Center Moriches (LIRR station)

Center Moriches
Looking towards Montauk at the former Center Moriches LIRR station. Very little remains of the once proud station besides the platform, the parking lot, and a second track.
Location	Railroad Avenue and Hamilton Street Center Moriches, New York
Coordinates	40°48′17.4″N 72°47′22.4″W / 40.804833°N 72.789556°W / 40.804833; -72.789556Coordinates: 40°48′17.4″N 72°47′22.4″W / 40.804833°N 72.789556°W / 40.804833; -72.789556
Line(s)	Montauk Branch
Platforms	1 side platform
Tracks	2
History
Opened	1881
Closed	March 15, 1998
Electrified	No
Previous names	Moriches (1881-????)
Services
None (Closed) Preceding station   LIRR   Following station Mastic station 1882-1960 Montauk Branch (current and former locations) East Moriches station 1897-1958 Mastic-Shirley station Montauk Branch (current and former locations) Speonk station

Center Moriches (/moʊˈrɪtʃᵻz/ moh-RITCH-iz) was a station stop along the Montauk Branch of the Long Island Rail Road. It was located on Railroad Avenue and Hamilton Street in Center Moriches, New York.

The station was built by the Brooklyn and Montauk Railroad, around 1881 as "Moriches Station" after the original Moriches station was renamed for the geographically correct Eastport, New York. At some point the station was renamed as well for the more geographically correct Center Moriches, New York. Until 1906, it was also a terminal with a wye, a small yard, and a transfer point for one of the east end scoots. When East Moriches and Eastport stations were closed by the Long Island Rail Road on October 6, 1958, commuters who used those stations were advised to use Center Moriches station, thus transforming it into the last railroad station in the Moricheses. The station house was razed in 1964, but a new shelter was built sometime around 1985. The station closed on March 16, 1998; at the time, it only served 5 passengers per day. The arrival of the C3 bi-level coaches meant that all stations in the LIRR's diesel territory had to receive high-level platforms, and building new platforms for such a low-usage station was not cost-effective.