Manhattan Beach Branch
Map of the New York and Manhattan Beach Railway, with southernmost line being the Manhattan Beach Branch
Overview
Status	Abandoned
Owner	Long Island Rail Road
Locale	Brooklyn, New York, USA
Termini	Myrtle Avenue Manhattan Beach
Stations	8
Service
System	Long Island Rail Road
Operator(s)	Long Island Rail Road
History
Opened	1877
Closed	1930s
Technical
Number of tracks	2
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Route map Bay Ridge Branch ​Brighton Line (BFCIRR) Manhattan Beach Junction South Greenfield King's Highway Neck Road Race Track Sheepshead Bay ​Brighton Line (BFCIRR) Manhattan Beach This diagram: view talk edit

TheManhattan Beach Branch,Manhattan Beach Line, orManhattan Beach Division was a line of theLong Island Rail Road, running fromFresh Pond, Queens, south toManhattan Beach, Brooklyn,New York City,United States. It opened in 1877 and 1878 as the main line of theNew York and Manhattan Beach Railway. The tracks fromFlatbush south to Manhattan Beach were removed from 1938 to 1941,^[1] while most of the rest is now the freight-onlyBay Ridge Branch.

At Manhattan Beach, the line extended east to Oriental Beach, and a branch to theSheepshead Bay Race Track was provided north ofSheepshead Bay. Other lines in the Manhattan Beach Division included the West Brighton Beach Division (Culver Line),^[2]Bay Ridge Branch, andEvergreen Branch.

Planning for a line toBay Ridge began in 1870 by the New York and Hempstead Plains Railroad (which built theSouthern Hempstead Branch fromValley Stream toHempstead). By 1873, the line was to run from Bay Ridge toEast New York, where it would join the LIRR'sAtlantic Avenue Division toJamaica. Thepanic of 1873 struck after much work had been done in grading the new line.^[3]

TheNew York, Bay Ridge and Jamaica Railroad was incorporated on November 20, 1875,^[4] to complete the work and operate the line to Jamaica, using theBrooklyn and Rockaway Beach Railroad (Canarsie Line) fromNew Lots to East New York and the LIRR Atlantic Avenue Division to Jamaica.^[5] The first piece, from the Bay Ridge Ferry (toSouth Ferry, Manhattan) to the crossing of theBrooklyn, Bath and Coney Island Railroad (West End Line) atNew Utrecht, opened on August 23, 1876. Trains were operated over the BB&CI toConey Island viatrackage rights from this junction.^[6] BankerAustin Corbin incorporated theNew York and Manhattan Beach Railway on October 24, 1876,^[4] to build a branch of this line toManhattan Beach and extend it beyond East New York toGreenpoint andHunter's Point. Corbin gained control of the New York, Bay Ridge and Jamaica Railroad on November 15, 1876.^[7][8] The NY&MB bought the eastern half ofConey Island from the town ofGravesend and renamed it Manhattan Beach.^[9]

The NYBR&J built the line from Bay Ridge east to New Lots, while the NY&MB built from Manhattan Beach north to the NYBR&J at Manhattan Beach Junction and from New Lots north to East New York on the west side of the Canarsie Line.^[4] The new3 ft (914 mm)narrow gauge system opened to terminals at Bay Ridge and East New York on July 18, 1877, concurrently with the Manhattan Beach Hotel and theNew York and Sea Beach Railroad.^[10] (The NY&MB leased the NYBR&J.^[11])

TheGlendale and East River Railroad was incorporated on March 26, 1874,^[12] to build a3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge line from Greenpoint east toGlendale, Queens,^[13] and was also acquired by Corbin in November 1876.^[14] The line north from East New York to Jefferson Street was built by the NY&MB under the charter of theBrooklyn and Rockaway Beach Railroad (Canarsie Line),^[4][15] which gave its right to construct an extension toHunter's Point to the NY&MB.^[16] The rest from Jefferson Street to Greenpoint was built by the G&ER and leased by the NY&MB.^[12] This extension beyond East New York to Greenpoint opened at the beginning of the season on May 16, 1878.^[17][18]

TheKings County Central Railroad was incorporated in 1877 by Electus B. Litchfield and Austin Corbin to build a3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge line fromdowntown Brooklyn via the east side ofProspect Park to a connection with the NYBR&J east of Manhattan Beach, and to be leased by the NYBR&J.^[19] The line, operated by the NY&MB as its Prospect Park Division (along with the Bay Ridge and Greenpoint Divisions),^[20] was opened June 29, 1878, to Prospect Park,^[21][22] but was a failure and closed for good at the end of the 1878 season.^[23]

TheEastern Railroad of Long Island was organized on November 28, 1878,^[24] to build a3 ft (914 mm) line fromEast New York on the NY&MB east viaWoodhaven,Clarenceville,Jamaica,Springfield,Woodsburgh,Valley Stream,East Rockaway,Christian Hook,Freeport,Merrick, andSouth Oyster Bay toBabylon in competition with the LIRR'sSouthern Railroad Division. Corbin, who owned a summer house near Babylon,^[25] put up the money to build the road, which was also planned to cross theSouth Bay nearAmityville toFire Island.^[26]

Corbin acquired a controlling interest in the Long Island Rail Road on November 29, 1880^[27] and becamepresident on January 1, 1881. In December 1881, the LIRR leased the NY&MB and NYBR&J as theManhattan Beach Division,^[28] with plans to change it to4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)standard gauge and build connections to theAtlantic Avenue Division andMontauk Division.^[29] The lines from East New York to Manhattan Beach and Bay Ridge were converted to4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)standard gauge after the 1882 season, and theLong Island City and Manhattan Beach Railroad (incorporated February 24, 1883) built a connection from the new Cooper Avenue Junction north to another new junction, Fresh Pond Junction, on the Montauk.^[30] Trains began running fromFlatbush Avenue to Manhattan Beach via the Atlantic Avenue Division on May 30, 1883,^[31] and fromLong Island City via the Montauk Division on June 2, 1883.^[32]

For the 1884 season (opened May 29), the double-tracknarrow gauge line between East New York and Greenpoint was replaced with a singlestandard gauge track.^[33] 1885 was the last year that trains ran to Greenpoint, and the line between Greenpoint and the Bushwick Branch crossing was abandoned in October;^[12] they started using Bushwick instead in the 1886 season.^[34] Passenger trains stopped serving the line, later the Evergreen Branch, to Bushwick in 1894.^{[citation needed]}

The New York, Bay Ridge and Jamaica Railroad, New York and Manhattan Beach Railroad, and Long Island City and Manhattan Beach Railroad merged on August 27, 1885 to form theNew York, Brooklyn and Manhattan Beach Railway.^[4] This company was merged into the LIRR on June 19, 1925,^[35] and the Glendale and East River Railroad was absorbed in 1928.^{[citation needed]}

The line south of Manhattan Beach Junction was upgraded to agrade-separatedembankment shared with theBrighton Beach Line during 1907–1909. ANew York State prohibition onracetrackwagering and the decline of the moreupscaleresorts onConey Island, combined with more direct and lower-priced competition from nearbyrapid transit andstreetcar lines, led to a rapid decline in the Manhattan Beach's economic viability. Passenger service ended completely in 1924,^[36] and freight ended in 1935. On May 17, 1937, the LIRR applied to theInterstate Commerce Commission for permission to abandon the line.^[37]

In 2011, the long abandoned right-of-way of the New York, Brooklyn and Manhattan Beach Railway was subject to legal action by some homeowners living adjacent to its route in Sheepshead Bay, who wanted to acquire undisputed title to it.^[38]

• Long Island Railroad Evergreen Branch (ForgottenNY.com)

• Long Island Rail Road branches
• Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn
• Railroads on Long Island
• Transportation in Brooklyn
• Railway lines opened in 1877
• 1877 establishments in New York (state)

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