The Long Island Rail Road: A Comprehensive History, Part Two: The Flushing, North Shore & Central Railroad/Preface
Preface
Volume I of the Long Island Rail Road history presented the story of the South Side Railroad, one of the Long Island's early competitors. Volume II presented here tells the interesting story of the other great competitor that the Long Island faced in the post-Civil War period: the Flushing, North Shore & Central Railroad. As the title implies, this railroad was essentially a union of three originally separate roads; its history, in effect, is the story of the railroads that radiated from two centers: Flushing and Garden City.
As in the case of the South Side Railroad, almost no original sources relating to the Flushing roads or to the Central Railroad have come down to us; successive warehouse fires and the disinterest on the part of officialdom have effectively destroyed the records of an earlier day. It has been necessary, therefore, to rely on the contemporary newspapers of the island for a detailed account of the road. All the newspapers in the area served by the Flushing, North Shore & Central Railroad have been searched to make this story as complete as possible. These include: {{normal|Flushing Journal,} 1850–1880; Flushing Times, 1873–1884; {{normal|Long Island Farmer} (Jamaica), 1865–1871; Long Island Democrat (Jamaica), 1865–1882; Newtown Register (Elmhurst), 1873–1882; Hempstead Inquirer, 1870–1880; South Side Signal (Babylon), iB69–1880; Long Island Headlight (Farmingdale), 1873–1875; Long Island Leader (Port Jefferson), 1873–1876.
Although accounts of the Flushing & North Side Railroad and the Central Railroad have appeared from time to time, it has been possible to present here a much fuller and more detailed picture, thanks to the large amount of new material uncovered in the little-known country press of that day. The original Flushing Railroad and the North Shore Railroad have never been researched before to the writer's knowledge, and the account presented here is the first to tell the full story of these pioneer roads.
The author is indebted to Mr. Harold Fagerberg of Babylon and to Mr. Harold L. Goldsmith of Woodside for photographs of rolling stock and stations; to Mr. Jeffrey Winslow for layout and arrangement of the pictures and maps; to Mr. Felix ReifSchneiderfor his unfailing counsel and encouragement, and for arranging the publication of the book; finally, to the Long Island Historical Society for making available its extensive newspaper collection.
Volume III, covering the history of the Long Island Rail Road proper from the end of the Civil War to 1880, is now in preparation.
Garden City, N. Y.
April 1963