Elmhurst Station Past Present and Future (Reopening)

Does anyone have photos of the former Elmhurst station located at Broadway on the PW branch? I searched the web, but found no photos of this station. I believe it closed in 1985.

Here's some data on the depot.

I don't have any photos of the station, but there is a shot of the 1888 stone structure built at grade in Ron Ziel's "Victorian Stations of the LIRR."

I believe it was taken in the 1920s.

ELMHURST (NEWTOWN) BUILT: c. 1860, RAZED: 1888
2ND DEPOT OPENED: DEC/1888,
HIGH PLATFORMS ADDED: 1912, RAZED: 1927
DISCONTINUED AS STATION STOP: 1985

Dave Keller

When driving by on Broadway, I notice that the date on the bridge over Broadway reads 1926. The overpass over Broadway appears to have side skirting implying that it had also supported platforms in the past.

Wow, I didn't realize that the station lasted into the 1980's!

How about Corona? Did that go about the same time? TIA...

Here's my data on Corona:

CORONA
ORIGINAL DEPOT BUILT: 3/1853
2ND DEPOT BUILT: SEPT-OCT/1872, BURNED: 12/9/1880
WHITE LINE DEPOT MOVED TO SITE: 1890, RAZED: 9/1894
4TH DEPOT BUILT: 9/1894, RAZED: 1930
ELEVATED STRUCTURE OPENED: 1/15/31
DISCONTINUED AS STATION STOP: 1963

Dave Keller

I live on the PW line and ride it fairly often. Whenever I do, I make it a point to look for remnants of the Elmhurst and Corona stations, which there are plenty of. Those sideskirts on the bridge that 7 train mentioned, yes, those were platform supports.

You can also see other platform supports for one of the stations(can't remember which) along the tracks, as well as what may have been a ramp to the platform from the street.

Those stations are VERY easy to pick out if you know what to look for. I must admit though, I never knew about them and their remnants until I saw www.forgotten-ny.com section on the PW line.

One thing though, I thought Elmhurst closed in 86, not 85. I'm probably wrong though.

A virtual tour of the former Elmhurst station on the PW branch at Broadway can be found at this link.

When Elmhurst was closed about 1981, the grafitti-painted station had 14 daily riders. Business and commercial enterprises were virtually non-existant.

Today, a thriving emigrant retail community exists at the site.

It would be interesting to see what the ridership would be if Elmhurst were open today.

Flushing - Main Street, just down the branch, experienced a 10,000% increase in riders since 1980.

CLemuel

I thought it closed 1985, not circa 1981.

Clemuel wrote:When Elmhurst was closed about 1981, the grafitti-painted station had 14 daily riders. Business and commercial enterprises were virtually non-existant.

Today, a thriving emigrant retail community exists at the site.

It would be interesting to see what the ridership would be if Elmhurst were open today.

Flushing - Main Street, just down the branch, experienced a 10,000% increase in riders since 1980.

CLemuel

Did the Flushing line make Elmhurst redundant?

It may have closed in 1985. My memory gets a bit jumbled after 20 years.

The Flushing Line did certainly take the majority of business away from the Queens stations when it opened. Prior to the opening of the Subway, the LIRR ran rapid transit service on the branch, perhaps to Murray Hill. The rapid transit trains departed 20-21 Track in Penn Station (accounting for their original short configutation) with MP-41 cars on very short 3- 5 minute headways.

The LIRR also operated rapid transit service between Brooklyn and Queens Village through Tracks 4 and 5 in Jamaica -- hence the reason for their existance and for E-Yard at the end of those Jamaica tracks.

During the rapid transit years, the ridership was huge; Railroad records show 2 million daily just after WWI. They were actually operating a subway-type service in Queens with nickle fares before the subway came along.

Clem

So that explains the side track at Queens Village.

And I bet Elmhurst would still be used today at a greater rate, as well as Corona.

Elmhurst was discontinued in 1985.

Dave Keller

Anyone have the exact date?