Eastern Railroad Discussion > New Haven RR photo location?

This slide had no location noted. Any ideas? Seems like the power plant would be a help. Thanks.

Charles
 

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I have no idea on location, but what an amazing shot!

Beautiful location. Looks like former double track . . . somewhere on the Maybrook Line? Maybe very soon after the PC takeover, since the NH unit still has its NH number. The hazy mountains in the distance could be across the Hudson.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/28/16 09:47 by CPR_4000.

Looks like the Maybrook line at Stormville, NY with the  Green Haven correctional facility in the background with power plant stack.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 11/28/16 10:12 by train1275.

train1275 Wrote:
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> Looks like the Maybrook line at Stormville,
> NY with the  Green Haven correctional facility
> in the background with power plant stack.

I agree. Classic Dutchess County landscape.

Ray

Edit:  Note that it's from the PC era, and that the New Haven's double track has been made into a single track line.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/28/16 10:16 by Ray_Murphy.

Yes, this is the Stormville area on the Maybrook Line.

While this photo is clearly post-Penn Central, the single-tracking was done by the New Haven. Can't have been very late into PC, though, because the leader still has its New Haven number.

 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/28/16 11:16 by toledopatch.

So this would have been a train of EL/L&HR interchange coming from Maybrook? Or would this have been a train originating in Selkirk? Once the Poughkeepsie Bridge was taken out of service in 1974 due to fire, was traffic diverted off this line by PC in favor of using ex-Boston & Albany to ex-NH at Springfield?

Yes, the slide was dated 1969.

According to Robert J. Yanosey's Penn Central Power book, this Robert Malinoski photo of  train Advance OB-2 on the bottom of page 48 of the book was stalled on Poughquag Hill; ran out of traction.  87 cars grinding to a halt.  Mr. Malinoski's notes further indicate that the crew was using coffee containers to spread sand on the rails to get the train started again.  3/16/1969.  Poughquag, N.Y.  Great to see it in color.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/28/16 14:15 by IC1038west.

JPB Wrote:
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> So this would have been a train of EL/L&HR
> interchange coming from Maybrook? Or would this
> have been a train originating in Selkirk? Once the
> Poughkeepsie Bridge was taken out of service in
> 1974 due to fire, was traffic diverted off this
> line by PC in favor of using ex-Boston & Albany to
> ex-NH at Springfield?

Maybrook in its heyday was quite the busy place interchanging directly with at least Erie LHR LNE NYOW.  All exchanging multiple trains daily with the Erie being as much as 10/day.  By this late date traffic had been diverted to B&A but EL pettitioned and some traffic came back I believe the EL was doing 2 trains each way between Port Jervis and Cedar Hill with little work done at Maybrook and the LHR down to one each way.  Once the bridge mysteriously burned in May of '74 all traffic was moved to the B&A and the EL interchange was done at Utica sending trains down the former DLW branch.  CR sort of revitalized the east end of this line from Beacon on up to Hopewell Jct joining the Maybrook line in the 80's doing a turn from Selkirk to Cedar hill SENH.  So in brief to your question yes but I thought add a little more info. 

New York Central also interchanged on the Maybrook side via the Montgomery / Walkill branch. And, the New York Ontario & Western, long ago.

(Great detective work on the slide)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/28/16 17:03 by Lackawanna484.

Nice I to know I own the slide. I didnt realized it was in that book. I have the book too.

nydepot Wrote:
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> Nice I to know I own the slide. I didnt realized
> it was in that book. I have the book too.

It's odd that there's no info on the slide mount. Malinoski was well known for putting lots of info (symbol, location, engines, loads, MT's, sometimes cab number) on his slides. Could it be a dupe, or a replacement mount after the slide was scanned for the book?

It has the 1969 processing date on it. Tha't how I had 1969. It has his name stamp too.

The Beacon branch was rebuilt several years before the Poughkeepsie Bridge caught fire, in order to handle the stone ballast train out of Cedar Hill without having to pay Amtrak for their car mileage fee on the Hartford line.  And when the crews were paid by the miles, they ran fast to terminate as soon as they could. Very often the one Selkirk crew ran all the way to New Haven.  Routing via Springfield required two crew.  Even when the stone trains were routed via MO tower in NYC the crews would often run for the miles and make complete runs.  Then Metro North billed some night tower jobs against the stone trains, and delaided some trains.  When the crews could not be assured a quick fast run, that was the end of one crew making the whole trip, and re-crews began happening at Oak Point.  That killed the entire route and the jobs were advertised back via Danbury again, but the crews laid down and ran for time and not the miles, and re-crews happened at Danbury.  When the Housatonic RR bought the Maybrook line, they were paid $1,000,000 in advance to continue handling ballast trains for one year.  They never ran one ballast train and only one train with one car up the Harlem line using a 7 men crew (5 MH PC+2 HRR). They never returned the $1,000,000.

PennCentral had a 4 man fire watchman crew on the Poughkeepsie Bridge which would require paying one trick per week at time and one half.  The bridge fire happened at that one trick that was blanked because they were cutting overtime.  The bridge always had several fires start per week and the bridge watchman would just pour water on them on his twice walk per his trick of punching the clocks on each end.  The old wooden walkway board were very dry, and there was a on-going project of replacing them with metal grating that was stacked up at the east end.  The train was a EB relay of the EL that stated the fire from hot brake shoes as it dropped down through Highland too fast.  Blanking the one job per week was the reason the bridge fire got out of control but the General Manager love it.

PlyWoody Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> PennCentral had a 4 man fire watchman crew on the
> Poughkeepsie Bridge which would require paying one
> trick per week at time and one half.  The bridge
> fire happened at that one trick that was blanked
> because they were cutting overtime.  The bridge
> always had several fires start per week and the
> bridge watchman would just pour water on them on
> his twice walk per his trick of punching the
> clocks on each end.  The old wooden walkway board
> were very dry, and there was a on-going project of
> replacing them with metal grating that was stacked
> up at the east end.  The train was a EB relay of
> the EL that stated the fire from hot brake shoes
> as it dropped down through Highland too fast. 
> Blanking the one job per week was the reason the
> bridge fire got out of control but the General
> Manager love it.

That must have been some experience to walk across that windswept 1+mile long trestle's wooden walkway on a winter's night 200 feet above the Hudson River!

Trains mag had a story about a steam Era derailment out on the bridge. The locomotive had to be railed without a crane (too heavy)so the hauled out timbers and used their own fire and steam from the unit to sweat on a new wheel, etc.

Posted from Android

It's nice to see Bob Malinoski name again. Bob use to be my next door neighbor when I lived in Camp Hill, PA years ago. Wonderful man and person.

Happy Holidays all
Jim
Hatboro, PA