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This article is about the Long Island Rail Road line. For the New York City Subway line, see IND Rockaway Line.

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; the Long Beach Branch also begins there, heading east and south to Long Beach, and the Atlantic Branch heads west to Jamaica. From Valley Stream, the line heads south and southwest through southwestern Nassau County, ending at Far Rockaway in Queens. LIRR maps and schedules indicate that the Far Rockaway Branch service continues west along the Atlantic Branch to Jamaica.[1][2] This two-track branch provides 24-hour service in both directions to the Flatbush Avenue terminal in Brooklyn, with transfers required at Jamaica (on almost all non rush-hour trains originating in Far Rockaway) for Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan. During rush hour, express service bypasses Jamaica station.

History[]

The South Side Railroad built the branch in 1869. While constructing it in summer 1869, the company installed about 700 feet (200 m) of tracks across William B. McManus's farmland near Lawrence. But the transaction had not been completed, and McManus and his rowdy Irish friends tore up the track the next night; a legal battle led to the company paying McManus.[3]

Due to the success of the branch, the South Side built the 200-foot (60 m) South Side Pavilion, a restaurant on the beach. The line was extended west to the Seaside House (Beach 103rd Street) by 1872 and Neptune House (Beach 116th Street) in 1875.[3]

The Far Rockaway Branch had originally been part of a loop that traveled along the existing route, continuing through the Rockaway Peninsula and heading on a trestle across Jamaica Bay through Queens where it reconnected with other branches. Frequent fires and maintenance problems led the LIRR to abandon the Queens portion of the route, which was acquired by the city to become the IND Rockaway Line, with service provided by the A train.[4]


Station listing[]

Station/
location
Station
link
Miles (kilometers)
to Penn Station
Connections/notes
For continuing service to points west, see City Terminal Zone
Jamaica
Jamaica-Beaver Street
Jamaica
closed
Cedar Manor
South Jamaica
closed 1960
Locust Manor
Farmers Boulevard and Bedell Street, Locust Manor
[1] 14.0 (22.5) Bus (New York City Bus):Q3 (to JFK Airport); Q85
Higbie Avenue
Locust Manor
closed 1960
Laurelton
225th Street and 141st Road, Laurelton
[2] 15.1 (24.0) Bus (New York City Bus): Q77, Q85
Rosedale
North Conduit Avenue and 243rd Street, Rosedale
[3] 16.0 (25.4) Bus (New York City Bus): Q5, Q85
Valley Stream
Franklin Avenue and Sunrise Highway, Valley Stream
[4] 17.7 (28.5) Transfer to Long Beach and West Hempstead Branch trains
Bus (MTA Long Island Bus): N1, N2, N3
Gibson
Gibson Boulevard and Munro Boulevard, Gibson
[5] 18.6 (29.9) Bus (MTA Long Island Bus): N1
Hewlett
Franklin Avenue between Broadway and West Broadway, Hewlett
[6] 19.5 (31.4) Bus (MTA Long Island Bus): N31, N32
Woodmere
Woodmere Boulevard and Cedar Lane, Woodmere
[7] 20.1 (32.3) Bus (MTA Long Island Bus): N31, N32
Cedarhurst
Cedarhurst Avenue and Chestnut Street, Cedarhurst
[8] 20.9 (33.6) Bus (MTA Long Island Bus): N31, N32
Lawrence
Lawrence Avenue and Bayview Avenue, Lawrence
[9] 21.8 (35.1) Bus (MTA Long Island Bus): N31, N32
Inwood
Doughty Boulevard and Foote Avenue, Inwood
[10] 22.4 (36.0) Bus (MTA Long Island Bus): N31, N32
Far Rockaway
Nameoke Street and Redfern Avenue, Far Rockaway
[11] 23.0 (37.0) Bus (MTA Long Island Bus): N31, N32, N33
Bus (MTA New York City Bus): Q113
Eldert's Grove
Holland's
Sea Side House
Neptune House
Atlantic Park

References[]

  1. MTA LIRR - LIRR Map
  2. LIRR Far Rockaway Branch Timetable
  3. 3.0 3.1 Ron Ziel and George H. Foster, Steel Rails to the Sunrise, ©1965
  4. IND Rockaway Branch/Jamaica Bay Crossing, accessed June 14, 2006

External links[]

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