A Graceful Old Stations Arrival

By Rhoda Amon | Staff Writer

W ITH PLUMES of smoke and deep-throated whistles, the westbound train chugged into Sea Cliff, a welcome sight to these straw-hatted, stout-hearted commuters in 1900.

In 1888, Sea Cliff got a $4,000 brick stationhouse with ornamental wooden brackets supporting open canopies at either end.

To facilitate commuting, the Long Island Rail Road later provided an electric trolley through the village. "Father took the trolley to the station every day with five commuters who looked out for each other," says local historian Jean Steward. "When one was late, the others would shout, 'Wait for Mr. Rehbein,' and the trolley would back up and pick Mr. Rehbein up." The commute to Manhattan took about 55 minutes in the '30s, she recalls.

Time and weather wore down the old station. In the 1980s, Sea Cliff preservationists put it on the National Historic Register and prodded the railroad to return it to its past glory. A $900,000 restoration was completed in 1998 with the ornamental woodwork carefully matched. Sea Cliff is the only station that still has the elaborate bracing that once graced a half-dozen LIRR stations. Bilevel coaches with locomotives powered by diesel or electricity now serve Sea Cliff, but what matters most to its 150 morning commuters is that the 7:26 make it on time. The trip takes 67 minutes.