Railroad Forums 

Discussion of the past and present operations of the Long Island Rail Road.

Moderator: Liquidcamphor

 #1490526  by Cameron Wolk
 
I'm looking for information relating to AC substations alongside the former New York Connecting RR. It is my understanding that most of these stations were subsequently demolished in the aftermath of Penn Central de-energizing the catenary. In particular I have interest in the 4th Avenue substation located in Bay Ridge, NY. According to an associate the building itself still exists and I am searching for photographs to confirm this fact. If anyone could provide sources on this development I would appreciate your help.

Cameron
Last edited by Cameron Wolk on Fri Nov 09, 2018 12:28 am, edited 1 time in total.
 #1490578  by Cameron Wolk
 
nyandw wrote:
Cameron Wolk wrote: In particular I have interest in the 4th Avenue substation located in Bay Ridge, NY.Cameron
What is this exact location on 4th Ave.? Thanks.
Hi nyandw, the substation is reportedly located at the corners between 4th Avenue and 66th St. It's in the foliage besides the northbound track.

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.637383, ... !1e3?hl=en" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 #1490580  by nyandw
 
Thanks Cameron, I thought I might have caught it on a photo, by chance, but no...sorry. This is a tough one, for certain. I managed to catch Islip (in an older station photo) and Bay Shore (Montauk Branch), but who bothered to photo this material?
 #1490581  by DogBert
 
Assuming it's the building I'm thinking of, I have photos of it somewhere. It's just a concrete base and brick shell now. No roof and nothing inside but a pile of leaves.
 #1490673  by krispy
 
Wires went up 1927, came down/de-energized in the McGinnis era of the NHRR. Later the trustees of the now bankrupt NH brought back the wire, mostly from what was on the Danbury branch until approx. 1968 when it came down for the last time. The subs may have changed over time, but at the end there was subs at Fremont/Pond, ENY (fed also by a huge LIRR sub, this one was huge and may have fed into the subway at one time. Anyone have more info on ENY's old sub, please let me know) NO/New Lot's, MJ/Manhattan Jct., and finally 4th Ave Bay Ridge. One of the old farts who posted me when I was new had briefly worked at Fremont before the contract ran out, he recalled working under the direction of the NH load dispatcher at Cos Cob when necessary to sectionialize cat power. I don't recall how much he controlled, but he did deal with controlling breakers along part of the branch, which was unusual for LI operators, normally that was outside the scope of our work.

Cameron, dive into the archives of this site, there were posts from both engineers and conductors who once worked the branch. Try also the forum at NHRHTA, while they will be quick to point out the NY Connecting's territory ran out at Fremont, the NH always controlled the power along the Bay Ridge, either from Cos Cob or Van Nest, and some may know more about the old sub at Bay Ridge. Good luck in your search.