7. Whitestone Branch

Whitestone Branch

The LIRR Whitestone Branch connected Willets Point to Whitestone, crossing the Flushing River and running along Flushing Bay. It was originally conceived as part of the Flushing and North Side Railroad, later becoming a subsidiary of the Long Island City and Flushing Railroad. The branch opened in 1869 and was electrified in 1912, though service declined in the 1920s. The line was abandoned in 1932 after attempts to consolidate it with the subway system.

Parts of the branch remained after the branch’s decline, including a small section leading to Corona Yard that was kept into the 1970s and a portion east of the Mets-Willets Point station that remains today. A spur of the branch near the Flushing River was abandoned after going underwater in 1983. Though no tracks remain, there is a gate to the former Beechhurst Yacht Club that corresponds to the former northern terminus of the branch.