Central Railroad of Long Island

Central Railroad of Long Island was built on Long Island, New York, by Alexander Turney Stewart, who was also the founder of Garden City. The railroad was established in 1871, then merged with the Flushing and North Side Railroad in 1874 to form the Flushing, North Shore and Central Railroad. It was finally acquired by the Long Island Rail Road in 1876 and divided into separate branches. Despite its short existence, the CRRLI had a major impact on railroading and development on Long Island.

Alexander Turney Stewart was a wealthy Irish born entrepreneur, who had made a fortune in retail and real estate. In the spring of 1869, once Stewart heard of the proposed sale of land in the Town of Hempstead, formed the idea which became the Central Railroad of Long Island. On July 17, 1869, at a town referendum on the sale of land, Stewart gave a bid of $55 an acre, and his bid was accepted. Stewart offered President of the LIRR, Oliver Charlick, to operate his railroad, but Charlick declined. In January 1870, Stewart sent a surveyor to lay out three possibly options for his proposed railroad west of New Hyde Park Road to Farmingdale Village. Stewart chose the option of a line to Flushing, over an option to Jamaica, and one south of Jamaica. This decision was probably a result of a meeting with Conrad Poppenhusen, who offered to sell Stewart the old New York & Flushing route between Main Street and Woodside. On December 3, 1870, a contract was awarded for the building of Stewart's railroad to Patrick Shields. The line would be double tracked, and would be completed on July 4, 1872. The text of the agreement was published in January 1871, and the Stewart railroad was named the Central Railroad of Long Island.

The Poppenhusens agreed to double track their existing line to Hunter's Point. The contract gave every person who moved to Garden City or Hempstead a free ticket over the road for one year. Also, the operation of the CRR would be assumed by the Flushing & North Side management, and at least fifteen trains would be run each way every day. On March 4, 1871, it was decided that the Central Railroad would diverge from the Flushing & North Side Railroad east of the drawbridge at Main Street at Great Neck Junction, and it would cross south of Flushing, going through Kissena Park, and southeast through Floral Park and New Hyde Park. In May 1871, work began at Rocky Hill on an open cut. In August 1871, a switch was built connecting the LIRR and the Flushing & North Side at Winfield to allow rails and other materials to be transported to the Central Railroad more quickly.

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