Atlantic Branch

=Atlantic Branch=

=== The Atlantic Branch is an electrified rail line owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York. It runs from Downtown Brooklyn to Valley Stream. The two-track line is partly underground and partly elevated.===

The section between Atlantic Terminal and Nostrand Avenue is underground. From there, the line remains elevated above Atlantic Avenue in the road's median to Ralph Avenue, where it descends underground once again.

At East New York, the line rises onto street level, and descends once more to Jamaica. Between East New York and Jamaica, there are remains of a closed station at Woodhaven Junction.

In Jamaica, the line heads to the street level, and passes through the Morris Park Facility, which includes an employee station and engine shops for the diesel engines that provide service deeper into the Island.

It heads southeast from Jamaica, ending at Valley Interlocking in Valley Stream.

The Atlantic Terminal saw completion in 2010 of $93 million in renovations, including a new entry pavilion.[1] {| class="toc" id="toc"

Contents
[hide]*1 History
 * 1.1 Atlantic Terminal to Jamaica
 * 1.2 Jamaica to Valley Stream
 * 2 Station listing
 * 2.1 Full list, including all former stations
 * 3 See also
 * 4 References
 * 5 External links
 * }

[edit] History
The current Atlantic Branch is the successor to two separate lines: the Brooklyn and Jamaica Railroad (opened 1836) along Atlantic Avenue from Flatbush Avenue to Jamaica, and the South Side Railroad of Long Island (opened 1867) from Jamaica to Valley Stream. Woodhaven Junction power substation===[edit] Atlantic Terminal to Jamaica=== See also: Brooklyn and Jamaica RailroadThe Brooklyn and Jamaica Railroad opened the line from South Ferry to what is now 151st Street in Jamaica on April 18, 1836.

Initially, the line turned halfway between Classon and Franklin Avenues, running halfway between Herkimer Street and Schuyler Street (now Atlantic Avenue) along the line of the present Herkimer Place. It turned slightly to the southeast near Howard Avenue, crossing the centerline of Schuyler Street about one-third of the way between Hopkinson Avenue (Thomas Boyland Street) and Paca Avenue (Rockaway Avenue). It crossed into the town of New Lots just beyond Stone Avenue (Mother Gaston Boulevard).[2]

[edit] Jamaica to Valley Stream
See also: South Side Railroad of Long IslandThe portion east of Jamaica was opened by the South Side Railroad of Long Island on October 28, 1867, as part of its initial line from Jamaica to Babylon. With the consolidation of the South Side into the Long Island Rail Road system in 1876, all passenger trains were rerouted to use the LIRR main line from Berlin Junction (west of Jamaica) to Rockaway Junction and the LIRR's Rockaway Branch to Springfield Junction, where it crossed the South Side. This change took effect Sunday, June 25, 1876, and resulted in the closure of the South Side's Berlin, Beaver Street (Jamaica), Locust Avenue, and Springfield stations.[3] [4] This formed the current configuration, where the Montauk Branch follows this route, mostly ex-South Side, and the Atlantic Branch (then the Old Southern Road) uses the old South Side to Springfield Junction.

The line was soon reopened due to a lawsuit, but closed again by Austin Corbin as of January 6, 1881.[5]

Effective May 17, 1906, when an electrified third track opened alongside the Montauk Division from Springfield Junction to Valley Stream, the Old Southern Road and this new track became part of the Atlantic Division.[6]

[edit] Station listing
Only former stations that existed after the ca. 1905 improvement and electrification are listed in this table.