Page:Vincent F. Seyfried - The Long Island Rail Road A Comprehensive History - Vol. 2 (1963).pdf/115



ITH THE COMPLETION of the Central R.R.'s line into Babylon, the era of expansion on the Popenhusen railroad system reached its apogee. The network now stretched from the East River thirty-five miles east to Babylon, with seven miles additional of the old main line to Great Neck. There were in addition two branches: the four mile spur to Whitestone and a shorter one of one and one quarter miles to Hempstead. The Flushing Creek area was the throat of the system with two main junction points: Whitestone Junction on the west side, where the Whitestone Branch began, and Central Junction on the east bank, where the Central trains turned off for Babylon. When the Woodside Branch opened in April 1874, four more miles of single track were added, plus an additional trestle bridge and connecting spur from Central Junction to the Flushing Bay dock.

The vast expansion of the road eastward and southward had the effect of making the former legal title inappropriate, and in the directors' meeting for 1874, it was further suggested that all the subsidiary roads should be merged at the same time that the new title be adopted. This plan met with the approval of the stockholders, and in July of that year 13,000 of the 16,000 shares were voted as in favor of consolidating the subsidiary roads into one and under a new name. As a result, the Flushing & North Side R.R. (Poppenhusen's), the North Shore R.R. (Flushing to Great Neck), the Central R.R. Extension Co. (Babylon extension), the Central Railroad of Long Island (Flushing to Garden City and Hempstead), the Whitestone & Westchester R.R. (unbuilt), the North Shore & Port Washington R.R. (unbuilt) and the Roslyn & Huntington R.R. (unbuilt) were all consolidated into the Flushing, North Shore and Central R.R. as of July 20, 1874. Mr. Stewart's Central R.R. was obtained by purchase,