| In September 1977, I was just starting out at St Johns University in Queens. As an incoming freshman, I did not get to pick my schedule, and had some large gaps as a result. Rather than do something frivolous, like study, I used the time wisely to go explore parts of the area I had not spent much time in growing up. One place I found was the old LIRR Rockaway Branch. This line split off the Main Line at Rego Park, then headed directly south across Jamaica Bay, where it split, one side going to Rockaway Park, the other to Far Rockaway, running on through to todays Far Rockaway Branch and up to Valley Stream. The trestle over the bay was wood, and was prone to fires and to being pushed out of alignment in the winter. Finally, after an especially bad fire in 1950, the LIRR abandoned the line. A couple of years later, the NYCTA acquired it and rebuild the trestle, opening it as part of their A and CC lines in 1954. The LIRR continued service to this station, Woodhaven, until 1962. I had parked on Atlantic Av and was able to find a hole in the sheet metal that had been put over the stairways. I walked most of the line from where it joined the IND line up to Rego Park at various times. Today we see the north end of the Woodhaven station, now grown over after 15 years of disuse, though the railings and platforms seem to be in pretty good shape. The light fixtures are in surprisingly good condition-except for the bulbs, of course-considering they are usually one of the first targets of the youthful vandals who make their way up here. If you take the overgrowth away, this station is almost in better condition than the still active stations at Queens Village or Hollis. |