Abandoned LIRR Train Station Ridgewood Queens
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- Опубліковано 15 вер 2024
- The abandoned LIRR Metropolitan Ave Train Station in Ridgewood, Queens, NY. The station was abandoned and destroyed in 1924 having once served as a stop along the Bushwick Branch of the Long Island Railroad.
The station used to serve the employees of the H.C. Bohack company which occupied a significant portion of the real estate in the area. While I do not know of an exact date that the station opened, it is quite likely that it opened sometime around the mid 1870s and operated with passenger service until 1924.
The railway line is still in use to this day and every night of the year, those of us who live in the area hear the sounds of the freight trains blowing their horns sometime around 3am every day.
The original Bushwick passenger terminal from the days of passenger trains was demolished only in 2005. Most freight traffic on the line today is garbage collection and transfer from factories in the area. This and the branch's limited use often cause the right of way to be littered with trash. The branch is between 16 feet (4.9 m) and 100 feet (30 m) wide. In addition, the branch had become overgrown due to lack of use: a writer for The New York Times in 1993, riding on a Bushwick Branch train with a top speed of 10 miles per hour (16 km/h), said that the train "rocked on the antique, uneven tracks like a ship at sea".
I avoided posting the image of the railway map that I found online. It appears to have been created by human hand and I would never want to steal the work of someone else. Plus, train geeks have a tendency to wag some self righteous fingers at plebs like me 😂
Always learn something new about either Ridgewood, Maspeth or Glendale ,,,,, I do remember when the LIRR station was still being used at Fresh Pond rd and Metropolitan av , they discontinued it because to few people actually were using it , and I heard that if you were a passenger that you needed to let the conductor know that you were getting off at that station ,otherwise , barring anyone waiting to get on , the train wouldn't stop . I never went down there but you could see it was a rather dismal and potentially dangerous place for a train station .
I remember Western Beef and another place called The Big R , I just can't remember if they were both in the same place , The Big R was there in the 80s and then I think Western Beef came , idk now, so many years ago and I'm getting older . Anyway ,,,,, Thanks Again Richard , to bad you weren't around when I lived there , I'm sure you would've been writing a weekly nostalgia article for the Ridgewood Times ,great investigative work 👍👍👍👍👍 🍻🍻🍻🍻🍻
I'm not sure if you remember the terminal on Flushing in Maspeth? I have always wanted to walk through there late at night, lol. I can only imagine the discarded needles and rats that lurk in that dark tunnel 😂 What annoyed me making this video is that I couldn't stop saying Long Island Railway, I mean I have never in my life called the LIRR the "railway", yet all of a sudden I managed to say it like three times in a 14 minute video. I haven't looked but I would imagine that there must be some type of platform remains in Glendale as well when the Evergreen Branch ran through it. I'm glad that this video garnered a good number of views in comparison to my normal videos, it makes it feel like the journey was well worth it.
@@richardarthur-nycstories
I use to work for a company called Amster Novelty , not to be confused with Amster Plumbing ,,,,,but Amster Novelty was in Glendale right where the freight line went over cooper av , that hadda be the same line you're speaking of ,I never knew about a passenger stop in Glendale though .
Btw , I didn't realize you had said railway until you mentioned it ,I did hear you say tram when talking about the Metropolitan av Trolley 🤪😜😂 who cares! We all know what you mean Richard, it's all good , I'd hate to think if people pointed out my bad grammar.
Anyway,,,, I have some old maps of Queens, I'll fish em out and see if they indicate anything about where exactly in Glendale that station might be .
@@georgehenry1258
Hiya George Henry ,
I remember a lot of the bars in the area but I guess that one was before my time in the Glendale, Ridgewood, Middle Village, Maspeth area, I kinda remember that LIRR stop and I passed it hundreds of times when driving for the Lindy's and then Four Ones , but I never saw a train stopping there , just the timing I suppose.
Why they discontinued it I don't know , especially with more people moving into Glendale, if anything you would think they'd want to renovate and improve that station , but what the hec do I know, personally I think it's part of the history of Glendale Queens and should have been at least preserved as a historical landmark , thanks for sharing that information , I appreciate it very much , sounds like your dad is or was a long time Glendale resident 👍
@@georgehenry1258
I worked out of that office from around 1990 to 2000 , then I worked PT at night for a year and stopped altogether because we were moving outta state , but between Lindy's and Four Ones I drove about 15 years.
That Four Ones office on Fresh Pond rd was the best one to work out of , I was glad I never was asked to work out of the one on Metropolitan av.
Excellent and wonderful captions...beautiful content..thanks again for bringing us here 👌 keepsafe my friend.
So nice of you
Hello "Richard Arthur"! Thank you for showing us such a wonderful video! I feel so happy! I'm looking forward to your next work! Have a nice day!
Thank you so much 😀
What's up! Consistent! Nice patching. Satisfying! I don't usually watch till the end but for your video, that's the best part
Awesome, thank you!
Another interesting video! I am one whom appreciates and knows Bushwick, Ridgewood, Glendale Maspeth, Middle Village and Sunnyside, none the less, your ability to do archival research, is most fascinating. WE definitely need to sit down over a cup of coffee one day, mate! Thx again for the memories.
This video came from the Bohack video that I had planned. I knew that there used to be a train station that serviced Bohack but I could never find it. After looking at an old map I realized that I had been looking a few hundred yards away from where it was. I enjoyed writing this story because it isn't one you are likely to find on UA-cam.
I could make a record of my 1st sentence!!!! Never mind am here eventually- so glad this video has done better! More interest in this local history. You are so expert at this digging away of structures,buildings etc to get to the correct explanation- real detective work & very impressive😀
Diana, I was quite surprised, on the first day UA-cam gave the video 3,000 impressions, which was up 50% to what I normally get, but by day three it was down to 100 impressions a day 😂 You get roughly 5 views from 100 impressions, so I have no idea why they stopped showing my video all of a sudden. Even the retention rate was very good at 39% so I am baffled. Maybe in a couple of days they will give it another push :) Either way though, 3,000 on the first day is better than the normal 2,000, so it is an improvement. I'm going to try and get to a place called Kew Gardens in the next week or two to tell a very important story. Everyone in New York knows the story, but most people won't know that the installation of the 911 emergency system was a byproduct of what happened that fateful night in Kew Gardens.
Well that certainly was persistence to finally find the railroad……great work getting all this info together to be able to even make this video…..totally enjoyed it as always Richard!
Well I felt a bit stupid to be honest with you, I could have sworn that the station was originally where I started the video 😂 It's not the most exciting story ever told, but it has been a personal mission for a couple of years now. I never expected to find the exact spot where the station was, and as it closed in 1924 then the locals should enjoy hearing about it.
Great job sir
We used to shop at Bohack's when I was a young boy living in Cypress Hills. Memories...
Ron, while I was here I filmed all of the old Bohack buildings and I will narrate a story about Bohack in the near future. I just need to write and record a script for it.
BOHACK restaurant was on Flushing Avenue and the distribution center, across the street on Troutman and Flushing. Great story and excellent presentation. Please continue always great stuff.
Hey Carlos. Yes, I also filmed all of the old Bohack buildings while I was there for a different story in a few weeks time. This week I am going to film Bushwick High School for a story and then two videos on Palmetto, one in Bushwick and the other in Ridgewood. I also want to redo Troutman because the Bushwick collective has many new art pieces up on the walls.
Hi Richard 👋 !! Thanks for this good bit of detective work !! I’m glad it all came together in the end, as the evidence emerged😊 👍 !! Thanks for the excellent research and story 🚂 🏢 ✅ !! I will have another look around the area on Google Street view 👀 !! Cheers, Don 🙋♂️ !!
Thanks a lot, Don. I really enjoy looking for and finding new locations. I try my hardest to film places that have not been filmed before and I have been lucky to find quite a few over the last couple of years. Thank goodness for the advent of newspaper archives online, they have helped me locate so many places that have been forgotten about.
You were very persistent in your quest . Like to see future Bohack video
Thanks for your kind comment!! I have already posted the Bohack video which you can see right here if you are interested. ua-cam.com/video/CK93oG1Nt7Q/v-deo.html
Thanks again
Fascinating. I’m a stones throw from there. I hear those freight trains all the time at really odd hrs in the am. Didn’t know it came from this area. There’s a bridge that was recently replaced @ Freshpond & metropolitan ave. The intersection is built over the LIRR tracks and I do believe at one point in time there was a station there also. I’ve read there have been talks to recommission this station for the residents who commute to Manhattan. Now that would be great! But who knows. If you can investigate that old station and train route that would be great. Great content. Love the history of this area.
The station at Fresh Pond only closed in 1998, but I'm not sure if the station is still down there. I have tried several times to find a way down there but I can't find one. Likewise I have also heard the stories of the line being reopened with the station in Glendale also being considered for reopening. I do love finding little treasures like this, in fact a couple of my favorite stories to investigate was when I located two old baseball grounds in Maspeth. Though perhaps the most unique story was when the heavyweight boxing champion, John L. Sullivan came to Ridgewood to defend his title. I even discovered that Vincent 'The Chin' Gigante had 6 professional boxing fights at The Ridgewood Grove, winning 5 of them :)
@@richardarthur-nycstories I’ve heard the Atlas Mall was named after the bodybuilder Charles Atlas. Not sure if this is urban legend. The two BB fields are those in your library or a story that’s coming up. Great content!
@@DirtyDingles Yeah they are in the library, Feldman's Park and the Long Island Baseball Grounds. Atlas mall is indeed named for Charles Atlas, he is buried next door to the mall in St. John cemetery. Here is my old baseball stadiums playlist ua-cam.com/play/PL5HAhDcf8EEZrMUaKEkOW2-YFtiPHeqGZ.html
The north side of Metropolitan Ave from Flushing Ave all the way down to where Western Beef is today was all Bohack.They packaged and produced everything. I’ve heard stories how there were even chicken coops on the rooftops.
On a Ridgewood group that I belong to it was also said that the Western Beef was at one time part of Bohack as well. I haven't been able to find that documented anywhere but that is what was said. I also filmed the Bohack terminal, you know the main warehouse, the gas station, the restaurant etc. to tell a story at a later time. I want to make sure that I have all the details before I write the script though.
Thanks for sharing my dear friend~~New SUB here from South Korea
Thanks for coming
@@richardarthur-nycstories Let’s be good friend.
This is fascinating, thank you! You must be my neighbor!
I certainly live in the neighborhood, yes :) My video this coming Saturday is on Myrtle Ave. and the week after that I have one coming on Grover Cleveland high school.
Thank you for this great video, so you know the atmosphere in your country.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Platforms in those days were usually short (accommodate maybe 4 cars, especially on a low ridership line). More than likely, it would have been a low-level platform-not much higher than a curb. If it was a wooden platform as you said, it would have been simple to demolish and any pieces that might have been left behind would have rotted away by now. Good find though. A lot of history there. Please do an in-depth analysis of the LIRR central branch. I’m curious to see the exact path of the right-of-way between the LIE and 87rd.
It took me so long to locate where this station used to be. In my initial searches I was looking about 500 yards away from this spot until I found the old map. You are right, it is unlikely that there are any remains of the structure there, perhaps only foundations? I had planned on doing a video on the Bushwick branch of the Montauk line, but the final station on Fresh Pond Road is closed off, and the first station in Bushwick had the remaining building removed within the last couple of years.
I think maybe you missed your calling, Richard, you should have been an investigative journalist! You really do some serious digging on these journeys and always come up with some fascinating history even if it's not finding quite what you were after to begin with. "Seen better days..." at 13:20, now there's an understatement! Another great walk around the neighborhood and sunshine to boot, thanks for the tour and looking forward to the next one.
For once one of my videos got a decent organic viewership as well, it's like triple what I normally get :) Mind you, I quite like the thumbnail myself. To be honest I never expected to find where the actual station was located, so I was delighted when I found a little detailed map of the area. I didn't share the map because it is hand drawn and it is someone else's work. The sun may have been out but my goodness was it cold, lol, in fact I went out that day because the days after that were brutally cold. Thanks as always for your kind support!!
Interesting!
Just a little nugget that I dug up :)
If there was no railroad in front of that building filled with graffiti, I wouldn't have imagined that it used to be a train station. Do freight trains still pass on those railroad tracks where cars travel?
I am also very interested in these abandoned and old places and buildings, and I want to find places like this in Korea and film them.😃
Yongma Land 용마랜드 might be a nice place to visit. Even though it is abandoned they do still charge a fee to enter though. It does look like it would be a nice day out and you might get a few videos out of it. It took me a long time to find out where the station once was because it was removed 99 years ago. The actual rail tracks are about 150 years old and yes, freight trains still use them. From what I understand this is mostly to collect industrial garbage. I enjoy finding old places, but it is hard to find places that nobody has filmed before. I have been lucky to find many places by searching old newspapers online :)
Hey there Richard, I checked one of those old maps I had of Queens and looking for a LIRR stop in Glendale I found there was one at Edsall av and 73rd street , it says it had opened in 1869 , I don't know if this was any help in what you're looking for , this map is so old it has JFK Airport as Idlewild , damn ! That's what it was when I was a little kid ,,,,, Anyway,,,,, hope that information on the LIRR was some help to you .
Yeah that was the old LIRR stop in Glendale. I used to live near there and I walked across it twice, once during the blackout when I had to walk home from Manhattan 😄 Those old maps are wonderful, aren't they? I once used one and found out that Fresh Pond road actually had two ponds on it at one time, before they were drained and filled in. One of them was in Mt. Olive cemetery!
I work on the corner of 73 St and Edsall. From what I was told, the station was closed in the late 1990's. There's still a sign there about it not being a public crossing and up until Hurricane Sandy, there was an old sign stating "this station will be permanantly closed on ......."
I had to manually add your comment to my Bushwick High School video, UA-cam wouldn't allow it to be recovered from spam. That probably has something to do with the comment filters that I use. I assume that it was the opening sentence that got the comment flagged so I posted your comment without the opening sentence. It seems to have posted okay now. I included your UA-cam name but for some reason it hasn't tagged you, so I have to let you know on a different comment that I added it, lol.
@@richardarthur-nycstories
Isn't that something else how UA-cam will save us from ourselves by what we say and how we say things , mannnn , I bet my name was added to they're S list , and those algorithms are busy with every word I put in a comment throughout UA-cam . You know I can post a comment somewhere and instead of it being first up until someone else posts a comment ,and then mine starts going down in the comments , I've noticed for a long time UA-cam buries my comments 15 or 20 comments down , so someone who has 200 comments on their page and I post one ,I'm already 20 down , so someone really has to be looking for my comment or come across it by reading 15 or 20 other comments before mine , I've been shadow ghosted by them years ago for being to opinionated , they make the UA-cam experience very unpleasant , one can't say S anymore . I'm sorry for any inconvenience this might cause you Richard ,I'll try being more PC about my comments, you're an alright guy and I don't mean you any problems with them .
Gee I wonder if people talk about playing cards, when it comes to the different suits what do you call a certain one without UA-cam's algorithms having a heart attack 😉🍻
a whole new change
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Mad-Ethan QNS.
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