Whitestone Branch

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Whitestone Branch
Whiitestone LIRR ferry jeh.JPG
Beechhurst Yacht Club, the site of the former northern terminus of the Whitestone Branch
Type Passenger and Freight
Status Abandoned
Locale Queens, New York City
Termini Willets Point (south)
Whitestone (north)
Stations 5
Opening 1869 (1869)
Closed February 19, 1932 (1932-02-19)
Operator(s) Flushing and North Side Railroad
Long Island Railroad
Track gauge 4 ft 8 12 in (1,435 mm)
Electrification 1912-1932[1]

The Whitestone Branch was a branch of the Long Island Rail Road, running north and east along the left bank of the Flushing River from the Port Washington Branch near the modern Willets Point, Flushing. It crossed the river on one of the three bridges later torn down for the Van Wyck Expressway, then ran north along Flushing Bay and east along the East River to Whitestone. Originally conceived as a branch of the Flushing and North Side Railroad that was intended to lead into Westchester County (a connection that never materialized) in 1869, it was consolidated into the Long Island Rail Road in 1876 when its owners, the Poppenhusen family, took over the bankrupt LIRR. It later became part of a subsidiary called the Long Island City and Flushing Railroad.

In the 1920s the branch began to lose patronage and the LIRR sought to rid itself of the line. There was a proposal for the city owned IND subway to buy the line and incorporate it into the subway system. The deal never panned out most likely due the numerous grade crossings that would have cost the city a large amount of money to remove. The Interstate Commerce Commission allowed the LIRR to abandon the line in 1932.

Most of the branch was removed, except a small section of the line leading to the Corona Yard which remained well into the 1970s when the LIRR closed the Corona yard. Today only a small section of track, just east of the former Shea Stadium station, remains branching off from the Port Washington branch. The Flushing-Main Street station of the Port Washington Branch was so named to distinguish it from the Whitestone's Flushing-Bridge Street station. Despite the closing of the Bridge Street station the LIRR continues to use "Main Street" on signs and timetables to this day.


Miles (kilometers)
to Penn Station
Connections/notes History
Begin at Port Washington Branch near Corona Yard.
Junction with Flushing Bay Freight Spur.
Connection to Woodside Branch.
Flushing–Bridge Street Bridge Street is now part of NY 25A. Named to distinguish it from Flushing-Main Street Station. 1870-1932.
College Point 1869-1932.
Malba Only station on the line built by the Long Island Railroad; 1909-1932.
Whitestone–14th Avenue Whitestone Trolley 1869-1932.
Whitestone Landing (at 155th Street). Also known as "Beechhurst Yacht Club Station". 1886-1932.
The entire line was abandoned on February 15, 1932.


External links[edit]