Speonk (LIRR station)

Speonk

The Speonk Station in May 2015.
Location Phillips Avenue & Depot Road
Speonk, New York
Coordinates 40°49′16″N 72°42′17″W / 40.821224°N 72.704853°W / 40.821224; -72.704853Coordinates: 40°49′16″N 72°42′17″W / 40.821224°N 72.704853°W / 40.821224; -72.704853
Owned by Long Island Rail Road
Line(s)
  Montauk Branch
Platforms 1 side platform
Tracks 1
Construction
Parking Yes (free)
Bicycle facilities Yes
Disabled access Yes
Other information
Fare zone 12
History
Opened 1870
Rebuilt 1901, 1958, 2001
Previous names Remsenburg (1895-1897)
Traffic
Passengers (2006) 283[1]
Services
Preceding station   LIRR   Following station
Montauk Branch
toward Montauk
Current and former locations
Eastport station Montauk and
Sag Harbor Branches		 Westhampton station

Speonk is an unmanned railroad station on the Montauk Branch of the Long Island Rail Road. It is located on Phillips Avenue at Depot Road in Speonk, New York, just north of Montauk Highway (CR 80). The station has two parking lots, one operated by the Long Island Rail Road, and the other operated by the Town of Southampton, both of which are free. It also lies adjacent to one of the largest railroad yards on Long Island's East End. This yard is mostly used to hold passenger consists, as most scheduled trains terminate at Speonk rather than continue all the way to Montauk.

History

Speonk Station was originally built in February 1870 along what was then the Sag Harbor Branch. From 1895–1897 it was known as "Remsenburg Station", acknowledging the hamlet of Remsenburg, New York, which lies just south of Speonk. The station was struck by lightning and burned on June 22, 1901,[2] and a second depot opened in December 1901. Railroad conductors frequently accentuated the name when calling it out as the next station. This latter agency and depot were closed in 1958, and the station has been unmanned ever since. The former station was converted into a snack bar that is still operating as the Trackside Cafe restaurant.[3]

When Eastport and East Moriches stations were closed by the LIRR on October 6, 1958, due to lack of usage, commuters were told to transfer either to this station or to Center Moriches station. The elimination of the latter on March 16, 1998, makes this the next choice for commuters east of Mastic–Shirley station, almost ten miles away by road. The traffic from all three intervening stations which have been eliminated since 1950 has been transferred to these two stations. The former station house and current cafe, is across the tracks from the yard and the platforms have been torn out. A tough fence was constructed to keep anyone with an attempt of entering the track area out. the yard features a wye to turn locomotives around. The first parking lot is south of the platform. The second large parking lot is across Phillips Avenue. on weekdays these lots become full of commuters coming in and out of the terminals in New York.

As part of its program to upgrade all stations to high-level platforms, the LIRR relocated the functional portion of Speonk Station between 1996 and 1997. A new platform was built on the west side of North Phillips Avenue (the aforementioned station house is on the east side), along with a new parking lot. The new platform includes an outdoor enclosure, but no new station building was constructed. The new station includes ticket vending machines and elegant lighting in the parking lots.

Service

Most trains on the Montauk Line terminate in Speonk. Weekdays there are 14 westbound trains towards NYC (5 of which come from Montauk) and 11 eastbound trains from NYC (5 of which go to Montauk). There are two large parking lots nearby.

Platform and track

1 ■ Montauk Branch toward New York (Mastic–Shirley)
■ Montauk Branch toward Montauk (Westhampton)

The station has one four-car-long high-level platform on the south side of the single track.

References

  1. ↑ Average weekday, 2006 LIRR Origin and Destination Study
  2. ↑ ""A History of the Speonk Station," by George Wybenga" (PDF). The Postboy; The official publication of the Railroad Museum of Long Island (Summer 2010).
  3. ↑ "LIRR Trackside Business". TrainsAreFun.com.
The Speonk Trackside Cafe, which operates out of the former station house.
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