Central Islip is a

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

on the

Main Line Mainline, ''Main line'', or ''Main Line'' may refer to: Transportation Railway * Main line (railway), the principal artery of a railway system * Main line railway preservation, the practice of operating preserved trains on an operational railw ...

(

Ronkonkoma Branch The Ronkonkoma Branch is a rail service operated by the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) in the U.S. state of New York. On LIRR maps and printed schedules, the "Ronkonkoma Branch" includes trains running along the railroad's Main Line from Hicksvill ...

) of 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 ...

. It is at the southwest corner of Suffolk County Road 100 (Suffolk Avenue) and Lowell Avenue in

Central Islip, New York Central Islip is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) within the Town of Islip, New York, Islip in Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 34,450 at the 2010 c ...

. Short-term parking is also available on Suffolk CR 100 across from the intersections between Pineville and Hawthorne Avenues.

History

Suffolk station

Prior to the opening of the Central Islip station, the LIRR opened Suffolk in the present border between Brentwood and Central Islip on July 14, 1842 on the south side of the track and on the west side of Islip Avenue (also NY 111 and Fifth Avenue). A post office was opened on June 15, 1857, and continued to operate there until January 7, 1874 when it was transferred to Central Islip. This site was selected by President Fisk of the Long Island Rail Road as the most eligible site for a depot, car house, engine house and well, as long as the land on the north and south sides of the track were handed over. The owner on the north side complied, but the owner on the south side refused, so the idea fell flat. This site was on the main and most travelled route between the Town of Smithtown and Islip. This station was closed as it was replaced by the Central Islip depot that was built further east and opened on November 4, 1873 as a flag stop. Rail service in the vicinity didn't die out completely in that area however. A team track and a freight spur were located on the northeast and southwest corners of the railroad crossing until 1959, the southwest spur having been used by the

Long Island Lighting Company The Long Island Lighting Company, or LILCO "lil-co" was an electrical power company and natural gas utility for the communities of Long Island, New York, serving 2.7 million people in Nassau, Suffolk and Queens Counties. ...

Moving to Central Islip

Central Islip station was built between August and October 1873 and opened on November 4, 1873, on the southeast corner of Suffolk County Roads 17 &

100 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to de ...

as a replacement for the former July 14, 1842-built Suffolk station on Islip Avenue (now NY 111, then Fifth Avenue). The condition for getting the depot was that the people had to donate all the land that was needed in addition to $600. The land was deeded over on June 14, 1873 and the $600 paid by July 1, 1873. It was remodeled in 1916 and the original depot was razed in August 1958. On November 16, 1987, it was moved to the corner of Lowell Avenue as part of a major reconstruction of the line in Ronkonkoma, Central Islip, Brentwood, Deer Park, and

Wyandanch Wyandanch (, ) is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Babylon in Suffolk County, New York. The population was 12,990 at the 2020 census. In the past, some or all of Wyandanch was proposed to become part of the never-realiz ...

. The station was built on the site of a former spur to the

Central Islip Psychiatric Center The Central Islip Psychiatric Center, formerly State Hospital for the Insane, was a state psychiatric hospital in Central Islip, New York, United States from 1889 until 1996. The center was one of the four major hospital "farms" in central Long I ...

, including the hospital's

power plant A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many pow ...

that was abandoned years before the hospital was closed. Across Lowell Avenue is the site of a

Waldbaum's Waldbaum's was a supermarket chain with stores in the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and the Bronx; and in Nassau, Suffolk counties and Upstate New York. The chain also for a time operated stores in New Jersey, Connect ...

warehouse that once had a freight spur leading to it. The site of the 1958-built station was used as an MTA Police station until that was moved to a larger facility across Suffolk CR 17.

Central Islip Hospital station

Central Islip State Hospital The Central Islip Psychiatric Center, formerly State Hospital for the Insane, was a state psychiatric hospital in Central Islip, New York, United States from 1889 until 1996. The center was one of the four major hospital "farms" in central Long ...

originally had two railroad spurs from the team track east of the former site of Central Islip station, although not necessarily used simultaneously. One which ran along what is today Audwin Road and curved southwest through Carleton Avenue and South Research Place was for passengers, patients, and visitors, and the other along Lowell Avenue was for freight, which by 1950 was used fuel the power plant at the station, and a state-run warehouse. The switching locomotives contained markings exclusively for the hospital, rather than the LIRR. With medication, de-institutionalization, and social reforms that reduced the criteria for committing people, the use of rail service at the hospital was gradually reduced. The station house was moved from the Audwin Road spur to the Lowell Road Spur, around 1966. Passenger service was eliminated by 1971,The State Hospitals in Suffolk County, New York and the Long Island Rail Road (Arrt's Arrchive)
/ref> and rail service was reduced to freight only. The Lowell Avenue spur was neglected through the years until it was finally demolished before the station was moved from Carleton Avenue in 1987.

Station layout

The station has two high-level

side platform A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platforms ...

s, each 12 cars long. Prior to substantial completion of the Main Line Double Track Project in mid-2018, trains mainly served Platform B in both directions.

References

External links

Photo of Central Islip Station from the parking lot (Unofficial LIRR History Website)Central Islip Station; 1910
an
1957
(TrainsAreFun.com) *Unofficial LIRR Photography Site (lirrpics.com)

Station from Lowell Avenue from Google Maps Street View
{{LIRR stations navbox Long Island Rail Road stations in Suffolk County, New York Railway stations in the United States opened in 1987 Islip (town), New York 1987 establishments in New York (state)