EVERY time I take the Long Island RR from my home in Little Neck into the City, I enjoy the views I have of Sunnyside Yards, which the tracks travel through. In 2022, new tunnels taking LIRR trains to Grand Central were opened amid the yards. The Sunnyside complex is one of the largest train yards in the USA, servicing LIRR, Metro North, Amtrak and New Jersey Transit trains even though the latter two do not stop in Queens. There’s a push for “through running” in which trains from New Jersey can continue on to stops in Long Island and the mainland, but there are technical hurdles as well as union rules to be negotiated.
Sunnyside Yards was created out of open fields and farmland in the first decade of the 20th Century as part of the original Penn Station construction, with the station opening on 7th Avenue in 1910.
During the Bill DeBlasio mayoral administration (2014-2022) there was a push to build a deck over the Yards for high-rise housing, as the ongoing Hudson Yards complex is doing to the Penn Station yards, also servicing LIRR, but I haven’t heard much about it during the succeeding Eric Adams mayoralty; but in the “City of Yes” project, which seemingly wants to build on every open space, it’s likely the idea will be revived. It’ll happen after I have disappeared from the scene. Thankfully.
I got this shot on the south side of the Yards on the Thomson Avenue Bridge near Skillman. The walkway is on the south side of the bridge crossing Sunnyside Yards, and views of the Yards are largely prevented by fencing: but there are two places where railbuffs are vouchsafed a view, one on the east side of the Yards (here) and other on the west.
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9/8/25
6 comments
Years ago, I recall seeing a large sign at Sunnyside that said “World’s Largest Train Yard.” I’ve been passing by this location on the LIRR since 1951, when I was a toddler and my family moved to Long Island. As an adult, I have lived on Long Island since 1978 and continue to pass Sunnyside on the LIRR on a regular basis, but I don’t know if the sign is still there.
The Pennsylvania RR (PRR) built Sunnyside originally in 1910 to serve trains that stopped at Penn Station. Its location was chosen so that trains could quickly stop at Penn, discharge passengers, and then continue empty to Sunnyside for cleaning, repairs, and servicing, which includes restocking on-board foods and changing bedding in sleeping cars. The last function is much less common than in the pre-1950 days. Sunnyside was designed as loop so that entering trains were facing west in order to return to Penn as quickly as possible.
The Amtrak and NJ Transit trains that use Sunnyside today are the descendants of the PRR’s long distance and commuter trains, respectively. LIRR trains have never used Sunnyside Yard. Any LIRR trains sitting in a yard on the north side of the tracks are in a yard called Arch Street, which was built about 20 years ago to store trains to and from Grand Central (never Penn Station trains).
Metro North trains have never used Sunnyside either. A person travelling past the Yard on LIRR or Amtrak may spot “Metro North” on some train cars in Sunnyside, but that only means that those particular cars are part of a common equipment pool that is used on trains that travel between Hoboken, NJ and Rockland and Orange Counties in NY. NJ Transit runs that service and Metro North pays some the operating costs; it’s known as Metro-North’s West of Hudson service.
At present, there is a major MTA project underway that will, in 2027, bring Metro-North New Haven Line trains over the Hell Gate Bridge and past Sunnyside into Penn Station. When that service begins, it’s conceivable that Metro North trains may indeed use Sunnyside Yard as well. This project includes four new stations in The Bronx adjacent to the Amtrak line to and from Boston.
Fac
The Arch Street Facility, built 20+ years ago was originally used as a service facility for LIRR and Metro North cars that were under warranty by the manufactures. What became of the buildings use after that I do not know. It even had what looked like another station adjacent to Hunters Pt station. I havent worked in the area in many years so I’m unaware of what its used for now
The track that is in the center of your photo (the left-most track) was newly installed to take trains from the original main line tracks to the tunnel to Grand Central Madison. To create that track, bridges over the local streets had to be widened to accommodate it.
Others have viewed the expanse of Sunnyside Yards as a site for development. One of them was Governor Nelson Rockefeller, who loved building things, particularly if it was on a grand scale. Construction of a platform there is physically possible, but extremely expensive. Now, as it was back when Rockefeller was looking at it, the cost to do so is too high to make the project financially feasible. Only when the value of any such newly created land rises high enough to cover the cost of creating might it happen. That time is still a way off.
Taking the Port Washington branch of the LIRR at night you used to
get a great view of the Swingline stapler sign in action before the train
descended into the hole
The sign in question was painted on the side of the old Railway Express Agency building. Which was more or less in the middle of all the tracks.
In fact I was in Yard “A” beck in the ‘70’s to meet a LIRR Cop. Back then it was used for freight cars. Of interest, I checked the date on a couple of the rails because they were very beat up. I was startled to see 1866 stamped on the side.
I hope they never build over the Sunnyside Yards. It’s such a great example of open air railroad infrastructure. I vividly remember seeing freight trains and the Ringling Brothers Circus train as a kid in the late 80s/ early 90s. I wish I could afford an apartment facing the yards in the building on Jackson Ave near the 7 train. Watching the sun rise/set with the LIRR, NJT, Amtrak, and works trains all moving about? Urban heaven.