Possible Reactivation of the Wading River Branch?

If you know the Port Jefferson Branch, then, chances are you know that it ends in Port Jefferson. But, did you know it actually originally ran to Wading River? Yes, you heard that correctly, originally Port Jefferson was an intermediate point along a very little-used branch line along the North Shore into Wading River. 

The branch originally opened in 1893 as a short 10-mile extension of the "North Shore Branch" to Wading River, with intermediate stops in Miller Place, Rocky Point, and Shoreham. It was originally supposed to eventually continue and rejoin the Main Line at either Riverhead or Calverton, but eventually closed in 1938 instead due to a hurricane and ridership dropped off significantly after it.

Map of the old Wading River Branch

Rocky Point station (Photo: Trains Are Fun)

I believe that once the LIRR eventually electrifies out to Port Jefferson, they should study reopening the line back out to Wading River. It would require them to pretty much rebuild the line from scratch, as all of the tracks are gone, but most of the right-of-way had been sold to LIPA (Long Island Power Authority) to run their powerlines so they could in theory reopen it.  There's also a rail trail there but they could restore a two-track line while keeping the bikepath.

The line would continue to have intermediate stations in Shoreham, Rocky Point, and Miller Place, along with an added stop in Mount Sinai.  I firmly believe an added station in Mount Sinai would be worthwhile, as Mount Sinai has pretty much the same population as Miller Place does, and I see a lot of intra-island/reverse-peak service opportunities as there's quite a bit of medical employment centers out in this area. In fact, I wrote the first part of this post while at my annual eye-doctor appointment in Miller Place! The area has grown quite a bit since when it was abandoned and many believe it could definitely support rail service again.

Miller Place Station (Photo: Trains Are Fun)

If they were to reopen the line, I think a 2-car shuttle (like they do currently on the Greenport line) every hour or so between Wading River and Port Jeff would be sufficient. It takes about 20 minutes for a train to complete the trip and since the line is so short that if they double-tracked, delays would be infrequent so they could probably only need two sets to run hourly-off-peak service with maybe some thru-service to Hicksville, Jamaica, and Hunterspoint Ave during peak times.

And, I've had this odd dream that seams to have taken place 20-25 years from now when C3s have been replaced and Alstom multilevels are the norm in which I'm on a train, headed towards Wading River, at around 8am and I'm travelling on a C3. I think once the LIRR gets the new equipment, instead of retiring the C3s they could run a couple sets of them on this line to live out the last couple of years before real retirement. This would save the newer equipment for the busy Montauk Branch and for the East of Ronkonkoma and Oyster Bay lines and would allow the C3s to run a very easy short slow branch line before full retirement.

Wading River station

In conclusion, while I doubt the Wading River Branch will ever see the light of day again, at least not any time, now you know it did exist, and that they could possibly study it to bring it back one day.