Saxon Avenue Siding?

Hello all, new to the group...

As a kid, I grew up near the Saxon Avenue crossing on the Montauk Branch. We used to ride our bikes over and hang out on the old siding while watching the push/pull trains go back and forth during the afternoon.

I had always wondered what that siding was there for. For all of my life (was born in the 70s) I can only remember the school bus yard being there, and could never imagine them needing rail service for any reason. I know the switch, though aged and rusty, was intact to the south track. It was finally severed in the 90's during the concrete tie installation phase.

I'm sure someone on here must know right away what it is...

Only two industries I can think of in Bay Shore would be Bay Shore Lumber and the board-game company, Selchow & Righter.

http://www.trainsarefun.com/lirr/islip/islip.htm
http://www.trainsarefun.com/lirr/islip/ ... ht2008.htm
Emery map 1958 at MP41.5 http://www.trainsarefun.com/lirr/lirrtr ... 1-MP42.jpg
Originally Olympic Siding (see below)

Islip Centre Station (similar perhaps to Islip above) on S.S.R.R. timetable 1869, dropped 4/1870
South Side Railroad - Islip Centre
Bailey's lumber Coal Elevator siding out in 1957
New switch further east to accommodate Inspected Transit Mix Co. Elevator 1957
Switch abandoned? Razed?
Location of current Suffolk Bus Co.

Anyone know the concrete tie install date(s)? Thanks!

William H. Moffitt, a real estate developer, familiarized himself with the Bay Shore area as a member of the Olympic Club. His company, W. H. Moffitt Realty Corp., located in New York City began purchasing large properties along the south shore of Long Island in the early 1900’s with the intention of selling it off as subdivided plots.

Unlike Daniel D. Conover, who developed much of the shore areas in the towns of Islip and Bay Shore, Moffitt purchased properties further inland from the Great South Bay. One of his first purchases in 1901 was known as Bay Shore Manor and included 55 acres of land located between Clinton Avenue and Park Avenue and north of Bay Shore Avenue (now Sunrise Highway). Each plot had a 25-foot “frontage” on roads built by Moffitt, was 100-feet deep and less than one-tenth of an acre. It is believed that not many homes were built on the land at that time. However, some of the side streets exist to this day.

In 1906, realizing that in order to be more successful he would need to remain closer to the shore, Moffitt purchased what he called Willow Brook Park, Saxon Park and Olympic Park. Willow Brook, located north of the railroad tracks in Islip was 160 acres and home to the Islip Driving Park which Moffitt later renovated into a race track, known as the Willow Brook Driving Park

Saxon Park, located to the east of Willow Brook, along the south side of the railroad tracks to Saxon Avenue was purchased from Conover’s estate for $40,000 which at the time had been the largest amount paid for property in the town of Islip. The worthiest property, Olympic Park, was located south of South Country road between Orowoc Creek and Saxon Avenue and was the only one with access to the Great South Bay. Moffitt purchased it for $65,000. Moffitt also built five new roads through this property, Kempster, Wenman, Gree, Mallar and Boyd, that ran from Saxon Avenue to Orowoc Creek. Over 900 acres of land along the Great South Bay had been purchased by Moffitt’s company at that time, however, very little had been sold.

Moffitt also bought himself property around Orowoc Pond, in the area north of South Country Road between Saxon Avenue and Grant Avenue on which to build for himself.
Above excerpted from - "Along the Great South Bay - From Oakdale to Babylon - The Story of a Summer Spa 1840-1940" - Harry W. Havemeyer, 1996.

From the MP41.5 Saxon Ave (Islip Centre location) it’s 870’ down the siding to Orowac Creek that empties into Great South Bay and was the property of the Olympic Club.

I can tell you that by the time I took a job in NYC and started commuting daily in the spring of 2008, the ties had been switched out to concrete, and the siding switch removed.

I used to remember walking along the tracks towards Brentwood Road exploring the ROW, and remember the Selchow/Righter factory and siding.

Bay Shore Lumber closed in the mid 2000's IIRC, and the small yard there abandoned.

Moffitt also bought himself property around Orowoc Pond, in the area north of South Country Road between Saxon Avenue and Grant Avenue on which to build for himself.

That area is now the location of Islip Middle School and Islip High School. (My alma mater!!)

interface76 wrote:

Moffitt also bought himself property around Orowoc Pond, in the area north of South Country Road between Saxon Avenue and Grant Avenue on which to build for himself.

That area is now the location of Islip Middle School and Islip High School. (My alma mater!!)

INterface76: BTW: Class of '69 Yipes As the history background indicates Moffitt's house was "around" Orowac Pond it could have been in the current McDonald's location since about 1964, or east of the Pond and west of Pardee's Pond group. (the location of the land that the second Islip High School opened in 1966)

The folks at the Islip Historical Society or perhaps the Islip Library would help us pin this down. Steve

I think you may be talking about Fiore siding.

onorclose7 wrote:I think you may be talking about Fiore siding.

Fiore siding? Do you know the Mile post location? Thanks.

Not sure of the mile post but it was right at the Saxon Ave crossing. South side of the tracks

onorclose7 wrote:Not sure of the mile post but it was right at the Saxon Ave crossing. South side of the tracks

Now I understand. Fiore Siding as in "house siding". I took it as a track name like "team track" or Waldbaum's "siding" implying a track name.
http://www.trainsarefun.com/lirr/islip/ ... ogrant.jpg

I can't speak to a business named Fiore at that location. I only remember buses stored in that location as far back as the late 1960's.

Fiore Industries closed down maybe ten years ago. They did asphalt & road paving work.

onorclose7 wrote:Fiore Industries closed down maybe ten years ago. They did asphalt & road paving work.

Ah... now it makes sense as the next business at the location is the current "Concrete Impressions" Thanks for clarification! as I put this together in 2009: http://www.trainsarefun.com/lirr/islip/ ... ht2008.htm

No. Fiore was located on the south side where Suffolk Bus is now. The tracks and the bumper block is still there. The switch is out. It was removed somewhere around 2003.

onorclose7 wrote:No. Fiore was located on the south side where Suffolk Bus is now. The tracks and the bumper block is still there. The switch is out. It was removed somewhere around 2003.

Oops, you're so right. I posted earlier that the buses are in that location and then goofed up. Duh!

Saxon Ave Switch View West 01/27/2008 Photo: Mike McDermet