Penny Bridge station explained

Penny Bridge
Other Name:Calvary Cemetery
Style:LIRR
Address:Laurel Hill Boulevard
and Review Avenue
Long Island City, Queens, New York
Coordinates:40.729°N -73.9314°W
Line:Montauk Branch
Platform:2 side platforms
Tracks:2
Owned:Long Island Rail Road
Closed:November 14, 1869
July 30, 1880
March 16, 1998
Opened:June 26, 1854
August 6, 1870
June 2, 1883
Electrified:August 29, 1905
Other Services Header:Former services
Mapframe:yes
Mapframe-Custom:
Shape:none
Line:none
Marker:rail
Zoom:14

Penny Bridge was a station along the Long Island Rail Road's Lower Montauk Branch that runs from Long Island City to Jamaica, Queens, in the state of New York. During its existence, the station served local industry as well as the Calvary Cemetery. Before the Kosciuszko Bridge was built, it also served businesses on the Brooklyn side of Newtown Creek (the name referring to the bridge that formerly connected Laurel Hill Boulevard to Meeker Avenue before it was closed in 1939) prior to the closure and removal of the bridge.

History

This station first opened on June 26, 1854, by the Flushing Railroad to serve Calvary Cemetery.[1] The Flushing Railroad was purchased by the New York and Flushing Railroad in April 1859. The station, in June 1859, was renamed Calvary Cemetery. The station closed on November 14, 1869. After the line was acquired by the South Side Railroad of Long Island in 1869 the station reopened on August 6, 1870. The Long Island Rail Road purchased the line in 1874 and consolidated the line into its system in 1876. The station was closed on July 30, 1880, before reopening on June 2, 1883.[2] The station would close permanently on March 16, 1998, along with Haberman, Glendale, Fresh Pond and Richmond Hill stations due to very low ridership and incompatibility with the C3 cars that were to be introduced into service around the time of closure. Around that time, the station served an average of one passenger per day.[3]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: PENNY BRIDGE STATION. Huenke. Art. www.arrts-arrchives.com. December 10, 2016.
  2. Web site: The History of Long Island City: Details of its Short-Lived Days as Both an Incorporated Municipality and the Major Western Terminus of the Long Island Rail Road. Stadler. Derek. derekstadler.wordpress.com. December 10, 2016. October 7, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211007022914/https://derekstadler.wordpress.com/portfolio-2/collections-photography/maspeth-from-small-dutch-community-to-part-of-the-great-metropolis-final/the-history-of-long-island-city-details-of-its-short-lived-days-as-both-an-incorporated-municipality-and-the-major-western-terminus-of-the-long-island-rail-road/. dead.
  3. News: Sengupta . Somini . End of the Line for L.I.R.R.'s 10 Loneliest Stops . The New York Times . March 15, 1998 . August 7, 2009.