Showing trains connecting New York and East Egg, this 3-inch by 7-inch pamphlet represents some high-density railroading (map below).
I bought a small handful of public timetables for a very low price. I've always been interested in the past work done by the LIRR as it efficiently took commuters into New York City. It was only when I was trying to figure out which branch of the railroad this covered that I discovered it covered my 'favourite' part of the line.
In 1922, it was this route which bond salesman Nick Carraway used to get to his job in the city. He was the bungalow-residing neighbour of a 'new money' type named Jay Gatsby. From West Egg (Great Neck) Gatsby would gaze across the bay at the green light on the shore of East Egg (Port Washington) where the 'old money' lived.
I read this novel later in life for pleasure so I never had to write a few paragraphs about what the green light ... or the eyes of TJ Eckleburg's billboard ... represented. On Wiki, there is a lot of good historical material covering the setting and background of this novel, its low sales (25,000 copies) during F Scott Fitzgerald's lifetime, and the four Great Gatsby movies made over the years. I've only seen the 1974 movie with Robert Redford and, from what I've been reading, this would probably be the best 'historical document' to represent both the novel and that era in history.
This timetable was printed about 23 years after the novel was published.
It represents the railroad's operations of 76 years ago.
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A map of the LIRR from 1958 appears below.
You can see our line to Port Washington on the lower map panel - running from Pennsylvania Station to the east.
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| from: Official Guide of the Railways, November 1958. |
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The historical overview from 1947, below, shows that the LIRR began in the 1830s as a through line connecting New York and Boston when railroad and construction technologies were not as well developed. The LIRR's eventual purchase by the Pennsylvania Railroad was linked to the latter's plans for a downtown New York station.
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| from: The Pennsylvania Railroad, a pictorial history; Edwin P Alexander; 1947; Bonanza Books. |
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| from: Long Island Rail Road; Rae Ediger; Trains, March 1949; Kalmbach. |
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| The Pennsylvania Railroad, a pictorial history; Edwin P Alexander; 1947; Bonanza Books. |
The yard is still there and a Wiki article briefly explains its history and identifies the railroads currently using it.
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| from: Long Island Rail Road; Rae Ediger; Trains, March 1949; Kalmbach. |
At B Tower at Bethpage, Long Island, the engineer of a 4-6-0 picks up train orders.
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Today, the LIRR has a frequently-updated Facebook page.
It features photos of current and historical rolling stock, and promotes attractions along the railroad.