The Flushing and North Side Railroad was a former railroad on Long Island built by

Conrad Poppenhusen Conrad Poppenhusen (April 1, 1818 – December 12, 1883) was a German American businessman. He was also a philanthropist, a founder of College Point, Queens, and the founder of the first free kindergarten in the United States (on July 1, 1870). ''S ...

as a replacement for the former

New York and Flushing 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 Long ...

. The railroad was established in 1868, was merged with the

Central Railroad of Long Island Central Railroad of Long Island was built on Long Island, New York (state), New York, by Alexander Turney Stewart, who was also the founder of Garden City, New York, Garden City. The railroad was established in 1871, then merged with the Flushing ...

in 1874 to form the Flushing, North Shore and Central Railroad, and was finally acquired by the Long Island Rail Road in 1876. Today the main line is known as the

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 east ...

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 ...

Predecessor railroads

New York and Flushing Railroad

Before the Flushing and North Side, most of the line was originally built by the New York and Flushing Railroad (NY&F), in 1854 from Hunters Point in

Long Island City Long Island City (LIC) is a residential and commercial neighborhood on the extreme western tip of Queens, a borough in New York City. It is bordered by Astoria to the north; the East River to the west; New Calvary Cemetery in Sunnyside to the ...

Flushing Flushing may refer to: Places * Flushing, Cornwall, a village in the United Kingdom * Flushing, Queens, New York City ** Flushing Bay, a bay off the north shore of Queens ** Flushing Chinatown (法拉盛華埠), a community in Queens ** Flushing ...

, before the LIRR opened its line to Long Island City. Chartered on March 3, 1852, it was the first railroad on Long Island not to be part of the Long Island Rail Road. The company was taken over by Oliver Charlick and reorganized in 1859 as the

, and established a subsidiary known as the "North Shore Railroad" to extend the line from Flushing to

Great Neck Great Neck is a region on Long Island, New York, that covers a peninsula on the North Shore and includes nine villages, among them Great Neck, Great Neck Estates, Great Neck Plaza, Kings Point, and Russell Gardens, and a number of unincor ...

in 1866 (see below). Originally intending to run further east to Roslyn, Oyster Bay, and even Huntington, the NY&F's plans were thwarted by the LIRR who reached those destination first, as well as poor service that the company became known for.

Flushing and Woodside Railroad

Dissatisfied with the NY&F's service, residents of Flushing and Newtown convinced the LIRR to incorporate the

Flushing and Woodside 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 Long ...

on February 24, 1864 as a competing branch to Flushing. The branch ran from

Woodside Woodside may refer to: Places and buildings Australia *Woodside, South Australia, a town *Woodside, Victoria, a town Canada *Woodside National Historic Site, the boyhood home of William Lyon Mackenzie King *Woodside, Nova Scotia, a neighborho ...

toward Great Neck Junction, with a branch to Whitestone. When the NY&F collapsed after construction of the Great Neck Extension, the LIRR acquired the railroad and left this branch unfinished. After Poppenhausen created the Flushing and North Side Railroad, he also acquired the Flushing and Woodside, but was able to complete construction of the line, which became the Woodside Branch of the Flushing and North Side. The line only contained one other station at Junction Boulevard and 35th Avenue called Grinnell station. This station opened on April 24, 1874 and closed in October 1877. East of Grinnell station and the

Flushing River The Flushing River, also known as Flushing Creek, is a waterway that flows northward through the borough of Queens in New York City, mostly within Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, emptying into the Flushing Bay and the East River. The river run ...

, there was a junction leading either toward the main line of the F&NS railroad or the

Whitestone Branch The Whitestone Branch was a branch of the Long Island Rail Road, running north and east along the left bank of the Flushing River from the Port Washington Branch near the modern Willets Point/Flushing sections of Queens, New York. It crossed th ...

North Shore Railroad

Despite service complaints, New York and Flushing established a subsidiary called the North Shore Railroad of Long Island on September 25, 1863 to extend the line from Flushing to

. The extension opened on October 27, 1866. Unfortunately, the NY&F realized that they could not survive the competition, and sold their line (and their lease on the North Shore Railroad of Long Island.) to the LIRR in 1867. The LIRR benefitted by preventing the South Side Railroad from using the New York and Flushing access to the LIRR's Long Island City terminal, and by keeping the North Side Railroad from extending east to Huntington in competition with the LIRR. The LIRR also stopped construction on the incomplete Flushing and Woodside.

Formation

Flushing citizens, feeling they had been tricked into building the Flushing and Woodside in order to scare the Flushing and North Side into selling out to the LIRR, convinced wealthy residents of College Point and Whitestone, including

, to incorporate the Flushing and North Side Railroad on April 3, 1868. This company had the right to build a line from

and beyond to Roslyn, with a branch from Flushing to Whitestone. The group gained control of the unfinished

, and opened its line to Flushing, paralleling the LIRR from Long Island City to Woodside, in 1868 and to College Point and Whitestone in 1869. This new line attracted most of the traffic from the older New York and Flushing, and the LIRR wanted to get rid of its Flushing branch. In 1869, an affiliate of the Flushing and North Side, the

Whitestone and Westchester Railroad The Whitestone Branch was a branch of the Long Island Rail Road, running north and east along the left bank of the Flushing River from the Port Washington Branch near the modern Willets Point/Flushing sections of Queens, New York. It crossed th ...

, built the

. It was intended to cross the

East River The East River is a saltwater tidal estuary in New York City. The waterway, which is actually not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates the borough of Queens ...

Westchester County Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population o ...

, but never had the chance to do so. The line had a spur to a freight dock on

Flushing Bay Flushing Bay is a tidal embayment in New York City. It is located on the south side of the East River and stretches to the south near the neighborhood of Flushing, Queens. It is bordered on the west by LaGuardia Airport and the Grand Central Parkw ...

which crossed the Woodside Branch and the connecting line between the Woodside and Whitestone Branches. After the Flushing Bay Freight spur, the line itself also crossed the Woodside Branch, and then merged with the Woodside-Whitestone connector before crossing the

. From there it contained four stations, one at Bridge Street, College Point, and two in Whitestone, one at 14th Avenue and the other at 155th Street, which has been called Whitestone Landing station, and Beechhurst Yacht Club station. Malba station was not built until decades after the line was acquired by the LIRR. In 1869, the

New York State Legislature The New York State Legislature consists of the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York: The New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly. The Constitution of New York does not designate an official ...

authorized the Flushing and North Side to buy the New York and Flushing east of the LIRR crossing at connections were built by the Flushing and North Side at Woodside/Winfield and Flushing to connect its lines. The New York and Flushing continued to own the line west of Winfield, and soon became the South Side Railroad's access to Long Island City. The segment between what was to become the former and stations was abandoned for passenger service in 1875, and completely abandoned in 1880. Part of the right-of-way ran through what is today the Mount Zion Jewish Cemetery in

Maspeth Maspeth is a residential and commercial community in the borough of Queens in New York City. It was founded in the early 17th century by Dutch and English settlers. Neighborhoods sharing borders with Maspeth are Woodside to the north; Sunnyside t ...

. The Flushing and Woodside was merged into the Flushing and North Side in 1871, and its line was abandoned in favor of the ex-New York and Flushing line.

Proposed expansion

Since both the NY&F and F&NS planned to expand service east of Great Neck, subsidiaries of the railroad were created for this purpose. In the case of the F&NS, two proposed railroads included the North Shore and Port Washington Railroad and the Roslyn and Huntington Railroad. Neither of these proposals were carried out. In fact, they were eliminated during the merger with the

in 1874 (''see below''), although the LIRR did try to extend the line to Roslyn until 1882 due to the difficulty of construction around the Manhasset Valley.

Mergers

On June 19, 1874, all branches of the Flushing and North Side Railroad, including the Main Line to Great Neck were incorporated into the Flushing, North Shore and Central Railroad, which included the

. Two years later, it would become part of the Long Island Rail Road. Despite the failed attempt to extend the line from Great Neck to in 1882, wealthy Port Washington residents persuaded the LIRR to bring the terminus to their hometown in 1895. This required the construction of the

Manhasset Viaduct The Manhasset Viaduct (also known as the Manhasset Valley Bridge) is a Railroad Bridge, railroad bridge located between the Thomaston, New York, Village of Thomaston and the Manhasset, New York, Hamlet of Manhasset, on Long Island, in the New Yor ...

over Manhasset Bay, which was completed on June 23, 1898. The Woodside and Whitestone Branches were abandoned.

Station listing

Main Line

Original New York & Flushing section

Woodside Branch

Whitestone Branch

References

External links

MTA Long Island Rail Road
*Bob Andersen's Unofficial LIRR History Website:

*Forgotten New York:
Pride in Port (The Jekyll & Hyde Branch of the Long Island Railroad: Part One)

Pride in Port (The Jekyll & Hyde Branch of the Long Island Railroad: Part Two)

Like a Rolling Whitestone
an

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flushing And North Side Railroad Defunct New York (state) railroads Predecessors of the Long Island Rail Road Defunct public transport operators in the United States Railroads on Long Island Railway companies established in 1868 Railway companies disestablished in 1876 American companies disestablished in 1876 American companies established in 1868