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  • M-1s during Grade Crossing Elimination Project

  • Discussion of the past and present operations of the Long Island Rail Road.
Discussion of the past and present operations of the Long Island Rail Road.

Moderator: Liquidcamphor

 #1063122  by LB
 
Answers to LB Quiz:
Photo 1: Roslyn Rd (FEB '08)
Photo 2: Franklin Ave, Hewlett (OCT '73)
Photo 3: Herricks Rd, Mineola (MAY '96) [Yes MattAmity, it was 4 Lane Rd/Double Planked gate until 1996, when Temp Track construction began.]
Photo 4: Higbe Lane, Babylon/West Islip (NOV '75)
 #1063191  by MattAmity90
 
WOW! I got Location 2 incorrect. I've only been to Hewlett at night and wouldn't have recognized the surroundings around the station, you really got me on that one. That photo of Herricks Road was taken by Gilligan right? During that time Herricks Road was not only being eliminated, Mineola station was having a new pedestrian overpass erected and the old one using the Mineola Blvd. bridge was being eliminated, the 115 year old Mineola Blvd. bridge was replaced, and Nassau Interlocking which was originally located just East of Herricks Road had those crossover switches removed and the switches at the Main St. crossing where the Oyster Bay Branch diverts off were replaced and that became Nassau Interlocking. Plus a new interlocking was being constructed just West of the Carle Place station, which I have no idea what the name of that one is, or the one just East of New Hyde Park and West of Merillon Avenue.
 #1063370  by LB
 
I took a bunch of slides of the Herricks Road project in May '96; the project included funds for rebuilding Nassau Interlocking and I think the Mineola Blvd bridge [orginally built 1907/1908]. I took some slides in July '93 of Mineola and they show construction of the handicap ramps at east end of station and installation of the pedestrian crossing by Nassau tower. I enjoy looking at before and after shots of particular locations to see what has changed and what remains the same.
 #1063373  by MattAmity90
 
It did, the Mineola Blvd. bridge was replaced, Nassau Interlocking which was East of the Herricks Road crossing was also eliminated, the switches where the Oyster Bay diverts North were replaced, and like I said before a new interlocking was constructed West of Carle Place right around the bridge that goes over the Meadowbrook Pkwy. and the bridge that goes over Glen Cove Rd. I don't know what the name of that interlocking is though, and I don't know the name of the one in between New Hyde Park and Merillon Avenue.

As far as the pre-elimination of Herricks Road, thank for confirming that the whole time when it was a four-lane crossing it had dual-planked gates, and it was actually one of the last to have those. From one photo taken in 1961 with a Kellogg's billboard, the crossing was two signals with the Southern signal having the warning bell and the Northern lacking one with really long gates that only covered the two lanes next to it with two puny pedestrian gates on the opposing side, which left a very wide gap two lanes wide. No wonder it was hazardous, you could make a straight line through it. I'm really surprised that in the 1970's they didn't install overhead flashing lights like at Stewart Ave. in Bethpage, or New Hyde Park Rd.
 #1063402  by LB
 
Last places I remember dual planked gates into the 1990's were Merrits Rd (Farmingdale), Broadway (Bethpage), Herricks Rd (Mineola), Glen ST (Glen Cove), Lowell Ave (Central Islip) and RTE 111 (Cental Islip) and several Hempstead Branch locations. They were found just about everywhere up to the mid-1970's. They seemed sturdier than the existing fiberglass gates, especially for longer gate lengths. Here's an example of a fairly long set of dual planked gates at Syosset.

Jackson Ave, Syosset (May '65) [Tom Montalbano photo]
http://i1054.photobucket.com/albums/s48 ... MDAY65.jpg
 #1063422  by MattAmity90
 
Those are long, and that area wasn't even electrified yet, and wouldn't be for another 5 years. In your opinion, what grade crossings along the Babylon Branch were most hazardous before the tracks were elevated in those particular areas?
 #1063556  by MACTRAXX
 
LB wrote:Answers to LB Quiz:
Photo 1: Roslyn Rd (FEB '08)
Photo 2: Franklin Ave, Hewlett (OCT '73)
Photo 3: Herricks Rd, Mineola (MAY '96) [Yes MattAmity, it was 4 Lane Rd/Double Planked gate until 1996, when Temp Track construction began.]
Photo 4: Higbie Lane, Babylon/West Islip (NOV '75)
LB: Picture #2 was a tough one...I thought NHP because of the beginning of a high-level platform at left and the diesel train...being that it was on
the FR Branch it must have been an inspection train using one of the parlor cars that MNCR now has...I got the other three correct...

Older pictures of the electric branches can be tough for me to identify because I did not ride on or explore them until the unlimited use
"flash" tickets were established during 1980...Over time I have ridden on the entire LIRR...

MACTRAXX
 #1063583  by LB
 
Yes, the Franlin Ave, Hewlett photo was a hard one. In fact, before I posted it, I checked a 2003 photo I had of that location and the building on the left side of the photo with the notches in the Roof-line was still standing and confirmed the location. I thought the third-rail in the Higbe Lane photo would throw some folks off and the surrounding area today looks nothing like the 1975 photo (those igloo looking buildings are gone and a car wash is there now), so good work on that one!
 #1063639  by MattAmity90
 
So statistically on the Babylon Branch it was Unqua Rd. in Massapequa. Would you count any crossings in Babylon, RT. 110/Broadway in Amityville, Park Blvd. in Massapequa Park, Hicksville Rd. in Massapequa, any crossings in Wantagh, Bellmore Ave, Merrick Ave, and Babylon Turnpike in Merrick as very hazardous?

Today I would say these current crossings are the most hazardous:

1.) All grade crossings between Hicksville and Floral Park
2.) Robbins Lane and Jackson Ave. in Syosset
3.) Stewart Ave. in Bethpage
4.) Straight Path in Wyandanch
5.) Executive Drive in Deer Park
6.) Wicks Rd. in Brentwood
7.) Carleton Ave. and Lowell Ave. in Central Islip
8.) Little Neck Parkway in Little Neck
9.) William Floyd Parkway in Mastic-Shirley
10.) Broadway in Hewlett.
 #1063731  by MattAmity90
 
Yeah, I heard that a conductor died later the same day after a grade crossing accident on the Babylon Branch. I also know that during the grade crossing elimination at Massapequa Park, a man was struck by a train at the Park Blvd. crossing, then about a week or two weeks later his girlfriend committed suicide by throwing herself into the path of another train at Park Blvd.
 #1063781  by LB
 
SlackControl asked on pg 1 of this thread: "Anyone have any pictures of the grade elimination with the old diesels running through the area?"

Here's an eastbound freight approaching the Broadway crossing on the Massapequa Park temporary tracks, practically in the shoulder of Sunrise Hwy (NY 27).

Massapequa Park OCT '79
http://i1054.photobucket.com/albums/s48 ... KGrHqV.jpg

Now to answer MattAmity's questions:
There were a few bicycle accidents where young boys were killed (Unqua Rd 1965/73; Bedford Ave, Bellmore 1966). 20 NOV 74 & 4 DEC 74 there were car vs train accidents at Bellmore, and other accidents, 1 at Centre Ave on 27 NOV 74 and another 18 DEC 74. Most of the car vs train accidents were cars sitting on the tracks waiting for the Sunrise Highway light (Southbound) when they were struck. You'll need to review Bellmore & Merrick Life newspapers on microfilm to get the exact details. It got so bad that a Nassau County Police Officer was stationed at Merrick Ave and Bedford Ave for 16 hour a day patrols starting in FEB '75 to diffuse dangerous situations at the station crossings (see Bellmore Life clipping attached, sorry for poor quality, we're venturing into my boyhood archives now!).

http://i1054.photobucket.com/albums/s48 ... an0018.jpg
Last edited by LB on Tue Jul 17, 2012 7:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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