22-10-14 PHOTOS: City Position Lights - Part 2

In part one of my fall 2022 LIRR Main Line position light trip I traveled to New York City and visited three PRR style amber position lit signal locations between Q Gardens and Woodside on the LIRR Main Line. In part two I will continue on to the Hunterspoint Ave area to check out M CABIN on the "temporarily" out of service Main Line Cutoff over Dutch Kills in addition to late afternoon action at the Hunterspoint LIRR station. I'll then wrap things up by catching an outbound peak period <6> Express train to Parkchester. You can find the full set of photos here ( mirror ).

After getting back on the Queens Blvd line at Grand Ave, I transferred to R188 #7261 on the (7) at 74th St and took it to Hunterspoint Ave.

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Back on surface streets I caught sight of an R188 train on the (7) ramp adjacent to the LIRR yard full of brand new M9's including #9093.

I also caught Amtrak ACS-86 #618 with a southbound Regional entering Line 2 en-route to Penn Station.

The LIRR Main Line freight cutoff served the old Sunnyside freight yards, allowing trains to reach the non-electrified Montauk Branch in an eastbound direction and avoid trying up the high density Main Line. With the decline in NYC industrial customers and the replacement of the Sunnyside freight yard with passenger yard and shoppe facilities, the Cutoff has been functionally abandoned. Previously accessed by ramps from F interlocking (part of the former PRR Sunnyside Yard complex), today the single remaining track has been largely reclaimed by nature as seen here under the Large Island Expressway.

Nevertheless, the line's movable bridge over the Dutch Kills, is still an active, although out of service, interlocking station. The westbound distant signal stands at the top of the F interlocking ramp and, despite the colorful artwork, is still lit and was displaying a PRR manual block Caution indication.

This section of the cutoff had also been commandeered by a local urban farm.

While getting some signal photos I also managed to bag a train of LIRR M3's

<6>Here a westbound train of LIRR M7's, including #7581 and #7756, make a somewhat uncommon move taking East River Tunnel Line 2 to New York Penn Station instead of the more customary Line 4.




M CABIN's westbound signal, hidden by leaves, protecting a split point derail.

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M CABIN itself is located in the control booth of the Dutch Kills river drawbridge and will require a followup trip.

M CABIN is located immediately downstream of the famous Borden Ave rolling drawbridge.

Walking back to the (7) I popped down to the Hunterspoint Ave LIRR station that provides both a vantage point covering the east end of the East River Tunnels and fantastic afternoon light.

First up was an NJT push-pull led by ALP-45 #4527 and with Comet V cab car #6014 on the end.

I also spotted the Mets train, despite their season having been over since April 1.

Back on Hunterspoint Ave I got more photos of the M9's, R188's on the (&) and NJT ALP-46 #425 heading into Line 2.

<6>The PM rush at Hunterspoint Ave in Queens features all of New York City's rail transportation modes working together. A deadhead Amtrak Empire Service train led by Phase Three Heritage painted P32AC-DM #710 is about to enter East River Tunnel Line 2 while an eastbound LIRR diesel trainset led by C3 cab car #5014 pulls into the Hunterspoint Ave LIRR Station, all while an NYC Subway R188 (7) Train descends into the Steinway Tunnel from the elevated portion and another R188 trainset passes over Sunnyside Yard in the distance.



For the record the diesel train that arrived just after I had left the Hunterspoint Ave LIRR platform was #421.

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Transferring from the (7) to a Lexington Ave express at 42nd St, I transferred again at the Route 125th St station station to a northbound center track <6>express.

<6><6>Although it did take a few headways to get an R62 with a reasonable front view, I was ultimately successful in capturing the outbound <6> express run to Parkchestera with single stop at Hunts Point Ave.



Here A train of R62's depart the center track of the Parkchester Station after completing an express run from 125th St. Next stop will either be the yard or a pocket track to lay over before returning downtown.



At Parkchester, the tower still stands next to the 177TH ST interlocking, overlooking the trains of R's62 heading in and out of Westchester Yard.

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<6><6>I would return to 125th St on R62 #2120.

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<6><6>While waiting on my express transfer, I got this photo of the #491 switch lit up for maintenance at the 125TH ST interlocking with the #490 signal displaying a diverging clear.

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<6><6>After returning to Penn Station and getting dinner in the lounge, I headed back to Philly on a Keystone propelled by ACS-86 #650.

<6>That's all for my Fall 2022 NYC excursion. Next time I'll be back with my annual late October visit to HARRIS tower.