Nostalgia & History > the EL in Bath, NY? Sure ...

When Bath was mentioned in my earlier EL post I remembered a shot I got there. This was on Feb. 6, 1968 and this silo, not the EL, is why I remembered it!

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A historical photographic gem.
Bob

Thanks for the photo.  Other than the occasional Bath & Hammondsport photo, I don't think I have seen an EL era photo at Bath.

njmidland Wrote:
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> Thanks for the photo.  Other than the occasional
> Bath & Hammondsport photo, I don't think I have
> seen an EL era photo at Bath.

Well here's a second one ; ^ ) .... also at Bath, same train as in pic 1 ... fresh out of EL pics at Bath after this one ...

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Very nice, and look at all the business! Of course, a ubiquitous SP "Hydra-Cushion" boxcar is present. They show up in a lot of old photographs!

TJY

icancmp193 Wrote:
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> Very nice, and look at all the business! Of
> course, a ubiquitous SP "Hydra-Cushion" boxcar is
> present. They show up in a lot of old
> photographs!
>
> TJY

As well as the orange PFE mechanical reefer's on the other track ahead of the EL loco in both photos.  I wonder what these reefers may have offered at this location?

rrman6 Wrote:
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> icancmp193 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Very nice, and look at all the business! Of
> > course, a ubiquitous SP "Hydra-Cushion" boxcar
> is
> > present. They show up in a lot of old
> > photographs!
> >
> > TJY
>
> As well as the orange PFE mechanical reefer's on
> the other track ahead of the EL loco in both
> photos.  I wonder what these reefers may have
> offered at this location?

maybe serving the wineries  in the area

> > As well as the orange PFE mechanical reefer's
> on
> > the other track ahead of the EL loco in both
> > photos.  I wonder what these reefers may have
> > offered at this location?
>
> maybe serving the wineries  in the area

Yes, back before California wines took over the domestic market, the two biggies were Taylor and Great Western.  In some years grapes were brought in to supplement the local crops.  There was one last hurrah in the late 1980's when "wine coolers" were popular.  Today the Bath & Hammondsport (now a subsidiary of the Livonia, Avon & Lakeville) operates the line from Painted Post to end of track in Wayland, but the original B&H is OOS.  Taylor and Great Western are just shadows of what they once were, although there are a number of good small wine producers in the area.

Very nice photos! The pictures show both the Erie Rochester Division tracks and the now gone DL&W main. In the second photo, the train is navigating the western connection between the two lines

When RT17 (today I86, RT17 and RT15) was built, the DL&W row was used for the westbound lanes. (The river was moved south for the eastbound.). The Erie was reestablished for about a mile and a half to the west and then tied into the DL&W main. The DL&W is long gone through Bath.

Given that the photo is 1968, my guess is the SSW boxcar is for Gunlocke Chair at Wayland. Gunlocke remained a big shipper and receiver well into the early 1980's. SP/SSW and Evergreen boxcars were very common. The reefer was most likely bound for the Carroll's restaurant distributor in Wallace, NY. (Carroll's would become a franchise for Burger King in the mid 1970's) He used the team tracks in Wallace and Avoca. It could also be inbound Western potatoes for a table stock guy in the Avoca, Cohocton, Wayland potato region. Wine generally moved in insulated boxcars and was mostly outbound at this time. Those cars would have been dropped in the Erie yard for pickup by the B&H.

As stated, the last traffic for Hammondsport included tank cars of corn syrup for wine coolers. This ended when wine coolers became coolers (a malt beverage) and then the absolute last were insulated SP/SSW box cars that shuttled between Hammondsport and Gonzales, CA. They moved CA wines to NY for distribution and returned with NY wines until 1995.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/05/20 06:54 by NYSWSD70M.

Most if not all of the traffic through there now is propane from the salt cavern storage facility a few miles west. 

In the 1st photo-  What is the operation with the silos that are being complemented with a new roof structure?

rrman6 Wrote:
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> In the 1st photo-  What is the operation with the
> silos that are being complemented with a new roof
> structure?

Don't know but Google Earth appears to show it's still there

march_hare Wrote:
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> Most if not all of the traffic through there now
> is propane from the salt cavern storage facility a
> few miles west. 

On a seasonal basis, the fertilizer plant in Cohocton is still a big receiver.

Also, the gas storage facility is east of Bath.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/05/20 06:56 by NYSWSD70M.

valmont Wrote:
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> rrman6 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > In the 1st photo-  What is the operation with
> the
> > silos that are being complemented with a new
> roof
> > structure?
>
> Don't know but Google Earth appears to show it's
> still there


It was Ward's Feed Mill. They stopped receiving rail cars 15-20 years ago. They closed altogether last year.

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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/05/20 15:45 by NYSWSD70M.

Wow, what great photos of a part of the EL we don't see much. That 2nd shot is killer- look at all those neat freight cars !

Roger Durfee
Akron, OH

NYSWSD70M Wrote:
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>
> On a seasonal basis, the fertilizer plant in
> Cohocton is still a big receiver.

There are actually 2 fertilizer places in Cohocton that get cars pretty regularly, both owned by the same parent company if I'm not mistaken.  The other one is on the remnant of the Erie Rochster branch that goes thru town and is roughly 1/4 mile north of the Erie Cohocton depot, which I own. 

What a great thread!

The area from Corning west to  (especially) Jamestown featured many small specialty furniture manufacturers. Many operated on assignments from the furniture retailers and department stores.  That business eroded, as furniture moved to North Carolina or China.

Topfuel Wrote:
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> NYSWSD70M Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> >
> > On a seasonal basis, the fertilizer plant in
> > Cohocton is still a big receiver.
>
> There are actually 2 fertilizer places in Cohocton
> that get cars pretty regularly, both owned by the
> same parent company if I'm not mistaken.  The
> other one is on the remnant of the Erie Rochster
> branch that goes thru town and is roughly 1/4
> mile north of the Erie Cohocton depot, which I
> own. 

You are correct. The one on the Erie is a liquid plant. The one on the DL&W is dry. The one next to your depot was expanded by a US Steel division in the early 1980.

I think you are right - owned by the same company now.

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Lackawanna484 Wrote:
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> What a great thread!
>
> The area from Corning west to  (especially)
> Jamestown featured many small specialty furniture
> manufacturers. Many operated on assignments from
> the furniture retailers and department stores. 
> That business eroded, as furniture moved to North
> Carolina or China.

The Cummins plant in Lakewood, NY (just west of Jamestown) was built as a furniture plant. Huge building (1.5 million sq./ft.). It didn't last long in that capacity. Cummins took it over as an almost new building in 1974.

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