Higbie Avenue was a railroad station along the
Atlantic Branch
The Atlantic Branch is an electrified rail line owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York. It is the only LIRR line with revenue passenger service in the borough of Brooklyn.
The line consists of two sectio ...
of the
Long Island Rail Road, in
Queens, New York City
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
. The station was located on 140th Avenue (formerly Higbie Avenue) and Edgewood Avenue in the
Springfield section of
Queens, New York City
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
between Locust Manor and Laurelton stations.
History
Springfield station
The South Side Railroad of Long Island established service on Springfield Boulevard on the Atlantic Branch on October 28, 1867 but did not install a station house until August or September 1871. The station was moved to Laurelton in August 1876, but kept the name "Springfield." In 1905, the Atlantic Branch was electrified, but following the development of the area by the Laurelton Land Company, the station was torn down in 1906, and split between
Laurelton and Higbie Avenue stations.
Higbie Avenue station
Higbie Avenue station was built in 1908 as one of two replacements for a former
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 Isl ...
station on Springfield Road known as Springfield station, a name also given to a former station on 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. Howe ...
which itself was renamed
Springfield Gardens Station
Springfield Gardens was an island platform station that existed along the Babylon-Montauk Branch of the Long Island Rail Road, in the Springfield Gardens, Queens section of Queens, New York City. The station was located between St. Albans and Ro ...
. SSRLI's Springfield station existed from October 28, 1867 to 1906. The newer station itself was named Springfield station until September 1927.
Higbie Avenue station always consisted of a small shack on an embankment. Though it ran on the Atlantic Branch, it only served
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, ...
trains; however, between 1950 and 1955, it also served
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 ...
trains due to the 1950 fire on the bridge over
Jamaica Bay.
In 1948, the White Engineering Corporation completed a three-volume study for the
Pennsylvania Railroad on how to save the Long Island Rail Road from bankruptcy and how to make it self-sufficient. This study, which was made public in August 1949, made several recommendations, including the abandonment of eleven LIRR stations to save $96,000, of which three (Atlantic venue, Inwood, and Merillon Avenue) were in Nassau County, and eight were in Queens, including Hamilton Beach, the Raunt, Elmhurst, Corona, Higbie Avenue, and Cedar Manor.
In 1949, the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) requested permission from the
New York State Public Service Commission
The New York Public Service Commission is the public utilities commission of the New York state government that regulates and oversees the electric, gas, water, and telecommunication industries in New York as part of the Department of Public Servi ...
(PSC) to discontinue this and Cedar Manor station to reduce the cost of its planned project to eliminate grade crossings on the Atlantic Branch between Springfield Boulevard and South Road. The PSC ordered the LIRR to construct twelve-car long high-level side platforms at both stations, along with shelters. The PSC had determined that ridership at the two stations was high enough to require their continuation.
In 1955, the LIRR again requested permission from the PSC to discontinue Cedar Manor and Higbie Avenue stations. The LIRR claimed that while total ridership at the two stations was 15,000 and 28,400 in July 1949, respectively, ridership decreased by 70 percent at Cedar Manor, and by 60 at Higbie Avenue.
At a PSC hearing, a passenger representative of the LIRR said that alternate means of transportation from the two stations to Jamaica and Penn Station would only take ten minutes longer. On July 22, 1955, the PSC allowed the LIRR to close Cedar Manor station, but not the Higbie Avenue station. The PSC found that alternate transportation was available at Cedar Manor in the form of bus service, while there was none at Higbie Avenue. Cedar Manor was ordered to stay open until the temporary tracks for the grade crossing elimination project were installed. The LIRR had stated that ridership had significantly declined at the two stations in recent years and that closing them would save $350,000.
On October 15, 1958, the PSC announced that the
Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) had sought permission to eliminate agent service at the station. As part of the Old Southern–Rosedale grade-crossing elimination project underway, the station was to be relocated to Farmers Boulevard. On January 27, 1960, the westbound station platform closed with the placement of the elevated westbound track into service, and the eastbound platform closed on February 2, 1960, with the completion of the eastbound track, which completed the Atlantic Branch grade elimination project. The $9,235,000 project elevated the branch over 111th Avenue, Linden Boulevard, New York Boulevard, Foch Boulevard, Baisley Boulevard, Farmers Boulevard, Higbie Avenue, and Springfield Boulevard, and constructed pedestrian underpasses at 109th Avenue and 108th Avenue. $225,000 was spent to construct a bridge to open Brinkerhoff Avenue across the rail line. The project also consolidated Higbie Avenue station and Locust Manor station, which had been located at Jamaica Racetrack with a new Locust Manor station midway between the two at Farmers Boulevard.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Higbie Avenue (Lirr Station)
Former Long Island Rail Road stations in New York City
Railway stations in the United States opened in 1908
Railway stations closed in 1960
1908 establishments in New York City
1960 disestablishments in New York (state)