All Aboard At Glen Head

Article tools

E-mail

Share
- Digg
- Del.icio.us
- Facebook
- Fark
- Google
- Newsvine
- Reddit
- Yahoo

If the photo at right reminds some of today's Sea Cliff railroad station, it's because nearly identical stations were built in Glen Head and Sea Cliff in 1888. Sea Cliff's survives, but Glen Head's was torn down in 1961.

Ron Ziel, author of several books about the Long Island Rail Road, says the 1888 stations were attractive because of the gingerbread screening at either end of the canopies.

The photo was taken by Long Island photographer Henry Otto Korten. Judging by the steam engine, the auto and a hansom cab in the background, Ziel says the photo was probably taken around 1910.

Glen Head riders of the LIRR's Oyster Bay Branch find the current scene at right. The station is a simple wooden structure. Tickets are sold by machine.

``If that beautiful scene at the top replaced by the ugliness at the bottom is progress, I don't know what to say about it,'' Ziel says.

Note:

Two readers sent comments about the above photos. Thomas Buchta and Robert Schaffrath of Glen Head wrote that the two photos of the station, one from around 1910 and another today, were not taken facing the same direction. Both said the older photo faces east toward Oyster Bay and the new photo faces west. ``The [old] station was torn down because, in the opinion of the railroad, it was on the wrong side of the tracks,'' Schaffrath wrote.

Get breaking news alerts!