What The Port Washington Branch Timetable Could Look Like

Our first post will begin with a look at the Port Washington Branch. The Port Washington Branch is a unique branch because unlike virtually ever other branch it doesn’t pass through Jamaica, instead, merging into the Mainline at Woodside. The Port Washington Branch definitely isn’t the easiest as far as scheduling and service patterns go given it being a busy branch and the severe capacity constraints east of Great Neck, but it is easier in the sense that you don’t need to worry about coordinating transfers through Jamaica. However, it is imperative that you make an extra effort to evenly distribute trains between the two terminals and to try to allow for easy transfers whenever possible at Woodside. 

Included in the linked PDF file below is the fill sample weekday and weekend Port Washington Branch timetables. Peak, off-peak, reverse-peak and special-event trains have all been included. Note that this is a new and improved timetable design. 

The timetables only show revenue trains, not equipment or deadhead moves. I have planned out the deadhead moves, equipment rotations, etc as I was doing this project and I have most of these moves written down on paper and I have yet to insert them into the actual excel timetables. Nonetheless, I have tried whenever possible to minimize the amount of deadheading, since it’s essentially just wasted crew and equipment hours but in some cases it was unavoidable to make the most out of the resources available.

Key Assumptions:

• One of the first things you'll notice about these fresh new timetables is the reintroduction of the Corona and Elmhurst stations onto the timetable. There's been talks for years about reopening the Elmhurst station which was closed many moons ago due to low ridership, which has came back to this area. It was even featured on the MTA's 2025-2044 20-year needs assessment to relieve crowding and congestion on the IRT Flushing Line. I feel that if they were to reopen Elmhurst, there's a decent chance they may also open the nearby Corona station to go along with it. I feel strongly that this would go along way in providing better access to transit for these Queens communities and help to relieve crowding on one of the subway's busiest lines.
• While this could probably be worked-around should the need present itself, I feel very strongly that the LIRR should invest in going through the trouble of constructing a second track between Great Neck and Port Washington. While this would be extremely difficult given not only is there a viaduct, but that it's also a very fierce NIMBY area, with currently only one track, capacity is severely-limited east of Great Neck,  which is actually the busiest segment o the branch, and this would allow for service levels to be increased to match current demands and would improve reliability too. I designed these timetables in a way to reflect the second track, which sooner or later will have to be built

Service Guidelines:

• At a minimum, service will be provided half-hourly to all stations along the branch during the off-peak periods (except overnight). During off-peak hours, trains will generally alternate between New York Penn and New York Grand Central, allowing for hourly direct rides to both termini.
• During the weekday peak period, service, on average, consists of roughly 20 minute headways branchwide (there are a couple of exceptions). As a standard, the branch is split into two main halves: trains that operate East of Great Neck, and trains that begin their runs at Great Neck, turning via the Great Neck pocket track. To increase capacity, during the peak of the peak, additional trains have been ran from Little Neck, Bayside, and even one from Auburndale to increase capacity.
• During the reverse-peak period, many equipment trains that operate against-the-flow to/from Great Neck to/from western terminals will accept passengers for all or part of their runs whenever possible to allow for robust reverse-peak service opportunties all the while reducing deadheading.
• On weekends, service is increased during the busiest travel times (specifically 9am to 12pm WB, 4pm to 8pm EB) with half-hourly express service provided east of Great Neck, and half-hourly local service west of Great Neck.
• Additional scheduled service to support events at Mets-Willets Point and Flushing Meadows has been included, however, this does not include unscheduled extra trains that run following the event as these cannot be planned, in normal cases, however, these trains will come fresh off the Great Neck Pocket track.

Link to Port Washington Branch Timetable

I specifically designed service on the Port Washington Branch to cater specifically to to those who live past the IRT Flushing Line's namesake terminal of Flushing-Main St, while still providing acceptable service levels in Queens to promote growth. Providing acceptable East of Great Neck wasn't by any means an easy task, considering the enormous capacity constraints, but I was able to work through it to the best of my ability. 

As of now, the best I could really guarantee for the most part is 20-minute headways in the peak direction, and whatever "scraps" were left went to reverse-peak, however, frequencies regularly exceed that especially in the portion west of Great Neck.

During off-peak periods, half-hourly service is provided with trains alternating terminal. While I believe that providing service along the branch every 20 minutes would be a good improvement that would promote growth, especially in the Queens communities, I don't feel like the Port Washington Branch is ridership-ready for that yet, and I think it won't be ready for a long while.

At stations like Great Neck,  I tried to create situations whenever possible . Take in the AM peak for example, in which train 413 (the 6:47am from Port Washington to Grand Central) stops at Great Neck at 6:57am, and a couple short minutes later, train #1315 (the 7:02am local from Great Neck to Penn) rolls in fresh from the Great Neck pocket track. So, technically, you could transfer between the two for service to the opposite terminal or for service to the latter zone. So, while connections aren't 100% guaranteed, it allows a traveller from Plandome, for example, to transfer trains at Great Neck to a local to Penn Station that follows behind the express, promoting quick and seamless intra-island travel without having to go all the way to Woodside. 

Like I emphasized above, the fact that the Port Washington branch doesn't pass through Jamaica makes traveling on the branch more difficult and cumbersome in that you don't have all the transfer options everyone else has at Jamaica, and by, coordinating these mini-transfers at Great Neck, it makes it difficult to provide I tried to keep most trains stopping at Woodside, besides a handful of key express trains along with a couple busy locals, as this is the closest thing this branch would have to Jamaica, and it allows for someone who may want to do the trek from the Port Washington Branch to somewhere else on the island to go via Jamaica and avoid the headache of going all the way to Manhattan.

Reverse-peak weekday service includes a number of newly added "revenue deadheads" that exist mainly to transport equipment for trains that turn at Great Neck, but now stop on the line with the sole purpose of providing supplemental service. During the evening peak, there's actually a nice assortment of reverse-peak trains up the branch out of Great Neck to the point where I subconsciously said evening peak!

I think I've now given you a good understanding of what service along the Port Washington Branch could look like in my new timetables. Feel free to comment if you have any questions about the scheduling or if you notice anything. I don't have the time to write a full in-depth analysis of every train and my reasoning behind it and time probably doesn't permit you to read it either, so, if anything is unclear and you'd like to know my reasoning behind it, just ask, I'd be more then happy to clarify. Additionally, I've made like millions of tiny little edits to the spreadsheet over the 18 months or so that I've been working on this project so it's very likely it’s very likely that some tiny or even major typos may arise, and if you catch any, please let me know of that, too. And finally, if you have any suggestions, and want to see something change, please let me know by leaving a comment at the bottom of these posts or leave me an email.

What The Port Washington Branch Timetable Could Look Like

Today I’ll unveil the first of the 14 timetables that is part of the LIRR Reworked Timetables project. Our first post will begin with The Port Washington Branch. The Port Washington is known by the railroad and railfans for being the only branch that doesn’t pass through Jamaica, instead it merges into the Main Line at Woodside. The Port Washington Branch is definitely not the easiest as far as scheduling nor service patterns, but it’s a lot easier in the sense that you don’t have to worry about Jamaica. Since I’m aware of this, when making these timetables, I did my very best to evenly distribute the trains between New York Penn and Grand Central, and I will try to have easy transfers available to the other terminal at Woodside.

Included in the linked PDF file below is the Full Sample Weekday and Weekend Port Washington Branch Timetable. Peak, off-peak, extra, and special event trains have all been included. Note that this is a new and improved timetable design.

The timetables have yet to include the deadhead/non-revenue moves which will be planned out along with the crew and equipment rotations using AI and will be written down on paper. They’ll be included in a separate page in the attached pdf. Nonetheless, I have tried whenever possible to minimize the amount of deadheading as it’s essentially wasted crew and equipment hours. However, in some cases, it’s unavoidable in order to make the best use out of the resources available.

Like what was said on the introduction page yesterday, “Key Assumptions” needs to be taken care of and mentioned before this project can become totally feasible. I’ve tried my best to design the schedules and trains in a way that makes these schedules able to be used whether or not these projects are completed but in same cases that’s not possible.

Key Assumptions:

• I’ve added in Corona & Elmhurst stations to the excel timetables, because I think the LIRR will bring them back into service, as Elmhurst Station was featured in the MTA’s 2025-2044 20-Year Needs Assessment to relieve crowding and congestion on the IRT Flushing Line. I also feel that if Elmhurst Station was revived, Corona could go along with it. This also makes the schedules more adaptable, however, it is very important to note that there is absolutely no time difference for WB and EB trains alike to stop there due to the fact that these stations are very small.
• While this can probably be worked around, a second track between Manhasset and Port Washington would really help build capacity up on this portion of the line.

Service Guidelines:

• At a minimum, service will be provided half-hourly to all stations along the branch (with the only exception being late-nights). During the off-peak periods, trains will alternate between New York Penn and New York Grand Central Terminal for the most part, allowing for hourly direct rides to both terminals.
• During the weekday peak period, service consists of 20-minute headways branchwide (there are a couple of exceptions). The branch is split between two main halves: trains that operate east of Great Neck and trains that begin their runs at Great Neck, turning via the Great Neck Pocket Track. To increase service during the peak of the peak, additional trains have been run from Little Neck, Bayside, and Douglaston.
• During the reverse-peak period, some equipment trains that operate against-the-flow from Great Neck to/from western terminals will now accept revenue passengers for all or part of their runs alternating terminals when possible to allow for robust reverse-peak service, while minimizing deadheading.
• On weekends, train service is increased during the busiest times: (specifically 8:30 AM WB to 11:30am WB and 4:00 PM EB to 7:30 PM EB.) During these times, train service operates with 15-minute headways branchwide and operates on a similar model to the 6 train, with the outer-zone receiving express service while local trains start out of Great Neck.
• Additional scheduled service to support events at Mets-Willets Point/Flushing Meadows Park have been included, however, this does not include unscheduled extras that typically run following the completion of an event as those cannot be planned, but in normal cases, those trains will either turn off EB trains at Great Neck or will come fresh from the Great Neck Pocket Track.

Link to Port Washington Branch Timetable

I designed service on the Port Washington Branch to cater to those who live past the IRT Flushing Line’s namesake terminal of Flushing-Main St, while still providing acceptable service that promotes growth to those who live in Queens. 

As of now, the best I could guarantee was 20-minute headways sustained in the peak direction, however, frequencies regularly exceed that, especially on the busier portions of the branch. 

During off-peak periods, half-hourly service is provided with trains alternating terminals. 

At stations like Great Neck, I tried whenever possible in situations where two trains depart within minutes of each other to operate to different terminals. Take the AM peak period, for example, in which train 413 (the 6:47am train from Port Washington to Grand Central) stops at Great Neck at 6:57am. A couple of minutes later, train 1315 (the 7:02am local from Great Neck to Penn Station) rolls in. So, while connections aren’t guaranteed, it allows a traveller from Plandome, for example, to transfer trains at Great Neck to the local to Penn Station that follows behind the express, promoting quick intra-island travel and allowing for quick transfers. 

Like I emphasized above, the fact that the Port Washington Branch doesn’t stop at Jamaica makes traveling on the branch much more difficult, and by coordinating little “mini-transfers” at Great Neck, that makes things much easier. I tried to keep most trains stopping at Woodside, besides some of the major express trains as it allows for people to easily get to the terminal of their choice, and it also allows for someone who might want to travel to somewhere else on the island to avoid the headache of having to go all the way into Manhattan.

Reverse-peak weekday service includes a number of “revenue deadheads” that exist mainly to transport equipment for trains that turn at Great Neck, but now stop on the line just to provide supplemental service. Some of the deadheads that don’t run as revenue trains, however, have actually been kept in the schedule as Mets Extras that run when the Mets play evening games at home.  During the evening reverse-peak, there’s a notable amount of trains that begin out of Great Neck, to the point where I by accident said evening rush! I was also able to sneak an additional train out of Bayside, too.

I think I’ve now given you a good understanding of how Port Washington Branch service could look like on these new timetables. Feel free to comment if you have any questions about the scheduling or if you notice something. Time does not permit me to write an in-depth analysis of every train and probably doesn’t permit you to read it, either, so if anything is unclear or you’d like to know my reasoning behind something, please just ask. Additionally, I’ve made millions of tiny edits to the excel spreadsheet over the 11 or so months I’ve been working on this branch’s timetables so it’s likely that some tiny (or major) typos will arise, and if you catch any, please let me know of that, too. And finally, if you have any suggestions, and want to see something changed, please let me know by leaving a comment at the bottom of these posts or you leave me an email me at gavin.s.wilcox@gmail.com.

View an index of all the other sample timetables, the post about those timetables, and revision history, right here.

Switch Heaters

In my opinion, one of the best ways to experience the LIRR is through snow. Not only is it beautiful, picturesque, but there's almost nothing better then looking over the edge of the platform at Jamaica on a cold, snowy morning and seeing the interlocking glowing. Wait, what? Why is the interlocking glowing?

When snow and ice tighten their grip, the LIRR will "fire up" dozens of heaters under the switches formally known as "switch heaters" to prevent the ice and slush from getting the best of the switches. These heaters play a silent, yet essential role in maintaining the rush hours. One disabled switch at let's say, Hicksville, for example, can cause one branch or even the entire rush hour to go down FAST! 

For a casual commuter, the site of a switch heater may look very alarming, however, it turns out that it's very normal for the switches to look like their on fire while the heater is on. 

Here are a couple of switch heaters at Jamaica in action (credit to NYC Subway Life):

Credit to NYC Subway Life

Credit to NYC Subway Life

Credit to NYC Subway Life

Credit to the MTA/Facebook

These days, many of the switch heaters on the LIRR are actually electric. They are made up of very high resistance metal bars that are bolted to both sides of the actual rail. One end is tied to the third rail through a knife switch, and the other is grounded to the rail.

Most of the switch heaters are activated onsite, while some are remote controlled. The gas-powered ones were much less reliable, and the gas was cheap. Today, they run using natural gas that is provided by the ulity companies and the gas is supplied to the heaters by a one-and-a-half inch pipe. Still, the gas heaters are unreliable. They can be blown out by wind, and then they have to be re-lit. Which, isn't exactly easy during a bad snowstorm or during the middle of rush hour.

Trackmen use "switch oil" to thaw out frozen switches. "Switch oil" is Hexane, which is a hydrocarbon oil that is dumped along the rail from a can that looks like a flower watering can. Another trackmen will follow with a brazing broom and soak up the stuff which then is used to light the switches, effectively de-icing the switch. 

The electric heaters are normally maintained by the signal department, while gas heaters by the Building and Bridges department.

While we're on the subject of ice and snow on the rails, let's talk about another common phenomenon that is seen.

I'll send the link to the video, but as you can see this NYC Subway train was making crackling noises as it was at 52 Street. Then as it began to depart, the contact shoe kinda lit on fire a bit and sparks came up. This is also a normal thing, as the snow, ice, and salt can cause it. 

In conclusion, switch heaters are a very imperative piece of railroad infrastucure that you should thank for getting to your job ontime during one of those snowy mornings that we all love. The concept of switch heaters has been around for hundreds of years, and it's evidence that many of the oldest pieces of railroad technology are some of the most reliable. Next time you see a switch on fire, please make sure to not call the fire department!

The Flushing Line Improvements Project

So, today, let’s take a break from the Long Island Rail Road and take a look at one of the hottest NYC transit construction projects that’s currently going on.

First off, the goal of this project is to improve conditions to meet ADA requirements, address the dire conditions of some of the stations, and boost reliability along the IRT Flushing 7 train.

As of now, both the Manhattan-and Flushing-bound (7) platforms at 111 St and 82 St- Jackson Heights have reopened.

A YouTuber I know, known as JC if your interested, as broken the project into multiple phases, which is helpful considering how confusing things can get.

Phase 1-

• The Manhattan-bound platforms closed at 111 St and 82 St- Jackson Heights.

Phase 2- 

• The express track at Woodside-61 St closed.

Phase 3-

• Phase 3, the one that was just completed, the Flushing-bound platforms were closed at 82 St-Jackson Heights and 111 St.

Phase 4-

• In Phase 4, all Manhattan-bound <7> trains will run express between Main St and 46 St, and then local via temporary platforms at 46 Street- Bliss St, 40 St- Lowery St, and 33 St- Rawson St, then local to Hudson Yards 34 St.

Phase 5-

• In Phase 5, Queens-bound <7> trains will run local to 46 St, then making express stops after Woodside-61 St to Flushing-Main St,

Phase 6-

• The Flushing-bound platform closed at 103 St-Corona Plaza.

Phase 7-

• The Manhattan-bound platform closed at 103 St- Corona Plaza.

As for when the start of Phase 4 will occur, we’re currently waiting for work on Woodside-61 St to finish, so, when that happens it should begin. My guess is that it’ll begin sometime in the middle of the year like May, June, or July.

And, the most asked question is “when will full <7> express be restored.” And, the best answer to that may be small periods in between phases.

I hope this clears up some stuff about this project, which I consider to be extremely confusing.