LIRR Mainline Third Track Project

Good to see the entire project proceeding efficiently. Those new steel poles are being erected now around Westbury Station on the north side of the tracks.

It's tough to make a judgement in photos but I think all the switches that will make up the new NASSAU 3 have been installed. I'm finally happy to see that the power poles and wires are becoming uniform because of the zig-zagging at New Hyde Park Road and School Street due to their eliminations.

Willis Avenue is undergoing excavation....in a way, they've only just pile driven the corrugated steel into the ground with maybe 6 inches removed. Seeing the photo of Willis Avenue just made me utter, "Oh boy."

The second and third piers that will hold up three wires each have been bolted into the steel poles at Merillon Avenue as well. Those same wires are bundled together at New Hyde Park.

Everyone:

The first Main Line Third Track track work and signal work outages for 2021 are scheduled for four weekends:
January 9-10; 16-17 and 23-24. http://web.mta.info/supplemental/lirr/s ... 4-2021.htm
February 20-21 is slated for a signal project cutover.

Alternate service will be provided in the same manner as previous programs:
Port Jefferson and Ronkonkoma trains terminate at Hicksville
Shuttle trains operate Hicksville-Bethpage-Babylon
Enhanced services operate on the Babylon and Hempstead Branches
Oyster Bay Branch trains run between East Williston and Oyster Bay
Westbury, Carle Place, Mineola, Merillon Avenue and New Hyde Park Stations are closed.
NICE Bus service is via the N22 and N24 west of Hicksville
and the N40/41 routes between Mineola and Hempstead.

Work is subject to Winter weather conditions and may be rescheduled if necessary.

With the Main Line Third Track Project now past the halfway point on time and in budget
there will be more projects ahead in 2021 along the 10 mile route with the most noticeable
recent changes the elimination or closing of all grade crossings during 2020...MACTRAXX

Does this track work include removing the last crossing in Mineola and possibly installing the third track itself?

Pensyfan19 wrote: ↑Thu Jan 07, 2021 5:32 pm Does this track work include removing the last crossing in Mineola and possibly installing the third track itself?

1.) Willis Avenue was closed on November 30th, and from recent pictures there is a giant pit in between the two crossings (Oyster Bay and Main Line). Another pit is located to the South of the construction site.
2.) Work will continue on the new NASSAU 3 Interlocking, along with the completion of the Meadowbrook Parkway bridge.
3.) A new temporary Platform B is being constructed to the East of what was the 12th Street grade crossing along the future Platform B.
4.) Not sure about Westbury, but the new Platform A's at Carle Place, Merillon Avenue reopened (Carle Place is almost finished and will see the Eastern half reopened when the elevators are completed), while New Hyde Park's platform will reopen by Spring.
5.) People are still whining and moaning about the new steel power poles being erected along the ROW, but they are able to withstand tropical force winds, which will prevent poles from coming down.
6.) The pedestrian tunnel below what was once 12th Street is coming along nicely with concrete officially covering any remnants of the crossing.

Can anyone tell me which of the three tracks through Mineola will be used for the Oyster Bay turnoff?

According to the diagram someone posted a link to on here a while back, only the north track (Track-3) will have access to the Oyster Bay Branch.

Hee is the link: http://www.trainsarefun.com/lirr/3rd%20 ... roject.jpg

That doesn't make sense. The Oyster Bay branch is two tracks. If you only have the north main line track turning into it, how does that second OB track come into play?

I agree, but that is what I was told. I guess eastbound trains would crossover twice from track 3 to 2, then track 2 to 1 at Nassau_1 before the Mineola station. Seems awkward, but then, a train crossing from track 3 destined for Oyster Bay would block all three tracks anyway.

Oyster Bay is going to become nothing more than a shuttle service, right? Sadly, with the space they have, the track configuration makes sense. I just don't see how they could bring the NB Oyster Bay track down to the southernmost track (forgive me, I'm not entirely up on track numberings). Ideally, Mineola's southern platform should have been an island platform which I believe was the intent when they rebuilt Mineola many years ago. Then the OB trains could have stopped on the middle track with an island platform.

scopelliti wrote: ↑Wed Jan 20, 2021 11:37 am I agree, but that is what I was told. I guess eastbound trains would crossover twice from track 3 to 2, then track 2 to 1 at Nassau_1 before the Mineola station. Seems awkward, but then, a train crossing from track 3 destined for Oyster Bay would block all three tracks anyway.

Actually the numbering of the tracks will change. Going from the North side of the ROW to South:

-Platform A (WB Platform)
-Track 1
-Track 3 (Middle track, express track, former Track 2)
-Track 2 (New third track to be laid)
-Platform B (EB Platform)

If you have an EB train to Huntington pulling into Mineola, the station announcement will say as follows: "Ladies and Gentlemen, arriving on Track 2, Platform B is the 2:24 PM Eastbound train to Huntington. Please stand behind the yellow line, and step over the gap when boarding."

Mineola really should have one or two island platforms. Even if the branch was only accessible from the northern two tracks, the crossing movement would be less of a problem because an OB-bound train could sit in the station on the middle track (because why not keep the doors open?) while waiting for a westbound train to cross, then depart once the interlocking is clear. Even if westbound OB trains only ever used the north platform they would fit into the normal westbound traffic pattern; the only hiccup would be if they change directions at Mineola instead of continuing west. NASSAU 1 and NASSAU 3 could move trains around the OB train stopped in the station if need be.

What puzzles me is that the OB branch is two tracks. If the only access to OB will be from Track 1 (north side), then what is going to happen to the northbound OB track? Since it will no longer have access to the main line, will it merge with the southbound tracks before entering the main line? If this is the planned scenario, then a train turning onto the OB track will have to switch over and continue northbound.

frankie, please look at the diagram in the link provided above for the answer to your question. Also I don't recall anyone saying the Oyster Bay Branch was going to become a shuttle service, but I could be mistaken.

I believe the track numbering that MattAmity90 posted above may be incorrect. Someone else (I forget who) told us some time ago that the new track numbering will be: North track-3 Middle track-1, South track-2. This will maintain consistency with how LIRR normally numbers multiple tracks.

Re: island platforms, we discussed this at length several months ago. Most of us agreed that island platforms would have been much better. However many pointed out that it would have been difficult to build given the amount of space available and other logistics. So we're stuck with side platforms and again I say that the LIRR will come to regret this decision not to provide island platforms.