Bellmore station

Bellmore
The south side of Bellmore station from the parking lot
General information
Location	Sunrise Highway between Bedford & Center Avenues Bellmore, New York
Coordinates	40°40′08″N 73°31′44″W / 40.668766°N 73.528833°W / 40.668766; -73.528833
Owned by	Long Island Rail Road
Line(s)	Montauk Branch
Distance	25.6 mi (41.2 km) from Long Island City[1]
Platforms	1 island platform
Tracks	2
Connections	Nassau Inter-County Express: n19 (at Merrick Road)
Construction
Parking	Yes
Bicycle facilities	Yes
Accessible	Yes
Other information
Fare zone	7
History
Opened	October 1869; 154 years ago (1869-10) (SSRRLI)
Rebuilt	1968–1975
Electrified	May 20, 1925 750 V (DC) third rail
Passengers
2012—2014	6,964[2]
Rank	16 of 125
Services
Preceding station Long Island Rail Road Following station Merrick toward Penn Station, Grand Central or Atlantic Terminal Babylon Branch Wantagh toward Babylon      Montauk Branch does not stop here
Former services Preceding station Long Island Rail Road Following station Merrick toward Long Island City Montauk Division Wantagh toward Montauk

Bellmore is a station on the Babylon Branch of the Long Island Rail Road. It is located on the north side of Sunrise Highway between Bedford and Centre Avenues in Bellmore, New York, however the actual land area occupied by the station's several parking lots begins west of Centre Avenue and continues east of Bellmore Avenue.

History

Bellmore station was established by the South Side Railroad of Long Island in October 1869, and the original structure was replaced sometime in the early-20th century. As with many other ground-level stations along the Babylon Branch in Nassau and Western Suffolk counties which had been elevated during the 1950s and 1960s, preliminary work began on February 18, 1968, to raise the tracks in Bellmore. Like Merrick station, temporary facilities containing a ticket window and a waiting room opened on December 4, 1970, but the elevated station wasn't completed until June 28, 1975.

The station today

The small structure occupying the grassy island on the north side of the station's waiting room began as an open shelter for LIRR customers waiting for eastbound trains. Constructed at the same time as the early-1900s station, it had been located on the south side of the grade-level tracks, just west of Bedford Avenue. At one point, it was partially enclosed, and became the dispatch office for Bellmore Taxi. When the tracks were elevated, the cab company moved its facilities to a storefront on Pettit Avenue, and the shelter was relocated to preserve it from the destruction which saw the demise of the old station itself. After many years of neglect, it was renovated and further enclosed to its present condition. The Bellmore Historical Society has occupied the small building for the past several years, making its treasury of antique photographs and historical artifacts available to school groups as well as to visitors to the annual Bellmore Family Street Festival hosted each fall by the Bellmore Chamber of Commerce.

Station layout

The station has one 14-car-long high-level island platform between the two tracks.

References

External links

• Bellmore – LIRR
• Bellmore LIRR timetable
• Pre-1968 Bellmore Station (Arrt's Arrchives)
• Former Bellmore Station Shelter (Taken February, 2006) (TrainsAreFun.com)
• Station House from Google Maps Street View
• Bedford Avenue entrance from Google Maps Street View

This page was last edited on 20 August 2023, at 19:09