The Sag Harbor Branch was a branch 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 ...

that was the eastern terminal on the south shore line of Long Island from 1869 to 1895 and then was a spur from

Bridgehampton Bridgehampton is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) on the South Fork, Suffolk County, New York, South Fork of Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 1,7 ...

Sag Harbor, New York Sag Harbor is an incorporated village in Suffolk County, New York, United States, in the towns of Southampton and East Hampton on eastern Long Island. The village developed as a working port on Gardiner's Bay. The population was 2,772 at the ...

from 1895 to 1939. It originally continued west from Bridgehampton along the current

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 ...

to Eastport and used what later became the Manorville Branch to 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 ...

at Manorville.

History

The line was conceived and surveyed in 1854. In 1869 LIRR president Oliver Charlick wanted the branch to head off plans by the South Side Railroad to extend their line beyond

Patchogue Patchogue (, ) is a village in Suffolk County, New York. The population was 11,798 at the time of the 2010 census. Patchogue is part of the town of Brookhaven, on the south shore of Long Island, adjoining Great South Bay. It is officially known ...

. A map of the branch can be seen along with the proposed SSRRLI extension from Patchogue. The original plans called for the branch to leave the Main Line at Riverhead. But Riverhead refused to pay the LIRR for the benefits of being at a junction, so the west end was moved to Manorville in the

pine barrens Pine barrens, pine plains, sand plains, or pineland areas occur throughout the U.S. from Florida to Maine (see Atlantic coastal pine barrens) as well as the Midwest, West, and Canada and parts of Eurasia. Perhaps the most well known pine-barre ...

in 1869. During construction the

Quogue Quogue () is a village in the Town of Southampton in Suffolk County, on the South Fork of Long Island, in New York, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 967, down from 1,018 at the 2000 census. Geography Acc ...

station "on a Sunday morning" was moved by the village from its original and current location to a location on Old Depot Road.Ron Ziel and George H. Foster, Steel Rails to the Sunrise, 1965 The Sag Harbor Line remained the farthest point on the LIRR's south shore line until 1895 when the LIRR extended the road at Bridgehampton to Montauk leaving the Sag Harbor section a spur of the Montauk Line. In 1906, a new station was opened in Sag Harbor named "Lamb's Corner". Sometime later, this station was renamed to " Noyack Road". During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, a freight spur was built onto the newly reinforced Long Wharf in Sag Harbor to deliver torpedoes for the E.W. Bliss Company for testing in the harbor. The Sag Harbor branch was abandoned on May 3, 1939. A former section of the line in Sag Harbor known as Wharf Street has been designated Suffolk County Road 81 and runs from

NY 114 New York State Route 114 (NY 114) is a state highway, including two ferry crossings, on the far eastern sections of Long Island in New York in the United States. It serves as a connector between the two "forks" of Long Island, crossing ...

to the Sag Harbor Pier. The rest of the road bed was transformed into the Long Pond

Greenbelt A green belt is a policy and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges, which hav ...

. The road bed is now a hiking trail. The freight house at the Sag Harbor train station is now the Sag Harbor Garden Center.

Manorville Branch

The track that became the Manorville Branch was originally a segment of the Sag Harbor Branch, running from Manorville on the Main Line southeast to Eastport on the Montauk Branch, which eventually became its own branch. A small portion of the right of way runs through what is today the

Long Island Game Farm The Long Island Game Farm, situated at 489 Chapman Boulevard in Manorville, New York, was established in 1969 by Stanley and Diane Novak. Stanley Novak, his wife Diane and daughters Melinda and Susan built the zoo A zoo (short for zoological g ...

, while another segment runs through a Town of Brookhaven compost facility. In Eastport, the line ran beneath a bridge, which no longer exists, under Suffolk CR 51 then along the north end of

Spadaro Airport Spadaro Airport was a privately owned, public use airport located one nautical mile (2 km) northeast of the central business district of East Moriches, in Suffolk County, New York, United States. It was included in the National P ...

, before merging with the Montauk Branch. It even contained a wye for westbound Montauk Branch trains that went over

Montauk Highway Montauk Highway is an east–west road extending for across the southern shore of Long Island in Suffolk County, New York, in the United States. It extends from the Nassau County line in Amityville, where it connects to Merrick Road, to Montauk ...

until 1931. The Manorville Branch was abandoned on December 27, 1949. In the 1950s, Suffolk County Department of Public Works planned to transform the former branch into a four-lane highway called Suffolk County Road 91 (Manorville Branch Road), but this proposal was abandoned on June 24, 1986, and as with the Long Pond Greenbelt, this road bed is also now a hiking trail.

Stations

The two branches are connected via the

. The Manorville Branch was abandoned in 1949, while the Sag Harbor Branch was abandoned in 1939.

References

External links

Maps and Photos by Bob Emery, Dave Keller, and Steve Lynch (TrainsAreFun.com)
an

{{Long Island Rail Road Long Island Rail Road branches Transportation in Suffolk County, New York Railway lines opened in 1869 Railway lines closed in 1939 Railway lines closed in 1949 1869 establishments in New York (state)