Planning for a line to
Bay Ridge began in 1870 by the New York and Hempstead Plains Railroad (which built the
Southern Hempstead Branch from
Valley Stream to
Hempstead). By 1873, the line was to run from Bay Ridge to
East New York, where it would join the LIRR's
Atlantic Avenue Division to
Jamaica. The
panic of 1873 struck after much work had been done in grading the new line.
Incorporation The
New York, Bay Ridge and Jamaica Railroad was incorporated on November 20, 1875, to complete the work and operate the line to Jamaica, using the
Brooklyn and Rockaway Beach Railroad (Canarsie Line) from
New Lots to East New York and the LIRR Atlantic Avenue Division to Jamaica. The first piece, from the Bay Ridge Ferry (to
South Ferry, Manhattan) to the crossing of the
Brooklyn, Bath and Coney Island Railroad (West End Line) at
New Utrecht, opened on August 23, 1876. Trains were operated over the BB&CI to
Coney Island via
trackage rights from this junction. Banker
Austin Corbin incorporated the
New York and Manhattan Beach Railway on October 24, 1876, The NY&MB bought the eastern half of
Coney Island from the town of
Gravesend and renamed it Manhattan Beach. The NYBR&J built the line from Bay Ridge east to New Lots, while the NY&MB built from Manhattan Beach north to the NYBR&J at Manhattan Beach Junction and from New Lots north to East New York on the west side of the Canarsie Line. (The NY&MB leased the NYBR&J.) The
Glendale and East River Railroad was incorporated on March 26, 1874, and was also acquired by Corbin in November 1876. The line north from East New York to Jefferson Street was built by the NY&MB under the charter of the
Brooklyn and Rockaway Beach Railroad (Canarsie Line), which gave its right to construct an extension to
Hunter's Point to the NY&MB. The rest from Jefferson Street to Greenpoint was built by the G&ER and leased by the NY&MB. The
Kings County Central Railroad was incorporated in 1877 by Electus B. Litchfield and Austin Corbin to build a narrow gauge line from
downtown Brooklyn via the east side of
Prospect Park to a connection with the NYBR&J east of Manhattan Beach, and to be leased by the NYBR&J. The line, operated by the NY&MB as its Prospect Park Division (along with the Bay Ridge and Greenpoint Divisions), was opened June 29, 1878, to Prospect Park, but was a failure and closed for good at the end of the 1878 season. The
Eastern Railroad of Long Island was organized on November 28, 1878, to build a line from
East New York on the NY&MB east via
Woodhaven,
Clarenceville,
Jamaica,
Springfield,
Woodsburgh,
Valley Stream,
East Rockaway,
Christian Hook,
Freeport,
Merrick, and
South Oyster Bay to
Babylon in competition with the LIRR's
Southern Railroad Division. Corbin, who owned a summer house near Babylon, put up the money to build the road, which was also planned to cross the
South Bay near
Amityville to
Fire Island.
Post-incorporation Corbin acquired a controlling interest in the Long Island Rail Road on November 29, 1880 and became
president on January 1, 1881. In December 1881, the LIRR leased the NY&MB and NYBR&J as the
Manhattan Beach Division, with plans to change it to and build connections to the
Atlantic Avenue Division and
Montauk Division. The lines from East New York to Manhattan Beach and Bay Ridge were converted to after the 1882 season, and the
Long Island City and Manhattan Beach Railroad (incorporated February 24, 1883) built a connection from the new Cooper Avenue Junction north to another new junction, Fresh Pond Junction, on the Montauk. Trains began running from
Flatbush Avenue to Manhattan Beach via the Atlantic Avenue Division on May 30, 1883, and from
Long Island City via the Montauk Division on June 2, 1883. For the 1884 season (opened May 29), the double-track
narrow gauge line between East New York and Greenpoint was replaced with a single
standard gauge track. 1885 was the last year that trains ran to Greenpoint, and the line between Greenpoint and the Bushwick Branch crossing was abandoned in October; they started using Bushwick instead in the 1886 season. Passenger trains stopped serving the line, later the Evergreen Branch, to Bushwick in 1894. in
Homecrest, Brooklyn. The New York, Bay Ridge and Jamaica Railroad, New York and Manhattan Beach Railroad, and Long Island City and Manhattan Beach Railroad merged on August 27, 1885 to form the
New York, Brooklyn and Manhattan Beach Railway. and the Glendale and East River Railroad was absorbed in 1928.
Closure and post-closure The line south of Manhattan Beach Junction was upgraded to a
grade-separated embankment shared with the
Brighton Beach Line during 1907–1909. A
New York State prohibition on
racetrack wagering and the decline of the more
upscale resorts on
Coney Island, combined with more direct and lower-priced competition from nearby
rapid transit and
streetcar lines, led to a rapid decline in the Manhattan Beach's economic viability. Passenger service ended completely in 1924, and freight ended in 1935. On May 17, 1937, the LIRR applied to the
Interstate Commerce Commission for permission to abandon the line. In 2011, the long abandoned right-of-way of the New York, Brooklyn and Manhattan Beach Railway was subject to legal action by some homeowners living adjacent to its route in Sheepshead Bay, who wanted to acquire undisputed title to it. ==List of stations==