ARRT'S    ARRCHIVES





GOD   BLESS   AMERICA!

Copyright © 2014   Arthur   John   Huneke
ALL   RIGHTS   RESERVED


THE     LONG     ISLAND     RAIL     ROAD     COMPANY
JAMAICA     1880'S     CHANGES
THE   BROOKLYN   AND   JAMAICA   RAIL   ROAD   COMPANY



LONG   ISLAND   RAIL   ROAD   STATION   IN   1870

PHOTOGRAPHED   FROM   THE   BEAVER   STREET   BRIDGE


BROOKLYN TRAINS TERMINATED IN JAMAICA UNTIL MID 1877.   THEY USED THE CENTER TRACK AND PASSENGERS DETRAINED ONTO THE SMALL PLATFORM AND CROSSED THE MAIN TRACK TO AWAIT THEIR TRAINS.   WESTBOUND PASSENGERS DETRAINED FROM THE LONG ISLAND CITY BOUND TRAIN AND AFTER IT DEPARTED CROSSED THE TRACK TO THE BROOKLYN TRAIN.



AFTER MID 1877 BROOKLYN TRAINS WERE RUNNING TO ALL POINTS EAST OF JAMAICA.   PASSENGERS WERE BOARDING AND DE-
TRAINING, ALL HAVING TO CROSS THE MAIN TRACK.   REALIZING THE DANGER ATTACHED TO THIS SITUATION THE RAILROAD AS EARLY
AS 1882 CONSIDERED REMOVING THE EASTBOUND TRACK AND INSTALLING A COVERED PLATFORM FOR BROOKLYN PASSENGERS.

ON   MARCH   25   1882   THE   "BABYLON   SIGNAL   WROTE"


FROM   NOVEMBER   3   1883   "BABYLON   SIGNAL"


BY EARLY 1884 THE RAILROAD HAD REMOVED THE EASTBOUND TRACK AND INSTALLED A COVERED PLATFORM WITH SEATS AND GAS LIGHTS.   THE RESULTING SINGLE TRACK OPERATION WAS RENDERED SAFE BY INSTALLING INTERLOCKED SWITCHES AND SIGNALS WORKED BY AN EXPERIENCED MAN IN A TOWER AT THE EAST END OF THE SINGLE TRACK.   THE "JAMAICA STANDARD" DECRIED THE SITUATION.

FROM   APRIL   19   1884   "BABYLON   SIGNAL"


FROM   APRIL   26   1884   "BABYLON   SIGNAL"


THE MAY 31 1884  "BABYLON   SIGNAL"   PRAISED THE CHANGE AND
REPORTED THAT AN INTERLOCKING AND TOWER HAD BEEN INSTALLED.



IN   EARLY   1884   THE   EASTBOUND   TRACK   WAS   REMOVED


THE SIGNAL IN THIS FAMOUS 1880'S PHOTOGRAPH IS THE EASTBOUND HOME SIGNAL AT THE WEST END OF THE NEW SINGLE TRACK


WE HAVE NEVER HEARD OF THIS TOWER AND THOUGHT THAT PERHAPS THE PAPER WAS MISTAKEN AND THE TOWER WAS AT THE WEST END OF THE SINGLE TRACK,   DIVISION STREET,   WHERE WE KNOW THERE WAS A TOWER.   BUT THE 1891 ATLAS - WHICH ACTUALLY REPRESENTS 1888 - SHOWS A SMALL BUILDING AT THE EAST END OF THE STATION ON THE NORTH SIDE.   IT DOES NOT SHOW DIVISION STREET TOWER.

THIS MAP IDENTIFIES PROPERTY OWNED BY THE RAILROAD EAST AND WEST OF THE STATION AND MENTIONED IN THE DECEMBER 11 1886 ARTICLE BELOW.
THIS MAP ALSO SHOWS THE ABUTMENTS OF BEAVER STREET BRIDGE BUT NOT THE BRIDGE ITSELF.   SEE THE BRIDGE EAST THEREOF AT PROSPECT STREET.

WE READ THIS TO MEAN THAT THE BRIDGE WAS REMOVED IN 1888.



EMPLOYE   TIME   TABLE   NUMBER   22   OF   JUNE   18   1885
SHOWS   THE   SINGLE-FILE   OPERATION   OVER  THE   SINGLE   TRACK

TRAIN NUMBER 35 RAN OUT OF LONG ISLAND CITY AND FLATBUSH AVENUE BROOKLYN. WE IMAGINE THAT THE BROOKLN SECTION ARRIVED ON THE SOUTH TRACK, DROPPED PASSENGERS FOR LOCUST VALLEY, SAG HARBOR, GREENPORT, HEMPSTEAD AND BABYLON - LONG ISLAND CITY TRAINS - AND WAITED THERE TO DEPART AS NUMBER 37.





SEYFRIED   STATES   THAT   IN   JULY   1886   PERMISSION WAS   GRANTED
TO   CLOSE   THE   BEAVER   STREET   BRIDGE.   IT   TOOK   A   WHILE

FROM   A   DECEMBER   11   1886   NEWSPAPER


FROM   A   FEBRUARY   1888   NEWSPAPER


THIS   COULD   HAVE   ACCOMPLISHED   THIS   OR


THIS   COULD   HAVE   ACCOMPLISHED   THIS  


THE   SECOND   DRAWING   BETTER   RESEMBLES   THE   ATLAS.

THE   ATLAS   THOUGH   SHOWS   A   FOURTH   TRACK.   ? ?



IN  THE  FIRST  HALF  OF  1888  THE  TRACKS  AND  YARD  WERE  EXTENDED  EAST  INTO  THE  NEW  PROPERTY

FROM   THE   1888   ANNUAL   REPORT:
"AT   JAMAICA   THE   TRACKS   OF   BOTH   BROOKLYN   AND   LONG   ISLAND
CITY   ROADS   HAVE   BEEN   EXTENDED   THROUGH   THE   YARDS."

BY  1893  A  NEW  WIDE  PLATFORM  WITH  A  WAITING  ROOM  HAD  BEEN  BUILT  FOR  BROOKLYN  PASSENGERS.



A   1903   BLUEPRINT   RENDERED   IN   BLACK   AND   WHITE






LATER IN 1903 THE BRIDGES WERE REPLACED AT PROSPECT STREET, WASHINGTON STREET AND UNION HALL STREET, THE STATION WAS ENLARGED TO FOUR PLATFORMS WITH SIX TRACKS, THE TURNTABLE WAS MOVED EAST AND THE RIGHT OF WAY EAST OF THE STATION WAS WIDENED TO EIGHT TRACKS.







Return   to   ----->   JAMAICA   STATION   PART   TWO