Far Rockaway station (LIRR)

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For the former LIRR station at Mott Avenue, now a subway station, see Far Rockaway–Mott Avenue station.
Far Rockaway
Far Rockaway LIRR terminal.jpg
Looking northeast at the station
LocationNameoke Street and Redfern Avenue
Far Rockaway, Queens, New York
Coordinates40°36′31″N 73°45′03″W / 40.608610°N 73.750792°W / 40.608610; -73.750792Coordinates: 40°36′31″N 73°45′03″W / 40.608610°N 73.750792°W / 40.608610; -73.750792
Owned byLong Island Rail Road
Platforms1 island platform
Tracks2
ConnectionsNew York City Subway
"A" train at Far Rockaway – Mott Avenue
Local Transit MTA Bus: Q22, Q113, Q114
Local Transit Nassau Inter-County Express: n31, n32, n33
Construction
ParkingYes
Disabled accessYes
Other information
Fare zone4
History
OpenedFebruary 21, 1958
Passengers
2006316[1]
Services
Preceding station MTA NYC logo.svg LIRR Following station
Inwood
towards Jamaica, Atlantic Terminal or Penn Station
 Far Rockaway Branch Terminus

Far Rockaway (sometimes referred to as Far Rockaway—Nameoke Street) is the terminus of the Long Island Rail Road's Far Rockaway Branch in the Far Rockaway neighborhood of Queens in New York City. The station is located at Nameoke Street and Redfern Avenue, and is 23.0 miles (37 km) from Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan, and mean travel time is 56 minutes, although most off-peak trains terminate at Atlantic Terminal, thus requiring a transfer for service to Penn Station.

As the Far Rockaway Branch loops back through Nassau County and is in zone 4, this station is not eligible for the CityTicket program.

History[]

Far Rockaway station was originally built by the South Side Railroad of Long Island on July 29, 1869. From 1872 to 1877, the station was located in close proximity to the southern terminus of the LIRR's Cedarhurst Cut-off.[2][3] The original station house was converted into a freight house, and replaced by the 2nd station which was moved from Ocean Point Station (a.k.a. Cedarhurst Station), remodeled, and opened on October 1, 1881. The 3rd depot opened on July 15, 1890, while the 2nd depot was sold and moved to a private location in October 1890. From 1897 to 1926 the Ocean Electric Railway used Far Rockaway station as both the eastern terminus and as their headquarters. It also served as the terminus of a Long Island Electric Railway trolley line leading to Jamaica. The tracks and platforms were elevated as with much of the Far Rockaway Branch on April 10, 1942.

The Far Rockaway Branch had originally been part of a loop that traveled along the existing route, continuing through the Rockaway Peninsula and heading on a trestle across Jamaica Bay through Queens where it reconnected with the Atlantic and Lower Montauk branches, and even the Main Line. Frequent fires and maintenance problems led to the LIRR abandoning the Queens portion of the route (with the exception being this station), which was acquired by the city to become the IND Rockaway Line, with service provided by the A train. The line was divided with the portions from Mott Avenue becoming part of the subway system on January 16, 1958, and the current Far Rockaway station becoming not only the terminus of the LIRR branch on February 21, 1958,[4] but also the newest station on the branch.

Station layout[]

This station has one 10-car-long island platform. North of the station, the two tracks merge, then split into four tracks––two of which are used for storage and two continue on towards Jamaica. The station house dating to 1958 was demolished in 2020.


References[]

  1. ^ Average weekday, 2006 LIRR Origin and Destination Study
  2. ^ The New York and Rockaway Railroad (Arrt's Arrchives)
  3. ^ 1873 Map of the NY&R (Arrt's Arrchives)
  4. ^ IND Rockaway Branch/Jamaica Bay Crossing, accessed June 14, 2006

External links[]

Media related to Far Rockaway (LIRR station) at Wikimedia Commons

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