Ozone
Park was a very important station in the Rockaway Beach line. Riders
were instructed to "Change at Ozone Park" for trains to the Rockaways.
Trains emanating from Pennsylvania Station or Flatbush Avenue would stop
at the beginning of the Ozone Park platform, and passengers would switch
to a Rockaway train at the head of the platform.
There was once overhangs that protected the passengers from the elements, but those overhangs have been subsequently removed. Many of the steel railings have either fallen off of the platform, or have been taken down. Here, railing and a lone platform light remains at the end of the northbound Rockaway Beach platform.
Jim Guthrie provides us with some other Ozone Park facts: "Sometime in the 1980s, the FBI constructed a railroad-style "interlocking tower" up on the right of way to provide a vantage point to watch the Bergin Club -- center of John Gotti's operations. The tower caught fire soon after it was built."
Jim adds: "The Ozone Park/Woodhaven elimination was a real PRR-style
project. See Valley Stream for similar construction. The Ozone Park
PRR-Style "Keystone" station signs were made of Cast Iron and weigh more
than 100 lbs each."
This
is a view of Ozone Park station looking North. Ozone Park station
was designed with the familiar LIRR platform overhang. The platform
sat on top of the graceful arches, which hung over the street. At
one time, the Rockaway Beach Branch used to be at grade-level with the
avenues and streets. The LIRR grade-crossing elimination project
in 1930-1931 lifted the Ozone Park platforms, and kept the Ozone Park station
house at ground level, under the elevated structure.
Platforms at
Ozone Park Station were built very long, so that the Penn/Flatbush Avenue
trains could connect end-to-end with the Rockaway-bound trains. North and
South platforms were constructed in this manner to allow for the same end-to-end
setup for the reverse commute.
Many
of the stanchions under the Ozone Park station have been walled-up by the
various businesses that reside under the tracks. Many of these businesses
lease the land under the tracks from the City of New York. As you
can see, many of these businesses put up a couple of cinder blocks or a
metal wall to protect the contents within the walls.
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