Nostalgia & History > Three Locomotives

Picture 1 is from the website,

http://www.mainememory.net

Picture 1, “The Panama Railroad ordered this steam engine from the Portland Company in 1865. When the Panama Railroad was started, the Portland Company furnished the entire equipment except passenger cars. The original freight cars were built almost entirely of iron and were probably the first all-iron cars ever constructed in the United States.”

For a Zoom.it enlargement click on http://zoom.it/Z6Mt#full .

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For a Zoom.it enlargement of picture 1 click on http://zoom.it/Z6Mt#full .

Picture 2 is from the website,

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/Steam_locomotive_construction%2C_the_erecting_shop_%28Wonder_Book_of_Engineering_Wonders%2C_1931%29.jpg

Picture 2, Steam locomotive construction, the erecting shop (Wonder Book of Engineering Wonders, 1931.)

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For a Zoom it enlargement of picture 2 click on http://zoom.it/X1AD .

Picture 3 is from the website,

http://www.trainweb.org/bedt/milrr/ftschuyler.html

The following excerpts are from the above website,

“Fort Totten was located on the northern shoreline of Queens (which faces the Bronx from the other side of the Long Island Sound) and of which is not recorded to have had a locomotive or railway, and therefore is not discussed on this website.

Fort's Schuyler & Totten their artillery created a an interlocking field of bombardment against ships attempting to approach New York City.

At its peak, Fort Schuyler was equipped with over 400 guns. In later years more modern weapons would be installed in an endless effort to keep coastal defenses up to date. This armament included 10" and 12" guns on disappearing carriages located around the fort.

Fort Schuyler also housed served to house Confederate prisoners of war during the Civil War.

Fort Schuyler was decommissioned in 1934, and the coastal artillery pieces were removed after 1935.

During preliminary research for this location, nothing was known of the Fort Schuyler Railway.”

“The only evidence of Fort Schuyler having a railroad is an entry in the H. K. Porter Locomotive Works builders records, which is reflected below [see website]. It is also unknown at this time whether the railway was used in some form of construction at the Fort, used for the transport of general supplies, or the transport of artillery shells & powder; but this last task is the most likely.

It would not be until 02 May 2012, several years after creating this page; that I received the following email from Paul Miller:

Dear Phil,

There have been a lot of people interested in the Fort and the lighthouse at Fort Schuyler, but you're the first one outside of the family, who's been interested in the railroad! Our family (the Ferreira's) were the lighthouse keepers at Fort Schuyler for two generations (1884-1944).

My grandfather, Charles Ferreira (1874-1956), worked on the gun battery construction from 1894 until he succeeded his father as keeper in 1910. An older brother also worked on the construction, and later on the Fort Totten batteries as well.

Charles spent a good part of his time on that job as the locomotive engineer on the Fort Schuyler RR. I don't know when the railroad was built, but probably right about the time he started. I also don't know when the railroad was removed, but it was gone before anyone in my mother's generation could remember it. So I would say that it was removed when the battery was completed, before World War I.

[Letter is continued on the website.]

Picture 3, “Fort Schuyler locomotive - ca. 1900. Check out the roll up ‘awning’ over the engineers window! Courtesy of Paul Miller.”

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For a Zoomit enlargement of picture 3 click on http://zoom.it/DWLJ#full .

I'm not seeing anything that would make OSHA happy.