Patchogue (LIRR station)

Patchogue
File:Patchogue Station.jpg Patchogue Station from the entrance at Division Street & Cedar Avenue; December 26, 2007
Location	Division Street & South Ocean Avenue Patchogue, New York
Coordinates
Owned by	Long Island Rail Road
Line(s)
Platforms	1 side platform
Tracks	2
Connections	Suffolk County Transit: S40, S54, S61, S63, S66, S68, 7A, 7B Patchogue Village Bus
Construction
Parking	Yes ($2.00 for 12 hours)
Bicycle facilities	Yes
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Fare zone	10
History
Opened	April 1869 (SSRRLI)
Rebuilt	1888, 1963, 1997
Traffic
Passengers (2006)	2,327
Services
Preceding station   LIRR   Following station Sayville toward New York terminals Montauk Branch Bellport toward Montauk

Patchogue is a station of the Montauk Branch of the Long Island Rail Road in the village of Patchogue, New York. It is on Division Street between West Avenue (Suffolk County Road 19) and South Ocean Avenue. This train station is located in the Patchogue-Medford Union Free School District.

Ferries to Fire Island board from a port near the station.

History

Between 1869 and 1879 Patchogue Station was the east end of the South Side Railroad of Long Island. It even had spurs and roundhouses between West and Railroad Avenues, as well as another spur between River Avenue and West Avenue for the textile plant that now serves as the Patchogue Campus of Briarcliffe College. Prior to acquisition by the Long Island Rail Road there was a proposal by the SSRRLI to extend the main line southeast towards Bellport, then northeast to Brookhaven and Southaven. The station in Brookhaven was to be named "Fireplace" after Fireplace Neck. The station was rebuilt in 1889 and again on July 30, 1963. As part of the 1963 reconstruction, Railroad Avenue was terminated at Sephton Street, along the north side of the tracks, and the baggage and express house was torn down for additional parking. When Blue Point Station was closed by the Long Island Rail Road in 1980, former Blue Point commuters opted to use Patchogue station. High-level platforms were added in 1997 for dual-deck trains.

PD Tower

File:Garden @ LIRR PD Tower Site; Northeast.JPG

Flower garden that was once the site of the PD Tower.

In 1912, the Long Island Rail Road added a control tower to Patchogue Station on South Ocean Avenue, for both the Montauk Branch and the former trolley line owned by the Suffolk Traction Company. The tower was designated by the LIRR as the "PD Tower" and was also used for hooping. In 1970, all switches and crossing were automated, but hooping continued. At this point, the tower's structure began to decline. Residents began referring to it as the "Leaning Tower of Patchogue." On August 23, 2006 the tower was finally torn down. Today, a flower garden can be found where the tower used to stand.

Platform and tracks

	■ Montauk Branch	no stop (passing track)
1	■ Montauk Branch	toward New York (Sayville)
	■ Montauk Branch	toward Montauk (Bellport)

The station has one six-car-long high-level platform on the south side of the two tracks; the north track, not next to the platform, is a siding.

Connections

• Suffolk County Transit buses S40, S54, S61, S63, S66, S68, 7A, and 7B.
• Patchogue's local jitney bus routes
• Passenger Ferries to Davis Park and Watch Hill on Fire Island.

External links

• Official LIRR station information page for Patchogue
• Station timetable for Patchogue
• PD Tower (Unofficial LIRR History Website)
• Older Patchogue Station(Newsday)
• Original Patchogue Station (Arrt's Arrchives)
• Patchogue Village Bus
• Railfan Recollections at LIRR “PD” Tower and signals (TrainsAreFun.com)
• More PD Tower Pics (May 1, 2006)
• Unofficial LIRR Photography Site (lirrpics.com)
  • Patchogue Station
• PD Interlocking and The Leaning Tower of Patchogue (The LIRR Today) (registration required)
• Station from Ocean Avenue from Google Maps Street View