Valley Stream station

Valley Stream is a station on the Long Island Rail Road's Atlantic Branch serving the residents of Valley Stream, and is the first station (traveling eastbound) in Nassau County. The station is located at Franklin Avenue and Sunrise Highway, west of Rockaway Avenue, and is 16.1 miles (25.9 km) from Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan. The station is wheelchair accessible with an elevator from street level; parking facilities and taxis are available.

Valley Stream
LocationFranklin Avenue & Sunrise Highway
Valley Stream, New York
Coordinates40.661483°N 73.704679°W / 40.661483; -73.704679
Owned byLong Island Rail Road
Line(s)Atlantic Branch
Platforms1 island platform
Tracks2 (Atlantic Branch), 2 (Montauk Branch)
ConnectionsNassau Inter-County Express: n1, Elmont Flexi
Construction
ParkingYes
Bicycle facilitiesYes
Disabled accessYes
Other information
Fare zone4[1]
History
OpenedJune 1869 (SSRRLI)[2]
Rebuilt1933
ElectrifiedDecember 11, 1905
750 V (DC) third rail
Passengers
2012-1414,444[3]
Rank12
Services
Preceding station LIRR Following station
Rosedale Far Rockaway Branch
weekdays
Gibson
towards Far Rockaway
Jamaica Far Rockaway Branch
weekends
Long Beach Branch
weekdays
Lynbrook
towards Long Beach
Rosedale Long Beach Branch
weekends
Terminus West Hempstead Branch
weekends
Westwood
Former services
Preceding station Long Island
Rail Road
Following station
Rosedale Montauk Division Lynbrook
toward Montauk
Rosedale Atlantic Division Terminus
Terminus Far Rockaway Branch Gibson
West Hempstead Branch Westwood

The station is served by trains on the Far Rockaway Branch and Long Beach Branch, as well as select West Hempstead Branch trains. On weekends, the station serves as the westbound terminal for West Hempstead Branch shuttle trains, which requiring transfer to continue towards New York City.

History

The first Valley Stream station was built by the South Side Railroad of Long Island on October 28, 1867. The station house itself opened in July 1869 with the opening of the Far Rockaway Branch, and was built as a Swiss chalet style station house inside the legs of an old wye. It also served customers of the Southern Hempstead Branch which was built by the short-lived New York and Hempstead Plains Railroad between 1871 and 1900. Along with the rest of the SSRRLI, the station was acquired by the Long Island Rail Road in 1889. In 1893 the station began to serve trains along the West Hempstead Branch. When Nassau County separated from Queens in 1899, Valley Stream station became the first station in Nassau County along the Montauk Branch. The station was electrified with the rest of the Far Rockaway Branch on December 11, 1905, and the Long Beach Branch was extended from Lynbrook station in 1910 and became an extension of the Atlantic Branch.

In 1933, the original station was razed as part of a grade crossing elimination project along the Montauk, Atlantic, and Babylon branches. Prior to this, a temporary station was relocated on a shoo-fly north of the former station on August 10, 1932, then moved to another one south of the former station on August 31 of the same year. The third elevated center-island structure that exists today was opened north of the former location on February 7, 1933, and although the wye was removed as part of the reconstruction, it remained on many maps well into the late-20th Century, and continues to be shown on some in the present.

Clear Stream station

Shortly after electrical service of the Far Rockaway Branch was established, the LIRR created a new station west of Valley Stream at Clear Stream Road (now Avenue) called Clear Stream. It opened in 1906 and used only for rush hour service. The station was eliminated after 1910.[4]

Station layout

An eight-car long island platform is located between the two south tracks, The two bypass tracks north of the station are part of the Montauk Branch, while Tracks 1 and 2 are on the Atlantic Branch. At the east end of the station, the Atlantic Branch splits into the Long Beach Branch, continuing east to Lynbrook and Long Beach, and Far Rockaway Branch, turning south toward Far Rockaway in New York City. West Hempstead Branch trains that terminate at Valley Stream on weekends also merge with the Montauk Branch right-of-way in order to switch onto the West Hempstead Branch track further east.

P
Platform level
Montauk
Branch
     Montauk Branch does not stop here
     Babylon Branch does not stop here
     West Hempstead Branch does not stop here
     Montauk Branch does not stop here →
     Babylon Branch does not stop here →
     West Hempstead Branch does not stop here →
Track 1      West Hempstead Branch weekend termination track
     Long Beach Branch toward Jamaica, Atlantic Terminal, or Penn Station (Rosedale or Jamaica)
     Far Rockaway Branch toward Jamaica, Atlantic Terminal, or Penn Station (Rosedale or Jamaica)
Island platform, doors will open on the left or right
Track 2      Far Rockaway Branch toward Far Rockaway (Gibson)
     Long Beach Branch toward Long Beach (Lynbrook)
     West Hempstead Branch weekends toward West Hempstead (Westwood)
G Ground level Entrance/exit, parking, buses

References

  1. "New Fares — Effective April 21, 2019". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  2. Vincent F. Seyfried, The Long Island Rail Road: A Comprehensive History, Part One: South Side R.R. of L.I., © 1961
  3. "2012-2014 LIRR Origin and Destination Report, Volume I: Travel Behavior Among All LIRR Passengers" (PDF). Abt SRBI. August 23, 2016. p. 204-207.
  4. [The Long Island Rail Road, a Comprehensive History - Part 6: The Golden Age 1881-1900, by Vincent F. Seyfried (1975; Page 267)]
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