Sayville is a 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. How ...

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 ...

in the village of

Sayville, New York Sayville is a hamlet and census-designated place in Suffolk County, New York, United States. Located on the South Shore of Long Island in the Township of Islip, the population of the CDP was 16,853 at the time of the 2010 census. History The earl ...

, on Depot Street between Greeley Avenue and Railroad Avenue. Ferries to

Fire Island Fire Island is the large center island of the outer barrier islands parallel to the South Shore of Long Island, in the U.S. state of New York. Occasionally, the name is used to refer collectively to not only the central island, but also Long ...

board from a port south of the station.

History

Sayville station was originally built by the

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 Isla ...

in December 1868, and was the end of the line until April 1869 when the line was extended to

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 ...

. From that point until the early 20th century, the station also served as the local post office. At the time, it contained coal sidings, spurs into lumber yards, a freight house west of Greeley Avenue, a dairy farm, and even a horse trolley to the

Great South Bay The Great South Bay is a lagoon situated between Long Island and Fire Island, in the State of New York. It is about long and has an average depth of 4 feet 3 inches and is 20 feet at its deepest. It is protected from the Atlantic Ocean by Fire Is ...

owned by the

South Shore Traction Company The Manhattan and Queens Traction Company, also known as the Manahttan and Queens Transit Company, was a streetcar company operating in Manhattan and Queens County, New York between 1913 and 1937. History The Manhattan and Queens Traction Compan ...

. The horse trolley was eventually converted into an electric trolley line after being acquired by the

Suffolk Traction Company The Suffolk Traction Company is a former streetcar system in Suffolk County, New York. It operated primarily between Patchogue and Holtsville, but also included a route that served Blue Point, Bayport, and Sayville. It was opened in 1909 and cea ...

. In November 1905, mail that was delivered to the railroad station was blown out of its pouch by a speeding train and scattered under the tracks and was searched by the postmaster along "half a mile of track." The original station was razed sometime in 1906 and a second depot opened on August 3 that year. When Bayport station was closed by the Long Island Rail Road in 1980, former Bayport commuters opted to use Sayville station. A renovation project took place sometime in 1998–1999. It brought the current pedestrian overpass and sheltered high-level platforms.

Station layout

The station has two high-level side platforms each eight cars long. The Montauk Branch has two tracks here, the last such station on the line; all stations from east to have only a single platform, as the double track becomes single track between Sayville and the former Bayport station.

References

External links

February 2000 Photo (Unofficial LIRR History Website)
(Arrt's Arrchives)
1999 Sayville Westbound Train (YouTube)
*Unofficial LIRR Photography Site (www.lirrpics.com)
Station from Railroad Avenue from Google Maps Street View
{{LIRR stations navbox Long Island Rail Road stations in Suffolk County, New York Islip (town), New York Railway stations in the United States opened in 1868