At Jamaica Avenue and Lefferts Boulevard in Richmond Hill, the Jamaica El rises high to clear the lower overpass of the Long Island Rail Road “Montauk Branch”, a spur of the main line that served western Queens locales like Richmond Hill, Glendale, Maspeth, Blissville, and Long Island City. The line currently sees one passenger train daily, while intermediate stops between Jamaica and Long Island City were closed in March 1998. Signs warning passengers of the closure are still in place here and there!
Another el-over-el situation is at Woodside, where the Flushing El passes over the LIRR main line.
1/23/13
14 comments
The best was el over el over open cut heavy electric rail at Pitkin and Van Sinderen-it was all running til I was 10 years old and was my favorite train watching spot -well,Broadway Junction was pretty cool also
I forgot about subway el over subway el. ENY is king there.
Is that one train a day or one train each way a day? 30 years ago I lived along that branch near Woodhaven & Union and it was 2 trains a day. One of the oldest restaurants in Queens when I was a kid is right there, ‘The Triangle Hofbrau’. Place had some history and the building is still there.
http://www.richmondhillhistory.org/Hofbrau.html
I think it’s down to 1 train
About a mile west of this location, and about a half-mile east of this location, were two other similar places where BMT trains rose high over LIRR tracks. The former is where the old LIRR Rockaway Beach Line crosses Jamaica Ave. at the site of the old Brooklyn Manor LIRR station. The LIRR line has been abadoned since1962 but the right of way is still there including the bridge over Jamaica Ave. The latter was where the BMT leapfrogged over the LIRR Main Line at the site of the long-forgotten Westbridge Station, near 127th St. In this case it’s the opposite situation – the LIRR is alive and well but the BMT is completely gone, removed in 1988 after the J line was rerouted into the new Archer Avenue subway.
And if you include the East New York el complex at Broadway Junction, and the Broadway-Myrtle Station where the old el station still sits atop the J train, the Jamaica Avenue (J) line had 5 places were an “el over el” situation existed. Two are still very much alive, two have only the J train still operating, and at the last one only the LIRR survives.
El over El at Broadway and Myrtle Avenue was a real site to behold. The trains practically went into the apartments, when the trains were switching from the Jamaica line to the JM line going north to Metropolitan Avenue.
Well, the L.I.R.R. stops and goes by Woodside through an open underground cut and I’d hardly call the #7 train above an “el over el”.
Another el over el, which is less known, is on the border of Brownsville where the 3 train crosses the L train. Or where Livonia Ave meets Van Sinderen Ave.
Of course don’t forget W. 8th St/Aquarium stop on the Brighton line near Coney Island.
Let us not forget that the A train on liberty ave also rises above the old rockaway line too.
Not quite the same, but always a favorite of mine, is where Amtrak’s Hell Gate Bridge approach (aka New York Connecting Railroad) passes over the BMT Ditmars Station in Astoria.
This is almost similar to where the A train goes over the former Rockaway Line of the LIRR.
And don’t forget the intersection of Broadway and Myrtle Avenue in Brooklyn, where the Myrtle Avenue el passed over the Jamaica line. Before its demise west of Broadway, you could take a stairway that connected both lines. These stairs still exist and go up to the skeleton of the old Myrtle station, which was never completely demolished.
GREW UP IN RICHMOND HILL, KNOW THIS AREA PRETTY WELL. LIRR STILL HAS PASSENGER & FREIGHT TRAINS EVERY DAY ON THIS LINE.AS A KID USED TO GO ON THE LIRR TRACKS & PUT COINS ON THE TRACKS & WAIT FOR A TRAIN TO PASS, WOULD FLATTEN THE COINS INTO NOTHING, NEVER LOOKED LIKE THEY WERE ONCE COINS. DONT LIVE IN THE NEIGHBORHHOD NOW, LIVE IN FRESH MEADOWS, BUT PASS BY THE OLD NEIGHBORHOOD ONCE IN A WHILE, NEVER CHANGES.