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Page 10

History of  the LIRR Part 1 continued

Accordingly a group of College Point and Whitestone men, among whom was Conrad Poppenhusen, bought out the stock of the old Flushing & Woodside Railroad and completed the line to Bridge Street, Flushing, and through to College Point and Whitestone, in 1868 and 1869, under the name of the Flushing & North Side Railroad Company. The line was extended to Whitestone Landing in 1883 by the Whitestone & Westchester Railroad Company, having been consolidated with the Flushing, North Shore & Central in 1874, before it was built.
     The line of the Flushing & North Side had its terminal north of the Long Island Railroad terminal at Hunter's Point. It ran just north of that railroad to Woodside. Here it turned to the left, passing across the fields through the hamlet of Grinnell, just north of Corona, and across Flushing Creek on a drawbridge to Bridge Street, Flushing. This was then the main part of the village, the station at Main Street being on the southern edge. The line then went to College Point and Whitestone. At College Point the President, Conrad Poppenhusen, had his offices; the engine house and car sheds were all located here. It had been intended originally to build the line to Roslyn, but that was never done The line was opened in August 1869.
     The North Side line was well equipped and new; its service was excellent, and drew much of the traffic from the Long island . Accordingly the Long Island Railroad sold out that part of the old New York & Flushing line between Winfield and Flushing, Main Street, to the Flushing & North Side Railroad, in 1869. That road built a line from Woodside to Winfield in 1871-72, just east of -the Long Island, so that trains could be run from Hunter's Point over the North Side line to Flushing, Main Street. In 1866 the North Shore Railroad had extended the line from Flushing, Main Street, out to Great Neck. This line was operated under contract by the New York & Flushing Railroad, and followed the fortunes of that road through the different ownerships. It became part of the Flushing & North Side system in 1869, and was operated by it. just west of Flushing Creek, at a point in the meadows known as Whitestone junction, a connection was made from the old line from Winfield to the drawbridge of the Flushing & Woodside, and thence to College Point and Whitestone.

The Flushing Railroads--The Flushing Railroad Company in 1854 built from Hunters Point to Flushing. The East River terminal was in a lumber yard south of the present Long Island Railroad station. From this terminal passengers were carried to Fulton Ferry by a ferry line. The road extended out to Penny Bridge along the banks of Newtown Creek. It then went direct to Winfield and through West Flushing (now Corona) to a station on the site of the present Main Street station, which was then at the southern edge of the village. The road was opened June 26, 1854. In 1857 it fell into the hands of a receiver, and was sold under foreclosure the following year. In 1859 Oliver Charlick's New York & Flushing Railroad Company took over the road.
     In 1860 E. B. Litchfield built the New York &,Jamaica Railroad from Hunter's Point (now Long Island City) through Woodside and Winfield to Jamaica, crossing the line of the New York & Flushing Railroad at right angles at Winfield junction, then known as New York & Flushing junction. This road he immediately deeded to the Long Island Railroad Company. After the company was finally compelled to discontinue operation into the City of Brooklyn, the trains, after they reached Jamaica, were all sent over the New York & Jamaica Railroad to Hunter's Point.
     The service on the New York & Flushing Railroad was supposed to be very poor. A group of Flushing citizens started the construction of the Flushing & Woodside Railroad in 1864, for the Long Island Company, from Woodside to Flushing, Bridge Street, and to Whitestone. When the line was about half completed the New York & Flushing Railroad sold out to the Long Island and work on the Woodside route was left uncompleted. The New York & Flushing Railroad was operated as a branch, from Hunter's Point to Flushing.
     The people from Flushing believed that they had been tricked into building the Flushing & Woodside in order to scare the management of the New York & Flushing into selling out to the Long Island.

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Updated Thursday, March 22, 2001

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