The Atlantic Branch is an

electrified Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic history ...

rail line Rail terminology is a form of technical terminology. The difference between the American term ''railroad'' and the international term ''railway'' (used by the International Union of Railways and English-speaking countries outside the United Sta ...

owned and operated by the

Long Island Rail Road The Long Island Rail Road , often abbreviated as the LIRR, is a commuter rail system in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk Co ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. It is the only LIRR line with revenue passenger service in the borough of

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. The line consists of two sections constructed separately. The portion of the line from Atlantic Terminal to Jamaica was constructed as part of the

Brooklyn and Jamaica Railroad The Atlantic Avenue Railroad was a company in the U.S. state of New York, with a main line connecting downtown Brooklyn with Jamaica along Atlantic Avenue. It was largely a streetcar company that operated its own trains, but the Long Island Rai ...

and opened in 1836, while the portion from Jamaica to Valley Stream was constructed as part of the

South Side Railroad of Long Island The South Side Railroad of Long Island was a railroad company in the U.S. state of New York. Chartered in 1860 and first opened in 1867 as a competitor to the Long Island Rail Road, it was reorganized in 1874 as the Southern Railroad of Long Isla ...

in 1867.

Description

Partly underground and partly elevated, the Atlantic Branch runs from

Atlantic Terminal Atlantic Terminal (formerly Flatbush Avenue) is the westernmost stop on the Long Island Rail Road's (LIRR) Atlantic Branch, located at Flatbush Avenue and Atlantic Avenue in Downtown Brooklyn, New York City. It is the primary terminal for the F ...

Downtown Brooklyn Downtown Brooklyn is the third largest central business district in New York City after Midtown Manhattan and Lower Manhattan), and is located in the northwestern section of the borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is known for its office and ...

Valley Stream Valley Stream is a village in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population in the Village of Valley Stream was 37,511 at the 2010 census. The incorporated Village of Valley Stream is within the Town of Hempstead, a ...

, in Nassau County, where it becomes the two-track

Long Beach Branch The Long Beach Branch is an electrified rail line and service owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York. The branch begins at Valley Interlocking, just east of Valley Stream station, where it merges with the F ...

with the two-track

Far Rockaway Branch The Far Rockaway Branch is an electrified rail line and service owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York. The branch begins at Valley Interlocking, just east of Valley Stream station. From Valley Stream, th ...

splitting southward just east of the Valley Stream station. The section between Atlantic Terminal and

Bedford Avenue Bedford Avenue is the longest street in Brooklyn, New York City, stretching and 132 blocks, from Manhattan Avenue (Brooklyn), Manhattan Avenue in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, Greenpoint south to Emmons Avenue in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, Sheepshead Ba ...

is underground along Atlantic Avenue. From there the line is elevated above the

median In statistics and probability theory, the median is the value separating the higher half from the lower half of a data sample, a population, or a probability distribution. For a data set, it may be thought of as "the middle" value. The basic fe ...

of Atlantic Avenue to Dewey Place (with a stop at

Nostrand Avenue South end in Sheepshead Bay Nostrand Avenue () is a major street in Brooklyn, New York, that runs for north from Emmons Avenue in Sheepshead Bay to Flushing Avenue in Williamsburg, where it continues as Lee Avenue. It occupies the position of ...

) before returning underground. At

East New York East New York is a residential neighborhood in the eastern section of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City, United States. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise, are roughly the Cemetery Belt and the Queens borough lin ...

the line rises to street level to cross above the north-south, freight only

Bay Ridge Branch The Bay Ridge Branch is a rail line owned by the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) and operated by the New York and Atlantic Railway in New York City. It is the longest freight-only line of the LIRR, connecting the Montauk Branch and CSX Transporta ...

, then descends once more to

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

. Between East New York and

, the intact but closed station at

Woodhaven Junction Woodhaven Junction was a station complex on the Atlantic Branch and Rockaway Beach Branch of the Long Island Rail Road, located at Atlantic Avenue between 98th and 100th Streets in Woodhaven, Queens, New York City. The elevated Rockaway Beach ...

is visible. At 121st Street in

Richmond Hill, Queens Richmond Hill is a commercial and residential neighborhood located in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Queens. The area borders Kew Gardens and Forest Park to the north, Jamaica and South Jamaica to the east, South Ozone P ...

, the line rises to street level and passes the

Morris Park Facility The Morris Park Facility is a maintenance facility of the Long Island Rail Road in Queens, New York City. It includes two employee-only side platforms on the Atlantic Branch named Boland's Landing. Two wooden platforms each 2 cars long exist on t ...

before joining the elevated Main Line at Jamaica. Immediately east of Jamaica, the line turns southeast, ducking beneath the eastward Main Line tracks. It curves parallel to the

Montauk Branch The Montauk Branch is a rail line owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York. The branch runs the length of Long Island, 115 miles (185 km) from Long Island City on the west to Montauk on the east. How ...

after a few miles and continues next to it to Valley Interlocking in Valley Stream.

History

The current Atlantic Branch is the successor to two separate lines: the

(opened 1836) along Atlantic Avenue from Flatbush Avenue to Jamaica, and the

(opened 1867) from Jamaica to Valley Stream. Woodhaven Junc Power Sta 3 jeh

Atlantic Terminal to Jamaica

The

opened the line from South Ferry to what is now 151st Street in Jamaica on April 18, 1836. Initially the line turned halfway between Classon and Franklin Avenues, running halfway between Herkimer Street and Schuyler Street (now Atlantic Avenue) along the line of the present Herkimer Place. It turned slightly to the southeast near Howard Avenue, crossing the centerline of Schuyler Street about one-third of the way between Hopkinson Avenue (Thomas Boyland Street) and Paca Avenue (Rockaway Avenue). It crossed into the town of New Lots just beyond Stone Avenue (Mother Gaston Boulevard). The Atlantic Branch was one of the first lines in the LIRR system slated to be electrified. In anticipation of this the entire line to Jamaica was to be grade separated. Between 1903 and 1905 the line was depressed into a tunnel from Flatbush Avenue to Bedford Avenue, then placed on an elevated viaduct from Bedford Avenue to Ralph Avenue then depressed back into a tunnel until Manhattan Crossing located just west of East New York station. At East New York the line returned to grade level then rose onto another elevated viaduct until Atkins Ave. The rest of the line from Atkins Ave to Morris Park located just west of Jamaica remained at grade level along Atlantic Avenue with numerous grade crossings with the anticipation of grade separating the line later on. Additionally a new terminal and yard was built at Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues. Electric service commenced in 1905 with the line consisting of two tracks between Flatbush Avenue and

and four tracks beyond that point to Jamaica. LIRR then ran two services along the line: the traditional commuter type services from points on eastern Long Island to Flatbush Avenue, along with what was called the "local" rapid transit type service, frequent elevated/subway like service at lower fare between Flatbush Ave and Queens Village (although referred to as a rapid transit type service, standard LIRR cars were used, and the service was operated by railroad rules, as opposed to rapid transit). At this time the line from Jamaica to East New York had many more stations along Atlantic Avenue spaced at closer intervals, much like an elevated/subway rapid transit line. The four tracks between Jamaica and Woodhaven Junction lent itself to this service with rapid transit trains using the outer two tracks while commuter trains used the inner two tracks. In November 1925, 25 "local" trains left Brooklyn each weekday for Queens Village, 12 more ran to Hillside, and 16 more ran to Jamaica. All trains made all stops, 15 of them west of Queens Village. Fare was probably 10 cents for 13 miles Queens Village to Brooklyn, compared to about 40 cents on "express" LIRR trains making six or seven stops (but a monthly ticket good on any train was $7.10). For a while the LIRR operated joint service along the Atlantic Branch with the

Brooklyn Rapid Transit The Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT) was a public transit holding company formed in 1896 to acquire and consolidate railway lines in Brooklyn and Queens, New York City, United States. It was a prominent corporation and industry leader using ...

company (BRT) consisting of two connections, one with the Fifth Ave El at Flatbush Avenue, and another with the

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

and Lexington Avenue els with a connection built at Chestnut Street in Brooklyn. This allowed BRT trains to access the Rockaways and Manhattan Beach, while affording the LIRR a connection into Manhattan to the BRT terminal located at Park Row over the

Brooklyn Bridge The Brooklyn Bridge is a hybrid cable-stayed/ suspension bridge in New York City, spanning the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Opened on May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the first fixed crossing of the East River ...

(this service predated the opening of the

East River Tunnels The East River Tunnels are four single-track railroad passenger service tunnels that extend from the eastern end of Pennsylvania Station under 32nd and 33rd Streets in Manhattan and cross the East River to Long Island City in Queens. The tracks ...

Penn Station Pennsylvania Station is a name applied by the Pennsylvania Railroad to several of its grand passenger terminals. Pennsylvania Station or Penn Station may also refer to Current train stations * Baltimore Penn Station * Pennsylvania Station (Cinci ...

). Nevertheless the

Interstate Commerce Commission The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was a regulatory agency in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads (and later trucking) to ensure fair rates, to eliminat ...

ended this service in 1916 when they classified different operating standards between rapid transit trains and regular heavy rail railroads which the LIRR was classified as. By the late 1930s it was clear that the rest of the line needed to be grade separated. Much of the surrounding area along Atlantic Avenue in

Ozone Park Ozone Park is a neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Queens, New York, United States. It is next to the Aqueduct Racetrack in South Ozone Park, a popular spot for Thoroughbred racing and home to the Resorts Wor ...

and Richmond Hill began their suburban development leading to more traffic along Atlantic Avenue which was plagued by the lines many grade crossings. The City of New York along with the LIRR thus allocated the funds to depress the rest of the line from Morris Park to East New York in a tunnel. Building of the tunnel commenced in 1939 (although plans to build the tunnel date back to 1893) with two of the line's four tracks being pulled out of service and the rapid transit service being discontinued. NostrandAveViaductReplacement

On December 28, 1942, * * * the tunnel was completed and opened with the two remaining at-grade tracks pulled out of service. Around this time Atlantic Avenue was raised over the East New York station via a viaduct that separated the road and the railroad. The elevated trestle from East New York to Atkins Avenue was also demolished as it had been included in the new tunnel to Jamaica. Only one station was included in the new tunnel: Woodhaven Junction, where the Atlantic Branch crossed under the

Rockaway Beach Branch The Rockaway Beach Branch was a rail line owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in Queens, New York City, United States. The line left the Main Line at Whitepot Junction in Rego Park heading south via Ozone Park and across Jamaica B ...

. An interlocking and track connection was built just west of the Woodhaven Junction station to connect the two lines, but these closed after the abandonment of the Rockaway Beach Branch between 1955 and 1962.

Jamaica to Valley Stream

The portion east of Jamaica was opened by the

on October 28, 1867, as part of its initial line from Jamaica to

Babylon ''Bābili(m)'' * sux, 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠 * arc, 𐡁𐡁𐡋 ''Bāḇel'' * syc, ܒܒܠ ''Bāḇel'' * grc-gre, Βαβυλών ''Babylṓn'' * he, בָּבֶל ''Bāvel'' * peo, 𐎲𐎠𐎲𐎡𐎽𐎢 ''Bābiru'' * elx, 𒀸𒁀𒉿𒇷 ''Babi ...

. With the consolidation of the South Side into the

system in 1876, all passenger trains were rerouted to use the LIRR main line from Berlin Junction (west of Jamaica) to

Rockaway Junction Rockaway Junction was a junction and station on the Long Island Rail Road's Main Line and Montauk Branch in Hillside, Queens, New York City, United States. It was located in the vicinity where the Montauk Branch now crosses over the two eastbou ...

and the LIRR's Rockaway Branch to Springfield Junction, where it crossed the South Side. This change took effect Sunday, June 25, 1876, and resulted in the closure of the South Side's Berlin, Beaver Street (Jamaica), Locust Avenue, and

Springfield Springfield may refer to: * Springfield (toponym), the place name in general Places and locations Australia * Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast) * Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council) * Springfield, Queenslan ...

stations.

Vincent F. Seyfried Vincent Francis Seyfried (April 18, 1918-April 14, 2012, aged 93) was an American historian of Long Island. His work between 1950 and 2010 includes eleven books on trolley systems in Queens and Long Island, twelve books on areas of Queens, a seven- ...

follows this route, mostly ex-South Side, and the Atlantic Branch (then the Old Southern Road) uses the old South Side to Springfield Junction. The line was soon reopened due to a lawsuit, but closed again by

Austin Corbin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

as of January 6, 1881. Effective May 17, 1906, when an

third track opened alongside the

Montauk Division The Montauk Branch is a rail line owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York. The branch runs the length of Long Island, 115 miles (185 km) from Long Island City on the west to Montauk on the east. Ho ...

from Springfield Junction to Valley Stream, the Old Southern Road and this new track became part of the Atlantic Division.Employee timetable
May 17, 1906

Stations

East of Valley Stream, the Far Rockaway Branch continues to and the Long Beach Branch continues to .

References

External links

1884
an
1900 Maps of the Atlantic Branch and Vicinity
(Arrt's Arrchives) {{Long Island Rail Road Long Island Rail Road branches Transportation in Brooklyn Transportation in Queens, New York Transportation in Nassau County, New York Standard gauge railways in the United States Railway lines opened in 1836