Massapequa and Wantagh Station Renovations

Oh wow, now it has gotten to that point where all they have to do is connect the rest of the tracks, adjust the ballast for the tracks, electrify the track, then the tough part of putting in the electrical system.

Is this pocket track switch hand thrown or will it be remotely controlled by Babylon Tower?

They are Dual Control Switches,most likely remoted to Babylon,but can be thrown by hand after
getting permission from the tower operator.

Great pictures! When do they expect the pocket track to go into service?

MNCRR9000 wrote:Great pictures! When do they expect the pocket track to go into service?

At this rate, with putting in the track, and putting in the electrical components, probably no later than Spring. However, I would say even sooner if they can remote to Babylon quick, then were talking Fall.

You also have to factor in that they are starting Wantagh's rehabilitation project later this month or in September.

It all looks nice, and I'm sure folks will appreciate the addition of yet more trains to their already frequent Babylon Line service.
Meanwhile the Mineola platform looks disgraceful. Complained numerous times to the LIRR and these potholes still aren't fixed on the South platform. Considering how much busier Mineola is than Massapequa, you'd think the LIRR would be a in a rush to fix this accident waiting to happen.


I don't know if it is just me but it seems like politics plays a role in how well the Babylon Branch is treated. Powerful State Senate Republicans represent those districts so I can imagine how that plays up in Albany with the MTA. Meanwhile the middle of Nassau which isn't as strong politically seems to get neglected.
We dont have Canopies on the Main Line (except for Hicksville) and dont get the service levels places like Massapequa & Bellmore get. And so many trains skip places like Westbury (where I live). At least they're starting to work on the West End Staircase.
Now Wantagh will be next for rehab, its not in that bad of shape IMO, but again I guess due to politics they are more important. I actually tried to move down in that area & quickly found out you have to be rich to live there, so the good train service remains out of reach to those who need it most.
Main Line upgrades are most important, the LIRR's job as a public transportation system is to provide service where it is needed most. Hicksville is one LIRR's busiest stations and needs upgrades badly, this is a project that should have taken place first, before the Massapequa pocket track & platform rehab. The Hicksville track extension would provide much more flexibility in rush hours.
Huntington remains a problem, it needs a yard badly, there is vacant land east of Lake Rd about 1/2 mile east of the "siding", perhaps that could be used.
I just wish the LIRR would work as hard for their Main Line customers as those on the Babylon Branch.
As for what this pocket track will mean for the Babylon Branch, I guess even more trains. At the very least I'd expect those Merrick-Bellmore-Wantagh specials to turn there instead of Wantagh. I wonder if stops would be added at Seaford & Massapequa to those (which seem to carry light IMO).
As for the West of Hicksville thing, it could accomplish having more trains to/from Hicksville I guess, Reverse Peak I dunno what it can do for that. I wonder if the track means the 6:59am & 7:18am at Westbury will originate in Hicksville?
Rush hour service is complicated, but I still see no reason for not providing half hourly service to Westbury (along with New Hyde Park) off peak & weekends, other than BS of course.

@pineywoodsman
The Long Island Rail Road forum is better moderated than others that allow threads to grow to more than 100 pages, with many ideas thrown together. Those large "baskets" make searches difficult. Please consider whether the photo of the crumbling platform at Mineola would be more appropriate on the "Idea Regarding Main Line Service in Nassau County" thread. Or focus on one specific problem of the New Hyde Park-Hicksville segment and begin an appropriately titled new thread.
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I could be wrong, but I think platform reconstruction along that segment of the Main Line should yield to the big project of third tracking. Yes, Mineola needs repair soon. Currently, the MTA is under Democratic leadership, as the Governor is a Democrat. Were there a Republican governor as Rokerfellar or Pataki, the obstructive politicians of New Hyde Park, Mineola, the county and the three towns would have to calm down. Note that State Senator Jack Martins argued against a 3rd track at Mineola when he was mayor there. However, now that he's in Albany, I cannot find on his website any opposition to the doings of the LIRR. I'm puzzled about the politics, but we who have favored the 3rd track know that the local politicians treat the 3rd track as a 3rd rail of 750 volts.
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As far as the favoritism towards the communities of the South Shore:
1) Before the LIRR purchased the South Shore, the stations were already placed closely together. That has tremendously helped development.
2) The track elevation was often done when the locals screamed FOR it, not against it. The tracks were not elevated in west-to-east sequence but as it became easy to get each project done because of popular demand. I hate to say it, but the only thing that may change the tone of the New Hyde Park politicians would be a flaming wreck at one of their three crossings, a flaming wreck that consumes lives and buildings also. Yes, there was a period of time that Wantagh suffered the inconvenience of grade elimination, but now it is forgotten, and the north-south traffic passes through without train interference.
Joe of Seaford

If I remember correctly, many years ago in the 60's there was local service on the mainline to East Williston. If I'm right the stops were Union Hall St., Hollis, Queens Village, Floral Park, New Hyde Park, Merrilion Ave, Mineola and East Williston. The announcement was train to East Williston and this service seemed to satisfy the customers at the smaller main line stations up to Mineola. I'll have to look it up in my employee timetable from that era just to be sure.

bellstbarn wrote:@pineywoodsman
The Long Island Rail Road forum is better moderated than others that allow threads to grow to more than 100 pages, with many ideas thrown together. Those large "baskets" make searches difficult. Please consider whether the photo of the crumbling platform at Mineola would be more appropriate on the "Idea Regarding Main Line Service in Nassau County" thread. Or focus on one specific problem of the New Hyde Park-Hicksville segment and begin an appropriately titled new thread.
---
I could be wrong, but I think platform reconstruction along that segment of the Main Line should yield to the big project of third tracking. Yes, Mineola needs repair soon. Currently, the MTA is under Democratic leadership, as the Governor is a Democrat. Were there a Republican governor as Rokerfellar or Pataki, the obstructive politicians of New Hyde Park, Mineola, the county and the three towns would have to calm down. Note that State Senator Jack Martins argued against a 3rd track at Mineola when he was mayor there. However, now that he's in Albany, I cannot find on his website any opposition to the doings of the LIRR. I'm puzzled about the politics, but we who have favored the 3rd track know that the local politicians treat the 3rd track as a 3rd rail of 750 volts.
---
As far as the favoritism towards the communities of the South Shore:
1) Before the LIRR purchased the South Shore, the stations were already placed closely together. That has tremendously helped development.
2) The track elevation was often done when the locals screamed FOR it, not against it. The tracks were not elevated in west-to-east sequence but as it became easy to get each project done because of popular demand. I hate to say it, but the only thing that may change the tone of the New Hyde Park politicians would be a flaming wreck at one of their three crossings, a flaming wreck that consumes lives and buildings also. Yes, there was a period of time that Wantagh suffered the inconvenience of grade elimination, but now it is forgotten, and the north-south traffic passes through without train interference.
Joe of Seaford

Yeah I understand posting that photo here may have been better off in a seperate thread, but since it has to do with the platform rehabs of Massapequa & Wantagh I felt it was appropriate since the LIRR is neglecting the Mineola platform which has much higher ridership. I do agree, the Main Line should have been elevated as well as have a third track added, and don't agree with the politicians that did (and still do) rally against it. They do not see it only hurts the desirability of the area, as people want to move somewhere with frequent, reliable train service. Hence the high demand and high prices for Real Estate along the Babylon Branch.
Still, projects like the Hicksville Station should have been started before those on the Babylon Branch, and its a shame Wantagh will see a new platform long before Hicksville, which isn't scheduled to be completed until 2019. I think the LIRR needs to do a better job of prioritizing projects that benefit the majority of their riders.

Living in Wantagh, I can vouch that the LIRR station is in serious need of upgrade. The platform slabs of this elevated station are coming apart and not level. The stairways were upgraded well over a decade ago but could be upgraded again and the passenger shelters are shot. Biggest deficiency is ADA mandated equipment such as an elevator. That's part of the project. I'm hoping the escalator gets an upgrade as well since it works when it wants. We live in the 21st century. I appreciate any modern equipment that will make getting on the trains safer and more convenient. It is too bad that dollars have not been set aside over time to upgrade all the LIRR stations.

Has anything happened at Wantagh yet?

What is the topic of that LIRR forum? Is is just the station renovation or something else?

The two politicians that called the September 29, 2015, meeting are new to the routine. For maybe a dozen years Democrat David Denenberg ran these open question-and-answer sessions on LIRR service to stations in his county legislative district from Freeport to Seaford. However, he went to jail for 90 days for bilking a law client, and a Republican, Steven Rhoads, won his seat. Town of Hempstead council member Erin King Sweeney, daughter of Congressman Peter King, is also new to holding these meetings. In the past, the representatives from the LIRR were forthright in their answers. Citizen attendance has varied from five to fifty. Usually, there was much time for questions from the audience. Denenberg claimed that the questions mainly concerned pigeon poop, station cleanliness and repairs, the parking crush, vagrants, and security. If I attend the meeting, I will note the amount of time the politicians talk and the amount of time given to questions. Another topic that has arisen is this: the MTA bills Nassau County for station maintenance. The county legislator (in the past, Denenberg) grills the MTA on insufficient maintenance.
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One of the memorable ideas to come from the audience was this from a Bellmore woman: "I get to the station parking lot in the morning after all the good spaces are taken. I have to park in a far-away lot that is dangerous at night. Please reserve the nearby parking spaces for latecomers."
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On my Seaford blog, I posted minutes of a 2013 forum http://seafordny.blogspot.com/2013/04/l ... 42013.html.

I guarantee that after this meeting they probably won't start any work until November or at it's earliest late October with a projected completion date of May 2017. One thing I hope they do is put those payphones at the museum up Wantagh Avenue, showing the 1950's to the turn of the century since people these days will question payphones.