Bushwick Branch
Encyclopedia
Bushwick, Brooklyn
Bushwick is a neighborhood in the northern part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood, formerly Brooklyn's 18th Ward, is now part of Brooklyn Community Board 4...
, to Fresh Pond Junction in Queens, New York, where it connects with the Montauk Branch of the Long Island Rail Road
Long Island Rail Road
The Long Island Rail Road or LIRR is a commuter rail system serving the length of Long Island, New York. It is the busiest commuter railroad in North America, serving about 81.5 million passengers each year. Established in 1834 and having operated continuously since then, it is the oldest US...
. It is owned by the LIRR but operated under lease by the New York and Atlantic Railway
New York and Atlantic Railway
The New York and Atlantic Railway is a short line railroad formed in 1997 to provide freight service over the tracks of the Long Island Rail Road, a public commuter rail agency which had decided to privatize its freight operations...
, which took over LIRR freight operations in May 1997.
History
The Bushwick Branch dates back to the South Side Railroad of Long Island. The South Side had been chartered in 1860 to build a railroad from Jamaica, QueensJamaica, Queens
Jamaica is a neighborhood in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York, United States. It was settled under Dutch rule in 1656 in New Netherland as Rustdorp. Under British rule, the Village of Jamaica became the center of the "Town of Jamaica"...
all the way to Islip along the south shore of Long Island. Building of the line from Jamaica to Islip began in 1866, with service commencing as far as Babylon in 1867. Between 1867 and 1869, with the addition of a charter amendment, service was extended to Patchogue. The South Side sought to build a line west of Jamaica to the East River
East River
The East River is a tidal strait in New York City. It connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island from the island of Manhattan and the Bronx on the North American mainland...
so its passengers could connect to ferries that would take them into Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
. The two main railroad routes leading to the East River ferry terminals were along Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn, a route owned by the LIRR, and in Long Island City, a route owned by the Flushing and North Side Railroad
Flushing and North Side Railroad
The Flushing and North Side Railroad is a former railroad on Long Island built by Conrad Poppenhusen as a replacement for the former New York and Flushing Railroad. The railroad was established in 1868, was merged with the Central Railroad of Long Island in 1874 to form the Flushing, North Shore,...
(FNSRR).
The South Side originally wanted to build to Long Island City, and tried to buy out the interest of the New York and Flushing Railroad, a small competitor to the FNSRR. However, the LIRR, which was also looking for access to Long Island City, beat out the South Side bid for the New York and Flushing and bought it out instead. Thus, the only recourse for the South Side was to build a line from Jamaica to Fresh Pond, Queens
Fresh Pond, Queens
Fresh Pond is a small neighborhood in Queens separated from Juniper Valley by the Lutheran and Mount Olivet cemeteries. Its main streets, Fresh Pond Road, Metropolitan Avenue, Eliot Avenue and 61st street, meet at the community's commercial center...
and then southwest into Bushwick, a connection that opened in July 1868. From the terminal in Bushwick, trolley
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
cars would transport passengers to the 8th Street Ferry terminal in Williamsburg
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Williamsburg is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, bordering Greenpoint to the north, Bedford-Stuyvesant to the south, Bushwick to the east and the East River to the west. The neighborhood is part of Brooklyn Community Board 1. The neighborhood is served by the NYPD's 90th ...
, which would then take passengers into Manhattan. Eventually, the South Side extended the tracks west of Bushwick directly to the ferry, making the transfer unnecessary.
The LIRR service to Long Island City via the old New York and Flushing route was not well run and disliked by the public. Most chose the far superior Long Island City service offered by the Flushing and North Side Railroad. The LIRR abandoned its Long Island City service and sold its tracks east of Winfield, Queens to the FNSRR. The rest of the route west of Winfield to Long Island City remained unused. Seeking an opportunity, the South Side decided to buy up the remaining tracks in 1872, and extended service west from Fresh Pond to Maspeth along Newtown Creek
Newtown Creek
Newtown Creek is a estuary that forms part of the border between the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, in New York City, New York, United States. It derives its name from New Town , which was the name for the Dutch and British settlement in what is now Elmhurst, Queens...
and on to Long Island City, thus gaining a new terminal on the East River (this line today is referred to by the LIRR as the Lower Montauk). However, the South Side only used this new line for freight service, due to the competing passenger service offered by FNSRR. Passenger trains still ran through Bushwick to Williamsburg.
In 1874 the South Side, along with other railroads on Long Island such as the Central Railroad of Long Island
Central Railroad of Long Island
Central Railroad of Long Island is a former railroad on Long Island built by Alexander Turney Stewart, who was also the founder of Garden City. The railroad was established in 1871, was merged with the Flushing and North Side Railroad in 1874 to form the Flushing, North Shore, and Central Railroad,...
and the FNSRR, came under control of wealthy Brooklyn rubber baron Conrad Poppenhusen
Conrad Poppenhusen
Conrad Poppenhusen was a German American philanthropist, entrepreneur, founder of College Point, Queens, and founder of the first free kindergarten in the United States....
. The South Side was reorganized as the Southern Railroad of Long Island
Southern Railroad of Long Island
The South Side Railroad of Long Island was a railroad company in the U.S. state of New York. Chartered in 1860 and first opened in 1867 as a competitor to the Long Island Rail Road, it was reorganized in 1874 as the Southern Railroad of Long Island and leased in 1876 to the LIRR...
. By 1876, Poppenhusen also took control of the LIRR. Seeing the LIRR as the most formidable of his newly acquired railroads, he began to consolidate the competing roads into the LIRR. The LIRR thus gained the FNSRR tracks to Long Island City, making it the primary route for passengers and freight looking to reach Manhattan. The LIRR Atlantic Avenue line was cut back from South Ferry, Brooklyn
South Ferry, Brooklyn
South Ferry was a ferry landing on the Brooklyn side of the East River, at the foot of Atlantic Avenue at the border of the neighborhoods of Cobble Hill and Brooklyn Heights. The ferry known as South Ferry traveled to South Ferry, Manhattan...
to a terminal at Flatbush Avenue, where passengers could transfer to the Fifth Avenue Elevated (and after 1910 the IRT
IRT
IRT may refer to:* Immunoreactive trypsinogen, used as a newborn screening test for cystic fibrosis* Indiana Repertory Theatre, a theatre in Indianapolis, Indiana...
subway) to reach Manhattan, thereby making Flatbush Avenue a secondary terminal for the LIRR. In 1876, most of the lines of the ex-Southern, referred to as the old Southern Road division, were immediately rerouted to Long Island City via the Lower Montauk branch; full integration of the old-Southern Road division with the LIRR Main Line would not be achieved until the Jamaica Station improvement project of 1912-13. The ex-Southern line between Bushwick and Williamsburg was abandoned and cut back to a terminal at Bushwick. By the 1880s, Poppenhusen's successor Austin Corbin
Austin Corbin
Austin Corbin was a 19th-century American railroad executive and robber baron. He consolidated the rail lines on Long Island bringing them under the profitable umbrella of the Long Island Rail Road....
had successfully consolidated all the railroads. The Bushwick Branch, much like the Atlantic Branch to Flatbush Avenue, acted as a secondary terminal for the LIRR; however, it offered no convenient transit connections into other parts of Brooklyn and Manhattan.
Heavy industry in the area saw much use for the line in freight service, while the many industrial jobs in Bushwick warranted passenger commuter service for workers traveling to factories in the area. Nevertheless, the Bushwick Branch became a less and less important terminal, and the increasing prevalence of cars, as well as the fact of the branch having no direct transit connections into Manhattan, caused the branch’s main passenger trade to begin to dwindle. By the early 1900s, LIRR began a series of electrification and grade elimination projects for its routes throughout Brooklyn and Queens. While its Main Line, Montauk Branch
Montauk Branch
The Montauk Branch is a rail line owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York. The branch runs the length of Long Island, 115 miles from Long Island City on the west to Montauk on the east...
, Rockaway Beach Branch
Rockaway Beach Branch
The Rockaway Beach Branch was a rail line owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in Queens, New York City, United States. The line left the Main Line at Whitepot Junction in Rego Park heading south via Ozone Park and across Jamaica Bay to Hammels in the Rockaways turning west there to a...
, and Atlantic Branch received these improvements, the Bushwick did not. By 1913 steam trains were eliminated along the line and replaced with battery-powered electric multiple unit trains that were also used on the West Hempstead Branch
West Hempstead Branch
The West Hempstead Branch is an electrified rail line owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York.The branch separates from the Main Line just east of Jamaica Station, and runs southeastward to West Hempstead...
. Timetables from the era show fewer and fewer trains leaving from Bushwick Terminal. On May 13, 1924, passenger service was completely discontinued.
Current operations
Despite the end of passenger service, limited freight service continues on the line. The Bushwick Branch was downgraded to a secondary freight track, most often referred to as the Bushwick Lead Track, and is accessed via LIRR's Fresh Pond Yard. The branch is mostly single track with a few passing sidings. In May 1997, all freight traffic on the LIRR was privatized and contracted out to the New York and Atlantic Railway, which leased the Fresh Pond Yard and the Bushwick Branch. The original Bushwick passenger terminal from the days of passenger trains existed as late as 2005 until it was demolished. Most freight traffic on the line today is garbage collection and transfer from factories in the area. This and the branch’s limited use often cause the right of way to be littered with trash.2004 Runaway Engine Incident
Unlike most other LIRR branches throughout Brooklyn and Queens, the Bushwick Branch still has seven active grade crossings (the busiest is Metropolitan AvenueMetropolitan Avenue
Metropolitan Avenue is a major east-west street in Queens and northern Brooklyn. Its western end is at the East River in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and the eastern end at Jamaica Avenue in Jamaica, Queens....
) along its route, all of which are unprotected. This requires flag protection from train crews to safeguard motorists when movements are made through the crossing. Originally the crossings had crossing gate protection; however, due to the limited use of the line, they were deemed unnecessary and removed in 1990. The unprotected crossings restrict the trains and light engines to 10 MPH.
On March 10, 2004, a LIRR engine undergoing a quick turnaround switching move became uncoupled from two other engines, rolled down a slight incline in the Fresh Pond Yard and entered the Bushwick Branch. While passing through the unprotected crossings, the engine struck several vehicles, seriously injuring four motorists. The National Transportation Safety Board
National Transportation Safety Board
The National Transportation Safety Board is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incidents, certain types of highway crashes, ship and marine...
and Federal Railroad Administration
Federal Railroad Administration
The Federal Railroad Administration is an agency in the United States Department of Transportation. The agency was created by the Department of Transportation Act of 1966...
investigation into the incident revealed that the engine's air brakes had failed, causing it to break loose and roll away. Parking brakes had not been applied due to the expected quick turnaround of the engines. The NTSB and FRA now mandate that air and parking brakes be applied to all engines or trains laying idle, regardless of the length of time that they will be laid up. The report also suggested that the pavement along each of the crossings be repaved to allow both trains and street traffic to move over the crossings more gently. In addition, they recommended that more advanced railroad crossing signs, and eventually crossing gates, be installed along the branch to protect motorists.
The MTA made major changes to the Bushwick Branch, replacing wooden crossbuck
Crossbuck
A crossbuck is a sign composed of two slats of wood or metal of equal length, fastened together on a pole in a saltire formation...
s with flashing lights on a tall pole at the Metropolitan Avenue crossing, and only the crossbucks on a large pole seen at all other crossings on the branch.
