Page:Vincent F. Seyfried - The Long Island Rail Road A Comprehensive History - Vol. 1 (1961).pdf/73

 58 both Far Rockaway capitalists. It is easy to see that complicated court settlements and much litigation were required to satisfy the conflicting claims of all four mortgages, plus the unsecured claims of creditors.

As soon as the new purchasers took possession of the South Side road, they made immediate efforts to maintain the high level of service under the Shipherds. Isaac Barton, ex-superintendent of the Long Island RR and superintendent of the united Flushing North Side & Central railroads, now assumed the same post on the South Side RR. The Poppenhusens on September 25, 1874 transferred their purchase to a new organization of their own creation and changed the old name of the company to "The Southern Railroad Company of Long Island." The new owners resolved on a few other changes as well, namely, raising the station platforms to eliminate the car steps and installing a physical connection between the Southern and Central roads at Babylon (Belmont Junction). It was rumored at this time that the Poppenhusens would soon scrap the expensive dummy operation in Williamsburgh.

A month after the South Side RR changed hands, trouble broke out again on the little Hempstead Branch. In September 1874 the Lackawanna RR made overtures to secure the property and franchises of the New York & Hempstead RR in the hope of consummating the master plan of making Bay Ridge the great central coal depot whence Long Island and Manhattan might be supplied. The investment proved excessively costly and the plan was allowed to die.

In October the Brooklyn Trust Co. foreclosed its mortgage on the New York & Hempstead RR. At least part of the reason for this was the loss of patronage on the branch because of the competition of the Long Island RR and the Central RR which entered Hempstead in January 1873. There was simply not enough business in town to support three roads. When the manager for the South Side RR heard of the bank's motion, he ordered his trains to stop furnishing service as of October 27, 1874. The New York & Hempstead was then advertised for auction on October 28.

On the night of the twenty-sixth, just before the service was scheduled to be cut off, someone with an interest in the road, fearing that the engine and cars would be confiscated and sold,