Port Washington Branch

We've all got thousands. Where would you like us to start?

At 57, one has to be reminded of a place or a situation to pull a story up.
As Tool said we all have thousands.
So Port Wash reminded me of another..
A lot of the NY Mets, lived in Port Wash during the season, and regularly took the train to shea.
This was back in their heyday, the middle to late 80's when they were actually a good team.
86 world champs, 88 NL east Champs etc.
Usualy the crews let them sit in a deadhead car, one closed to the public, so they would not be bothered by the public.
In any case this happened shortly after Dwight Gooden served his suspension, and was back pitching again.
A couple of Conductors were walking up the platform in Port Wash.
There was a skinny Black guy walking behind them.
One Conductor started ranting about how he thought Goodens suspension should have been longer, and said other not very nice things about him.
The other Conductor kept silent.
They Got to the deadhead car, and the quiet Conductor Keyed the door open, and said to the skinny black guy, I will be up at shea to let you off.
Then the quiet guy said to the other Conductor, what the heck is wrong with you saying things like that in front of him?
In front of who?? The guy I just keyed on was Dwight Gooden.
Dwight Gooden.. geez I thought he was a coach cleaner. Yep it did happen.

Another time at Port Wash, my conductor was a huge Yankee fan and always wore his Yankee hat between trains.
A guy walks up to us and asks if the train stopped at Shea Stadium. The conductor asked him why did he want to
go see the loser Mets play. His answer was "I play for the Mets, I'm the catcher Mackey Sasser."

Over the years, some Mets players have been known to ride the #7 to/from Shea and mingle with the fans, but the LIRR seems odder.

was common practice in the 80's and 90's I think they make so much now they have their own limos

Great stories, keep em coming! Love the Mets stuff (and I'm a Yankee fan). Linked to Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RailroadNet

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As a regular commuter at Bayside, I know half the train coming from Penn gets off at Bayside.... The Bayside area just doesn't feel so big when compared to some of the towns in Nassau...

nyrmetros wrote:As a regular commuter at Bayside, I know half the train coming from Penn gets off at Bayside.... The Bayside area just doesn't feel so big when compared to some of the towns in Nassau...

However Great Neck is an "express stop" and most weekday locals terminate here.

Bayside is the heaviest station on the branch and the 3rd heaviest on the Railroad.

Lets see If I recall in Order.... KO, Hicksville, Bayside?

That's it, Doc.

I's alwayd assumed Great Neck and Flushing would have more traffic than Bayside.

Most people are very surprised at Bayside's ridership.

There was a time when Flushing (Main Street) was nearly defunct, with less than 75 passengers daily and there was consideration given to closing the station. When the neighborhood demographics changed and working people replaced the welfare recipients, ridership soared. Today Main Street is quite a busy station again.

Where does my humble abode of Babylon fall? And where does "my" branch fall?

Before I worked for the LIRR I worked for the Home Insurance Company on Maiden Lane In Lower Manhattan.
To get to the fulton street station, I had to take either the Q 12, Q 13 or Q 27 Bus to Flushing, then the number 7 train to Times square.
At time square I had to take the 2 or 3 to fulton street.
Total commute time? Over 2 hours each way.
OR walk to the LIRR station, Train to Penn, 2 or 3 to fulton street. Total commute less then an hour..
THATS why bayside is so heavily used, its much faster.
If ya caught an express at bayside? you could be at fulton street in 45 minutes easy without even breaking a sweat.