The best railfan commuter ride in all America is gone! The LIRR has changed the schedule and routing of the 4:54PM from Long Island City to Oyster Bay: it leaves 10 minutes earlier, operates via Hunterspoint Ave. and the Main Line to Jamaica instead of the keeping the franchise alive on the original route out of Long Island City to Jamaica. The morning train still goes west via the old line. But the difference is great. The westbound, or inbound, has the locomotive pushing; the evening eastbound is pulled allowing fans to watch out the back for a spectacular view of a spectacular ride which included abandoned stations, on the ground switchtender and crossing gate watchman, PRR style position lights, single and double track (some I swear to be less than 100lb rail!), warehouses, waterfront piers, sylvan park, row houses and duplexes, freight yards, abandoned roadbeds and roadbeds that should be abandoned, and maybe even a NY&A freight waiting at Fresh Pond to to into the yard, bridges, and the NY city skyline! What was once 18 minutes to Jamaica is now 32 minutes of mundane rapid transit running. The Lower Montauk run at 4:54PM Monday through Friday was like a 30 to 50 year step back in railroading…like riding a ghost train with the trackside images fading into the late afternoon dusk on a cold, February evening. The morning ride is still there, just doesn’t have the flavor of the 4:54 ( which is actually difficult for anyone but LI residents to get to Jamaica for the 8:11AM departure). Let’s hope the afternoon train may return in the near future for its view of a distant past.
And on the LIRR endangered list is Greenport service…daily now but to be cut back to weekend summer only at the end of September.2010. Get your rides in while you can. Ridewithmehenry will do one Saturday trip before the end.