By SERGEY KADINSKY
Forgotten NY correspondent
On the A train heading south, the tracks split into two branches, east to Far Rockaway, and west to Rockaway Park. Connecting this split is the single-track Hammels Wye. It is named for the Hammels neighborhood where it stands. This track was built in 1942, when the Long Island Railroad elevated the tracks on the Rockaway peninsula. They were given sold to New York City Transit in 1956. Because of this single track, it is not possible to run a subway line between Far Rockaway and Rockaway Park, but there were two occasions when revenue service appeared on this short track:
Between the 1970s and 1994, an unusual subway shuttle, the H train, took straphangers from Brooklyn’s Euclid Avenue to Rockaway Park, then backtracking towards Far Rockaway, and then back to Brooklyn. It was a one-seat ride from Rockaway Park to Far Rockaway, but not the other way around. For that direction, riders had to transfer at Broad Channel.
After Hurricane Sandy damaged tracks in Broad Channel, severing the connection to mainland Queens, the H returned as a free shuttle between Far Rockaway and Beach 90th Street, running for six months atop this single track.
Related: Thank You For Your Service
Sergey Kadinsky is the author of Hidden Waters of New York City: A History and Guide to 101 Forgotten Lakes, Ponds, Creeks, and Streams in the Five Boroughs (2016, Countryman Press), adjunct history professor at Touro University and the webmaster of Hidden Waters Blog.
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8/9/24