CENTRAL RAIL ROAD EXTENSION COMPANY OF LONG ISLAND
HEMPSTEAD CROSSING
HEMPSTEAD CROSSING WAS CREATED IN 1873 WHEN A.T. STEWART'S CENTRAL RAIL ROAD OF LONG ISLAND CROSSED THE LONG ISLAND RAIL ROAD'S 1839 HEMPSTEAD BRANCH FROM MINEOLA.
1878 SITUATION - "F" TO "B" WAS REMOVED IN 1876 OR 1878. IN 1876 ALL PASSENGER TRAINS WERE USING THE C.R.R.L.I. HEMPSTEAD STATION.
AN ARTIST'S RENDERING OF GARDEN CITY IN MARCH 1878 SHOWS A WINDMILL JUST EAST OF THE L.I.R.R. AND NORTH OF THE C.R.R.L.I. IN LATER YEARS THIS WINDMILL WITHOUT ITS BLADES WAS DESCRIBED AS A WATER TOWER AND A "BRICK TOWER". IT LASTED UNTIL 1939.
LAYOUT 1878 - 1893
HC TOWER WAS BUILT IN 1890, WE BELIEVE AS SIGNAL STATION NUMBER 44.
IN 1894 IT BECAME NUMBER 105
IN 1893 THE NEW YORK BAY EXTENSION WAS BUILT FROM HEMPSTEAD CROSSING TO VALLEY STREAM. THE TRACK ARRANGEMENT WAS CHANGED TO ALLOW TRAINS FROM GARDEN CITY TO USE THE NEW LINE.
IN 1907 HC HAD A 36 LEVER MACHINE.
BY 1926 HC HAD FORTY LEVERS.
TAKEN FROM HC TOWER BY HARRY STYLES. NOTICE THE DISTANCE THE PIPELINE IS FROM THE TOWER. THERE HAD BEEN ANOTHER TRACK AS SHOWN ON THE 1892 DRAWING.
LOOKING SOUTH
LOOKING EAST FROM WEST OF FRANKLIN AVENUE.
THREE MARVELOUS PHOTOGRAPHS BY W. S. (WINNIE) BOERCKEL