Steel Rails to the Sunrise: The Long Island Rail Road
by David D. Morrison
Category: Transportation

The Long Island Rail Road is the oldest railroad in the country still operating under its original name. It is the busiest railroad in North America, with 90 million annual riders on 735 trains covering 11 different branches. The Babylon Branch, which serves 15 stations from Valley Stream to Babylon, carries 18 million annual riders over its 20-mile right-of-way. The branch has been totally electrified since 1925 and has not had any street crossings at grade since 1979. There are three signal towers and four junctions for other branches on this line. Two railroad museums are housed in former branch station buildings, those being Wantagh and Lindenhurst.