Description

The Long Island Rail Road is the oldest railroad in the country still operating under its original name. Also the busiest railroad in North America, it carries 265,000 customers each weekday on 735 trains over 700 miles of track on 11 different branches. All but one branch converge at Jamaica Station, making it the railroad's hub. A complex system of interlocking switches and flyover tracks allows trains to move through the eight station tracks servicing the five passenger platforms. Jamaica Station houses the railroad's executive offices and the offices of the train movement director and the electric power director. The station and its interlocking track system have worked so well that, until recently, little changed in the nearly 100 years of operation. Through historic photographs, Jamaica Station chronicles the history of this nerve center of the Long Island Rail Road.