Passenger Trains > Railfanning in Mineola & Locust Valley, Glen Cove, and Sea Cliff

For the first time since the pandemic began, I decided to treat myself to a day of railfanning on Long Island Railroad. The main focus of the trip was to photograph some of the seldomly photographed locations on the Oyster Bay Branch. In fact, while the equipment is the same, the Oyster Bay Line offers plenty of interesting railroad points of interests to photograph. I start in Mineola where I decided to check out how the third track construction is progressing. Well, I took a train to Mineola on the Main Line from Manhattan and didn't see much of the 3rd track under construction. I think the project is progressing though. For those people who aren't familiar with this project-a third track on Long Island Railroad's Main Line is supposed to be built from Floral Park to Hicksville, which is one of the busiest stretches of the Main. Trains that run to Port Jefferson, Ronkonkoma, and even to Montauk use the Main Line between Floral Park and Hicksville. The Oyster Bay Line uses the Main Line as far as Mineola and east of the station, it branches off. The third track will enable more reverse peak trains to run on the stretch of the Main Line after the third track is completed. Let me take you to the photos.
1. Looking west from Mineola, NY Station. I took this picture from the temporary platform which will be the spot for the brand new third track. In fact, the opening space here will hold the third track.
2 and 3. LIRR Train # 7619 arriving and departing from Mineola Station with an M7 Consist

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1. Eastbound LIRR Train # 7619, with an M7 set, glides into Mineola Station with the open space to support the brand new third track on the left. Starting on 3/8/21, this train will be removed from the schedule as part of the railroad's service cuts due to low ridership coming from the pandemic.
2. Eastbound LIRR Oyster Bay Line Train # 6502 arrives into Mineola Station with a DE30 pulling four C3 Bilevels. This was my ride to Locust Valley.
3. There was a little bit of an extra dwell with Train # 6502 at Locust Valley and it enabled me to get a picture of it departing that station



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/14/21 14:23 by Passfanatic.

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1. The engine of LIRR Train # 6502 is about to pass the former PRR signal as it heads away from Locust Valley Station, located behind me
2. C3 Cab Car # 5007 trails on the Train # 6502 after leaving Locust Valley Station

3. This view is looking east from the Birch Hill Road Grade Crossing along the Oyster Bay Line in Locust Valley. We can see the point where the Oyster Bay Line narrows from two tracks to one and it stays that way for the rest of the way to Oyster Bay

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A little sequence here
1. Westbound LIRR Train # 6507 crosses the Birch Hill Road Grade Crossing just before arriving into the Locust Valley Depot. On the left of the train is the restored Locust Tower, now used by the local police department.

2. C3 Cab Car # 5007 is now leading Train # 6507 into Locust Valley Station. Where I am standing used to be a low level platform for Locust Valley Station.

3. DE30 # 408 pushes 6507 into Locust Valley Depot

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1. LIRR Train # 6507 about to head away from me out of Locust Valley, NY Station bound for Jamaica

2. The restored Locust Valley Station building-view is looking east

3. Looking west from Locust Valley Station

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1. The restored Locust Tower standing

2. View looking east from Glen Cove Station

3. Looking west from Glen Cove Station

 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/07/21 17:24 by Passfanatic.

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1. LIRR Train # 6505 behind DE30 # 422 as it is stopped at Glen Street Station in Glen Cove

2. View of Glen Street Station in Glen Cove-looking west

3. Westbound LIRR Train # 6551 arrives into Glen Street Station with the restored Glen Street Station building on the left



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/14/21 14:34 by Passfanatic.

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A nice day out. Those Long Island Diesels are sure ugly!

TJY

1. LIRR Train # 6551 is about to depart Glen Street Station

2. Next stop for 6551 is Sea Cliff

3. Came across this old fashioned railroad related sign near the Glen Street Station

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1. Sea Cliff Station-looking west

2. Sea Cliff Station-looking east

3. The sinage of Sea Cliff Station-you have the PRR colors as the LIRR used to be owned by the Pennsy

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1. LIRR Train # 6555 arriving into Sea Cliff Station, running about 10 minutes late

2. View of the very soon to be extinct Nassau Tower structure in Mineola. I took this picture from LIRR Train # 6555.

3. LIRR Train # 6555 paused at Mineola Station just before heading to Jamaica,

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1. View looking east from Mineola Station. On the right of the existing tracks is going to be the space for the new 3rd track. We can also see the foundation supports for the brand new high level platform immediately next to the parking garage.

2. A westbound LIRR M7 set arrives into Mineola Station

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Fantastic collection, have to ride the Long Island one of these days.

Nathan

Very nice series, but where are all the people?!?  Did you have a "people flilter" on your lens or are the trains running pretty empty, now?!?
Also, the horns on those engines are mounted almost directly over the cab making it deafening for the engineer!

The horns were originally in a cavity built into the cab roof. Because that caused the sound to echo in all directions, they brought them up and to the front to project the sound forward. There are clearance issues in the East River tunnels that they can't just stick up above the cab. 

LOCUST tower in Locust Valley has not been an active tower for several decades. 

Many diesel line stations have concrete ties only within the stations. These locomotives tend to oscillate, and greater track stability was needed to keep from striking platform edges. 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/08/21 03:44 by joemvcnj.

Thanks everyone! While we are almost at the finishline of the pandemic, the LIRR trains were still very light with ridership. Those Oyster Bay trains certainly don't have high enough ridership to run as frequently as the Main Line. While as a railfan, I would like to see the trains on the Oyster Bay Line run more, from a business perspective, it's probably not worth the time or money. Many people living along the Oyster Bay Line have other options that involve driving to towns with faster and more frequent service.

Those DE/DM30 units seem to be performing better than they were when they started running. Even though the MTA is working on ordering new dual modes for the LIRR, it is probably safe to say that we will see the DE/DM30 and C3s running for a while longer.

It seems that Locust Tower has been out of service for several decades. I'm so glad that it is still standing and in fine shape. Nassau Tower, on the other hand, I was glad to have gotten a photo of it from the train, likely for the very last time. However, it's possible that in the next few months, I may pass through Mineola again, but this time to do a photo tour along the Port Jeff Line.

That's a great photo series, thanks for taking the ride.  I was surprised at how rural parts of Nassau county looked.

Thanks. Yes, there are parts of Nassau County that are pretty rural, given the fact that they are only miles from the border of the nations major city. Many of those parts are more on the North Shore, rather than the South Shore. Many of the Oyster Bay Line commuties are no exception. I'd say once you are north(railroad east) of the Long Island Expressway Underpass, which is just south of Roslyn Station, then the scenery gets a little rural. Once you leave Glen Cove Station and for the rest of the trip to Oyster Bay, the right of way passes through more rural areas. When you are between Locust Valley and Oyster Bay, it's when you realize that it's more rural as the right of way mainly passes through wooded areas. Between Locust Valley and Oyster Bay, one of the main examples of commercial development that you pass is a postal service facility in Mill Neck, which used to be where the former LIRR Mill Neck Station was. That station has been closed for a few decades since the P series coaches were retired. The Village of Oyster Bay is pretty far up there in Nassau County. In fact, many residents who live in Oyster Bay will drive to Syosset for faster, frequent, and more direct service to New York City. I've been to Oyster Bay many times and it is a lovely village to take a stroll in, shop, and dine. It's also a nice village to railfan. I believe that a rr museum will be opening up there soon which will be worth checking out.