I decided the best way to display these old relics is to list out each one's name, when it ran, and it's departure/arrival time. Now, there are two sets of trains I was able to group them into with the first one being trains that ran only to/or ended before World War 2, and the second group being ones that ran into the MTA years after the MTA was formed in 1966. I hope this makes it slightly easier to distrugish them.
Before I start, I’d also like to say that I cannot guarantee accuracy on these trains. While I tried to factcheck, I cannot guarantee that everything said about each of these trains, specifically pre-World War 2 is fully accurate. This is due to their being limited material to work with, and little timetable evidence. You must remember that most of these trains ran over 100 years ago. I included as much information about each train as I can find.
Named Trains - Pre World War 2:
"The Greenport Express" - Summer Friday-only from New York to Greenport, all parlor- car, left New York at 4:01pm, made Jamaica then ran nonstop to Calverton, before stopping at Aquebogue and all stops to Greenport arriving there at 6:48pm.
 |
| Inside parlor car from Greenport |
"The Block Island Express" - Summer Friday-only from Long Island City to Montauk via the Montauk Branch with connection to ferry to Block Island.
“Cannon Ball” - “The Cannonball” is old remnant of the old Summer Friday-only all-parlor car “Cannon Ball” train which ran from New York to Manorville, where the train split in half with one portion going to Greenport and the other to Montauk.
“The East Moriches Special” - Summer Saturday-only train from Long Island City to East Moriches. Likely targeted for fisherman.
“The Fisherman’s Special” - April-October-only train from Long Island City to Canoe-Place and Montauk. Left early in the morning to allow a full day for fisherman. Ran to Canoe Place in April, then made an added stop in Montauk in May. Interestingly, on the return trip, they actually provided a dedicated railway express agency car to store and ice the newly-caught fish. Isn’t that neat. Another thing to note is that I didn't include the actual dates these trains ran as they’re so unreliable.
“The Patchogue Express” - Summer-only train from Long Island City to Patchogue.
“The Patchogue Express (Brooklyn Section)” - Summer-only train from Flatbush Avenue to Patchogue, originally “The Patchogue Special”.
“The Saturday Special” - Saturday-only train from New York to Montauk/Greenport. It was then split into two trains, “The Peconic Bay Express” which went to Greenport and “The Shinnecock Express” which left Penn Station at 12:55pm, then ran non-stop to Speonk before making all local stops to Montauk arriving there at 4:25pm.
"The Shelter Island Express" - Summer Friday-only, extra-fare train from Long Island City to Greenport.
“Cannon Ball” - “The Cannonball” is old remnant of the old Summer Friday-only all-parlor car “Cannon Ball” train which ran from New York to Manorville, where the train split in half with one portion going to Greenport and the other to Montauk.
“The East Moriches Special” - Summer Saturday-only train from Long Island City to East Moriches. Likely targeted for fisherman.
“The Fisherman’s Special” - April-October-only train from Long Island City to Canoe-Place and Montauk. Left early in the morning to allow a full day for fisherman. Ran to Canoe Place in April, then made an added stop in Montauk in May. Interestingly, on the return trip, they actually provided a dedicated railway express agency car to store and ice the newly-caught fish. Isn’t that neat. Another thing to note is that I didn't include the actual dates these trains ran as they’re so unreliable.
 |
| Fisherman's Special (Photo: Trains Are Fun) |
“The Hampton Express” - Summer-only train from New York to Montauk, left Penn Station at 9:49am, arrived Montauk at 1:40pm
“The Long Island Seabreeze” - Sunday-only train from New York to Montauk with boat connection to New London
“The Montauk Express” - Summer-only train from Montauk to Long Island City
“The Montauk Special” - Summer Friday-only train from Pittsburgh to Montauk via New York (2:05pm) making Southampton and Montauk only arriving at 4:05pm. Return-trip left Montauk at 7:45am, made Southampton, before New York at 10:30am.
“The Moriches Special” - Summer Saturday-only train from Long Island City to East Moriches, later renamed “East Moriches Special”
“The New York Express” - Ran westbound from Montauk to New York, left Montauk 2:06pm, and made all local stops to Patchogue (besides Golf Grounds), before Jamaica and New York arriving at 6:12pm.
“The Long Island Seabreeze” - Sunday-only train from New York to Montauk with boat connection to New London
“The Montauk Express” - Summer-only train from Montauk to Long Island City
“The Montauk Special” - Summer Friday-only train from Pittsburgh to Montauk via New York (2:05pm) making Southampton and Montauk only arriving at 4:05pm. Return-trip left Montauk at 7:45am, made Southampton, before New York at 10:30am.
“The Moriches Special” - Summer Saturday-only train from Long Island City to East Moriches, later renamed “East Moriches Special”
“The New York Express” - Ran westbound from Montauk to New York, left Montauk 2:06pm, and made all local stops to Patchogue (besides Golf Grounds), before Jamaica and New York arriving at 6:12pm.
 |
| Interior of push-pull parlor cars (Photo: MTA) |
“The Patchogue Express (Brooklyn Section)” - Summer-only train from Flatbush Avenue to Patchogue, originally “The Patchogue Special”.
“The Saturday Special” - Saturday-only train from New York to Montauk/Greenport. It was then split into two trains, “The Peconic Bay Express” which went to Greenport and “The Shinnecock Express” which left Penn Station at 12:55pm, then ran non-stop to Speonk before making all local stops to Montauk arriving there at 4:25pm.
 |
| (Photo: Richard Glueck/Trains Are Fun) |
“The South Shore Express” - First-class, all-parlor car train from New York to Montauk
“The South Shore Limited” - Little is known other than it running from Long Island City to Eastport via the Montauk Branch.
"The Sunrise Special" - Summer-only, all-first-class, extra-fare train from Long Island City to Montauk on Fridays, and back on Mondays.
Let’s now take a look at trains that ran after World War 2. These named trains are some of my favorites.
"The Hampton Express" - Summer Friday-only train from Hunterspoint Avenue to Montauk, left HPA at 3:24pm and arriving into Montauk at 6:13pm
"The Montauk Light" - Summer Friday-only parlor-car train from Hunterspoint Avenue to Montauk, which left Hunterspoint Avenue at 4:12pm, making Jamaica, Westhampton, Southampton, Bridgehampton, East Hampton, and Montauk, arriving in Montauk at 6:38pm. This literally ran on the Cannonball's schedule and I guess this was the replacement name for the Cannonball during this time. It's unfortunate that such a great train name "The Montauk Light" had to be used to replace the most famous name of them all.
"The Cannonball West" - Summer Sunday-only from Montauk to Penn Station, departing Montauk at 6:21pm, arriving into New York at 9:10pm. Note that it's no longer noted as this on the timetable.
UNOFFICIAL -"The Advance Cannonball" - Summer Friday-only from Hunterspoint Avenue to Montauk, departing Hunterspoint at 1:11pm, arriving in Montauk at 4:14pm.
And that concludes the list. I hope that the LIRR will make an effort to bring back more of the old train names, especially as they get new diesel equipment and can improve service east of Babylon. It pays tribute to those who spent years working on the railroad, and pays tribute to all the expansive history the LIRR has had through it's three decades in operation! This is something I'll work in on my later versions on my Montauk Branch/South Fork reworked timetables.
“The South Shore Limited” - Little is known other than it running from Long Island City to Eastport via the Montauk Branch.
“The Special Limited” - Summer Friday-only, all-first class train from Long Island City to Montauk. Originally known as "The Hamptons Limited".
 |
| The Sunrise Special in 1927 |
Let’s now take a look at trains that ran after World War 2. These named trains are some of my favorites.
Named Trains - Post World War 2:
 |
| Railfan Extra w/Parlor Cars (Trains Are Fun) |
"The Cannon Ball" - Summer Friday-only parlor-car train from Hunterspoint Avenue to Montauk, which left Hunterspoint Avenue at 4:12pm, made Jamaica, then Westhampton, Southampton, Bridgehampton, East Hampton, and Montauk arriving at 6:59pm.
“The Sunrise Special” - Summer Friday-only parlor-car train from from Jamaica, which left Jamaica at 6:13pm then ran nonstop to Westhampton, then making Hampton Bays and all local stops to Montauk, arriving at 8:50pm.
The Friday Hamptons timetables were revamped in the 1980s, and by the end of 1989, they looked more like this,
"The Hampton Express" - Summer Friday-only parlor-car train from Hunterspoint Avenue to Montauk, which left Hunterspoint Avenue at 2:07pm, made Jamaica, before operating non-stop east to Westhampton before making all local stops to Montauk besides Southampton Campus, arriving in Montauk at 4:50pm.
 |
| (Photo: Retired Railfan Horn Guy) |
“The Sunrise Special” - Summer Friday-only parlor-car train from from Jamaica, which left Jamaica at 6:13pm then ran nonstop to Westhampton, then making Hampton Bays and all local stops to Montauk, arriving at 8:50pm.
"The South Shore Express" - Summer Friday-only 7:05pm parlor-car train from Jamaica to Montauk making Bay Shore, Sayville, Patchogue, Mastic-Shirley, Westhampton, Hampton Bays, and all local stops to Montauk arriving around 9:40pm.
"The Cannonball" - Summer Sunday-only 6:30pm parlor-car train from Montauk making East Hampton, Bridgehampton, and Southampton, before Westhampton and operating non-stop to Jamaica arriving at 8:50pm.
“The Beachcomber” - Summer Sunday-only 8:30pm parlor-car train from Montauk making East Hampton, Bridgehampton, and Southampton, before Westhampton and operating non-stop to Jamaica arriving at 10:50pm.
“The Wall St. Special” - And last but not least, my personal favorite, the Wall St Special which was the 7:00am Summer Monday-only parlor service from Montauk to Jamaica which made all local stops to Westhampton before Jamaica. This train still runs to this day except it’s not called this anymore and it makes more local stops unfortunately.
And finally, let's take a look at the current named trains that still exist to this day starting with the famous Cannonball train from Penn Station to Montauk.
Current Named Trains:
"The Cannonball" - Summer Friday-only from Penn Station to Montauk, departing New York at 4:07pm, arriving in Montauk at 6:56pm.
“The Wall St. Special” - And last but not least, my personal favorite, the Wall St Special which was the 7:00am Summer Monday-only parlor service from Montauk to Jamaica which made all local stops to Westhampton before Jamaica. This train still runs to this day except it’s not called this anymore and it makes more local stops unfortunately.
And finally, let's take a look at the current named trains that still exist to this day starting with the famous Cannonball train from Penn Station to Montauk.
Current Named Trains:
"The Cannonball" - Summer Friday-only from Penn Station to Montauk, departing New York at 4:07pm, arriving in Montauk at 6:56pm.
UNOFFICIAL -"The Advance Cannonball" - Summer Friday-only from Hunterspoint Avenue to Montauk, departing Hunterspoint at 1:11pm, arriving in Montauk at 4:14pm.
And that concludes the list. I hope that the LIRR will make an effort to bring back more of the old train names, especially as they get new diesel equipment and can improve service east of Babylon. It pays tribute to those who spent years working on the railroad, and pays tribute to all the expansive history the LIRR has had through it's three decades in operation! This is something I'll work in on my later versions on my Montauk Branch/South Fork reworked timetables.
While researching for this post, I realized how much I wish I could go back in time and see these all parlor-car trains flow down the Montauk Branch myself. If you study the actual timetables, you'll notice that a lot of the trains that ran back 100 years ago from today still run to this day under similar schedules. It's crazy to think that the same trains people rode 100 years ago still exist to this day. I don't know whether to say that's a good thing or not!
As always, if you have any questions/comments/thoughts/suggestions/etc, feel free to leave a comment down below, I'd like to keep this list accurate so if I forgot any please let me know!
No comments:
Post a Comment