Tracks to N'port Village

[Paul]

What were those trolly tracks I recall on the road that went to Northport Village? I remember it as a concrete road.

[Srnumber9]

Those tracks used to go all the way up to the East Northport LIRR station and actually connect into the Port Jefferson branch there.

Bob Andersen has done a good job documenting it on his site:
http://www.lirrhistory.com/nptrolly.html

[Nasadowsk]

Don't get too excited about it, though. It's not THAT much trackage (though about a touch less than a mile). It's kinda neat anyway, but they're totally useless since they connect nothing to nothing else.

[Paul]

I didn't see any pictures of the trolleys. Darb! What year did they close shop? Those photos brought back some memories. As a little kid (maybe I was 4 or 5) we used to attend an Episcopal church down there somewhere. What a rush seeing those pictures.

[Srnumber9]

According to the site, they went under in 1924.

If I remember right, the Trolleys were typical 4 wheelers.

The vast majority of the track is gone at this point and all the flangeways are plugged up, but it's kind of nice to go down Main Street in Northport and still see it there. (although, I've sometimes had all four tires on the rails and felt the car get a little squirmy!)

I've heard stories that some years ago Northport actually had a horse car using the rails, but it didn't last long.

What amazes me about it is the grades this thing climbed on its way up to the station. I've ridden my bike up the hill on Laurel Road, and it's steep and long!

[timz]

Near as we can tell from the topo map Main and Laurel don't exceed 10%-- probably they're more like 7-8%. I've always wondered how steep the steepest streetcar lines were. San Francisco had one block at 15.5%; it was right at the outer end of the line, and one wonders if they didn't try to climb it on a rainy day. But Oakland/Berkeley had 14% at a couple places, and not just at the end.

[Srnumber9]

Was the 15.5% in San Fransisco by adhesion or was it a cable car?

What I'm thinking is that climb up the hill must have pulled a lot of Amps, and either the up or the down was probably very interesting with ice and snow on the tracks.

I'm not sure If it's just my 40th birthday in the rear view mirror, but when I ride up that hill on my bike, I feel like I've accomplished something!

[timz]

It was adhesion-- closed 1939 as I recall. The block is 24th St climbing up to Rhode Island.

Ice/snow was rarely a worry.

[Srnumber9]

Not in San Fransisco, but certainly here in Suffolk County. This last one was a serious winter, one of those where you dig one car out of the drifts and leave the other one until you absolutely need it!

[BEDT16RMLI]

To bad a group cant be started to get permission to relay track and open a trolley museum.

[NIMBYkiller]

Who says they cant? I'd be willing to start up a group to re-instate trolley service. Have it run from Northport LIRR station up the original route.

[Nasadowsk]

Sure Nimby - you gonna pay for it?

You'd have to relay a few miles or so of track, string up new wire, buy the cars, get the service going, build a new car barn....

Really, we're getting all excited about not much more than a few feet or rusted out track on a road that'll probbably be repaved in the near future anyway. It doesn't connect anything to anything else. If there actually WAS a complete, viable track from the vilage to the station, it'd be one thing. But there isn't.

[BEDT16RMLI]

We can see if we can work a lend lease deal with bob dimond which I think will not happen, and also go to local bus and asked around I think it would be awsome

[Dave Keller]

If you want to see a representative view of one of the Northport Trolleys, see Ron Ziel's book, "Steel Rails to the Sunrise"

There's shot in there of one of the trolleys stopped at the rear of the old, wooden, one-storey depot building at Northport.

Dave Keller

[BEDT16RMLI]

1/4 of a mile is enough for now.