Re: Defiance Coal Company in Mentmore, New Mexico

Ted miles Wrote:
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> The museum has two seperate properties on Long
> Island' s North Fork. At one time they hoped to
> run excursions between Riverhead and Greenport,
> but I have not heard that discussion in recent
> years. The Riverhead property has a nice model
> railroad layout in the building. For any railfan
> who is going to Long Island, they are worth a
> drive out to Suffolk County. I am not clear if the
> railroad still runs trains out there; it my be a
> bus destination.
>
> Ted Miles, former Long Island resident

For the record, both Riverhead and Greenport, NY are still active stations on the LIRR and so can be reached by train from New York City (with a change at Ronkonkoma). This part of the eastern end of Long Island is still fairly rural, and Greenport in particular is a picturesque small seaside town that is worth a visit in its own right. Greenport was the original eastern terminus of the LIRR in 1844, where trains from New York connected with steamboats to Boston before the completion of the NYNH&H.

Here is a well known postcard view of the Greenport yard circa 1906. Why the 4-stall brick roundhouse didn't line up with the turntable I don't know, but the turntable remains in place today (minus the track connection). The Railroad Museum of Long Island occupies the former freight house built in 1892, just out of view to the left.



-Philip Marshall (also a former Long Island resident)