Railroad Museum of Long Island Celebrates 180th Anniversary of Train Service

Bob, due to you and others here on the forum, I have learned so much about Long Island.  It is a place very different from where I have lived in Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia, yet so many things are similar.  The best part is so many good folks like yourself and the love of railroads.

Thanks for posting Bob. Very interesting.

I remain a fan of the Long Island Rail Road, its G-5s steam locomotives, the double-decker passenger cars on which I rode into New York City as a youngster, and the railroad to which my dad took me to watch trains in Sunnyside Yard.

A railroad from New York City to Boston through Connecticut was impractical in the early days of railroading because of the numerous rivers that had to be bridged along the shoreline in Connecticut. So, the LIRR promoted a rail-ferry-rail route to Boston and laid its tracks through the center of the island from Brooklyn to Greenport, although most Long Island communities were on the north and south shores. Not too long after that, the civil engineers figured out how to build bridges across the rivers and the faster/shorter route to Boston developed through Connecticut, although it took until 1889 to bridge the Thames River at New London and create an all-rail route. Eventually, the LIRR gave up on its idea of a route to Boston and, of course, it had a huge impact on the development of Long Island.

Consequently, I had to move to Connecticut to watch the trains on their way to Boston...

MELGAR

A relative of mine was a conductor on the LIRR. In 1980 I got to spend an entire day with him on the LIRR. From him I learned what "pee* on a hot brake shoe" smelled like, and what it was like for the train to hit a lawnmower placed on the tracks by juvenile delinquents. Got to ride the vestibule and climb into the cab of a GP38-2. Saw my first and only Alco FA. Still have some "flimsies" and tickets from that day.

I was 13 years old. Something like that would be impossible today.

*A more-colorful term was actually used.

@MELGAR posted:

Thanks for posting Bob. Very interesting.

I remain a fan of the Long Island Rail Road, its G-5s steam locomotives, the double-decker passenger cars on which I rode into New York City as a youngster, and the railroad to which my dad took me to watch trains in Sunnyside Yard.

A railroad from New York City to Boston through Connecticut was impractical in the early days of railroading because of the numerous rivers that had to be bridged along the shoreline in Connecticut. So, the LIRR promoted a rail-ferry-rail route to Boston and laid its tracks through the center of the island from Brooklyn to Greenport, although most Long Island communities were on the north and south shores. Not too long after that, the civil engineers figured out how to build bridges across the rivers and the faster/shorter route to Boston developed through Connecticut, although it took until 1889 to bridge the Thames River at New London and create an all-rail route. Eventually, the LIRR gave up on its idea of a route to Boston and, of course, it had a huge impact on the development of Long Island.

Consequently, I had to move to Connecticut to watch the trains on their way to Boston...

MELGAR

RMLI is working with Strasburg RR to restore # 39 one of the last G5's to run on the LIRR.

@RSJB18 posted:

RMLI is working with Strasburg RR to restore # 39 one of the last G5's to run on the LIRR.

I used to see LIRR G-5s #35 when it was on display in Salisbury Park (now Nassau County Eisenhower Park).

MELGAR