21st Century Long Island Freight

NYA Clearance and Weight Limits map 4/16/2015

The New York & Atlantic RR services Coastal Distribution; a transload facility for construction and demolition debris (C&D).  It is built on the previous LIRR site of an existing wye that extended north of the main line.  

Coastal is one of NY&A's largest customers. It loads about 10-15 gondolas 6 days a week. I believe it has its own trucks (I've seen at least 5 tractor trailers) and its own railcars (CDEX cars). It is an empties-in/loads-out operation.

It may recycle some metal found in the debris that the tractor trailers bring in, but the majority of the waste is C&D (sheetrock, lumber, etc.)  This is what the corrugated steel shed on the east leg of the wye houses. The trucks dump their loads and then in it is loaded by grapple and loaders into the high side gondolas for disposal in landfills. (Sent to Ohio, I believe.)

The west wye leg crosses New Highway and enters the fenced property through a gate.  Coastal Distribution. However, currently, switching is performed on the east leg of the wye only. Loads are pulled out, then the empties are shoved in, both on the east leg of the wye. It doesn't make sense to put the emptied through the west leg, as the engines are on the wrong end of the drag. Usually the job that switches coastal takes care of business there, then either continues east to Wyandanch to switch the container customer before heading back west, or they just run around at Farmingdale and head back from there.

A new longer siding has been laid north of the team track and it looks like it extends far enough west to reach a sand and gravel lot. 

The wye goes back to the early 20th century, c.1916, when Bloch and Guggenheimer (B&G) Pickle's siding occupied the west wye leg site area followed by Republic Aviation during WW II, when in full swing, building fighter planes for the war effort. As the LIRR rules prevented steam engines from running tender first on the main line, the wye was essential for turning them for the westbound runs. The building was later used as a warehouse. 

Farmingdale wye - Coastal Distribution, LLC aerial 
Note: Abandoned ex-B&G Pickles/Republic siding prior to raze in 3/2013
 

Train RS30 is pulling empty tank cars from Pulver Gas on the North Freight track. 

Last moves of the year. The New York and Atlantic Railway RS-20 brought a cut of Waste Management refuse cars to Brooklyn, NY on Sunday, December 31, 2017. Progress Rail PR20B pair 300-301 are the newest engines on the NY&A and are a popular target when running together. Marc Glucksman

The MTA NYC Transit Bus Grand Ave. Depot in the background. NYA GP-38 #271 leads #268 as they shove back into the warehouse with loaded box cars. These units served passengers for over two decades on the MTA LIRR before accruing almost as much time on their present assignment in freight service. Marc Glucksman

The crew is heading back to Pine Aire after switching customers east of Ronkonkoma.
 

Possible Propane for Paraco in Riverhead.

The 261 is in the lead with 6 empties from Southern Container and MP15AC #156.

Float on! The car floats of the NYNJ RR at the Brooklyn Army Terminal serve as a modern to link to mostly forgotten form of transportation. Freight cars from Bayonne, NJ arrive by barge, and are mostly transferred to the New York and Atlantic Railway. On Sunday, January 14, 2018, the NY&A made an unusual Sunday 
daylight run down the Bay Ridge Branch to make an exchange of cars with MP15ACs #155-156.

They still had one extra centerbeam to drop off
at Roberts Plywood in Deer Park

NYA #155, #151 Roberts Plywood, Deer Park  View NW 3/20/2022
Photo/Archive: Ronnie Schnepf

NYA #268, #261 spotting the TBOX boxcar
for Robert's Plywood.

NYA working Robert's Plywood 3/09/2010
Photo/Archive: William Skeats

Switching Medford Team Track. Delivery for Triangle Lumber.

NYAR RS70 job. The ex-LIRR E20's number 268 and 261 powered the 30 car freight where the crew will spot cars for Gershow Recycling and Brookhaven Rail terminal.  8/14/2022 
Photos/Archive: Benjamin Lederer

More BRT

Friday, March 24th 2023: I noticed that the freight that serves my little village of Huntington was heading my way late this morning. As I’m sure you all know by now, there is one and only one freight customer left on the Port Jefferson Branch: Kleet Lumber on Park Avenue, Huntington (actually Huntington Station, a hamlet and census-designated place).   

I first headed out to East Northport to make sure that the freight had, indeed, got that far. They don’t have to run around their train on the Northport siding but it’s easy as it is fully interlocked (remote from Jamaica these days). They could run around at Greenlawn, one station east of Huntington, but that only has (shudder!) hand-operated switches. They also really can’t run around at Huntington as there usually are too many trains sitting around.

In any case, the freight is now handled by the RS70-71 crew instead of the former RS40 crew as the New York & Atlantic seems to have a crew shortage these days. The freight waits in the siding for an eastbound and then a westbound passenger train to pass before heading back in to Huntington. (Kleet is a westward trailing point switch, hence the need to run around the train somewhere).   
Photos/Archive/Commentary: Jeff Erlitz
 

C3 #5020 (Kawasaki Rail Car, 3/1999)
DM30AC #520 (EMD, 9/1999, s/n 956623-21)
Train #653 (Port Jefferson-Huntington)
Northport station, East Northport - View east 3/24/2023 Consist: 5020+4084+4061-4016+520  1:02pm

Here’s the westbound passenger train coming into Northport station which, as I have mentioned previously, is actually in East Northport. The 1927 station building, one of the LIRR's many in the Dutch Colonial style, replaced the original 1874 building. It is still in use as such and, in fact, was rehabbed just a couple of years ago.  Map location no.1 above

NYA MP15AC 156 (EMD, 3/1977, s/n 766043-7)
NYA PR20B 300 (Progress Rail, 2/2016, s/n 20147068-1)
#RS71 (Northport-Fresh Pond Yard)
West of Greenlawn station, Greenlawn - View NE 1:18pm

Jamaica immediately gave the freight the lineup to follow 653, so I jumped into the car to get ahead of him, not a difficult task as the freight is limited to about 20 mph or so. Here he is, just west of Greenlawn station. Kleet usually gets four cars of lumber on each trip these days. I took this photo from the former high level platform of the Greenlawn freight house, long gone now. The building was last used, if I’m not mistaken, by Southdown Pet Products but even that’s going back 40 years now. In the past couple of months, the railroad has cleared out all of the brush/shrubbery along the right-of-way through here, much to the advantage of us photographers. It looks like the 156 just came out of the paint shop!

Map location no.2 above

Heading off towards Huntington, he’s about to cross over Cuba Hill Road. Both ends of the former freight house siding are still connected though I have no idea why. The east end of this track also served as a team track back in the day. It still could be.

Map location no.3 above

By the time I got to Kleet Lumber, they had already dragged the empties off the siding and placed them on the main track.

Map location no.4 above

Although a main track switch in the electric zone, this switch is not electrically-locked. It does, of course, have a track circuit shunt/point detector.  The loads have been placed and the engines are coming back out onto the main.

Loads and empties, side by side. The Park Avenue grade crossing is in the distance, a very busy Suffolk County road. Also, the end of the South Siding Extension.

Park Avenue grade crossing looking east. The third rail ends 1000 feet of here, enough to turn a 12-car MU should the South Siding Extension be blocked for whatever reason.

The engines have coupled up to the empties and are charging up, a quick process with such a short train.

And off goes RS71, headed back to Fresh Pond Yard. In the distance is Huntington station, with an MU on the south (#2) track.

Kleet Lumber eastward facing point hand-operated switch 357W.

Looking east inside Kleet Lumber. They actually have a switch-back, as you can see here. The lumber loads are wrapped/banded on center-beam bulk head flat cars.

The west end of the switch back, which they most certainly use. The rails end by that dark patch on the ground this side of that little truck.

Info/Photo/Archive:  Daniel Foran

GATX #19178  Islip team track for Velvetop
View NE 12/1997

Dow Chemical (DOWX) Calcium Chloride Tank car view NW 3/31/2008 Team Track for Velvetop
Photo: Mike McDermet

TCIX 23041 12/16/09 Photo: Mike McDermet

Velvetop uses these pure clay bags in their blacktop products. I used to work at  84 Lumber, and occasionally we would help them out unloading boxcars if they had poor car positioning or having issues with their forklifts.

These bags were dangerously heavy for using their smaller lifts especially at that height, so one or two times we helped them out using our Sellick SD80 Forklift (example pictured left). It has an 8000 pound rating, but we used it for all sorts of stuff from moving our trucks around the yard to moving railcars!  The Sellick SD80  no issues with this due to its wide wheelbase and overkill size.

Those bags by the way are HEAAAVY! They have nylon loops at the top to put the forks through for lifting.
Matthew Liegey 

Liquid calcium chloride (CaCl2) is an
odorless, slightly alkaline, colorless fluid.

Calcium Chloride is used in various applications to retard cold weather hazards, including snow and ice control on roadways 

It is also used as an accelerator for ready-mix concrete curing, and as an anti-freeze for coal storage and transportation. Calcium Chloride also can be used as a roadbed stabilizer.

Another Mainline run for the RS40 crew brings them eastbound up the slight grade leaving FARM Interlocking. Seen to the left of the frame is the Village of Farmingdale's aging water tower. Instead of a $2 Million rehabilitation, the Village trustees voted to erect a new 500,000 gallon tank to replace it. Maintenance costs will now be much lower and the residents of Farmingdale Village will continue to have clean drinking water for years to come.  6/20/2022 Joseph Tischner

New York & Atlantic train RS-41 led by PR20B's 300 and 301 is westbound passing the now closed QUEENS Tower in Queens Village, NY. Control of the interlocking is now handled by the JCC in Jamaica. The PRR style position lights are also now gone and the interlocking was completely reconfigured as part of the new third track project. 6/2016
Photo/Archive/Info: John Krattinger

New York & Atlantic train RS41 heads westbound passing the closed QUEENS Tower, with a straight routing through the maze of switches making up QUEENS Interlocking. The signals in the background, as well as the ones at Queens Village are on borrowed time, so shoot them while you can. (9/19/2022) Info/Photo/Archive: Thomas Farmer

The previous night was quite a dozy for the RS51 crew after
an open door dragging on one of the hopper cars. The problem was found on their move west in the town of Farmingdale forcing their train to come to a stop fouling multiple crossings throughout the town. Instead of continuing their journey east they ended up shoving their train back to PW, west of Pinelawn at MP31.8, where they left it for the next night. 9/19/2023     Photo/Archive: Daniel Foran