Dunton (LIRR station)

Dunton

Dunton station on an 1891 map, halfway between 134th Street and Van Wyck Avenue
Location 130th Street
near Atlantic Avenue,
Dunton, Queens
Coordinates 40°41′48.15″N 73°49′7.3″W / 40.6967083°N 73.818694°W / 40.6967083; -73.818694Coordinates: 40°41′48.15″N 73°49′7.3″W / 40.6967083°N 73.818694°W / 40.6967083; -73.818694
Line(s)
  Main Line
(City Terminal Zone)


  Montauk Branch
(City Terminal Zone)


  Atlantic Branch
(City Terminal Zone)
History
Opened June 1869 (original)
by 1890 (re-opening)
Closed June 1876 (first closing)
November 1939 (second closing)
Rebuilt 1910–1914
Electrified August 29, 1905
Previous names Van Wyck Avenue (1869–1871)
Berlin (1871–1876)
Services
Preceding station   LIRR   Following station
Shops station Montauk Branch
(current and former locations)		 Jamaica station
Boland's Landing station Atlantic Branch
(current and former locations)		 Jamaica station

Dunton was a ground-level station on the Long Island Rail Road's Main Line, Montauk Branch, and Atlantic Branch in Dunton, Queens, New York City, United States. It was closed in 1939 when the Atlantic Branch was placed in a tunnel east of East New York.[1]

History

The South Side Railroad of Long Island, which crossed the LIRR's Atlantic Branch at 130th Street, opened Van Wyck Avenue (pronounced Van Wike) station on the south side of its line in June 1869, almost a year after the line opened. A depot was added in July 1870, and in May 1871 the name was changed to Berlin. The LIRR leased the South Side on May 3, 1876, and effective Sunday, June 25, 1876, the Berlin station was closed, with all South Side passenger trains from the west (Lower Montauk Branch) switching to the Atlantic Branch where they crossed.[2][3] The depot was moved west to the Lefferts Boulevard crossing on the Atlantic Branch in 1878 and named Morris Grove.[1]

Frederick W. Dunton, developer of Dunton, donated a station building to the LIRR.[4] Local Atlantic Avenue rapid transit trains began to stop there, at the same place as the old Berlin station, by mid-1890.[5] In April or May 1897, the depot was moved to the north side of the Atlantic and Montauk tracks, and a stop was established on the Main Line.[6][7] Prior to the nearby "Jamaica Improvement" project of 1912–13, the LIRR began the elevation of the tracks near Dunton, which included reconstruction of the station itself that was completed by April 1914. With the sinking of the Atlantic Branch into a tunnel, the station closed on November 1, 1939, along with six other stations on the Atlantic Branch.[1][8] The former staircase to the station can now be found at the southeast corner of the 130th Street Tunnel surrounded by a fence.

References

  1. 1 2 3 LIRR Station History
  2. ↑ Vincent F. Seyfried, The Long Island Rail Road: A Comprehensive History, Part One: South Side R.R. of L.I., © 1961
  3. ↑ ‹The template Cite BDE is being considered for deletion.› "Railroad Changes". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, NY. June 27, 1876. p. 2.
  4. ↑ ‹The template Cite BDE is being considered for deletion.› "Fewer Trains and More Red Tape". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, NY. October 9, 1892. p. 6.
  5. ↑ Timetable, June 24, 1890
  6. ↑ ‹The template Cite BDE is being considered for deletion.› "Dunton Depot Change". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, NY. April 10, 1897. p. 5.
  7. ↑ ‹The template Cite BDE is being considered for deletion.› "Railroad Station Moved". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, NY. May 30, 1897. p. 20.
  8. ↑ LIRR Notice for November 1, 1939
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