Babylon Branch

{{See also|Montauk Branch#History}}

File:LIRR Babylon Station.JPG]]

File:Wantagh aerial 2021.jpg, Seaford, and Massapequa stations along the Babylon Branch]]

The South Side Railroad of Long Island in the 1860s built what was to become the Montauk Branch of the Long Island Rail Road. The Babylon Branch as a separate operational entity began as the electrification of the Montauk Branch between Valley Stream and Babylon on May 20, 1925. Eventually, this would also include the former "Springfield Branch" which the Montauk Branch was relocated to northeast of Springfield Junction.

File:Signal gantry before crossover on LIRR Babylon Line.jpg

The tracks were elevated from ground level between 1950 and 1980. Elevation of the line sparked grass-roots efforts to preserve the previous versions of Wantagh and Lindenhurst Stations, the former of which resulted in the creation of the Wantagh Railroad Museum. The last station to be elevated on the branch was Massapequa Park on December 13, 1980.[http://www.trainsarefun.com/lirr/crossingeliminations/crossingeliminations.htm LIRR Grade Crossing Elimination Projects (TraisnAreFun.com)]

On December 30, 1968, the first revenue train of M1 cars departed Babylon for Penn Station. In anticipation, all stations that were still at grade level had their platforms converted from low-level to high-level (an increase of 4 feet) from late-1967 to late-1968 in time for when the fleet went into service. Stations that were still at-grade at the time were Lindenhurst, Copiague, Amityville, Massapequa Park, Bellmore, and Merrick. The former three's grade separation projects had just gotten underway a few months prior, while Massapequa Park was still at-grade and the latter two were being prepared for their projects. All stations that had been elevated were equipped with single high-level island platforms, except for Babylon, which had two platforms. The call for high-level platforms was due to the M1 lacking steps that the fleet they were replacing had, and to make travel times quicker by several minutes.

Work on grade separation began in 1970. The stretch of track between Amityville and Lindenhurst was grade-separated, with new high-level platforms on elevated viaducts, on August 7, 1973.{{cite web | last=Burks | first=Edward C. | title=L.I.R.R. to offer Smoother Ride Today | website=The New York Times | date=August 7, 1973 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/08/07/archives/lirr-to-offer-smoother-ride-today.html | access-date=January 2, 2019}} At the same time, the stretch of track through Bellmore and Merrick was grade-separated, which was completed on June 28, 1975.

In 1977, work began on the $29.5 million project to elevate the line through Massapequa Park to eliminate the three remaining grade crossings. As part of the project, the platform at Massapequa was lengthened to accommodate twelve-car trains, meaning all stations on the branch could accommodate at least ten cars. The platform extension was completed in January 1980.{{Cite news|date=January 22, 1980|title=LIRR Platform Extended|work=Newsday|location=Hempstead, New York|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/81399442/massapequa-platform-extension/|access-date=July 15, 2021|via=Newspapers.com}} This grade-separation project was completed on December 13, 1980.

In October 1986, work began to extend the platform at Baldwin from being ten cars long to being twelve-cars long. As part of the project, a temporary wooden platform at the station's eastern end would be demolished and replaced by a {{Convert|300|foot|meters}}-long concrete slab. Work was expected to be completed in three months. Platform extensions had already been completed at Rockville Centre, Freeport, Merrick, and Wantagh.{{Cite news|date=October 12, 1986|title=Train Station Work|work=Newsday|location=Hempstead, New York|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/81398471/platform-extensions-for-12-car-trains/|access-date=July 15, 2021|via=Newspapers.com}}

Since the 1990s, many station houses along the branch have been rebuilt, including the entire platforms at Seaford from July 2008 to July 2009, Massapequa from late 2013 to mid-2015, and Wantagh from late 2016 to late 2018. Additionally, from July 2007 to April 10, 2011, the signals, switches, and gantries were replaced between Wantagh and Amityville, with color light signals replacing the old position-light signals installed during the elevation of that section in 1973.

A pocket track was built east of the Massapequa station between the two tracks. This was to be completed by Spring 2016, but was pushed back to April 2019.{{cite report|url=http://web.mta.info/mta/news/books/archive/140623_1345_CPOC.pdf#page=35 |title=MTA Long Island Rail Road Committee Meeting |date=November 2017 |access-date=May 24, 2018|location=New York|publisher=Metropolitan Transportation Authority |page=35}}

Plans for the future include the modernization of Babylon Interlocking, viaduct track replacement at certain stations, replacement of platforms, escalators, and elevators at Babylon. In November 2022, the MTA announced that intends to install elevators at Massapequa Park, Amityville, Copiague, and Lindenhurst stations and thus make them ADA accessible;{{cite press release |url=https://new.mta.info/press-release/mta-announces-accessibility-upgrades-multiple-subway-and-lirr-stations |title=MTA Announces Accessibility Upgrades at Multiple Subway and LIRR Stations |date=November 30, 2022 |access-date=December 9, 2022 |publisher=Metropolitan Transportation Authority|location=New York}} these are the only four stations on the branch that are not currently ADA accessible.

West of {{lirrs|Lynbrook}}, most trips go on to terminate at Grand Central or {{lirrs|Penn Station}}, with some trips ending at {{lirrs|Jamaica}} or {{lirrs|Hunterspoint Avenue}}.

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|Merrick

|{{lirrs|Merrick}} {{LIRR acc}}

|{{convert|24.3|mi|abbr=values}}

|1867

|

|

|-

|Bellmore

|{{lirrs|Bellmore}} {{LIRR acc}}

|{{convert|25.4|mi|abbr=values}}

|1869

|

|

|-

|Wantagh

|{{lirrs|Wantagh}} {{LIRR acc}}

|{{convert|26.5|mi|abbr=values}}

|1867

|

|Originally named Ridgewood

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|Seaford

|{{lirrs|Seaford}} {{LIRR acc}}

|{{convert|27.7|mi|abbr=values}}

|1899

|

|Nassau Inter-County Express: {{LI bus link|n54}}

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|Massapequa

|{{lirrs|Massapequa}} {{LIRR acc}}

|{{convert|28.6|mi|abbr=values}}

|1867

|

|Nassau Inter-County Express: {{LI bus link|n54|n55|n80}}
Originally named South Oyster Bay

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|Massapequa Park

|{{lirrs|Massapequa Park}} {{LIRR acc}}

|{{convert|29.4|mi|abbr=values}}

|1933

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|Nassau Inter-County Express: {{LI bus link|n54|n55|n80}}

|- bgcolor="dfdfdf"

|East Massapequa

|{{lirrs|Unqua}}

|

|1880

|1881

|

|-

| rowspan="5" |9

|Amityville

|{{lirrs|Amityville}} {{LIRR acc}}

|{{convert|31.3|mi|abbr=values}}

|1868

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|Nassau Inter-County Express: {{LI bus link|n54|n55|n71}}
Suffolk County Transit: {{LI bus link|1|2|4|10}}

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| rowspan="2" |Copiague

|{{lirrs|Copiague}} {{LIRR acc}}

|{{convert|32.4|mi|abbr=values}}

|1902

|

|

|- bgcolor="dfdfdf"

|{{lirrs|Belmont Junction}}

|

|1875

|1876

|

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|Lindenhurst

|{{lirrs|Lindenhurst}} {{LIRR acc}}

|{{convert|33.7|mi|abbr=values}}

|1867

|

|Suffolk County Transit: {{LI bus link|10}}
Originally named Wellwood, then Breslau

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|Babylon

|{{lirrs|Babylon}} {{LIRR acc}}

|{{convert|36.6|mi|abbr=values}}

|1867

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|Long Island Rail Road: Montauk Branch
Suffolk County Transit: {{LI bus link|2|3|5|10|15}}
Originally named Seaside

|}

{{reflist}}

{{attached KML|display=inline,title}}

{{Commons category-inline|Babylon Branch (Long Island Rail Road)}}

• [http://world.nycsubway.org/us/lirr/lirr-babylon.html world.nycsubway.org: Babylon Branch]
• [http://thelirrtoday.blogspot.com/search/label/Babylon%20Branch Babylon Branch (The LIRR Today)]

{{Long Island Rail Road}}

Category:Long Island Rail Road branches

Category:Transportation in Nassau County, New York

Category:Transportation in Suffolk County, New York

Category:Railway lines opened in 1867