Long Island Rail Road
Two open-sided tents, a pond stocked with Long Island ducks, and a variety of railroad exhibits give this display the air of an old-fashioned fair. The railroad exhibits come in all sizes: visitors can board a real locomotive cab and an observation car, take a ride around the exhibit area in a miniature train or view an elaborate scale model train layout in operation.
Tour of the Tents. In one of the tents, HO-gauge model trains run continuously on a 1-foot by 50-foot relief model of Long Island. The map has models of more than 30 historic, recreational and scenic points of interest, including Jones Beach, Montauk Lighthouse, Kennedy Airport and Theodore Roosevelt's home, Sagamore Hill. The other tent has showcase displays from the four counties that make up Long Island: Kings (Brooklyn) and Queens, which are part of New York City, and Nassau and Suffolk, which are not. (CD #35 Set 179 #7)
A Tower and a Windmill. Through the glass walls of a switching tower, visitors can observe the intricate process of routing trains entering and leaving the Long Island Rail Road's nearby World's Fair station. A replica of a weathered windmill serves as the railroad's center for tour and timetable information; it also has souvenirs for sale. (CD #10 Set 50 #62A)
Little Train Ride. The miniature train carries adults and children around the landscaped one-acre exhibit area. (CD #20 Set 106 #12)
The miniature train is still giving rides today. Located at the Railroad Museum of Long Island facility in Riverhead, the train had been used by the Grumman Aircraft Corporation for rides at company picnics before being acquired by the museum. A new engine was installed during the Grumman days, leading to a different configuration of the locomotive.
Click here for a video of the train in 2012.
Guests could get their pictures taken in this diesel engine cab or on a vintage private train car. (CD #10 Set 50 #64)
After the Fair ended the train cab went to a children's camp on Long Island. It is now at the Oyster Bay Railroad Museum.
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11-18-65 - LIRR First to Bid Adieu to Fair
