Little Neck is a station on the Long Island Rail Road's

Port Washington Branch The Port Washington Branch is an electrified two-track rail line and service owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York. It branches north from the Main Line at the former Winfield Junction station, just eas ...

in the Little Neck neighborhood of

Queens 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 ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. The station is at Little Neck Parkway and 39th Road, about half a mile (800 m) north of

Northern Boulevard New York State Route 25A (NY 25A) is a state highway on Long Island in New York, United States. It serves as the main east–west route for most of the North Shore of Long Island, running for from Interstate 495 (I-495) at th ...

. Little Neck station is 14.5 miles (23.3 km) from

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 (Cinc ...

in Midtown Manhattan, and is the easternmost station on the Port Washington Branch in New York City. The station house is located on the south (eastbound) side, unlike most station houses on the Port Washington Branch. The station is part of the

CityTicket 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, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County on Long Island. With an average week ...

program and is in Zone 3.

Little Neck Parkway Little Neck Parkway (formerly Little Neck Road) is the easternmost major north/south route in northern Queens, New York City. North of Northern Boulevard (NY 25A), the parkway is a local residential street. South of there, it is a two- to four-l ...

at the west end of the station crosses the line at the only at-grade

railroad crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel. The term also ...

on the Port Washington Branch, and one of the few remaining in New York City. It is regarded as one of the most dangerous railroad crossings in the city, as the other crossings carry few trains, usually only freight trains (such as 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 ...

west of

Jamaica station Jamaica station is a major train station of the Long Island Rail Road located in Jamaica, Queens, New York City. With weekday ridership exceeding 200,000 passengers, it is the largest transit hub on Long Island, the fourth-busiest rail station ...

and the Bushwick Branch, both un-electrified).

History

The original station house was built between February and May 1870 by the

Flushing and North Side Railroad The Flushing and North Side Railroad was a former railroad on Long Island built by Conrad Poppenhusen as a replacement for the former New York and Flushing Railroad. The railroad was established in 1868, was merged with the Central Railroad of Lo ...

, and is one of only two built by the F&NS along the Port Washington Branch. The depot was built on the south side of the tracks and east of Little Neck Parkway. The station building was erected by Benjamin Wooley, and was 16 by 26 feet, two stories high, with a high platform in front, and . The station cost $1,500. The station opened in June 1870 as Little Neck, superseding earlier Little Neck station, which reverted to the name of Douglaston. It was replaced by the Long Island City and Flushing Railroad in 1890 with a second station house. The former F&NS depot is now located on a local street off

. Electric lights were installed in the station in February 1910. Automatic gates and high level platforms were installed by 1978. There is a pedestrian overpass at mid-platform links the eastbound and westbound platforms. This overpass was closed and was demolished in September 2016 even though it was refurbished in 1989. It was replaced by a prefabricated span in December 2016.

Station layout

Little Neck station platforms (March 2019)

The station has two at-grade 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 platform ...

s, each 10 cars long, with a crossover staircase connecting them.

References

External links

Little Neck Parkway RR Crossing photo
(Unofficial LIRR History Website)
Little Neck Parkway & Sandhill Road Railroad Crossing (Forgotten NY.com)

Station House from Google Maps Street ViewPlatforms from Google Maps Street View (Daytime)Platforms from Google Maps Street View (Night)

Inside station house/ waiting room from Google Maps Street View
{{LIRR stations navbox Railway stations in Queens, New York Long Island Rail Road stations in New York City Railway stations in the United States opened in 1870 1870 establishments in New York (state) Douglaston–Little Neck, Queens