Q Tower: (3D Satellite)
R Tower: (Satellite, the tower and some storage tracks were removed to make room for the service facilities. See 1954 aerial photo below.)
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| Peter James Paras posted Not my photo. Amtrak Tower Q. Sunnyside Yard, New York. Tower Q and R controlled the yard. Now both are moved into a building on site. Tower R was removed, Tower Q still stands. I think it has electronics in it. |
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| Eugene Powell posted Here is a view of Sunnyside Railroad Yard . Location: Long Island City Photo Taken: May 19, 1946. Photo: From the N.Y Daily News Archive 😳 Now that's a big yard! 🙂👌Shout out to the fellas who usa to play in there. Look like Many Railroad came through here🙂. It noted: This is the place all South bound NYNH&H passenger Trains ended up. Sunnyside Yard is a large coach yard, A Railroad Yard for passenger cars in the Sunnyside Neighborhood of Queens. The Yard is owned by Amtrak and is also used by New Jersey Transit. ( A Vintage Shot! ) Classic. Douglas Nelson: Southbound New Haven trains did not end up at Sunnyside. New Haven trains terminating in New York used Grand Central and ended up at Mott Haven yard. New Haven trains using Penn Station were through trains and continued south to Washington. Sunnyside Yard was used by the Pennsylvania Railroad. Freeman Thornton: Douglas Nelson I'm having a problem with the 2nd part of your answer. I don't remember any through trains from New England to Washington through Pennsylvania Station without changing at Penn. Steven L Roder: And Yard A ( LIRR ) John FitzGerald: Steven L Roder Serving the Long Island City Float yard as well as numerous other local businesses in the area. Carlton Bridges: The largest passenger yard in the world at that time. Stephen Williams: Oh Eugene. Now you're in my backyard. I may not know all the subway facts as most of your veterans here, but I can tell about the PRR. This is the grand daddy of passenger car yards. In the US, and around the world. The Pennsy served more Meals, and made up more beds than any other railroad, any time. This yard, along with the legendary North River and East River tunnels, were the most significant pieces of the Pennsy's New York City presence. Because without either of them, Penn Station would be just another station. The magic of Sunnyside was that all eastbound trains terminating in NY, could be turned and washed on the loop, ready to enter the holding yard facing the west. No need to pull road engines and yank an entire consist backwards like the Central had to with GCT with its Mott Haven Bronx yard. Just put a fresh motor on the cleaned consist and she's ready to head down the tubes into Penn. This yard serviced all of the Penney's famed Blue Ribbon fleet, from the Manhattan and Broadway Ltds, Pittsburgher, to the Spirit to the Cincinnatian and Detroit Arrow. My favorite train was the Congressional. We knew her as The Congo. There were 3 of them, morning, midday and afternoon. Each train a complete 14-16 consist of sparkling Budd cars, complete with a twin unit diner and multiple parlor cars. Not just the Pennsy trains originated here but all of the legendary FL trains such as the Seaboard's Silver Meteor and Comet, ACL East and West Coast Champions, plus adding through cars for the Southern Ry Crescent, Southerner and Birmingham Specials, those gorgeous C&O cars for the George and Sportsman, and the Valley trains. Plus there was a separate MU yard and an entire yard devoted to mail and baggage cars, topped off with the huge REA building at the top of the picture. The New Haven cars were basically run through trains to and from Boston, Montreal and DC. The LIRR yard was just icing on the cake. And when you include the great manufacturing buildings surrounding the yard (Chiclets gum, Swingline Staples, Silver Cup Bread, etc) this was just the right facility, at the right time. I hope I saved some space for the other folks. Charles Whalen: Stephen Williams the rail yard to the left looking at the photo is LIRR Yard A , FREIGHT YARD John Telesca: The freight yard to the left is now where NJ Transit sets are stored during the day. Maurice Wells: There is also a MID Day Storage yard for MTA Long Island Railroad trains. Jeffrey Parnes: Harold interlocking is the biggest interlocking facility in the world! Philip Horn shared A very very large yard in Queens NY. The lower left is now the mid-day storage for the Long Island Rail Road. |
William Billson posted three photos with the comment: "Q tower in SunnySide yard. Still manned 24/7."
Jopia Spieder: I qualified that and R tower at Sunny Side yard. Q is my favorite except at night, I'd rather work at R tower then.
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"The two towers in SSY are Q and R, with Q being on the west end. R tower was moved into high speed maintenance building along with the yardmasters several years ago. The old R tower was torn down after that." [amtrakhogger comment on railroad]
John Castronuova posted two photos with the comment: "Sunnyside yard’s west end R Tower moments before it was demolished. Lower picture is it’s model board."
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The photo above shows that the tower was an isolated building. But in this aerial, there are buildings beside the tower.
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| Jan 1, 1954 @ 20,000; AR1VBV000060121 |
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| William Strassner commented on a post about the F Tower and the other end...... 1968, only....... decades ago ? Rich Gunther: William Strassner R Tower! When I got there in 1991, the roof leaked over the Yardmaster desk, and it was a pretty sloppy machine, had to really “set” some of the switch levers in place, and occasionally shake an opposing signal lever to get a signal to come in. |
Chris Ciesla posted four images with the comment:
Sometimes RR employee nicknames for places find their way onto official RR documents.
If you look closely at this 1956 map of Sunnyside Yard (PRR/LIRR) you'll see a track labelled as "Stink Track". Facebook butchers pictures, so I included a close-up.
The track passed next to the West Disinfecting Company that made an iodine based disinfectant called CN. By most accounts, the factory gave off an odor that smelled like a mixture of iodine and rancid fish.
West Disinfecting is still in business as West Industries and is (ironically) now making odor control products.
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| Comments on Chris' post |
51st Street Power Plant
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| سوق الواسطي posted The Pennsylvania Railroad Power Station, located at 51st Avenue in Hunters Point, was constructed in 1906 by the renowned architectural firm McKim, Mead, & White. The station was a marvel of early 20th-century engineering, designed to generate electricity for the Pennsylvania Railroad. Initially equipped with three 5500-kilowatt, 11,000-volt steam turbine generators, the power station was built to support the railroad's growing demands. By 1910, two additional generators were added, boosting the total capacity to an impressive 32,500 kilowatts. At a time when railroads were a vital artery for commerce and transportation, this power station played a crucial role in electrifying sections of the railway, ensuring trains could run more efficiently and with less reliance on coal or other traditional fuel sources. The station's architecture was typical of McKim, Mead, & White’s Beaux-Arts influence, blending industrial function with an elegant, stately brick façade. Its four towering 275-foot smokestacks were a defining feature of the skyline in Hunters Point. In 1938, the power station was taken over by Consolidated Edison (ConEd), one of New York's major utility companies. However, as technology advanced and more efficient power sources emerged, the plant was retired from use in 1952. For decades, the structure remained largely abandoned, a relic of the city’s industrial past. In 2008, the site underwent a significant transformation. The station was converted into a luxury condominium complex called The Powerhouse. While much of the original interior had to be adapted to modern residential standards, the developers preserved the building’s historic brick façade and retained its original footprint. The smokestacks, once an iconic part of the skyline, were demolished during the conversion, marking the end of an era. James Fennell shared Hisotry's Canvas posted The Pennsylvania Railroad Power Station, at 51st Avenue in Hunters Point (1910) [The rest of the description is just platitudes.] |
The smokestacks are gone, but the building was preserved as a pile of condos.
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| Street View, Jul 2022 |
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