Wading River Branch

The above picture shows double track at Miller Place. Did this extend for a distance or was this just a siding?.

Joe, do you really think people will give a shit about that when they see a sign saying it? Hell, that'll only inform a few people. It's not like they can put up billboards saying A TRAIN RAN HERE ONCE!

And rails to trails are usually the kiss of death for old RR ROWs. LIPA's got the ROW and they're using it. It's not going anywhere anytime soon.

RR Chef:

The 2nd track visible in the photo of Miller's Place was the passing siding.
BTW, the view is looking east.

When the "K" card system went into use effective 5/23/28, this station received an unattended block station signal located on the platform directly in front of the depot, displaying the call letters of "MI."

The depot (which was the 2nd one on the site) burned the same year and was not replaced as business did not warrant it. The unattended block station signal was placed in service full time and remained in use until the official abandonment of the branch on 3/29/39.

Dave Keller

The historical discussion about things like this is what this forum is about. It was worth it to look at the territory out there. There are a lot of homes in the immediate vicinity of the ROW. The MTA would unlikely be able to fund the legal war with the homeowners. Too bad.

As I stated, it seemed that the business district of Rocky Point, as well as the homes along King Street and Prince Street were all clustered around the trackage, and the former station site. This little town must have started to grow when the railroad was there.

I know from some older family members, I've discussed this since I went out there, that as kids in the 30s & 40s, their families vacationed in that area each summer on weekends, driving out from Brooklyn. They sat in bumper-to-bumper traffic on Middle Country Road or North Country Road, in pre-LIE days. Some things never change. The railroad surely ran into tough times during the Depression, and that most likely led to this branch being shortened.

What a shame, these communities have exploded in the past twenty years since I got my license, and started driving out there. Before 25A was widened, and the Rocky Point By-Pass wasn't there yet.

I'm sure a lot of cars that sit each day in Ronkonkoma come from these North Shore communities between Port Jefferson and Riverhead. How much these people would have benefitted from the branch now, if it had not been shortened.

I guess if the mainline was to be electrified to Riverhead, and stations added in Manorville and somewhere near WmFloyd Parkway, maybe the people from the northern Brookhaven area could use that.

Main line eletrification East of Ronkonkoma is not needed if the diesels are extended to waiding river, LIRR through the MTA(state) does have every legal right of eminite domain to re grade and re build the ROW run mostly diesels and extend 3rd rail to North Port that will give much more potentical and lessen the traffic on 112 and other N/S roads out east. less people inturn need to drive to KO to bord. just got to run enough trains up there to make the servicve better or just as good as the main line. remember LI people are a bunch of routy bastards and don't apriciate nothing till its gone any way.

There are less people living on top of the Main Line ROW- and there are tracks in service there already; as opposed to a lot of people living along the Wading River ROW that currently has no tracks. It would be easier and likely less expensive to add third rail, and the associated power stations east on the main. I'm speaking from a practical and more fiscally conscious side of it. Of course, I'd love to see a line reopened, as well as the Manorville- Eastport line too. It doesn't mean it can be done.

Cheaper, yes. The idea though is to make things easier for these people, which would get more people to ride. I'm all for 3rd rail to Riverhead, but I'd rather see Wading River first. And BTW, if they're going to extend 3rd rail on the PJ, do it all the way. That said, extend Wading River to Riverhead like it was supposed to and do 3rd rail to there all in one shot.

Extending any 3rd rail should if anything be out to Patchouge or Speonk and and Riverhead. but remember that M7s decreased seating compasity means more M7s needed then M1s/M3s so wheres all thoes units getting stored and repaired? Much eaiser to to build to wadeing river and keep diesel. then run 3rd rail out to PD or SK first and SEE how it preforms, More diesels would then be free to go to PJ and OB then needed on the montauk. and the scoot can had more trains added too.

Why not some one in the know post the legal reasons and the green sucker reasons why we can get any of this to happen?

How about this idea?

Did you realize the LIRR's original plan was to extend the Port Jeff branch to Wading River and eventually curve it south and connect it to the Main Line near Riverhead?

Imagine if THAT ever happened!

Dave Keller

The LIRR would likely need ED to build on the line again, if they never challenged any construction on the ROW since it was closed. I believe legally, if someone builds on your property and you don't do anything about it for X years, that chunk becomes theirs.

This is partly why you see those 'private property no tresspassing' things in sidewalks around buildings, and why some privetely owned 'public' spots close once a years for a while - to maintain their rights.

It's also why you'll never see the High Line opened as a rail route - Conrail fumbled the handling of it, construction took place on it, and they legally lost that property.

I have a nagging feeling this partly explains why the Rockaway ROW sat unused for Airtrain. It's also why reactivating the central will be hard - I believe a Firehouse straddles it now in one place (106?).

Dave I knew about that idea and I read is some where a while back, and that would be someting Greenport via Port Jeff. would be great. but we live in a anit rail progress society that just wants what we have either cut back or structures improved and no one other then train buffs want these branches re built though they will be benifical.

LIRR= the road before it's time

One of the reasons that lines like Wading River and Manorville were abandoned is because no one ever thought that the North and South Fork would be anything more than sleepy farm communities. Sure, it's a little short sighted, but the fact is 70 years ago Nassau and Suffolk counties were predominately farm communites. We can thank the building of the Long Island Expressway for opening up the Island to the tremendous growth it has experinced. Ironically, the same Expressway has led to the decline of freight traffic on the LIRR as well as the 60 mile long traffic jams many commuters sit in daily.

Yes it is true that if these lines existed today they would be huge assets. But they don't. As much as we as fans would like to see these lines rebuilt, the hard fact is it's not going to happen in our lifetime. Trying to convice thousands of residents and 100 or so communites along the row's that a railroad was once in their backyard and we want to put it back, will bring all out warfare from the NIMBY's. The best we can do is preserve what's left and lobby our lawmakers on issues concerning transportation on Long Island in a rational and in intelligent manner.

One of the reasons that lines like Wading River and Manorville were abandoned is because no one ever thought that the North and South Fork would be anything more than sleepy farm communities. Sure, it's a little short sighted, but the fact is 70 years ago Nassau and Suffolk counties were predominately farm communites.

That's the SAME reason why the wonderful and efficiently built New York, Westchester & Boston (NYW&B) went belly-up at 12:01 am on January 1, 1938 after having been in business only since 1912.

Smooth grades through rocky terrain, multiple tracks along well-graded roadbed, substantial concrete towers and stations with high-level platforms. All electric service in new MU equipment (overhead catenary system: no 3rd rail to step upon). Tickets checked at the platform (no commuter crush on board the train for train crews to push thru in the attempt to punch and take tickets), and those tickets in a colored stock so the collector on the platform could see at a glance the rider's destination without having to read the ticket, plus an almost-direct route from Westchester to NYC (involved a change to the EL at E 180th St.).

But . . . .the part of the Bronx through which the road ran, along with New Rochelle, Pelham and Westchester were not yet the communities they are today or what they became after WWII, only a few short years after abandonment.

So . . . the LIRR is not alone in making these type of decisions. At least they didn't go belly-up, thank God!!!!

Dave Keller

The old bridge over woodville road is still standing in 2020, the lumber yard in Rocky Point did at one time contain the former Rocky Point station house up until I believe late 2019 when it was demolished to make way for apartments. There will be a replica station built sometime in early to mid 2021 as a small railroad/town history museum, as I was informed at the VFW in rocky point yesterday.

The siding that serviced teslas laboratory is still clearly in tact as I have explored in via bikes with my friends, I am hoping to inform the Twin Forks chapter about the replica museum to see if they have any information on the lines history or even maybe to donate a small locomotive, like the 25 tonner #399.