Montauk cutoff questions

More questions from my morning commute--on the outer track of the Montauk cutoff (the one that's out of service), just north of the LIE, there are these blue bogie cars that have been sitting there, seemingly for years now. Do they serve a purpose? Did they ever?

And while on the cutoff, there are two ramps down to Yard A. NY&A uses the one to the far north; there is also one that goes to the passenger yard. Is that ever used these days?

And finally, the trains that use the cutoff use seem to use two switchers, always coupled hood to hood. Does that make switching any easier? That train seems like the perfect subject to model on a small mddel layout.

Thanks a lot,

Dan

In regards to the blue intermodal trailer bogies (since that is what they are), they served a purpose for a short time in the early/mid 1990s under the last years of LIRR freight service (before the NYA).
There is (or was) in the yard in Farmingdale (on New Highway and Conklin) a trailer straddle unloader (blue also). I believe the LIRR had a short contract hauling trailers for a beer distributor (or maybe that was planned), but in the end this intermodal service quickly petered away, and those blue bogies were hauled out to the cutoff.

Special rolling stock was required due to clearance limits on the LIRR...

The 'south' ramp goes right into harold interlocking - not facing the passenger yard (assuming you mean the LIC LIRR coach yard?). I'm not sure if it would be possbiel to access the loop into amtrak's sunnyside from that track.

I don't know if it is still used (doubtful) but they used to use it every day back before the DM/DEs came into service. LIRR would gather up all the diesels that came in facing west. pull them from their trains, send and turn them via going up the cutoff to the secondary, across and down the ramp, then back down past HP av into the yard to be placed on the head ends of the trains for the outbound afternoon rush.

The use of cab cars and eliminated this procedure.

I believe that south track was called the mainline cutoff. It allowed entry into Yard A from the mainline. It was also used to route freight down the Port Washington branch when freight were dispatched from Yard A.

That track has been out of service for 2+ years for "structural repairs." Never seen any work performed though.

The beer distributor the bogies was used for was Clare Rose. The cars (from what I have been told) were garbage, and very prone to derailments. When Cross Harbor jacked up the price for movement, Clare Rose backed out, and I'm sure LIRR was more than happy to park the bogies for good.

Jay

Though I haven't been to Hicksville in awhile, behind KeySpan off the Main Line were parked a cut of those boogies.

Mike

Hey ,
Those things were there a long and I mean a long time. I like the trees growing up through them. Adds a nice touch for small wildlife to take refuge .
Chris

In addition to the trees growing up through those "bogies" - it looks like the cars may have been "tagged" a few times as well!

It appears when passing over this line on the eastbound L.I. Expwy. that one of the tracks has been removed. Is this indeed what was done? It's usually hard to get a look unless you're a passenger in a truck or van passing over. Also, there is a position-light signal in an odd location at the same spot. It's to the left of the track that is still intact. I guess there was'nt enough clearance between the tracks for it. How often is this trackage used these days?

One track has been OOS for quite a few years, those boogies are resting on there. The operation on the Cutoff has always been 'reversed'. Meaning trains ran opposite of normal, lefthanded. I'm surprised NYA even uses it anymore with Yard A gone. I believe the only customer is that team yard off 25A.

Mike

The team yard is still pretty active with the Lumber Exchange and brick costumer. The LIRR totally rebuilt it with new leads track and switches, it looks really good now. Giving up YARD A was a big mistake for East Side Access. That would've been some place to transload out of with the close proximity to major highways(495) and so forth. With the money running out for the service to Grand Central that yard will probably lay dormant for sometime

I've seen that the team yard was redone. But, you're right about the 'East Side Access' project. What a mess! I thought is was a dumb idea anyway. The LIRR has a hard time just running into Penn Station. Well we can't turn the clock back on this one. I guess the rats will have a nice new home.

Mike

Long cut of boxcars just east of the LIC team yard today, visible from the LI m.u. I was riding into Penn Station around noon. When I came back later in the afternoon the cut was gone. I noticed the south leg of the Montauk cut-off is overgrown, and down at grade level blocked by a pair of ties across the rails X-style. I could'nt see the motive power.

The rats are not in yard A. They're in the engines!

Guess "INFORMER" is one of those "former" employees. Doesn't sound like he's "in the loop" anymore.

Jay