Woodhaven Station - Abandoned

Jenny on a M2 - Here's an undated photo of what the station looked like back in the day

Thanks for posting -- great photo. The stairwell in the photo that leads down -- where did that go? Was it a crossover to the other platform? Or did it lead back out to the street?

Excellent photo Newkirk! Thanks for posting! Staircase crossed to other side and in that passageway was a ticket office and the interlocking control for the underground interlocking (as opposed to the tower above ground for the Rock. Beach branch tower). Machine was a pistol grip EP. At one point the office was used as a fallout shelter and still held tins of crackers up until the '90s. All was cleaned out and the machine was scavanged for parts when they had the Atlantic Branch cut-over 9/2001.

All access is alarmed, and you may get ET workers first, and they're crankier than the cops, so do not attempt.

KT3 wrote:Thanks for posting -- great photo. The stairwell in the photo that leads down -- where did that go? Was it a crossover to the other platform? Or did it lead back out to the street?

I'll second that thanks for the photo KT3, judging from the fact the signage over the stairwell reads "To Jamaica" AND that this station is designed like an IND subway station I would imagine that stairwell led to an underpass crossover to the other platform.

Crabman1130, thank you for your childhood recollections Do you remember where these subway style entrances were located in the sidewalk on Atlantic Ave?

If they were in the middle of the sidewalk under the Rockaway Branch overpass then perhaps those emergency hatches I found are the old passenger entrances, and the MTA just demolished the subway style entrances and put hatch covers over the stairs to the platform level.

Speaking of the subway style entrance: Did it resemble one of the entrances at the East New York station ( http://www.subwaynut.com/lirr/east_ny/east_ny18.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)?

I'd be curious if anyone has in their collections any other photos of the station, especially at street level or of the underpass. So far the only photos I've been able to find online have been at platform level.

Thank you everyone for your help with this historical journey!

krispy wrote:Excellent photo Newkirk! Thanks for posting! Staircase crossed to other side and in that passageway was a ticket office and the interlocking control for the underground interlocking (as opposed to the tower above ground for the Rock. Beach branch tower). Machine was a pistol grip EP. At one point the office was used as a fallout shelter and still held tins of crackers up until the '90s. All was cleaned out and the machine was scavanged for parts when they had the Atlantic Branch cut-over 9/2001.

All access is alarmed, and you may get ET workers first, and they're crankier than the cops, so do not attempt.

Fear not, the days of "urban exploration" for me ended in the early 2000s when my friends and I turned 18, were no longer "judgement proof", and became responsible members of society. This girl's too old for that crap.

Thanks for all that info, Krispy! So there WAS a ticket office in Woodhaven Station; it was just located in the underpass like East New York. I am starting to think that aside from the obvious outdoor nature of the ENY station's platforms - and the street level access to them - that the Woodhaven Junction station's setup is closely related if not identical to East New York.

Did the stairs to the street just narrow as they reached street level, or were there two narrow staircases parallel to Atlantic Ave. (one for people walking towards downtown bk and one for those walking away from; I'm thinking of the setup of other IND stations) that ultimately fed the wide stairwell that goes to the street from the platform?

More here about East NY by subwaynut.com - Click below:

http://www.subwaynut.com/lirr/east_ny/index.php

I never saw Woodhaven ticket office, only got my info 2nd hand from the maintainers who were down there. I wanted to see it when they had the big cut-over when they cleaned the place out, but it was very soon after the 9/11 attack and I was volunteering with the Red Cross in my off-time. But it would make sense they would be similar (ENY and WH), as they were designed at the same time. I did go to ENY often, as there was a small interlocking machine used during track work (small and very smooth action model 14 EP machine normally set to automatic) and it was interesting to hear the rumble of passing trains overhead and occasional noises from the street and nearby subway. I did get the stuffing scared out of me one night when a NYA freight leaned on the horn to scare a trespasser away from the tunnel beneath me, I had forgotten there was also tracks below me too. I'm not sure of the dates but there was a passenger station beneath the LIRR station on the Bay Ridge branch which from what I understand closed relatively quickly after they did the big crossing elimination project. There was staircases that led up from it to the West end of the LIRR station at one time, and one was used back when the LI had freight jobs at New Lots Yard and sometimes the crews would use it to catch a LIRR train on the Atlantic Branch. But the stairs leading down have long been sealed over now.

East NY station platform, Bay Ridge Branch - ERA Fantrip - October 18, 1986

What a great picture of the 605 !!!!!!! She looks great- like right out of the paint shop. What was the other power on that trip ??? Thanks.

Teutobergerwald wrote: What was the other power on that trip ??

MP-15 #150 - Is this in LIC Yard A ?

Newkirk - Yes, looks like the west end of that is still on the ramp leading to the cut-off, and it leads into Yard A. I'd guess the photographer would be close to or just beneath Thompson Ave. bridge. Great picture of ENY psgr station on the Bay Ridge, thanks for posting!

krispy wrote: Newkirk - Yes, looks like the west end of that is still on the ramp leading to the cut-off, and it leads into Yard A. I'd guess the photographer would be close to or just beneath Thompson Ave. bridge. Great picture of ENY psgr station on the Bay Ridge, thanks for posting!

Thank you krispy, I was the photographer, so Newkirk and Newkirk Images LLC are one in the same.

As far as the Yard A pic goes, that car behind the MP-15 was a premium parlor car with small roomettes and a bar. I don't recall the car number. There was a bartender on duty, but since I don't drink, I downed a few orange juices. lol

I paid the extra fee for riding in that car. Ah yes, the good old days when fan trips were something else.

Now, they're pretty much dead due to high insurance and other things.

The parlor on that trip was the 2000, the Morris Park.

Bad Luck Wrote: The parlor on that trip was the 2000, the Morris Park.

Thank you, what ever became of that car ?

Why weren't any of the eight Alco L-2s, #s 222-229, used for that excursion or the November '86 excursion that went to LIC, West Hempstead and Montauk? I was on the November trip with my father. It was a big disappointment to see two MP-15ac's pulling the train into Jamaica. Parlor car 2014 was nice, though. 619 was the power pack for that trip.