Babylon Branch

Babylon Branch
Babylon Branch train #108 departs the Lynbrook Station, bound for Babylon.
Overview
Type	Commuter rail
System	Long Island Rail Road
Status	Operational
Locale	Nassau, and Suffolk County, New York, USA
Termini	Lynbrook Babylon
Stations	14
Services	Babylon Branch
Operation
Opened	1867 (as part of the Southern Railroad of Long Island)
Owner	Long Island Rail Road
Operator(s)	Metropolitan Transportation Authority
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Electrification	750V (DC) Third rail

The Babylon Branch is a rail service operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York. The term refers to the trains serving Montauk Branch stations from Valley Stream east to Babylon. (In other words, "Babylon Branch" is the railroad's designation for a set of trains that run along the Montauk Branch. There is no track called the "Babylon Branch".) The electrification of the Montauk Branch ends east of the Babylon station, so the Babylon Branch is mostly served by electric trains.

The west end of the "Babylon Branch" is the junction between the West Hempstead Branch and Montauk Branch (Valley Interlocking); St Albans, the only stop on the Montauk Branch west of Valley Stream, is shown in the West Hempstead Branch timetable. Trains that continue past the east end of the Babylon Branch are known as Montauk Branch trains; several of these use the Central Branch between Belmont Junction west of the Babylon station and a junction at Beth Interlocking on the Main Line southeast of the Bethpage Station, running to New York City via the Main Line. On weekends, Babylon Branch trains typically stop at Forest Hills and Kew Gardens in the eastbound direction as opposed to other Main Line trains that serve other branches.

The Babylon Branch portion of the Montauk Branch is grade separated with bridges over almost all intersecting roadways.

History

See also: Montauk Branch#History

The South Side Railroad of Long Island in the 1860s built what was to become the Montauk Branch of the Long Island Rail Road. The Babylon Branch as a separate operational entity began as the electrification of the Montauk Branch between Valley Stream and Babylon on May 20, 1925. Eventually, this would also include the former "Springfield Branch" which the Montauk Branch was relocated to northeast of Springfield Junction. The tracks were elevated from ground-level from the 1950s through the 1970s. Elevation of the line sparked grass-roots efforts to preserve the previous versions of Wantagh and Lindendurst Stations, the former of which resulted in the creation of the Wantagh Railroad Museum. The last station to be elevated on the branch was Massapequa Park on December 13, 1980.

Since the 1990's, many station houses along the branch have been rebuilt. Additionally, from July 2007 to April 10, 2011 the signals, switches, and gantries were replaced between the Wantagh Interlocking and Amityville Station and replaced the old PRR position signals with colored signals that were installed during the elevation of that section in 1973.

Stations

Station/ location	Station link	Miles to Penn Station	Connections/notes
For continuing service to Jamaica and points west, see City Terminal Zone
Saint Albans (some trains) Linden Boulevard and Montauk Street, Saint Albans	[1]	14.0	New York City Bus: Q4
New York City / Nassau County border
Valley Stream (eastbound, late nights only) Franklin Avenue and Sunrise Highway, Valley Stream	[2]	18.3	LIRR: Far Rockaway Branch trains Nassau Inter-County Express: n1, n2
Lynbrook (some trains) Sunrise Highway and Peninsula Boulevard, Lynbrook	[3]	19.9	LIRR: Long Beach Branch trains Nassau Inter-County Express: n4, n25, n31, n32, n36
Rockville Centre North Village Avenue and Front Street, Rockville Centre	[4]	21.5	Nassau Inter-County Express: n14, n15, n16
Baldwin Sunrise Highway and Grand Avenue, Baldwin	[5]	23.4	Nassau Inter-County Express: n35
Freeport Henry Street and Benson Place, Freeport	[6]	24.9	Nassau Inter-County Express: n4, n19, n36, n40, n41, n43, n62 (n88 summer service to Jones Beach)
Merrick Sunrise Highway, between Hewlett Avenue and Merrick Avenue, Merrick	[7]	26.3	Nassau Inter-County Express: n51
Bellmore Sunrise Highway and Bedford Avenue, Bellmore	[8]	27.8	Nassau Inter-County Express: n45, n46, n50
Wantagh Wantagh Avenue and Railroad Avenue, Wantagh	[9]	28.8	Nassau Inter-County Express: n73, n74
Seaford Sunrise Highway and Jackson Avenue, Seaford	[10]	29.9	Nassau Inter-County Express: n54
Massapequa Sunrise Highway east of Broadway (NY 107), Massapequa	[11]	30.9	Nassau Inter-County Express: n54, n55, n80, n81
Massapequa Park Sunrise Highway and Park Boulevard, Massapequa Park	[12]	31.7	Nassau Inter-County Express: n54, n55, n80, n81
Nassau County / Suffolk County border
Amityville John Street, between Sunrise Highway and Montauk Highway (NY 27A), Amityville	[13]	33.5	Nassau Inter-County Express: n54 Suffolk County Bus: 1A, S1, S33
Copiague Marconi Boulevard and Great Neck Road, Copiague	[14]	34.6	Suffolk County Bus: 1B, S20, S31
Lindenhurst Wellwood Avenue and East Hoffman Avenue, Lindenhurst	[15]	35.9	Suffolk County Bus: 1B, S20, S35
Babylon Railroad Avenue just west of Deer Park Avenue, Babylon	[16]	38.8	Transfer between diesel and electric trains LIRR: Montauk Branch trains Nassau Inter-County Express: n19, n72 Suffolk County Bus: S20, S23, S25, S27, S29, S40, S42 (S47 seasonal service to Robert Moses State Park)
For continuing service to Montauk, see Montauk Branch

External links

• world.nycsubway.org: Babylon Branch