Bethpage Branch

The Bethpage Branch was a branch of the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR), running north from a station at the present-day split between the Ronkonkoma Branch and Central Branch (then called the Bethpage Junction and now called Bethpage Interlocking) to a station then called Bethpage (where today the Old Bethpage Village Restoration in what is now called Old Bethpage, is located). The line was originally built by the Central Railroad of Long Island (CRRLI) in June 1873, primarily for the purpose of serving Alexander Turney Stewart's local brick manufacturing plant (Bethpage Brickworks) so he could build Garden City, New York. The branch became part of the LIRR, when it bought the CRRLI. Designated a siding as of May 24, 1909,[1] it was abandoned on November 10, 1942.