The line from Farmingdale through Yaphank was built in the midst of a dense forest. It required a trip over wagon trails through this unbroken forest to find the little party engaged in the construction of the road. At this time an alternate route had also been surveyed north of the route finally adopted. A good deal of this line had been graded before it was abandoned, and a huge embankment stood for many years in New Village, a short distance below the country road, to show where the work had been done.
     In 1844 the cornerstone was laid for the tunnel under Atlantic Street. It ran from Columbia Street near the South Ferry to Boerum Street, underneath Cobble Hill, allowing the Long Island engines to go directly down to the ferry without the necessity of changing to horse power at the top of the hill. At Flatbush Avenue it left Atlantic Street and ran through farm land on a private right of way north of the present Atlantic Avenue. After the stop at the Flatbush Depot, the first important settlement was that at Bedford, now the intersection of Franklin Avenue and Fulton Street. The next important place was East New York, then a part of the town of New Lots, where was located Howard's Half Way House, so named because it was half way between Brooklyn and Jamaica.
     On July 27, 1844, the first train was run from Brooklyn to Greenport. Many officials of the railroad, of the cities of New York and Brooklyn, of the Union Ferry Company, and many other dignitaries rode on the first train, to celebrate the opening of the first "all rail" line to Boston. It was the intention of the management to connect at Greenport with a line of boats which would take the passengers to the terminus of the Old Colony Railroad at Stonington, and that railroad would take them to Boston by way of Providence.
     Commodore Vanderbilt's time of sixteen hours to Boston on his Sound steamers was cut in half, the trip now being made in eight hours. Competent engineers assured the Long Island Railroad management that no straight and feasible road could be built along the rocky shores of Connecticut down to New York. At this time the railroad bought twelve of the most modern engines for its Boston traffic.

     [In] the summer of 1839 the locomotive "Taglioni" was purchased, probably of English make. It is believed that it was obtained from "The Dutchess Railroad Company," incorporated in 1836 as part of a wild scheme to link up New England with the South and West. When this wild scheme went up in the panic of 1837, the Long Island Railroad probably purchased the locomotive which that company had imported from England. The "Taglioni" was one of the second type of woodburners, with the massive expanded smoke funn,, Is. There were seventeen passenger cars, three baggage cars and forty one freight cars in 1843.
     The trains in those days consisted of the engine, behind which were several little flat cars with barrels of water and bundles of wood. Behind these came the passenger cars, which resembled stage coaches strung in a row. There were of course no signalling arrangements. They were scarcely needed, when there were but two trains each way daily. The speed of these trains seldom exceeded twelve miles an hour.
     In 1838 a reduction in the rent of the Brooklyn and Jamaica Railroad was obtained and in 1840 a loan of $100,000 was obtained from the State of New York, which allowed the Long Island Railroad to liquidate a judgment against it, and to prosecute the building of its line. In 1838 a branch was surveyed from Hempstead Branch to the Village of Hempstead.
     Work on the line to Greenport, which had been dropped in 1837 for lack of funds, was resumed again in 1840, and after many struggles and disappointments, was pushed rapidly to completion. By 1841 the line had reached Farmingdale. The following year it had reached the site of Suffolk Station, one and a half miles east of the present Brentwood Station. By 1843 it had reached Millville, now known as Yaphank, and finally in 1844 the line had reached its terminus at Greenport.

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