The Long Island Railroad's “Cannon Ball” made its first trip to Montauk from Jamaica, NY in 1890, and operated until the 1970s. The continuous service was provided on weekday afternoons from Long Island City until 1951 when service was then provided from Penn Station. Originally, the Cannon Ball was a train composed entirely of parlor cars – the epitome of luxury – and many regarded the Cannon Ball as a prestigious way to arrive in the Hamptons. But the real conversation of the Cannonball starts with the history of the LI Rail Road. Most of the effort out here was in the 1890’s, and a lot of it grew out of one man’s dream, Austin Corbin, who was a very wealthy banker in New York. He became President of the Long Island Railroad in 1881. As soonas he got onto this job, he had a lot of problems because he inherited a railroad that was bankrupt and actually had been formerly three different railroads. Once he put those together after about a year or so, he turned to the fulfillment of his dream and that was, not necessarily to build a railroad to the end of Long Island. His objective was to shorten the distance by water, over the ocean, between England and New York.