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THE LONG ISLAND
RAIL ROAD COMPANY
THE BROOKLYN AND JAMAICA RAIL ROAD COMPANY
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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. |
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. |
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. |
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. |
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. |