By December 11th all steam traffic to Flatbush Avenue had been discontinued. The same years the electrification was complete to Valley Stream and to Belmont Park. A third and a fourth track was built in 1905 from Chestnut Street to Woodhaven junction, and from Ozone Park to the north end of the trestle. An additional track was also built from Jamaica to Valley Stream via the Old South Side Line. A second track from Valley Stream to Far Rockaway had been built in 1903, and in 1910 a third was built from Cedarhurst to Far Rockaway. The second track from Far Rockaway to Hammels had been built in 1899, and a third was built in 1904. Electric operation over the loop through Valley Stream to Hammels was started in 1906, though the third track between Far Rockaway and Hammels was not electrified until 1910.
     In May, 1908, the electrification was extended from Queens to Hempstead. A portable sub-station was located more or less permanently at Floral Park and a large permanent building, similar to the original type at Mineola, in 1910.

     In 1905 the road carried 18,000,000 passengers and 2,745,000 tons of freight. In 1923 it carried 86,166,896 passengers and 7,917,977 tons of freight. In 1905 the road owned 668 wooden passenger cars and 1,765 freight cars, valued at about $5,000,000. In 1923 it owned 1,293 passenger cars, nearly 1,000 of which being of steel construction, and 2,532 freight cars, valued at about $23,000,000. While Mr. Peters was President, over $50,000,000 was invested in improvements and equipment on the Long Island Railroad. A list of his achievements is essentially a history of the railroad during his term of office.
     On Wednesday, July 26, 1905, the electric service was inaugurated between Flatbush Avenue and Rockaway Park, and on August 29 the first electric train ran to Jamaica.

Jamaica Station about 1925, strangely absent of trains. The scene looks much the sam today, including the distinctive LIRR office building, but the semaphore signals are gone and there is an overhead passageway connecting the platforms. Addition of the Port Authority's AirTrain, which has begun construction off the left side of the picture, will altert the view more.

©2001 The Composing Stack Inc. All right reserved