Massapequa

When I look at Massapequa station from the street, I keep thinking that there are similarities with some of the Pennsy grade elimination projects in New Jersey. As I understand it, the elevated island platform was opened near the end of 1953, some years after the Pennsy told the LIRR to go its own way. Was it a Pennsy design later completed by the railroad or New York State? Was the present passenger elevator a baggage-and-mail elevator? Didn't the south side exterior carry keystones (or maybe my memory is foul)? I also think it "quaint" that we had an era on Long Island when trainmen had to keep opening and closing traps, depending on whether the next station was high or low. To the west, Wantagh was low for another 10-years-plus, and to the east Amityville was low for about twenty.

BSB: You are right-the grade separation project that you are thinking of is Woodbridge on today's NJCL. When you look at the design of both stations there are many similarities-they were obviously designed by the same people in around the same time period-the early to mid 50s. Another interesting thing about Massapequa was that when the LIRR renovated the station and extended the platform east to accomodate 12 car trains in the early 80s they matched the canopy and station appearance exactly to match the older part of the station. I now find that I am not the only one to notice this about these two stations. As for the stations E and W, Merrick and Bellmore were elevated in 1975-76;Wantagh and Seaford around 1969-70;Massapequa Park in 1979-80 and the Amityville-Copaigue-Lindenhurst section in 1972-73. Some memories and observations from MACTRAXX

I have a clip from an 8mm film that shows Massapequa at grade between '68-before elevation. The clip shows a run by at lynbrook station and a very DARK shot of inside a brand new (now probly scraped) M1. Then shows Massapequa before it's over. The overall clip is not more then 3 min's if I remember correctly. It's something unsual seeing Massapequa ad grade at a time when 90-100% of the montauk to babylon was elevated. It was elevated lond before I was born but the footage was a treat.