Longest LIRR freight train you've seen or crewed

What's the longest LIRR freight train you ever saw or were a crewmember on before the takeover of the LI's freight work by the NYA?

My Brother used to work in Floral Park, and I saw 113 car frieght go through floral park in the early 80's.

Longest one I ever worked was the Circus Train from Harold to the Garden Mitchell secondary. It had 58 cars about 3 years ago. Now that was interesting, seeing some of the people living on the train, and of course the animals. It is a big event every year when the train arrives, between garden and the end at stewart ave, the police have the crossings blocked, and the locals come out em mass to wave to the train. It was actually a lot of fun.

What sort of power was pulling that 113 car train, and was it a westbound or an eastbound train?

I recall ( Chris will remember ) from a few weeks ago...

very early 70s in the PC days, they were taking a train to the island, pulling in, 109 loads with 3 alco RS's, 1 conked out. . then the next. Sure as hell. . last alco pulled the train in by itself. Alco power for ya!
sure wish i coulda seen that!

The power was a couple of aclo L-2 engines, i believe the lead engine was 222 over 20 years ago!

P.S. westbound

The longest freight I ever ran was 74 cars...with three 1500's. In those days, the late 80's and early 90's, only the east yard in Fresh Pond was open and the Bushwick Lead. Classification was done in Yard A. So, when Conrail would come to Fremont, they would have 50 to 80 cars or so and you would take the whole drag back to Yard A to be switched and sorted out for the RF's and of course bring all the empties and loads from Yard A back to Fresh Pond. So the trains would be kind of large between Yard A and Fresh Pond but much smaller east of Fresh Pond.

I liked switching with Conrail in Fremont because sometimes we would use their U boats to drill up there and it was interesting to use another railroad's locomotives. The CR guys were real nice guys. I was real young then and they were at least to my young mind, very old. Naturally they would goof with you being a "young guy". They asked me if I had my parent's permission to run a locomotive.

It's sad how much the LIRR has changed.

That same circus train is real fun when it comes down into Long Island City. The "sleeper" cars fill four tracks to capacity and obviously have to be switched out.

The storage and animal cars have to be switched out to the side tracks off of the Hunterspoint Ave. Station.

My advice to motorists that have to cross over either the Borden Ave. or Eleventh Street crossing that are in the yard is avoid that route that day !

I'm sure BMC recalls when the hauler came on line with 140 -160 cars. We'd get two of them a day. They came to LIC where the yardmaster, BMC for one, would classify the cars on the hump for trains going east. That was in 1982, BMC's first year in that esteemed position.

Clem

How much power would a 160-car train rate? I guess that would be W/B from Fresh Pond to Yard A? Is'nt there a tough grade on that stretch?

Just one more thought on the "circus Train" In a movie from 1952 Called "The Greatest Show on Earth", The circus train is a big part of the movie. In the movie, the circus train runs in two parts, and someone attempts to rob the train of it's box office money. What they do is put a fussee on the tracks, and when the train stops, they knock out the brakeman, who was going back to flag, and protect the train from the following train. The resulting wreck is spectacular, and one of the best ever filmed. It was obviously done with models, but it is well done anyway. Whoever filmed this did their homework, because when the train stops, the engineer gives the proper engine whistle for "flagman protect rear of train." Check it out, it is a typical 50's corny movie, but it works and in fact as an all star cast. Betty Hutton, Dorothy Lamour, Charlton Heston, Jimmy Stewart. It was directed by Cecil B. DeMille, and it won The oscar for best picture. Another interesting scene is when they use an Elephant to lift heavy debris off of one of the injured. Check out the train itself and compare it with todays circus train..it has not changed much in 53 years.

Emmet Kelly also stars as himself!

Was anybody around when the circus train came in a blaze of glory into Jamaica with the officials watching. I heard the crew took pictures next to the car that was on fire in Hillside. Can anybody confirm this I guess it was around the mid-90's?

Didn't they do alot of remodeling on the Circus Train after the Orlando derailment?

Form19...when y'all had to move the trains from Freemont to Yard A, did you guys use that loop that comes from the Lower Montauk, over the main, and then straight down into yard A?