Massapequa and Wantagh Station Renovations

MattAmity90 wrote:So great to hear, man they completed Phase 1 well before scheduled completion. So this means starting this Monday, along with the west end of the station going into service being completed, will the elevator be in service?

It's actually a few months behind schedule...

The elevator won't be open until September.

I'm guessing that from what people have told me, the newly reconstructed West half of Massapequa's platform is now in service on August 24th, but the elevator will not be in service until September?

MattAmity90 wrote:I'm guessing that from what people have told me, the newly reconstructed West half of Massapequa's platform is now in service on August 24th, but the elevator will not be in service until September?

Newsday said that the elevator will go into service shortly after Labor Day.

I know we already have a topic focused on this, but since lirr42 seemed to have disappeared mysteriously, I thought we could continue it from here.

All I know right now is:

1.) The Western half of Massapequa is complete and went into service on 8/25 with the elevator on 9/2.
2.) The Eastern half of Massapequa has begun its face lift.
3.) The Pocket Track is starting to take shape with ties laid down.

This morning, September 7, 2014, I took these photos of where the pocket track will go. I see no work, no ties in place, except for the installation of the middle track's bridge over Massapequa Creek, which was accomplished in June of 2013. I cannot explain the ribbon rail lying inside or alongside tracks 1 and 2, but there has been single-tracking for months for work on those tracks. Maybe the ribbon rail is waiting to be brought to a different location.

Finally found some shots of Massapequa's new Western half platform.

LIRR Massapequa by sphoto33, on Flickr

A short distance further west, closer to the new platform, a crane has already removed the old platform slabs.

MattAmity90 wrote:Finally found some shots of Massapequa's new Western half platform.

I took those photos about 2 months ago.

There was no need to start a whole separate topic, considering we already had one, but from what I've heard, progress is coming along nicely on the east end of the platform...the entire old structure is torn out, they have maybe half of the pre-cast sections in, and they've already started work on one of the canopies.

I saw in a YouTube video of an M3 express, that all the materials are on the East Half, one canopy is under construction, and the new platform has been fully installed. We have a new full length platform for the station, now all they have to do for the station is put the canopies, signs, lights, stairwells, and Solaris.

Yesterday and today, a crane in the south parking lot of Massapequa station has been helping with the construction of the easternmost canopy. The ten or twelve columns had already been placed on the the platform. A man would yell the number of the next upright to be installed. Within less than four minutes, the piece would be hooked, lifted to the installation position, and lowered into place. It reminded me a bit like playing with an Erector set but with a crane to do the hoisting and positioning.

This photo from Massapequa was taken with a zoom, so the Massapequa Park station appears closer.





Maybe the intervals of snow piles between the rails was a result of shoveling the platform. A few minutes later, two MP15-ac's came through bracketing an old M-1 or M-3. Alcohol?



Might the shorter of the power line poles date from the 1925 electrification?

No, the shorter pole does not date back to the electrification of 1925, because I saw a photo of Massapequa in the early 1930's and all the old poles were wooden. That pole along with the other metal towers there date back the elevation of the station in 1953. There is no section of the Babylon Branch that has it's original poles when the branch was electrified. This is due mostly to the grade crossing elimination and age of the poles, the branch has metal truss towers, erector set, and I-Beam poles.

By the way, despite Juno, it looks like they are going to get the Eastern half done ahead of time! The station looks great, thank you!

Now it was just announced that Hicksville will be rehabilitated and rebuilt costing $12 Million. I can see Babylon getting a makeover pretty soon after that project is completed.