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This sandbox is for LIRR-related things.

Wading River Extension

When the construction of the Port Jefferson Branch was completed in 1868, it was thought that the line would not be extended further east as there were no important villages past Port Jefferson. Aside from a proposal to extend it to meet up with the Main Line in Riverhead, there were no serious proposals to extend the line further east. Surveyors defined a route from Port Jefferson to Riverhead in October 1883, but nothing resulted from it. In May 1892, surveyors made out a possible right-of-way.In order to fund the project, Austin Corbin proposed the consolidation of the new North Shore Branch with the old Smithtown & Port Jefferson Railroad. The merger would allow for the issuance of a $1,500,000 mortgage on the entire road, and it would therefore allow for the funding of both the extension and a portion of debt that remained from the old Smithtown & Port Jefferson Railroad. On September 23, 1892, the railroads were officially consolidated as the Long Island Railroad Company, North Shore Branch. Benjamin Norton became president of the new railroad and the route was officially adopted on May 20, 1893, running parallel to North Country Road. In the summer of 1893, New York State passed a law requiring all new railroads be double-tracked, but Corbin, using his political influence, was able to get a bill passed through the State Legislature that would exempt the Wading River Extension. Originally, construction was to be completed by June 1, 1894. There was speculation that Wading River would be a temporary terminal and that the road would be built through to Riverhead by the following year. The first rail was laid on July 24, 1894 and the last rail on March 6, 1895.

Construction of the right-of-way was completed in May 1895, and the first passenger train ran on June 22, with the first regularly scheduled passenger train running on June 27, 1895. The Wading River extension was a major accomplishment for the Long Island Rail Road, and the communities along the line thrived with summer business and railroad service increased both on and off season. In the second year of railroad operations, vacationers utilized the line to look at the beauty of the sea shore and the bold wooded bluffs along the line. During the first few days of July 1896, the heaviest travel days at the time, the rail business was booming. Due to an increase of traffic on the line, service was increased on the branch to two trains a day during the winter months in 1897. In February of 1906, LIRR president Peters approved the construction of the extension of the North Shore Branch to Riverhead, with work first being scheduled to commence in the next few months. By August, the work was delayed to the following year. The extension never came to fruition.

In the middle of the 1910s, Monday through Saturday service was limited to two trains per day in both directions. Two of these trains contained parlor cars, which was a service premium on the road. Saturday service included an additional eastbound parlor car train. Sunday service was a total of three trains in both directions. However, in the summer of 1914, the company failed to profit in transient summer business, which represented a large part of its revenue.

With the growing popularity of automobiles in the 1920s, suburban residents chose to use their own personal vehicles instead of waiting for one of the few daily trains along the Wading River Branch. Slowly, the quality of service diminished and the New York State Public Service Commission authorized an investigation of the delays on the entire Wading River Branch. A public hearing was held on November 22, 1922, and further investigation

Although the LIRR blamed a recent railroad strike and coal strike, a public hearing was held on November 22, 1922. Further investigation throughout the decade led the commission to order the company to make certain changes and improvements in its service to Nassau and Suffolk. These related to regulations, practices, equipment, facilities, and service. In the wake of scrutiny and declining ridership, the LIRR was forced to abandon its experimental farm at Wading River. The project, undertaken in 1906, was opened by the company’s short-lived Agricultural Department to prove that land was capable of producing high-quality, valuable agricultural products. By 1930, both the Wading River and Medford locations were sold.

By the end of the 1920s, the loss of customers led to service changes on the Wading River Extension and resulted in multiple attempts to abandon the line. In October 1927, steam-hauled trains were replaced with a one-car combination engine and coach. This car was supposed to connect with regular steam service at Port Jefferson, and it operated one roundtrip daily. During the summer of 1928, service was two daily trains, eastbound and westbound, and three to four trains on Sundays. The first attempt to discontinue the extension was in 1932. Citing revenue loss, the LIRR posted signs at all stations suggesting that it intended to abandon the branch on June 1, 1933. Residents of the neighboring communities turned to the New York State Public Service Commission (PSC) in order to prevent the abandonment of the line, and the LIRR was forced to continue service when it failed to get the backing of the Public Service Commission.

In 1933, the LIRR tried to rid itself of the branch again, this time turning to the Interstate Commerce Commission. One examiner of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) ruled in favor of abandonment. The commission, in a report published on February 9, 1934, cited an annual saving of $21,000 if service was discontinued, and it pointed out that the area that the line served was seasonal, with a population of 10,000 in the summer as opposed to 1,500 in the winter. As a result, in the winter of 1934, winter service was discontinued, meaning that service on the branch would only operate between May and October. Steam service replaced the combination engine and coach car in the summer of 1933, saving the LIRR $500 a year since the combination vehicle had problems. On April 25, 1934, the ICC denied the petition for abandonment because of the construction of an orphan asylum. The summer-only service would last six seasons, and by 1937, there were two eastbound trains daily and one westbound. On Sundays, there was one train in both directions. Another application was sent to the ICC in 1938, and it grant the LIRR permission to abandon the Wading River Extension on September 27, 1938. The last timetable to display revenue service was the timetable effective September 18, 1938. Revenue service on the branch ended on Sunday, October 8, 1938, and the branch was officially out of service March 29, 1939.

The Wading River terminal had a wye, located north of the tracks to turn engines around. It also had a wooden, two-stall engine house south of the tracks along with coaling and watering facilities.

The LIRR’s main track ended on the west side of Wading River-Manor Road, with the depot building on the north side of the tracks. However, a siding used to service a coal supplier branched south off the main and extended further east across Wading River-Manor Road a distance. So . . . . while the LIRR’s end-of-track was technically on the west side of Wading River-Manor Road, it really extended further, via the siding.

As business got really slow, the railroad stopped running actual trains out to Wading River, but ran a shuttle service between Port Jefferson and Wading River utilizing a self-propelled gas car, nicknamed a “doodlebug.” This car ran on gasoline and carried passengers as well as baggage and could operate with only a motorman and a conductor. Quite a bit of savings from a steam locomotive and tender using lots of coal and water had having a full crew of engineer, fireman, conductor, trainman and brakeman.

In January, 1938, the end-of-track was cut back one mile west with a low-level platform constructed for use as the new station.

The right-of-way was acquired by Long Island Lighting Company to run their power lines. The right-of-way is now used by LIPA, the successor to LILCO. The stone overpass at Woodville Road in Shoreham is the last of the right-of-way structures that is still intact. The wooden trestle over the tracks at Miller’s Place was dismantled in 1939. The stone overpass at Rocky Point was demolished around the same time and the reddish-brown stones were shipped up the road and used as a retaining wall at Cedar Beach. The depot building at Rocky Point is still standing, having been moved slightly south of the original right-of-way and onto private property and has been incorporated into the structures on their grounds.