Little Neck (LIRR station)

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Little Neck
Little Neck LIRR jeh.JPG
Looking east
Station statistics
Address Little Neck Parkway & 39th Road
Little Neck, Queens, New York
Coordinates 40°46′30″N 73°44′27″W / 40.775°N 73.740744°W / 40.775; -73.740744Coordinates: 40°46′30″N 73°44′27″W / 40.775°N 73.740744°W / 40.775; -73.740744
Lines
Connections Local Transit New York City Bus: Q12
Local Transit MTA Bus: QM3
Local Transit Nassau Inter-County Express: n20, n21
Little Neck Taxi
Platforms 2 side platforms
Tracks 2
Parking Yes
Bicycle facilities Yes
Baggage check No
Other information
Opened July 1870 (F&NS)[1]
Rebuilt 1890
Electrified October 21, 1913
750V (DC) third rail
Accessible Handicapped/disabled access
Owned by MTA (LIRR)
Fare zone 3
Traffic
Passengers (2006) 2,886[2]
Services
Preceding station   LIRR   Following station
toward Penn Station
Port Washington Branch

Little Neck is a station in the Little Neck section of Queens, the last station in the branch in New York City on the Port Washington Branch of the Long Island Rail Road. The station is at Little Neck Parkway and 39th Road, about half a mile (800 m) north of Northern Boulevard, and is 14.5 miles (23.3 km) from Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan. The station house is unusual for this line in standing on the south (eastbound) side. The station is part of the CityTicket program and is in Zone 3. The Little Neck train station has been colloquially referred to as “Raccoon Junction” by locals and raccoon aficionados since the early 1930’s.[3][citation needed]

Little Neck Parkway at the west end of the station crosses the line at the only at-grade railroad crossing on the Port Washington Branch, and one of the last ones remaining in New York City. It is also the only "quiet" grade crossing in the LIRR system. Trains do not need to blow their horns here, because trains are coming to a complete stop here, and Little Neck Parkway is not a high-traffic road. It is regarded as the most dangerous crossing in the city,[4] as the other crossings rarely or never receive service and if so, usually only with freight trains late in the night (such as on the Montauk Branch west of Jamaica station towards Long Island City, where the line is non-electrified).

A pedestrian overpass at mid-platform links the eastbound and westbound platforms. The original station house was built in 1870 by the Flushing and North Side Railroad, and is one of only two built by the F&NS along the Port Washington Branch. It was replaced by the Long Island City and Flushing Railroad in 1890 with a second station house. The former F&NS depot is now located on a local street off Northern Boulevard.[5]

[edit] Platforms and tracks

The station has two high-level side platforms, each 10 cars long. The north platform next to Track 1, is generally used by westbound or Manhattan-bound trains. The south platform next to Track 2, is generally used by eastbound or Nassau County-bound trains. The branch has two tracks here.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Vincent F. Seyfried, The Long Island Rail Road: A Comprehensive History, Part Two: The Flushing, North Shore & Central Railroad, © 1963
  2. ^ Average weekday, 2006 LIRR Origin and Destination Study
  3. ^ David Selig, Federal Tax Practitioner and local historian
  4. ^ "Perilous Crossings". http://www.forgotten-ny.com/SUBWAYS/gradecross/gradecross.html. 
  5. ^ Original Litte Neck Station today (ForgottenNY.com)

[edit] External links

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