Zeckendorf Blvd. Crossing Removed 10/5

krispy wrote:Sir Ray, where was the heliport in that group of buildings? It was the same company as the group that had the pad by Westside and closed about 10 years ago.

Heh, the heliport is not on those drawings - if I remember correctly, it was located behind the Pepsi Distributor, south of the Levitts/Baby's R Us big box (perhaps these big box stores intrude on former heliport land). This would put it out of view of the map, north of the 'Reeve's Installment Factory' on the topmost map (although it's hard to decipher if that factory was East (where Verizon now is) or West (where Magnacare now is) of East Gate Blvd, since the 'Public Roads' are not named on the map. In any event, the heliport was South of Old Country Rd, East of the Meadowbrook, and West of East Gate Blvd
In the past, I have in the past to the end of the access road (a short block drive - the gate was always locked when I did), and remember only a empty paved lot, which I don't think would be big enough for an true passenger heliport (as opposed to a temporary landing pad).
Googling around, apparently it's called Island Heliport (airport code JHC), but I swear during the 9+ years I worked in the nearby area (from 1994) I never heard any helicopters take off or land there (and I have heard Nassau Police helicopters, which are based in Bethpage, take off and land - that sound is quite noticible)

frieght service could be returned to the area if hell freeses over and the county agrees to sign an act makeing it mandatory for that area to be used for rail freight suppoeting businesses, and thats getting too technical to talk about here. how ever lowes and fortunoffs can both use freight service today, but thats realy it. now if the county thought about there transpoeration issues and not sold the raceway to devlopers that could have been a nice yard for NYA.

maby i'll just model this as my layout and make it portable to take to shows showing what the "hub" should look like.

Long Island 7285 wrote:frieght service could be returned to the area if hell freeses over and the county agrees to sign an act makeing it mandatory for that area to be used for rail freight suppoeting businesses, and thats getting too technical to talk about here. how ever lowes and fortunoffs can both use freight service today, but thats realy it. now if the county thought about there transpoeration issues and not sold the raceway to devlopers that could have been a nice yard for NYA. .

Heck, a better place to zone industrial would be Farmingdale, where all the furniture discounters have moved into former industrial buildings - at least many of the buildings still remain. In the Westbury quite a few buildings have been torn down.
Either way, such action is very unlikely. Also, Lowes and Fortunoffs get their stock from distribution centers, as each store alone does not warrent enough for rail traffic.
Finally, NY&A probably would like a yard right off the main line, as opposed to being at the far end of a branch. Which is... John Street yard in Hicksville, for starters

Over here in Farmingdale, Price Industrial park's switch is still there and in working order. A quick track rehabilitation would have the spur operational within two months. Lots of industry over there could benefit from such an operation.

Joe

The heliport was located in the vicinity of the Pepsi plant. There was a large white and red striped helicopter that used to land there. I believe it would take passengers back and forth to NYC. It's been at least 15 years since that service ended.

Several posters have mentioned preserving the spur as a trail. I am all for saving ROW's as trails and placed in the Rail Banking System. However I am not sure if this short section of industrial track would qualify for the program. There are alot of requirements to fulfill including local goverment particpation which might be diffilcult to get. There is also a tremendous amount of research needed so that a presentation could be made in support of saving this row. The best chance of this happening would be to have the support of a recognized group or a local politician. A loosely affiliated group of internet railfans is don't going to cut it, especially in dealing with the LIRR, the MTA and Nassau County.

emfinite wrote:Over here in Farmingdale, Price Industrial park's switch is still there and in working order. A quick track rehabilitation would have the spur operational within two months. Lots of industry over there could benefit from such an operation.

Ah, Price Industrial Park - I think that's the name of the area I'm thinking of - West of Rte 110, North of the Mainline (and Conklin) - kinda made a loop from South of White Rose (which became PC Richards - right), Levits (they're gone now, aren't they), Paralleled Rte 110 on the West (this was were Strober Price used to be, and they were the last to recieve rail-freight as far as I know - up to the mid-1990s?) then curved around West past Detroit Discount Furnishings[?] and ended up rejoining the loop North of the former White Rose (there were also several spurs and sidings, one as far north as Daniel St? - well, what-ever street the Roy Rogers used to be on.
The big question, of course -are there any businesses on this loop which can realisitically make use of rail freight/carload lots? Furniture discounters, Dress outlets (one which replaced the cool Ford Truck Dealership years ago), small appliance dealer are simply not good candidates.
(One amusing note - on the northside of Conklin, one block or so west of the Spartan Diner, note the fence line which follows a former spur southeast and ends at a trackbumper - wonder what business used to use this spur?)

Nassau/Suffold aught to really get together and make price industrial park some kind of rail freight facility again. and maby even the bethpage place for single stack intermodels.

the GC line would beninifit more for once or twice a week freight spotting with small businees using rail friehgt i.e lowes and maby that chemical plant and possibly fortunoffs, but passenger would also benifit there if forunoff was configured in a way to DM service yes use the DMs to run a shuttle to the mall from jamaica takeing the place of the EB/WB hempstead trains,

Ill say it again, my layout will look nice with the nassau hub in operation heck maby the central to Btowe then to price

Eh, I'd settle for a few industries in the Price Industrial Park using rail freight - remember, most of the buildings are Furniture/Discount outlets (not sure what to think of PC Richards - their stuff doesn't lend itself to carload rail-freight). Heh, there is an commercial pamphlet published I guess by the LI Chamber of Commerce in my library from 1980 or so - one page has a aerial shot of the Price Industrial Park, and a blurb saying that this area was once a significant generator of railfreight, it was down to only 3 cars a day... heh, NY&A would love for it to be 3 cars a day, as opposed to the 0 cars a day it's been for the past decade...

Think the LI intermodal yard should go to Pilgram State, but if they fumble that, then to Farmingdale on New Highway. Maybe Calverton.

I'm afraid the Central Branch is more or less a lost cause - while part of it's ROW (especially the Meadowbrook Pkwy bridge) was supposed to be incorporated in the HUB people mover (which I suppose is officially dead now), it will never support rail freight operations just like a km northwest on Voice Road, where the once significant rail-freight generators have been turned into clothing Outlets, a Video Arcade, a Party City, a P.C. Richards store (now moved - but for the longest time you could see the former branch trackage rail curving at the edge of their parking lot), A supermarket - well, you get the idea...

Besides Pilgrim, I think another good spot for an Intermodal Facility would be on the north side of the main-line west of Bethpage station. There is a spur that goes in there and it doesn't look like that area is used all that often. Anyone know what that used to be in there?

Joe

The Bronze spur is pretty much useless as far as freight service goes, but it is definately a primo line for passenger service. It goes right by RFM. With a small extension, it can serve that whole shopping corridor along Old Country Rd.

Nimby, u n I are the only ones who share this thought.

Can't say I'm surprised to hear of yet another freight track removal, though I had thought those days were behind us. I sure am glad that I rode the entire operable Bronze Siding in the one and only (?) passenger train to have ever traversed the line. This was probably (I can't find the slides right now) in the eraly 1980s when a friend of mine and I ran a LIRR excursion to several unusual locations. Probably the most unusual "photo stop" was with the train on the bridge over the Meadowbrook Pky.

I do need to scan some of those slides!

emfinite wrote:Over here in Farmingdale, Price Industrial park's switch is still there and in working order. A quick track rehabilitation would have the spur operational within two months. Lots of industry over there could benefit from such an operation.

Joe

Is that the one just west of the back of the PC Richard corporate? It is quite overgrown with pine seedlings. They do grow in like weeds. If they got rid of the brush, they'd probably be able to restore it. Looks like alot of work though.

Until the mid-80's Price Industrial Park warranted its own job. I believe it came out from Queens. I have an old LIRR freight station map and virtually every building in that Park had its own siding. White Rose Foods had a 16 car spot alone. Sears and Levitz both took funiture. Gallo wines had a place back there. Some old crew members told me they would be back there for hours switching and outlaw right there. It was a giant loop. You can't really blame the LIRR for that one the heavy industrial costumer base is virtually non-existent anymore. If the the LIRR had clearance for large plate F boxcars PC Richards said they would ship appliances to the old White Rose facility which they now occupy. If you're up for a toxic waste tour go walk around the old Republic Fairchild property there is still tracks back there and they had an elctric lock switch off the mainline. The Central Branch was another one that had a ton of costumers that are all gone.

freightguy wrote:Until the mid-80's Price Industrial Park warranted its own job. I believe it came out from Queens. I have an old LIRR freight station map and virtually every building in that Park had its own siding. White Rose Foods had a 16 car spot alone. Sears and Levitz both took funiture. Gallo wines had a place back there.

That's interesting (meaning it had it's own job, and the crew outlawing), and definitely contradicts the phamplet I saw from 1980 complaining about only 3 cars a day - I'll try to hunt up it again, but the library may have tossed it (and I really can't blame them if they did). I do agree that every building had it's own siding (and many still do, albeit long unused).

Anyway I had a chance to pass by Zeckendorf/East Gate today, and took a quick tour (alas, since the Cendant office closed, they fenced off the parking lot so you cannot veiw the back of the chem plant that way anymore.
First, there is the beginning of construction on what we agree is the old Island Heliport (what kind of construction I do not know). Also (this I did not realize) there is an industrial building (with many truck loading doors) in back of the Pepsi distributor (the loading dock gate of Buy-Buy-Baby was open, so I took a quick spin) - this building looks unused, and kind of shabby, and may not survive the construction taking place next to it.
BTW, I don't think either Pepsi or this building ever received anything by rail, as the branch curves around well south of North Ave (it forms the northern boundary of the Magnacare office, which apparently is now for rent, and several small buildings line the north side, which are occupied by a Golf outlet and a Physical Therapists - this is the part of the branch which continues East across East Gate Blvd (buried under asphalt for years now) and between the former Cendant office on the north and the Current Verizon center on the south (forming the souther boundary of the Cendant office, and this ROW basically covered with fair-sized trees and some track poking out here and there) till it reaches the retaining wall of Zeckendorf by the chemical plant. Going back the other way, the track curves southwest around Magnacare, splitting into 2 tracks for the runaround (covered in trees and bushes, of course), crosses Axinn with the DMV on the East and MH Plaza on the west (the former paper company on the SE corner is now vacant, of course), and finally crossed (since the crossing has indeed been removed) Zeckendorf between the Lottery Redemption Center and some law offices (or insurance - I forget which), and then passes the Fortunoff Outdoor outlet and Lowes Home center before heading south over the meadowbrook bridge - to sum it up, except for the Chemical plant, not one single potential generator or receiver of rail freight