2023 Cannonball Season - New York Penn to the Hamptons and Montauk

Krispy - Good reply read about Montauk and other East End venues "back in the day"...
I remember back in the 70s and 80s Montauk was more of a family resort during the summer months that was
once more affordable to middle class vacationers than other South Fork Hamptons communities...

One example is former neighbors of mine having an annual camping timeshare at Hither Hills State Park in the 70s
scheduling a vacation around the week that would be assigned to them by NYS Parks each year...

I remember traveling to Montauk for the first time back in the mid 70s and remember going to Gosman's Dock
along with the beach and the Lighthouse with my relatives - back then not yet open to the public.

I found this website about Fire Island - a description of the various towns along with a map showing ferry
access from Bay Shore, Sayville and Patchogue:
www.fireisland.com
As most know specific FI towns have a target demographic clientele for tourists and others...

To be continued...MACTRAXX

The Cannonball, as in recent years, is scheduled to depart Penn Station at 4:07 and reach Westhampton at 5:41, 94 minutes later. Milepost 27 is at Seaford, but that is measured from Long Island City. Today, when will I see the Cannonball?
Locomotive 520 headed it through Seaford at 4:52, and Train Time showed it making two stops at Westhampton 5:41-5:45. Great!

Train 14, the direct train from Penn to Montauk that runs on summer Thursdays is known as the "Musketball". Today is the first time I've ever heard of this. This was referenced twice today by the LIRR on an internal messaging system.

Gamer - Interesting new term "Musketball" being used for LIRR Thursday-only Train #14 to Montauk...
This train leaves Penn Station at 4:07 PM on a similar schedule to the Friday Cannonball (Train #16):
5:39 PM - Westhampton
5:59 PM - Southampton
6:07 PM - Bridgehampton
6:17 PM - East Hampton
6:38 PM - Montauk
The noticeable difference is faster running time - arriving Montauk ten minutes earlier than the
Friday Cannonball - not having to make double stops at intermediate stations with a shorter consist...
The train name "Musketball" is something that LIRR historians should take a close look at...MACTRAXX

I guess I'm going to have to film the "musketball."

Yesterday, August 6, 2023. I visited Bay Shore to observe westbound boarding. Half the numbers before 2018. No shoving to board Scoot 6461 at 4:58. It was a good day for the beach. The uneven bricks underfoot near the station made walking around risky for this old railfan.

Is "Musketball" in print anywhere as to n official LIRR designation?

Steve - AFAIK the term "MUSKETBALL" has not designated any LIRR Montauk or East End train previously...
This would be interesting to see what the origin was - someone had to come up with this...

The off-season Friday-only Train #14 Penn Station to Montauk runs on this schedule albeit with a shorter consist...
September can be a good time to visit the East End in the last days of Summer...The Autumnal Equinox is Saturday
the 23rd this year...unfortunately at the time of this post what may become Tropical Storm Ophelia may turn the
upcoming weekend into a bit of a wash-out on Long Island and for that matter much of the Northeast...MACTRAXX

Thanks! I guess we all be on the lookout for "Musketball".