Long Island Rail Road’s Port Jefferson Branch Highlighted in New Book

MT. PLEASANT, S.C. - Oct. 16, 2013 - PRLog -- The newest addition to Arcadia Publishing’s popular Images of Rail series is Long Island Rail Road: Port Jefferson Branch from local author David D. Morrison with foreword by David Keller. The book boasts more than 200 vintage images.

The Long Island Rail Road is the oldest railroad in the country still operating under its original name. As the busiest railroad in North America, it carries 265,000 customers each weekday aboard 735 trains on 11 different branches.

The Port Jefferson Branch serves 10 stations from Hicksville to Port Jefferson and carries nearly 20 percent of the railroad’s passenger traffic over its 32 miles of track. Hicksville Station is the site of the October 8, 1955, “End of Steam Ceremony,” when steam locomotives were retired from service. The oldest surviving station building constructed by the Long Island Rail Road is on this branch at St. James. Between 1895 and 1938, the branch extended 10 miles east to Wading River. The branch was not electrified until 1970 and that was only to Huntington Station, east of which is served by diesel and dual-mode locomotives.

Highlights of Long Island Rail Road: Port Jefferson Branch include:

•Personal insights from author, David D. Morrison, who is a retired Long Island Rail Road Branch Line Manager and worked at the Port Jefferson Branch for 10 years.
•Includes a vast collection of images, contributed by local community historians and railfan photographers.
•Discusses forgotten right-of-ways and three old trolley lines.
•Highlights old steam locomotives.

Available at area bookstores, independent retailers, and online retailers, or through Arcadia Publishing at (888)-313-2665 or online.

Arcadia Publishing is the leading publisher of local and regional history in the United States.  Our mission is to make history accessible and meaningful through the publication of books on the heritage of America’s people and places.  Have we done a book on your town?  Visit www.arcadiapublishing.com.