History of the Long Island Railroad
The Long Island Railroad is a name that is familiar to those who currently live in the Long Island region. However, the Long Island Railroad was constructed many years ago and served a different purpose than what it does today. The following paragraphs will briefly describe the history of the Long Island Railroad and show the route it took to get to the mode of transportation that it is today.
The Beginning
The Long Island Railroad Company was formed in 1834. The purpose of its formation was to continue the current railroad instituted by the Brooklyn and Jamaica Railroad Company and stretch the railroad to the Long Island area. By doing so, the company would be able to transport goods to the tip of Long Island and ship the goods over to Boston from that point. The construction took place and was completed in 1844 when the railroad reached its final destination of Greenport. The use of the Long Island Railroad to transport goods to Boston was a huge success but was soon frustrated in 1848 when a train was built between New York and Boston via Connecticut and goods soon were transported on this transit line.
In the mid 1800s the Long Island Railroad saw quite a bit of protest by the local community as it was constructed to serve the commercial community and was claimed to hurt the local residents of Long Island. Those who lived in the area were concerned by the increase of fires caused by the trains and the noise from the trains. A compromise occurred in the years which followed when the Long Island Railroad made adjustments to the handling and running of the trains. In the year 1900, the Pennsylvania Railroad Company bought the Long Island Railroad track.
Today
Today the Long Island Railroad is still in operation and is used as a commuter rail train to transport individuals throughout Long Island and into New York City. The local government is responsible for the operation and maintenance of the railroad and those individuals who use it on a daily basis to get from Point A to Point B truly appreciate the Long Island Railroad.
