NEWS AND VIEWS OF THE
NEW YORK AND ATLANTIC RAILWAY

New York & Atlantic Railway's RS-301 eastbound at B Tower-Bethpage. photo by Joe Tischner -9/24/04

-photo by K. Katta 11/99
In their original paint scheme-two NYA GP-38-2's #268 & #270 idleing in Fresh Pond yard. The tower in the background is NYA's yard office.

Almost ten years ago, the Long Island Railroad leased and transferred their freight operations to Anacostia & Pacific, a railroad holding company headquartered in Chicago. It currently owns and operates many small regional railroads around the U.S. including the New York and Atlantic Railway (NYA) which is headquartered in Glendale, Queens (N.Y. City). This new shortline has taken over the operations of the Long Island Railroad's Freight Department on May 11, 1997. The NYA mostly operates loads onto Long Island, and a combination of empties and waste products are hauled off the Island. In the last several years, business has increased quite a bit especially in N.Y. City; in Queens and Brooklyn. One of their newest customers receive the only known rail delivery of bagged rice and onions to the largest rice distributor to the Chinese food service market in N.Y. City. They also ship carloads of newly manufactured goods off of Long Island-- something which hasn't been done for many years - structural beams constructed of a combination of plastics and wood. Back in 2001, CSX provided NYA with coal hopper cars which are used not for coal, but to haul non-metallic automobile (pulverized) scrap off the Island.
Traffic has increased on the New York & Atlantic CSX, CP Rail, the P&W and the NYCH. The number of carloads handled are topping 1100 per month lately and NYA has increased car loadings from under 10,000, to over 13,000 per year. The NY&A has negotiated with CSX, NS, P&W, NYCH and CP Rail, who they interchange with to insure growth and continued customer satisfaction in N.Y. City and Long Island into the new millenium.
The NYA operates out of the yard at Fresh Pond. It runs to Long Island City, with a branch into Bushwick and south through Brooklyn to Bay Ridge. They run thru Queens and then on to Port Jefferson, Montauk, and Greenport. It has a total of 269 route miles of track.
The New York & Atlantic Railway roster consists of all ex-LIRR diesels: 4 GP38-2's- 261, 268, 270, and 271; 4 MP15-AC's- 151, 155, 156, and 159, and 3 SW-1001's- 101, 105, 106. These are all leased from the Long Island RR. Recently added from the Louisville and Indiana are two SW1500's and a GP-10 #201. Rolling stock owned are 2 ex-LIRR cabooses, a coach #2940 and 10 gondolas. The coach was painted NYA green with a white roof and probably will be renumbered to #1000. It will be used as a business car for employees and customerand possibly for excursions in the near future. The NYA also leases a string of 30 black painted gondolas lettered for NYA, numbered 1001-1030. Most of the locomotives operated by the NYA have been repainted into the new green color. The repaints on the NY&A include GP38-2 #261 and MP-15AC's #151 and #159 into their green livery. However, #151 has been painted a bright "mint green" color with a batch of paint from a different supplier. The three GP38-2's looked fantastic together on Nov 11, '99 when #261 was rolled out from the shop and then coupled with the other two. Following the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001, GP38-2 #271 was painted with a special, magnificent mural, custom painted on the long hood which depicted the U.S. flag, the Stutue of Liberty and an angry eagle soaring over her up-held arm- a graphic memorial of the World Trade Center attack on 9-11. This mural however, was removed a few years later and the engine recently received a total repaint in the new scheme in 2006.

The railroad uses Bay Ridge Yard (65th St. -Brooklyn) in an agreement with N.Y. City. This enables the NY&A to transload several commodities from railcars to local trucking. The railroad is looking into direct carfloat operation from CSX in the near future from either N.J. or Staten Island via a private operator. This will help relieve some of the in- and outbound highway traffic congestion around the city. The railroad is awaiting a decision from the N. Y. City EDC regarding the expanded operation of the yard and it's newly rebuilt floatbridge. On November 11, 1999 the NY&A hauled a train 63 cars long down to Bay Ridge-the longest train hauled over the branch since the 1940's or 50's (while it was still electrified under catenary wire).

Here is a aerial view of NYA's Fresh Pond Yard pulled from the web 12/03.
Note Bridge 35 on the upper left side.

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On October 21 and 22, 2003, after midnight, I chased two trains on the Bushwick Branch from the Montauk Br. to the end of the line in Bushwick, Brooklyn. About 30 empties were brought in for Waste Management to load up with construction and demolition debris which is hauled out daily. Double-headed engines pulled the consist. It is great watching the train as it crosses several bridges and grade crossings at Flushing Av., 54th, 55th Sts and Metropolitan Av.
Click here for a map of the area: Map of Flushing Av. -Maspeth vicinity

Yard A- Sunnyside:
NYA relocated their main shop building now that the LIRR has started the East Side Connection Project. A new shop building has been built in the center of the wye in Fresh Pond Yard in Glendale, Queens.

Click here for the official corporate Website for the New York & Atlantic Railway.
NY&A Railway Website

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THE N.Y. CONNECTING RAILROAD SOCIETY

NYCRR Soc. Website

The many details and history of the NY Connecting Railroad line were described in depth by Bill Thom, who has co-authored a book on the NY Connecting Railroad available from the Long Island Sunrise Trail Chapter of the Nat'l. Railway Hist. Soc.

Check back on this site in May, 2008 for information about the society`s next meet.

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-photo by K. Katta

A busy Friday morning (8/11/00) in Fresh Pond yard.....upstairs--incoming CSX loads from Oak Point; downstairs--P&W locos getting ready to head back north to Connecticut and NYA locos heading up the morning jobs. You can also see the cab of one of 2 CP units idling on the right. These will head north around 5 p.m. with a few empties bound for upstate NY.
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-photo by K. Katta
Here is Sperry Rail Service Car #149 in Fresh Pond yard in October, 2000 before it traveled and tested the rails of the LIRR during its annual exam. Sperry is now using converted trucks to do track testing, so these railcars will be seen less frequently on the Island.

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photo- Kevin Katta

Here's a wintry shot taken at the Varik St. crossing on the Bushwick Branch in Feb. 2002
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photo by K. Katta-Apr. 10, 2000
HIGH LOAD ON THE BAY RIDGE BRANCH:

A large transformer was moved by NYA on a depressed-center flatcar in the evening of 4/6/00 from 65th St. in Brooklyn up the Bay Ridge Branch to Fresh Pond Yard. It was waiting on a siding until the LIRR came over to inspect it and determine if it would fit under the low bridges further east. It belonged to LIPA and was to be delivered to Hicksville, Long Island . The high load was mounted to a red 53 foot long depressed-center flatcar lettered LNAL 2597 The transformer barely made it through the East NY tunnel clearing it by about 1/2 inch. A single engine pushed the flatcar through the tunnel and up to Pond arriving there around 8:30 p.m. A few days later, it was hauled out east to LIPA's Hicksville facility.
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-photo by K. Katta Jan. 2000

NEW R-142 SUBWAY CARS FOR THE NYCMTA:
From 1999 till 2003, the NYC MTA contracted with the NYA to accept delivery of and interchange 600 new R-142 subway cars from Bombardier.The first shipment of the new subway cars was flat-car loaded and delivered to the New York & Atlantic's Fresh Pond Yard (Queens-NY) in Dec. 1999 via interchange with CSX from Oak Point in the Bronx. The NY&A had constructed an offloading ramp in the yard at Fresh Pond, Queens, and a Bombardier crew conducted final assembly of the cars there. Each car was then married into 5-car sets. NY&A then interchanged the new subway cars via the Bay Ridge Branch to the MTA at the Linden (Blvd.) Shops interchange. The first subway car arrived on Fri. Nov 12, 1999 and was moved down to the MTA shop in a sort of trial run. The first five-car set was delivered in December, 1999. Many sets were delivered during the five year long contract and the unloading ramp has since been removed.
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photo by K. Katta-Mar. 2000

CANADIAN PACIFIC NO LONGER SEEN AT FRESH POND:
Since March 6, 2000, Canadian Pacific was hauling in its own train from Canada as they began direct Selkirk to Fresh Pond service. The CP(D&H) train made its middle of the night run from Selkirk Yard to Oak Point Yard usually 2-3 times a week. However, after July 2007, CP relinquished it's trackage rights on the NY Connecting RR and no longer brings the consists down to Fresh Pond yard. The CP trains now terminate at Oak Point Yard in the Bronx and then CSX hauls the CP consist along with it's own down to Fresh Pond.
photo by B. Ente-Apr. 24, 2000

Use this link: NY&A Railway to view the official corporate Website for the New York & Atlantic Railway.


LONG ISLAND RAILROAD:

photo by Kevin Katta

This well-kept hack is currently stored at the MOW yard in West Babylon right off Albin Av. Caboose #51 is an N22 type.

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In early 2000, the last of the GP-38-2's were removed from the LIRR roster. These were shipped out to EMD in Illinois. Only four of the GP38-2's remain on the Island running on the New York & Atlantic Railway's roster. The remaining MP15-AC's on the LIRR have been relegated to work train service and stored in Morris Park in Jamaica.
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LIRR Protect engines on the main at Woodside, Queens-photo by Joe Tishner 9/04

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NYA Engine 151 with a mixed freight at Jamaica- photo by Joe Tishner.

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AIRTRAIN CONSTRUCTION:
Work on the superstructure for the right of way for Airtrain which runs along the Van Wyck Expy. in Queens, is complete and the line is in operation. Work is completed on the connecting platforms at LIRR's flagship Jamaica station. .
Want to see the official Airtrain Website? Click here: PANY&NJ AIRTRAIN Website

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Railfanning around N.Y. City and Long Island continues to remain exciting with all of the increased activity and new equipment on the rails around the city. There are many things going on and changes are always occurring. We will continue to bring you more news and updates as we get them.
Anyone who has photos or news about the Long Island R.R. the N.Y. and Atlantic Railway, AMTRAK, NS or CSX that you would like to contribute, please e-mail us at: westislandclub@yahoo.com

Click here for more photos of local RR action:

WI member Joe Gregory's photo collection

Here's a sample of Joe's work:

 

and
Railroad Photo Gallery 2