ARRT'S   ARRCHIVES





Copyright  ©  October  25,  2006   Arthur   John   Huneke
ALL   RIGHTS   RESERVED


THE   LONG   ISLAND   RAIL   ROAD   COMPANY
HUNTERS   POINT   -   LONG   ISLAND   CITY       PART   TWO
MONTAUK   JUNCTION   -   NORTH   SHORE   JUNCTION   -   TOWER   A


IN   1876   THE   COMPETING   RAILROADS   MERGED   AND   TRAINS
BEGAN   USING   THE   LONG   ISLAND   RAIL   ROAD   STATION.


from November 1878 Employe Time Table                        




A   JUNCTION   WAS   CREATED   AT   BORDEN   AND   EAST   AVENUES   TO   CONNECT   THE   LONG   ISLAND   AND     SOUTH   SIDE   RAILROADS.
THROUGH   1879   IT   WAS   KNOWN   AS   "SOUTHERN   JUNCTION"   -  
BEGINNING   IN   1880   IT   WAS   KNOWN   AS   "MONTAUK   JUNCTION".
IN   JUNE   1884   TOWER   NUMBER   ONE   WITH   A   48   LEVER
SAXBY   &   FARMER   INTERLOCKING   MACHINE   WAS   INSTALLED
BY   THE   NATIONAL   INTERLOCKING   SWITCH   AND   SIGNAL
COMPANY   OF   BROOKLYN.


ANOTHER   JUNCTION   WAS   CREATED   NEAR   ARCH,   BEECH   AND   CRANE   STREETS   TO   CONNECT   THE   LONG   ISLAND   AND   NORTH   SIDE   RAILROADS.
THROUGH   1879   IT   WAS   KNOWN   AS   "LONG   ISLAND   CROSS - OVER".
LATER   IT   WAS   KNOWN   AS   "NORTH   SHORE   JUNCTION".
IN   JULY   1884   A   TOWER   WITH   A   16   LEVER   SAXBY   &   FARMER   INTERLOCKING   MACHINE   WAS   INSTALLED   BY   THE   NATIONAL   INTERLOCKING   SWITCH   AND   SIGNAL   COMPANY   OF   BROOKLYN.
IT   BECAME   TOWER   NUMBER   30   AND   THEN   "YD"   TOWER.


THE   NOVEMBER   1878   EMPLOYE   TIME   TABLE   HAD   A   TABLE   OF   TRAINS
BETWEEN   LONG   ISLAND   DEPOT   AND   LONG   ISLAND   CROSS  -  OVER


BORDEN   AVENUE   CROSSING



THIRD   STREET   CROSSING   MARCH   19,   1915




TOWER   A

THE ENLARGED LONG ISLAND CITY TERMINAL HAD SEVENTEEN STATION TRACKS AND SEVEN EXPRESS HOUSE TRACKS AND ALL SWITCHES WERE HAND THROWN BY MEN ON THE GROUND.
TOWER NUMBER ONE AT MONTAUK JUNCTION HAD CONTROLLED SWITCHES ONLY WITHIN ABOUT 600 FEET OF THE TOWER.   ON NOVEMBER 6, 1904 TOWER "A" REPLACED TOWER NUMBER ONE AND DOZENS OF SWITCHTENDERS.   THE BUILDING, LOCATED JUST EAST OF THE STATION, WAS FOUR STORIES HIGH - GALVANIZED IRON ON A STEEL FRAME - AND CONTAINED A 167 LEVER WESTINGHOUSE ELECTROPNEUMATIC MACHINE.   86 LEVERS OPERATED 56 SINGLE SWITCHES, 28 DOUBLE SLIP SWITCHES WITH MOVABLE POINT FROGS AND THREE SINGLE SLIP SWITCHES WITH M.P.F.   THERE WERE ONLY TWO TRACK CIRCUITS, WHICH ANNOUNCED THE APPROACH OF TRAINS FROM NORTH SHORE JUNCTION.   SWITCHES WERE PROTECTED BY DETECTOR BARS!   MASSIVE DELAYS OCCURRED FROM THE INTERLOCKING'S OPENING UNTIL A SECOND TOWER - "TOWER B" - WAS BUILT NEAR MONTAUK JUNCTION.   TOWERS "A" AND "B" WERE LAST LISTED IN EMPLOYE TIME TABLE NUMBER 72, OCTOBER 21, 1913.

THIS  1903  PLAN  SHOWS  THE  PROPOSED  TOWER  A  AND  TOWER  NUMBER  ONE.









SCROLL   TO   RIGHT   TO   VIEW   ENTIRE   TRACK   PLAN




THIS  PLAN  SHOWS  THE  FULL  WIDTH  OF   THE  TERMINAL  AT  THE  EAST  END


A   1951   PLAN


LOOKING   NORTHWEST   FROM   TOWER   A


LONG   ISLAND   CITY   STATION


THIS 1915 PHOTOGRAPH SHOWS TOWER B IN THE DISTANCE.
BOTH TOWERS ARE OUT OF SERVICE AND THE SWITCHES ARE HAND THROWN.
MANY SWITCHES ARE SPIKED AND BLOCKED
AND SOME TRACKS HAVE BEEN REMOVED.


SAME   PHOTOGRAPH   ENLARGED


BILL   BIESECKER   TOOK   THIS   PHOTO   IN   1918.


A   1951   SCENE


OCTOBER   31,   1954  -  THE   FOUNDATION   OF   TOWER   A   WAS   STILL   THERE.