| Dad was returning to New York from Toronto, and as is his custom, he takes photos from the plane. This one is a stunning view of Sunnyside Yard and the surrounding area. Among the features we are seeing here are, coming in from the left, is the distinctive concrete viaduct of the IRT Flushing Line, the No 7 train, along Queens Blvd. It bears right at the center of the photo, changing to a steel elevated structure to cross over the yard. Out of the photo to the right is the Queensboro Plaza station. Running across the picture from lower left to upper right is the Long Island RR, which also carries Amtrak's Northeast Corridor. The tracks will enter four tunnels as they approach the East River. The yard at far right with freight cars in it is Yard A, used by LIRR, now NY & Atlantic, as a freight facility, though most cars are now handled at Fresh Pond and Holban. Toward the top of the photo, two ramps are seen rising from, then crossing, the LIRR main. This is the Montauk Cutoff, used by freights to access the Montauk Branch, which runs along Newtown Creek, the waterway cutting across the top of the photo. The LIRR Hunterspoint Av station canopy is just beyond the Montauk Cutoff, in the middle of the right of way. Beyond that, at the river front, is the LIRR Long Island City yard and station. The large part of the yard, at left, is the passenger yard. The motor pit is at the lower right of the passenger yard, next to the long gray roofed building. The turning loop is seen going under the LIRR, and entering the yard. Trains terminating at Penn Station would use the loop to reach the yard, where they would be serviced and provisioned for their next trip out of Penn. |