When The train Came in LIC, The drill crew, (yard crew) would pull the coaches off the Engines and pull them east, past the first crossing, usually on the Lower Montauk. Then the Engineer from the passenger train would move the Engine out of the track, with the Train crew on board, and take the Engine back to Morris park for service. The Yard crew would then put the coaches back in the track for the evening rush hour. Sometimes they put the Engine on the east end and run it short hood forward, but in most cases The engines were run back to Morris park. In the afternoon, Engines would be brought Back from Morris Park for each train. When I worked one of those Jobs, I usually did not ride the engine back, because I lived in queens and could just take the number 7 train home. This went on by the way, right up to the late 1990's, before the Bilevels took over. There were still several Trains using the old equipment right up to the end. Just before I hired on, they had different work rules, and the same crew who brought the train in, would have the whole day off, and then bring the same train back to the original east end terminal. This led to several Conductors and Trainman having banking Jobs or Jobs on wall street, because the closing bell was at 3PM. This gave them Plenty of time to make it back to LIC for their evening trains.
One such Conductor, Mr. JW became a millionaire working at the commodities exchange.
Marty, It runs on steam!