Bethpage Branch

The Bethpage Branch was a branch of the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR), running from the present-day split between the Ronkonkoma Branch and Central Branch (then called the Bethpage Junction and now called Bethpage Interlocking) north about 1 3⁄4 miles (2.8 km) to present-day Old Bethpage, New York.

Bethpage Branch
Map of the Bethpage Branch from 1873
Overview
TypePassenger and Freight
StatusAbandoned
LocaleBethpage Purchase
TerminiBethpage (south)
Old Bethpage (north)
Stations2
Operation
OpenedJune 1873 (1873-06)
ClosedNovember 10, 1942 (1942-11-10)
Operator(s)Central Railroad of Long Island (1873-1876)
Long Island Rail Road (1876-1942)
Technical
Line length1.75 miles (2.8 km)
Track gauge4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Route map
CRRLI Main Line
Main Line
Bethpage Junction
Bethpage
Central Branch
Ronkonkoma Branch

History

This branch was originally built by the Central Railroad of Long Island (CRRLI) in June 1873, primarily for the purpose of serving Alexander Turney Stewart's local brick manufacturing plant (Bethpage Brickworks),[1] so he could deliver bricks for his project building the planned community of Garden City, New York. Several pickle factories near the brickyards also used the line to deliver their freight.

Though passenger usage was not part of the original plan, one passenger stop at each end of the branch was instituted. The passenger stop at the northern terminus of the branch was called Bethpage, located near present-day Winding Road and Battle Row (just north of the old Stewart brickworks, and south of the present-day Old Bethpage Village Restoration). The stop at the southern end, called Bethpage Junction, was also a transfer point. From Bethpage Junction CRRLI (replaced after 1876 by LIRR) trains went north to Bethpage, and southeast to Babylon and beyond. CRRLI (and later LIRR) trains went west towards Garden City (and beyond), while LIRR trains went west to Jamaica (and beyond), and east towards Ronkonkama (and beyond).

Proposals to extend the branch north through Smithtown, Huntington and Port Jefferson were abandoned after amalgamation of the CRRLI with the LIRR in 1876.[2] Designated a siding as of May 24, 1909,[3] the Bethpage Branch was abandoned on November 10, 1942. Today, the former right-of-way in part is occupied by a bridle path and Thomas Powell Boulevard.[4]

Stations
Station Date
opened		 Date
closed		 Miles to Penn Station Notes / history
Bethpage Junction June 1873 1925 Located at the current LIRR Bethpage Interlocking (between the present-day Bethpage and Farmingdale stations)
Also a transfer point, originally between LIRR and CRRLI
Bethpage November 9, 1874 1909 Located near Winding Road and Battle Row in present-day Old Bethpage
Summer service only in 1876-1877


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References
  1. The brickyards continued operations under different owners until 1981, with different sections known variously also as Queens County Brick Manufacturing Company, Post Brick Company, and lastly (some time after Nassau County split from Queens County in 1899) Nassau Brick Company
  2. Seyfried, Vincent F. (January 1, 1966). The Long Island Rail Road: The age of expansion, 1863-1880. Vincent Seyfried. Archived from the original on December 20, 2014.
  3. Vincent F. Seyfried; Robert M. Emery; Art Huneke & Jeff Erlitz. "LONG ISLAND RAIL ROAD Alphabetical Station Listing and History". Archived from the original on January 6, 2011.
  4. "BETHPAGE BRANCH". www.arrts-arrchives.com. Retrieved May 16, 2016.
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