Babylon 1 Station

[Práxedes Jamal]

TheBabylon station is a station on the Long Island Rail Road in the village of Babylon, New York at Railroad Avenue west of Deer Park Avenue (Suffolk CR 34). It is on the Montauk Branch and is the eastern terminus of the Babylon Branch service. To the west is the junction (Belmont Junction) with the Central Branch, which heads northwest to join the Main Line at Bethpage Interlocking southeast of the Bethpage station. Babylon station is elevated with two island platforms and is wheelchair accessible through elevator access. The electrified portion of the Montauk Branch ends east of the station.

Babylon station originally opened as a South Side Railroad of Long Island depot on October 28, 1867. It was briefly renamed Seaside station in the summer of 1868, but resumed its original name of Babylon station in 1869. The Central Railroad of Long Island had once planned an extension to the Great South Bay and Fire Island which was never built, and a horse car and later trolley line was provided by the Babylon Rail Road company as a substitute.[3] The CRRLI abandoned their own depot in 1874, and began to share it with SSRLI. From that point on the original SSRLI depot contained the name "Babylon & Fire Island" posted on one side.[4] The second depot opened on July 2, 1881, and contained three tracks with two low-level side platforms and two high island platforms, as well as a pedestrian bridge and a REA Express freight house.[5] Electrification came to the station in May 1925. The station became the terminus of the newly established Babylon Branch. It was razed in 1963 as part of the grade elimination project that was taking place along the entire Babylon Branch during the post-war era.[6] The new elevated third station opened on September 9, 1964.

East of the station, a train washing canopy existed in West Islip until 2005.[7][8] In June 2010, the Long Island Rail Road broke ground on a new environmentally friendly train wash canopy, since Ronkonkoma station had the only train wash on the east end. This new train wash can recycle water using filters and is capable of washing up to 180 electric multiple unit cars a day.

The Babylon Project was a development of the Earth Alliance that began in 2248, shortly after the resolution of the Earth-Minbari War. The project's goal was to prevent future wars by providing Humans and aliens neutral territory to settle their differences peacefully. The first four Babylon stations ended in disaster during construction or shortly after coming online. The fifth attempt, Babylon 5, came online in 2256. The cost of bringing Babylon 5 into service was enormous, but the station met and far exceeded its initial goal over the next twenty-four years.

The Babylon Project began in 2248 after the resolution of the Earth-Minbari War, the war itself being the inspiration for the project's foundations. Babylons 1 through 3 were all destroyed during their construction by acts of sabotage. Finally, Babylon 4 was constructed and brought online in 2254, then disappeared a mere twenty-four hours later. The last of the Babylon stations, Babylon 5, was constructed and placed into orbit around Epsilon III, thanks to substantial assistance from the Centauri Republic as well as the Minbari Federation, who suddenly became interested in the project for undisclosed reasons. The station came online in 2256 and ultimately served its purpose through frequent diplomatic engagements, first contact situations, ongoing trade, and key roles in several military conflicts. The new Interstellar Alliance was arguably the most enduring legacy of the Babylon Project. After Babylon 5 was decommissioned and scuttled in 2281, the Earth Alliance ended the project permanently, satisfied that it had fulfilled its purpose.

The biggest of all of the Babylon stations, Babylon 4 was fully mobile and had dual rotating sections that rotated in the opposite direction relative to each other, allowing the station to conduct stable flight in space and not needing to reside in planetary orbit. Constructed in 2254, from the cumulative parts left over from the previous three construction effots, Babylon 4 disappeared twenty-four hours after it became operational.[3]

Babylon 5 was the final Babylon station constructed, with substantial assistance from the Centauri and Minbari governments, and the only station to make it to service. It was the smallest of the Babylon Stations, utilizing what parts and components were left over after the initial construction attempts. External factors - namely, the reemergence of the Shadows and the Earth Alliance experiencing democratic backsliding under President Morgan Clark - caused its original mission to fail by the end of 2259; instead, after breaking away from the Earth Alliance in 2260, it became a base for many of the Younger Races to unite and win the Second Shadow War. It also became instrumental in overthrowing President Clark's fascist regime, and, almost immediately after the Liberation of Earth, in uniting the galaxy properly as the first capital of the Interstellar Alliance.

Originally run by Earthforce as a diplomatic outpost with a galactic peacekeeping mission, the station's role had irrevocably changed by the end of 2259 due to the reemergence of the Shadows and the rise of the Clark administration on Earth. In 2260, the station broke away from the Earth Alliance soon after President Clark declared martial law, leading to its personnel joining the Army of Light. The station and its administration became the central link uniting the forces of many different races in winning the Second Shadow War. After the Shadow War and the Earth Alliance Civil War, the station became the temporary capital of the Interstellar Alliance until ISA leadership could be moved to Minbar. It remained an important hub for trade and diplomacy for many decades before being decommissioned in 2281.

Unlike Babylon 4, Babylon 5 was immobile. It was constructed in the L5 point in orbit around planet Epsilon III near Epsilon Eridani, positioned near the local jumpgate where it could serve as both trade station and strategic command post.

The corridors of each segment carried stripes corresponding to the sector's color. This gave residents and visitors quick indication of their approximate location in the station. Most corridors also carried numbered placards on the walls at intersections, applying a level / area name to the location (i.e., "Blue-3", "Red-5", "Green-2", "Brown-57", "Grey-16").

The Central Corridors are a series of multi-level public access ways that run around the station's circumference or linearly along its length and often serve as public areas and marketplaces. The Zcalo is situated in one such linear corridor.

Living quarters on Babylon 5 are divided up according to size, quality and function. Since space is at a premium on B5, larger quarters are correspondingly more expensive.[10] F-size was one of the larger sizes.[11] The quarters in Blue Sector are reserved for station personnel, including the command staff, support workers, station services, pilots, dock workers and visiting VIPs from Earth.[12] The size of the quarters assigned to EarthForce personnel is determined according to rank and position. In 2259, Earth Central decided that since the station had been running at a deficit that the quarters assigned to Captain John Sheridan and Commander Susan Ivanova were larger than was required, (by 7 feet) and ordered them to either move to smaller quarters or start paying 30 Credits a week each in rent. After a brief stand-off, Sheridan eventually resolved the issue by deducting 60 credits per week from the station budget set aside to maintain combat readiness and applying it against the rent, on the grounds that he was not ready to fight without a decent night's sleep in his own bed.[10]

Living quarters in Green Sector are generally reserved for Ambassadors, diplomatic personnel and visiting dignitaries and are paid for by their respective governments.[11] Some non-diplomatic economy quarters are available to rent in the Alien Sector, for species that require alternate atmospheres.

In Red and Brown Sectors living quarters are available to rent for station visitors and vary from the small and spartan Economy Size, which contain little more than a bed, table and chair, to the modest but well furnished Business Size which comes with Babcom and data net access and entertainment terminals. The Luxury Class quarters are the finest and, by extension, the most expensive suites on Babylon 5 and come with a full range of amenities including a water (or racial equivalent) shower.[13]

Downbelow is a term used for the various undeveloped areas of the station, mostly in the lower levels, near the outer hull, around the waste recycling system, the air compressors, and the water reclamation facility.[14] It is one of the most unpleasant areas of the station and is home to the station's homeless underclass, known as Lurkers.

Babylon 5 had, for the most part, its own self-sustained economy. While the station was granted a military and operations budget during the years it was attached to the Earth Alliance, it generated almost all of its own revenue, which covered operating expenses. This fact became central when the station broke away from Earth and was no longer entitled to a budget of any kind. After the station became a free state of its own, the station imposed docking fees on visiting ships to offset expenses. Additionally, the station depended increasingly on trade and commerce from outside sources to generate revenue. A substantial source of income for the station was the rent paid both by individuals for their living quarters and by businesses for the spaces they utilized to conduct commerce. Other sources of revenue included, but were not limited to, money paid by persons undergoing treatment in Medlab and the fees paid to have visiting ships serviced or repaired.

Long distance, rapid transit on B5 is provided by use of the core shuttles and the monorails. The core shuttles run the length of the station's habitable areas, along the central axis and as such operated in a low/zero-gravity environment requiring passengers to make use of hand rails, mag-strips, seat-belts, and foot-straps.[17][18][19]

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