Route Description
The line has two tracks from Woodside to Great Neck and one track from east of Great Neck past Manhasset and Plandome stations to Port Washington. This often causes slight delays during two-way rush hour operations. A second track cannot be added through Manhasset and Plandome due to the proximity of businesses to the narrow right-of-way in Manhasset, and the fact that the trestle between Great Neck and Manhasset (the Manhasset viaduct, constructed 1898) has only one track.
To reduce delays on the heavily-used line, most peak-hour east-bound trains (weekday afternoons/evenings) are either local from Penn Station to Great Neck (making all stops in between the two) or express from Penn Station to Port Washington (making stops only at Great Neck, Manhasset, Plandome, and Port Washington, although some trains make their first stop at Bayside). A mix of local and express peak-hour trains go west on weekday mornings.
Extra service is offered during the U.S. Open tennis tournament and for New York Mets home games, both of which are held in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. These trains stop at a special Mets – Willets Point station between Woodside and Flushing Main Street.
The route also runs along a high train trestle over the marshes at the southern end of Manhasset Bay. The bridge stands 181 feet (55 m) tall and runs 678 feet (207 m) across the bay, offering a spectacular view of the Manhasset Bay. Scenes from the silent film serial "The Perils of Pauline" are said to have been shot on the trestle.
There is only one grade crossing, Little Neck Parkway at Little Neck Station.
Read more about this topic: Port Washington Branch
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