West Hempstead Logic

Does anyoneknow what the logic for having the West Hemp. line set up the way it is? It seems that if they had just left the loop in tacked it would have given them a lot more flexibility. They could have gottten rid of the W. Hemp yard, could have cut down on the amount of dead heads to Hemp., if they had kept the CLP to Mineola line they could have done away with that whole hoaky set up for the electrics at Williston...

At the time the company was still owned/controlled by the PRR and bleeding red ink big time. That's why they shed so many branchlines at the time which 50-60 years later may seem to be a bad idea to a railfan. Consider that the abandoned track (WM to Garden/Hempstead Crossing) also had two giant/busy crossings one right after the other, can you imagine those crossings today? (Hempstead Ave & Hempstead Tpke)

So, in the era prior to being taken over by a public authority, it made more sense to abandon the connection, build a small yard and run a few deadheads. The whole W. Hempstead would've been abandoned if the residents hadn't protested enough. This also occurred during the MTA era as well...

The reason for the E. Williston electric turns had nothing to do with this trackage being abandoned, and they had 6 turns going up there a day even when the track was still in place from Nassau to HC. Remember how far the third rail used to extend to on the Mainline, and given the influence of the locals in East Willi, they extended the third rail used to turn an electric at Nassau (better the OB than the Mainline off course) up to that station.

Now if only they could extand that rail down to Roslyn. Then another short hop to Glen Street....

Well, I can guess your home station. Glen Street is another example of commuters speaking up and forcing the railroad to keep from abandoning a part of service, namely the Glen Street station during the platform project in anticipation of the dual modes. They wanted to wack that station account it would've been more $$ to build platforms on a curve, and due to its proximity to the other stations. Did you help in the campaign to keep that open?

the line to HC from WH can be re built but as I decided, that the current wh platform will have to be rebuilt on a EL.


the tracks would have to start elevating north of hempstad he tgardens. maby even before. then down immeaditly after trunpike.

a revitalization is very possibel. its a matter of time money, and NIMBY elimination.

the OB would it benefit from full eletrification. or maby some to Geln st.

Actually, Glen head's my "Home Station". But I seldom, if ever, use it.

Glen Street? It's the busiest on the line!

My idea for the OB line would have been different:

* Cut it back to Glen Street, make Glen Street a 2 track terminal. Move / straighten ROW if possible.

* Single track from Glen Street to Glen Head.

* 2 track from Glen Head to East Williston.

* Single track to Mineola from there, then stop at it's own platform in Mineola, so that OB line ops don't interfere with the main line. THEN have it enter/cross, between Merrilon Ave and Mineola.

* Electrify the line. Go to FBA, or Penn off peak, and then GCT when it opens.

* Trains every hour at first, then every 1/2 hour as ridership builds.

There's no real ridership past Glen Street, Glen Cove is practically within walking distance of it, Locust Valley? They're too rich and snobby to get out of their Urban Assault Vehicles. Oystery Bay is better served by Syossett and Hicksville. This would get rid of 6 or so grade crossings and a lot of curvy, slow track.

Realisitically, as an electric line, the speeds on it could be somewhat higher (the diesels now barely get above 40 between Greenvale and Glen Head, though it's a long run), it'd be far quieter, and it could go to GCT when it opens, something that can't be done now. And, better OB service would help parking at Port Washington stations, and help clear up traffic, esp near the Roslyn station, and Glen Cove Road, both of which are heavy durring the rush because many people drive to other stations for trains.

"the OB would it benefit from full eletrification. or maby some to Geln st"

How so? Only reason more OB trains aint runnin to NYP is cuz it's maxed out, adding electrics wont change that. Once ESA is done, there'll be space at NYP, so just run more OB DMs to NYP.


"Cut it back to Glen Street, make Glen Street a 2 track terminal"

Are you kidding me!? Everytime I've ridden the OB line to OB, that train still had a good amount of riders gettin off at OB.

The only thing I can think of for the OB is add a branch from Glen St to the ferry terminal(or has the New London ferry also stopped running?).


"Single track from Glen Street to Glen Head.

* 2 track from Glen Head to East Williston.

* Single track to Mineola from there, then stop at it's own platform in Mineola, so that OB line ops don't interfere with the main line. THEN have it enter/cross, between Merrilon Ave and Mineola."

Haven't we learned anything about having single track? It makes things hell. How could you even suggest making any portion south of Glen St, and even worse, south of East Williston, single track. It'd screw over the OB line completely!

As far as Mineola goes....I think the current setup is fine. Just once the 3rd track is in, they now can use the 2 current tracks for westbound service in the morn, and use the 3rd for eastbound, and reverse it in the evenin(current eastbound and 3rd track for eastbound service, current westbound for westbound service). OB trains would still have to use the current eastbound track for mornin OB bound service though. Have a switch just east of Mineola for OB trains to get from 3rd track to the current eastbound.


" Electrify the line. Go to FBA, or Penn off peak, and then GCT when it opens."

Like I said to Joe, all electrification would do is just have the same number of trains going to where they go to now. FBA is maxed out, NYP is maxed out. Save the cash, and once ESA is finished, just run some more OB DMs to NYP. After all, NYP is really the only place that'd be having more space. I say just run the trains every half hour, more trains=more riders(to a certain extent of course).


"Realisitically, as an electric line, the speeds on it could be somewhat higher (the diesels now barely get above 40 between Greenvale and Glen Head, though it's a long run), it'd be far quieter, and it could go to GCT when it opens"

I don't higher speeds would really save that much time on the OB. And as far as GCT service goes....seems to be a waste to me for OB line. Just spit service half half....half to NYP, half to LIC(Connect to ferry for east side service). If they really want to go to GCT, transfering is not that hard to do. Main line is really the only line that, IMO, actually REQUIRES GCT service, b/c of it's high use and increadible service area. Long Beach, PW, and Babylon are others that should have decent GCT service, with some on the Hempstead line.


"And, better OB service would help parking at Port Washington stations, and help clear up traffic, esp near the Roslyn station, and Glen Cove Road, both of which are heavy durring the rush because many people drive to other stations for trains."

Why not just add a shuttle bus from the current OB line stations to the Great Neck train station? That'd help parking problems too.

why would people drive to Roslyn station from other OB stations where the service is the same as the other OB stations?