Woodside (LIRR station)

Woodside is a railroad station on the Long Island Rail Road's Main Line in the Woodside neighborhood of Queens. Woodside is the first station east of Pennsylvania Station, and is the only Queens station on the Long Island Rail Road that serves both the Port Washington Branch and the other LIRR branches that begin east of Jamaica Station. East of Woodside, the two-track Port Washington Branch splits off the Main Line, bypassing Jamaica, while the four-track Main Line continues on a south-easterly course to Jamaica Station.

Woodside has six tracks and three platforms. The four southernmost tracks passing through the station are the Main Line tracks; the two center tracks are through (express) tracks and do not have platform faces at Woodside. The two northernmost tracks are the Port Washington branch tracks, both of which have platforms. West of the station, the line merges with Amtrak's Hell Gate Bridge access tracks (part of the Northeast Corridor) at Harold Interlocking before entering the East River Tunnels to Manhattan. The Woodside – 61st Street (7 <7> trains) station is located above Woodside station, on a high viaduct above Roosevelt Avenue. The station is ADA wheelchair accessible, by means of elevator, escalator, and ramps. When the wind is blowing from the north inbound Air Traffic to LGA will go right over this station.

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Contents
[hide]*1 History
 * 2 Platform and track configuration
 * 3 Bus & Rail Connections
 * 4 References
 * 5 External links
 * }

[edit] History
Woodside Station was originally built by the Flushing and North Side Railroad on November 15, 1869. For a short period during the 1870's it served not only the Port Washington Branch but the Woodside Branch, which ran across northwestern Queens, had one station at Junction Boulevard and 35th Avenue, and took commuters either to the former Whitestone Branch, or to what is today the Corona Yard. Like all other stations on Long Island, it was acquired by the Long Island Railroad in 1876. Though the line was electrified on June 16, 1910, the station was closed in 1914 due to a grade elimination project and razed on November 17, 1915. The existing elevated station was opened on October 17, 1915. When Winfield Station was closed in 1929, Woodside became the station for Main Line and Port Washington Branch trains before the split at Winfield Junction. A restoration project took place in 1999.

[edit] Platform and track configuration
This station has three 12-car-long high-level platforms. The northern one, a side platform adjacent to Track 1 of the Port Washington Branch, is generally used by westbound or inbound or Manhattan-bound trains. The central one, an island platform adjacent to Track 2 of the Port Washington Branch and Track 3 of the Main Line, is generally used by eastbound or outbound Port Washington trains and westbound or inbound or Manhattan-bound Main Line trains. The southern one, a side platform adjacent to Track 4 of the Main Line, is generally used by outbound or eastbound Main Line trains.

There are six tracks at this location. Tracks 1 and 2 of the Main Line, not adjacent to any platform, are used only by through trains.

[edit] Bus & Rail Connections
New York City Subway: NYCT Bus: MTA Bus Company:
 * Woodside – 61st Street station of the IRT Flushing Line (7 <7> trains)
 * Q32: via Roosevelt and Fifth Avenues to Penn Station, Manhattan or to Northern Boulevard, Jackson Heights.
 * Q18: to Maspeth or via 30th Avenue to Astoria
 * Q53: via Woodhaven Boulevard to Rockaway Park – Beach 116th Street