Yaphank (LIRR station)

Yaphank

Looking west on the Yaphank station platform at night (October 28, 2006).
Location Park Street
Yaphank, NY
Coordinates 40°49′32″N 72°54′57″W / 40.825656°N 72.915841°W / 40.825656; -72.915841Coordinates: 40°49′32″N 72°54′57″W / 40.825656°N 72.915841°W / 40.825656; -72.915841
Owned by MTA
Line(s)
  Greenport Branch
Platforms 1 side platform
Tracks 1
Connections McRide's Taxi
Construction
Parking Yes; Free
Disabled access Yes
Other information
Fare zone 12
History
Opened 1845
Rebuilt 1871
Previous names Milleville (1845-1846)
Traffic
Passengers (2006) 9[1]
Services
Preceding station   LIRR   Following station
Main Line
(Ronkonkoma Branch)
toward Greenport
Preceding station   LIRR   Following station
Bellport station Main Line
(current and former locations)		 Wampmissic station

Yaphank is a station in the hamlet of Yaphank, New York on the Main Line (Greenport Branch) of the Long Island Rail Road. It is located on Park Street near Suffolk County Road 21 (Yaphank Avenue). It is also accessible from streets in and around Suffolk County. The distance between Yaphank and the next station, Riverhead, is the longest distance between stations in the LIRR at 14.7 miles (23.7 km). Government Buildings on the north side of the tracks at the bottom of the Yaphank Avenue overpass.

The two sites that are closest to the station are the Suffolk County Police Department auto mechanics shop (a.k.a. "Vector Center") as well as a Georgia-Pacific railroad lumber yard. The historic Suffolk County Almshouse Barn and the former Suffolk County Sanitorium can be found northwest of the station, as well as the Yaphank Avenue bridge over the tracks.

History

Yaphank station was originally built as Milleville station in 1845, and was spelled both as Millville or Milleville on LIRR timetables. It was renamed Yaphank a year later, and has kept that name ever since. The station also included a hotel until December 1873.[2] Yaphank station was replaced by a second station building in 1875 that contained elaborate gingerbread woodwork. Before World War II, Yaphank Station was known as the stop for the "Camp Siegfried Special", a train that took members of the German American Bund from parts of New York City to an infamous Hitler Youth camp known as Camp Siegfried.[3] The decorative features were reduced considerably in June 1941,[4] and then the station house was closed in 1958 and burned down in 1961. After this, it was little more than a sheltered platform surrounded by concrete. During the late-1970s, it became the stop for special trains with a connecting bus to Parr Meadows Racetrack.[5] High-level platforms replaced this configuration during the 1990s.

Carman's River Station

Just east of Yaphank station, another station in Yaphank, Carman's River station, opened on June 26, 1844. It served as the temporary terminus of the LIRR main line until Manorville and Riverhead stations were built in 1845. The station was removed from the June 14, 1845 timetable.[6][7]

Platform and track configuration

1 ■ Greenport Branch toward Ronkonkoma (Medford)
■ Greenport Branch toward Greenport (Riverhead)

This station has one high-level side platform north of the track that is long enough for one and a half cars to receive and discharge passengers. The Main Line has one track at this location.

References

  1. ↑ Average weekday, 2006 LIRR Origin and Destination Study
  2. ↑ The Long Island Rail Road: The age of expansion, 1863-1880 Vincent Seyfried; Page 192
  3. ↑ "http://www.stonybrook.edu/lihj/IssueFiles/V21_2/Articles/Shaffer/img/figure1.jpg". External link in |title= (help)
  4. ↑ Images of Rail: Long Island Rail Road Stations, by David D. Morrison and Valerie Palaluk (Page 87)
  5. ↑ "LIRR Service to Parr Meadows Racetrack". lirrhistory.com.
  6. ↑ "http://www.trainsarefun.com/lirrphotos/LIRR%20STATION%20HISTORY.pdf" (PDF). External link in |title= (help)
  7. ↑ "BROOKLYN & JAMAICA RAIL ROAD, ATLANTIC AVENUE".
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