Manhattan Beach Branch

{{Infobox rail line

|name = Manhattan Beach Branch

|color =

|image = {{maplink-road|from=New York and Manhattan Beach Railway.map|from2=Long Island Railroad (Evergreen Branch).map}}

|image_width =

|caption = Map of the New York and Manhattan Beach Railway, with southernmost line being the Manhattan Beach Branch

|type =

|system = Long Island Rail Road

|status = Abandoned

|locale = Brooklyn, New York, USA

|start = Myrtle Avenue

|end = Manhattan Beach

|stations = 8

|routes =

|daily_ridership =

|open = 1877

|close = 1930s

|owner = Long Island Rail Road

|operator = Long Island Rail Road

|character =

|stock =

|linelength =

|tracklength =

|tracks = 2

|gauge = {{track gauge|ussg}}

|speed =

|elevation =

|map = {{Manhattan Beach Branch}}

}}

The Manhattan Beach Branch, Manhattan Beach Line, or Manhattan Beach Division was a line of the Long Island Rail Road, running from Fresh Pond, Queens, south to Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, New York City, United States. It opened in 1877 and 1878 as the main line of the New York and Manhattan Beach Railway. The tracks from Flatbush south to Manhattan Beach were removed from 1938 to 1941,{{cite book | last=Ziel | first=Ron | title=Steel rails to the sunrise | publisher=Amereon House | publication-place=Mattituck, N.Y | year=1987 | isbn=978-0-8488-0368-1 | oclc=18506373 | page=38}} while most of the rest is now the freight-only Bay Ridge Branch.

At Manhattan Beach, the line extended east to Oriental Beach, and a branch to the Sheepshead Bay Race Track was provided north of Sheepshead Bay. Other lines in the Manhattan Beach Division included the West Brighton Beach Division (Culver Line),{{cite web|url=http://arrts-arrchives.com/ppcirr.html|title=Culver Line|work=arrts-arrchives.com}} Bay Ridge Branch, and Evergreen Branch.

History

File:1878 Manhattan Beach Railway.jpg

Planning for a line to Bay Ridge began in 1870 by the New York and Hempstead Plains Railroad (which built the Southern Hempstead Branch from Valley Stream to Hempstead). By 1873, the line was to run from Bay Ridge to East New York, where it would join the LIRR's Atlantic Avenue Division to Jamaica. The panic of 1873 struck after much work had been done in grading the new line.{{cite book| authorlink=Vincent F. Seyfried| first=Vincent F.| last=Seyfried| url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Long_Island_Rail_Road:_A_Comprehensive_History,_Part_One:_South_Side_R.R._of_L.I.| title=The Long Island Rail Road: A Comprehensive History, Part One: South Side R.R. of L.I.| year=1961}}

=Incorporation=

The New York, Bay Ridge and Jamaica Railroad was incorporated on November 20, 1875,{{cite web| author=Interstate Commerce Commission| url=http://broadway.pennsyrr.com/rail/prr/Corphist/nyb_mb.html| title=Valuation Report: New York, Brooklyn and Manhattan Beach| archiveurl=https://archive.today/20020626081421/http://broadway.pennsyrr.com/rail/prr/Corphist/nyb_mb.html| archivedate=June 26, 2002}} to complete the work and operate the line to Jamaica, using the Brooklyn and Rockaway Beach Railroad (Canarsie Line) from New Lots to East New York and the LIRR Atlantic Avenue Division to Jamaica.{{cite news| work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle| location=Brooklyn, NY| title=Rapid Transit| date=January 28, 1876| page=4| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20987484/rapid_transit_a_new_railroad_from_bay/| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}} The first piece, from the Bay Ridge Ferry (to South Ferry, Manhattan) to the crossing of the Brooklyn, Bath and Coney Island Railroad (West End Line) at New Utrecht, opened on August 23, 1876. Trains were operated over the BB&CI to Coney Island via trackage rights from this junction.{{cite news| work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle| location=Brooklyn, NY| title=By Rail| date=August 19, 1876| page=4| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20987537/by_rail_a_new_route_to_coney_island/| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}} Banker Austin Corbin incorporated the New York and Manhattan Beach Railway on October 24, 1876, to build a branch of this line to Manhattan Beach and extend it beyond East New York to Greenpoint and Hunter's Point. Corbin gained control of the New York, Bay Ridge and Jamaica Railroad on November 15, 1876.{{cite news| work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle| location=Brooklyn, NY| title=Bay Ridge Railroad| date=November 17, 1876| page=4| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20987568/bay_ridge_railroad_reorganization/| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}{{cite news| work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle| location=Brooklyn, NY| title=The Bay Ridge Railroad| date=November 18, 1876| page=4| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20987626/the_bay_ridge_railroad_some_additional/| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}} The NY&MB bought the eastern half of Coney Island from the town of Gravesend and renamed it Manhattan Beach.{{cite news| work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle| location=Brooklyn, NY| title=The Seaside| date=July 12, 1877| page=4| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20987689/the_seaside_a_new_summer_resort_at_our/| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}

The NYBR&J built the line from Bay Ridge east to New Lots, while the NY&MB built from Manhattan Beach north to the NYBR&J at Manhattan Beach Junction and from New Lots north to East New York on the west side of the Canarsie Line. The new {{track gauge|3ft|lk=on}} narrow gauge system opened to terminals at Bay Ridge and East New York on July 18, 1877, concurrently with the Manhattan Beach Hotel and the New York and Sea Beach Railroad.{{cite news| work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle| location=Brooklyn, NY| title=Opened| date=July 19, 1877| page=2| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20987757/opened_the_manhattan_beach_railroad/| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}} (The NY&MB leased the NYBR&J.{{cite news| work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle| location=Brooklyn, NY| title=The Coney Island Railroad Interest| date=December 5, 1878| page=2| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20987797/the_coney_island_railroad_interest/| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}})

The Glendale and East River Railroad was incorporated on March 26, 1874, to build a {{track gauge|3ft}} narrow gauge line from Greenpoint east to Glendale, Queens,{{cite web| url=http://www.prrths.com/Hagley/PRR1874%20Mar%2005.pdf |title=PRR Chronology, 1874 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929102849/http://www.prrths.com/Hagley/PRR1874%20Mar%2005.pdf |archivedate=September 29, 2007 }} March 2005 edition and was also acquired by Corbin in November 1876.{{cite web| url=http://www.prrths.com/Hagley/PRR1876%20April%2006.pdf |title=PRR Chronology, 1876 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20061114035639/http://www.prrths.com/Hagley/PRR1876%20April%2006.pdf |archivedate=November 14, 2006 }} April 2006 edition The line north from East New York to Jefferson Street was built by the NY&MB under the charter of the Brooklyn and Rockaway Beach Railroad (Canarsie Line),{{cite web|url=http://www.prrths.com/Hagley/PRR1877%20Jun%2006.pdf |title=PRR Chronology, 1877 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20061114035946/http://www.prrths.com/Hagley/PRR1877%20Jun%2006.pdf |archivedate=November 14, 2006 }} June 2006 edition which gave its right to construct an extension to Hunter's Point to the NY&MB.{{cite news| work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle| location=Brooklyn, NY| title=P. R. R. Interests Win and Keep L. I. City Rights| date=May 29, 1902| page=3| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/1472725/the_brooklyn_daily_eagle/| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}} The rest from Jefferson Street to Greenpoint was built by the G&ER and leased by the NY&MB. This extension beyond East New York to Greenpoint opened at the beginning of the season on May 16, 1878.{{cite news| work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle| location=Brooklyn, NY| title=Manhattan Beach| date=May 16, 1878| page=1| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20987905/manhattan_beach_railway_timetable/| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}{{cite news| work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle| location=Brooklyn, NY| title=Opened| date=May 17, 1878| page=4| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20987946/opened_the_completed_manhattan_beach/| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}

The Kings County Central Railroad was incorporated in 1877 by Electus B. Litchfield and Austin Corbin to build a {{track gauge|3ft}} narrow gauge line from downtown Brooklyn via the east side of Prospect Park to a connection with the NYBR&J east of Manhattan Beach, and to be leased by the NYBR&J.{{cite news| work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle| location=Brooklyn, NY| title=Quick Transit| date=July 20, 1877| page=2| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20987996/quick_transit_two_more_new_railroads/| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}} The line, operated by the NY&MB as its Prospect Park Division (along with the Bay Ridge and Greenpoint Divisions),{{cite news| work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle| location=Brooklyn, NY| title=Manhattan Beach Railway| date=August 26, 1878| page=1| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20988076/manhattan_beach_railway_timetable/| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}} was opened June 29, 1878, to Prospect Park,{{cite news| work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle| location=Brooklyn, NY| title=Coney Island| date=June 28, 1878| page=1| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20988906/nymb_railroad_to_coney_island/| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}{{cite news| work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle| location=Brooklyn, NY| title=Opened| date=June 30, 1878| page=4| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20988110/opened_the_brooklyn_division_of_the/| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}} but was a failure and closed for good at the end of the 1878 season.{{cite web| url=http://www.lirrhistory.com/nymbry.html| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000304153211/http://www.lirrhistory.com/nymbry.html| url-status=usurped| archive-date=March 4, 2000| title=Manhattan Beach| work=lirrhistory.com}}

The Eastern Railroad of Long Island was organized on November 28, 1878,{{cite web| url=http://www.prrths.com/Hagley/PRR1878%20June%2006.pdf |title=PRR Chronology, 1878 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20061114035806/http://www.prrths.com/Hagley/PRR1878%20June%2006.pdf |archivedate=November 14, 2006 }} June 2006 edition to build a {{track gauge|3ft}} line from East New York on the NY&MB east via Woodhaven, Clarenceville, Jamaica, Springfield, Woodsburgh, Valley Stream, East Rockaway, Christian Hook, Freeport, Merrick, and South Oyster Bay to Babylon in competition with the LIRR's Southern Railroad Division. Corbin, who owned a summer house near Babylon,{{cite news| work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle| location=Brooklyn, NY| title=Railroads| date=October 19, 1878| page=4| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20988153/railroads_more_about_the_proposed/| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}} put up the money to build the road, which was also planned to cross the South Bay near Amityville to Fire Island.{{cite news| work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle| location=Brooklyn, NY| title=More Steam| date=April 12, 1879| page=6| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20988210/more_steam_mr_bartons_eastern/| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}

=Post-incorporation=

Corbin acquired a controlling interest in the Long Island Rail Road on November 29, 1880{{cite news| work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle| location=Brooklyn, NY| title=A New Era| date=November 30, 1880| page=4| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3170770/corbin_syndicate_buys_lb_nov_30_1880/| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}} and became president on January 1, 1881. In December 1881, the LIRR leased the NY&MB and NYBR&J as the Manhattan Beach Division,{{cite news| work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle| location=Brooklyn, NY| title=Manhattan Beach| date=May 24, 1883| page=6| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20988301/manhattan_beach_division_of_lirr_to_open/| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}} with plans to change it to {{track gauge|4ft8.5in|allk=on}} and build connections to the Atlantic Avenue Division and Montauk Division.{{cite news| work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle| location=Brooklyn, NY| title=Leased| date=December 9, 1881| page=4| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20988348/leased_the_manhattan_beach_railway_to/| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}} The lines from East New York to Manhattan Beach and Bay Ridge were converted to {{track gauge|4ft8.5in|allk=on}} after the 1882 season, and the Long Island City and Manhattan Beach Railroad (incorporated February 24, 1883) built a connection from the new Cooper Avenue Junction north to another new junction, Fresh Pond Junction, on the Montauk.{{cite news| work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle| location=Brooklyn, NY| title=Preparing for Summer Travel| date=May 27, 1883| page=1| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20988402/preparing_for_summer_travel_plans_of/| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}} Trains began running from Flatbush Avenue to Manhattan Beach via the Atlantic Avenue Division on May 30, 1883,{{cite news| work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle| location=Brooklyn, NY| title=Long Island Railroad| date=May 29, 1883| page=1| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20988456/long_island_rail_road_timetable/| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}} and from Long Island City via the Montauk Division on June 2, 1883.{{cite news| work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle| location=Brooklyn, NY| title=The New Route to Manhattan Beach| date=June 5, 1883| page=1| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20988514/the_new_route_to_manhattan_beach/| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}

For the 1884 season (opened May 29), the double-track narrow gauge line between East New York and Greenpoint was replaced with a single standard gauge track.{{cite news| work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle| location=Brooklyn, NY| title=A New Track and New Cars| date=May 24, 1884| page=4| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20988612/a_new_track_and_new_cars_manhattan/| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}} 1885 was the last year that trains ran to Greenpoint, and the line between Greenpoint and the Bushwick Branch crossing was abandoned in October;{{cite web| author=Interstate Commerce Commission| url=http://broadway.pennsyrr.com/rail/prr/Corphist/g_er.html| title=Valuation Report: Glendale and East River| archiveurl=https://archive.today/20030426083944/http://broadway.pennsyrr.com/rail/prr/Corphist/g_er.html| archivedate=April 26, 2003}} they started using Bushwick instead in the 1886 season.{{cite news| work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle| location=Brooklyn, NY| title=Manhattan Beach| date=June 12, 1886| page=1| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20988747/coney_island_manhattan_beach/| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}} Passenger trains stopped serving the line, later the Evergreen Branch, to Bushwick in 1894.{{Citation needed|date=February 2007}}

File:Neck Road LIRR jeh.jpg in Homecrest, Brooklyn.]]

The New York, Bay Ridge and Jamaica Railroad, New York and Manhattan Beach Railroad, and Long Island City and Manhattan Beach Railroad merged on August 27, 1885 to form the New York, Brooklyn and Manhattan Beach Railway. This company was merged into the LIRR on June 19, 1925,{{cite web| url=http://www.prrths.com/Hagley/PRR1925%20Jul%2004.wd.pdf |title=PRR Chronology, 1925 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20061114040225/http://www.prrths.com/Hagley/PRR1925%20Jul%2004.wd.pdf |archivedate=November 14, 2006 }} June 2004 edition and the Glendale and East River Railroad was absorbed in 1928.{{Citation needed|date=February 2007}}

=Closure and post-closure=

The line south of Manhattan Beach Junction was upgraded to a grade-separated embankment shared with the Brighton Beach Line during 1907–1909. A New York State prohibition on racetrack wagering and the decline of the more upscale resorts on Coney Island, combined with more direct and lower-priced competition from nearby rapid transit and streetcar lines, led to a rapid decline in the Manhattan Beach's economic viability. Passenger service ended completely in 1924,{{Cite web|url=https://brooklyneagle.com/articles/2012/09/09/when-brooklyn-had-its-own-railroad-lines/|title=When Brooklyn had its own railroad lines|date=2012-09-09|website=Brooklyn Eagle|language=en-US|access-date=2019-09-08}} and freight ended in 1935. On May 17, 1937, the LIRR applied to the Interstate Commerce Commission for permission to abandon the line.{{Cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1937/05/18/archives/long-island-r-r-files-plea.html| title=Long Island R. R. Files Plea| date=May 18, 1937| newspaper=The New York Times| accessdate=September 17, 2017| language=en-US| issn=0362-4331}}

In 2011, the long abandoned right-of-way of the New York, Brooklyn and Manhattan Beach Railway was subject to legal action by some homeowners living adjacent to its route in Sheepshead Bay, who wanted to acquire undisputed title to it.{{cite news| title=Forgotten Railroad's Land Makes a Great Back Porch| newspaper=New York Times| date=June 17, 2011| accessdate=July 10, 2011| first=Sam| last=Roberts| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/18/nyregion/brooklyn-homeowners-turn-old-railroad-tract-into-backyards.html}}

List of stations

{{For|stations between the Lower Montauk Branch and Manhattan Beach Junction|Bay Ridge Branch}}

Miles from LIC !Name !Opened !Closed !Notes
class="wikitable"
\|Manhattan Beach Junction \|1884 \|1915 \|
12.87{{cite web\|date=June 16, 1908\|title=Employee timetable\|url=http://arrts-arrchives.com/mbbr2.html\|website=Arrt's Arrchives}} \|South Greenfield \|July 18, 1877 \|May 14, 1924 \|Connection to Brooklyn, Flatbush and Coney Island Railway
13.51 \|King's Highway \|1883 \|May 14, 1924 \|
14.46 \|Neck Road \|1893 \|May 14, 1924 \|
14.77 \|Race Track \| \| \|Named for Sheepshead Bay Race Track{{cite web\| url=http://arrts-arrchives.com/mbbr9.html\| title=Coney Island Jockey Club at Sheepshead Bay Race Track\| website=Arrt's Arrchives}}
15.10 \|Sheepshead Bay \|July 18, 1877 \|May 14, 1924 \|Connection to Brooklyn, Flatbush and Coney Island Railway
16.10 \|Manhattan Beach \|July 18, 1877 \|May 14, 1924 \|

References

External links

[http://forgotten-ny.com/2000/10/evergreen-branch-another-lost-lirr-line/ Long Island Railroad Evergreen Branch (ForgottenNY.com)]

Category:Long Island Rail Road branches

Category:Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn

Category:Railroads on Long Island

Category:Transportation in Brooklyn

Category:Railway lines opened in 1877

Category:1877 establishments in New York (state)