@debiase101 Power Broker is one of my favorite books. The proposed 1939 subway expansion plan is a haunting reminder of what could have been.
THATS 2703
financialy feasible
Train 507
Train 2703
Like mustard Kosckiosko bridge no more.....
Id rather see the same thing-Basterds
Come again mate😒😒😒
Turn this into a LIGHT RAIL line.
The Long Island city line and Hunters point Ave perfectly served the east side of Manhattan with a one stop ride on the IRT 7 subway to Grand Central No new pork barrel no show corrupt democrat and union deals needed to build t expensive and not needed new tunnel
Train 2703