narrow gauge railroads on LI

In the other thread about the Plum Island railroad, there was mention of a narrow gauge railroad of sorts on Fire Island. I thought a separate thread on the subject would be fun for trivia.

On one of Project 39 or LIST-NRHS fantrips in the 80s, we went to the Bay Ridge yard. I remember along the way seeing a complex narrow gauge railroad in some industrial area along the water front. Probably used for moving things around the factory or warehouses that were there.

And another one was at the Jacobsen Shipyard in Oyster Bay. It was a small railroad with a turntable, probably for moving ships down to the water. I always thought that turntable was a good trivia question. Not sure if this shipyard is still in use.

Any one know of any other ones around?

Well, it certainly isn't around any more, but the NY and Manhattan Beach Railway was narrow gauge from 1878-1882.

I worked at Jakobsen Shipyard between 1983 and 1985 as a shipfitter's apprentice. It's how I got started in the steel business.

The system of rails they had in the yard were, indeed, to pull small sailboats from the water and into the storage sheds during off season and back again, however . . . . . they DID NOT have any locomotives at the time I was there. ALL the trailers were pulled by a very large forklift that hooked onto the trailer and was pulled along the rails as the forklift rode over, or to the side of, the rails.

There was a 1/4 turntable adjacent to the fence which paralleled the LIRR. It allowed the boats to be rotated 90 degrees from the drydock area into the boathouse at the end of the summer and vice versa at the beginning of the following summer. If I remember correctly, the turntable ran on compressed air. I only saw it used once during the time I worked there, because I was helping out with the sailboat crew when the tugboat work slowed down.

Another thing that was LIRR-related and very interesting, but, of course, I never brought my camera to photograph, was the small transfer table set up to take the small boats from one track to another. The tracks that were in place to roll the table itself were marked "L.I.R.R. 1877." Obviously surplus rail acquired from the LIRR after some early trackwork. Been kicking myself ever since for never having photographed that raised lettering on the side of those small rails.

Jakobsen's also had a regular siding that branched off the O.B. branch. It was out of service when I worked there.

Other narrow gauge info:

The Bay Ridge Branch was originally part of the N.Y. & Manhattan Beach Railway Co. The entire line to Bay Ridge from Cooper Ave. Jct. was originally built as narrow gauge. Standard gauge rail wasn't laid until 1883.

As a result, the Manhattan Beach branch was also narrow gauge, due to it's ownership by the NY&MB. Again, 1883 was the magic year.

The Evergreen branch was originally narrow gauge as well. It was built by the Glendale & East River R.R. Co.. Again, the NY&MB bought the line and ran it as narrow gauge from the East River to Cooper Ave. Jct. It, too, lasted until 1883, when the last narrow gauge train ran over it. The stations were:

East River Ferry Terminal (Greenpoint)
5th Street (later Driggs Ave.)
Humbolt Street
Grand Street
South Side Crossing
Ridgewood (at Myrtle & Gates Aves.)

Dave Keller

I used to hang out at the bay growing up. Jakoben's was such a neat place, with the "Bounty" there for a long time, and then the "Argo". I used to love the stacks of old and unused tugboat cabins and associated parts. LIRR would send a switcher into the siding at one time, but that ended and the switch was removed.

IN a related thought however, down Muttontown Road, at the intersection of Rt. 106, there was an estate outside of Syosset, with a full-blown narrow gauge railroad on the grounds! I beleive it was 2 foot, but possibly smaller, complete with steam loco, a diesel, mining cars and a some passenger car. The railroad meandered all over the property and I recall an open house there which my father wouldn't take me to. Eventually they moved to Maryland the railroad was torn up to follow. I don't think it was ever re-established. But there's a true narrow gauge on LI. It might had lasted until the mid-sixties.

I've seen that rail line in action at Point O' Woods about 6 years ago when i was last there. It's not really an ordinary train, just a tractor engine which push/pulls two flatbed cars. They use the train to haul supplies from the ferry to the store and the propane station on the middle of the island. I remember being allowed to catch a ride on that train with a friend. The worker waved us on when the train was moving at about a walking pace down the tracks. Kind of a cool thing that you don't see everyday, but no spectacular equipment, looks almost like something some mechanic whipped up in his garage.

Interesting.

Can you tell us anything about the facilities? For example is this just a line of track from bumper to bumper or are there switches and sidings?

Does this little line have any kind of a name?

The less ordinary the train, the better!

chances are it didnt have a name, in the other communities on Fire Island, a variety of rusty wagons and carts are used to haul everything. This creation is surely not much different.

The point o' woods train went all the way onto the dock right next to where the ferry stopped. I believe there was at least one switch just before the line reached the store. Facing east, the track to the left went to the store, the track to the right went towards the beach. It appeared the track to the right was unused. Now that I'm talking about it, i would like to go back, i am really digging through my memory as i was probably 11 years old at the time. Hopefully someone else knows more, or has been there more recently (6-7 years for me)...

Hello Forum Members,

Mike, BEDT16, has done some research on this Fire Island RR. I believe he's posted a thread here in the past regarding it and his desire to see it restored to it's former beauty. Mike, if you're reading this please jump into the thread with any info you might have! (He's away right now working as a Merchant Marine - but I think he has internet access aboard)

de Don n2qhvRMLI

Would the old railroad at the Phelps Dodge plant count in Maspeth? I know they're building something there. Up until recently you could see the narrow gauge tracks embedded in the pavement. Does anybody have info on the railroad that was in this complex?

The Phelps Dodge narrow gauge was used using little cars that carried carloads of processed copper.
The copper had been purified in thier smelters and formed into flat, square ingots with ears that held them onto rods, (much like a hanging file in a file cabinet) on the little cars that were pushed around by hi-los that they called tow motors.
These little cars were about ten feet long and were brought up from the smelters maybe one or two at a time and placed next to the track that held the empty box cars that was paralell to the Montauk branch.
The box cars were loaded from that point and pulled out by a LIRR crew to be taken to Yard A and eventually sent west.

Old topic, but good one:

I found a reference that says the little narrow gauge line on Fire Island actually is the remnant of a line dating from the 1880s. (Check out the bottom of the second paragraph.)

http://fifinder.com/villages/PointOWoods

Although it's entirely possible that the line used horses (my theory) at the beginning, something this old could absolutely have had steam somewhere along the line.

It's a shame we don't know more about it.

The Grow Tunneling project in Maspeth used an underground narrow gauge railroad to bring the rock through the tunnel to the rock loading area in Maspeth.

Jay

way out in amaganset there was a short term construction tram named devon colony r.r.,around the turn of the century.check the ziel book

Don't forget that sand hauling mine railroad in Manorhaven.

And the tunnel portal is still there...

Clem