Eastern Railroad Discussion > Oneonta, NY Area - Then & Now

The location is the Pony Farm Rd. overpass just south of Oneonta, NY,  south of OG cabin, today CPF-557.  The view looks southwest.  NY 7 is on the right. 

1.  I took this pictiure of a northbound D&H manifest on a dreary day in 1968, 52 years ago. The three U30C's eventually ended up in Mexico.  Yes, that's a Grossman's Lumber store  in its distinctive circus tent stripes.

2  TO'er  Train1275 took this picture of NS 22K at the same location last Sunday.  The silo still stands in the background while the Grossman's has been "repurposed".



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 11/18/20 08:20 by cinder.

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It may be heresy to say this, but I think the pole line offers a nice accent to the older work.

I like both of them



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/18/20 08:21 by Lackawanna484.

Not all condominiums!

Posted from Android

The big thing that you'll see everywhere - and the further you go back the worse it gets - is the tree growth over time.  

Back in the early 1900's and through the Depression it was like trees were cleared just for firewood, and as oil furnaces and gas came in, and family farming went out, suddenly the tree population everywhere exploded particularly along farm hedgerows and railroad right-of-ways.

I know if PA - particularly during the oil boom - everthing that could be burned for either steam or heat was cut.  Add in lumber, chemical wood, and pulpwood and the hills were relatively barren.

I've got Erie Railroad shots with the same issues, and even stuff that I took in the Erie Lackawanna years with nice curve views is now totally obstructed to the point the lines have turned into green tunnels.

Look not only on the inside of the curve, but right above the autoracks at the growth of White Pine now towering above the hardwood canopy in the background.   Seriously large trees.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/18/20 07:26 by randgust.

I think the railroads just don't clear as far away from the tracks anymore too.   Some used to clear or burn the entire right of way of any vegetation.   Not anymore.

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
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> It may be heesy to say this, but I think the pole
> line offers a nice accent to the older work.
>
> I like both of them

I loved pole lines, and though they sometimes made composing a picture challenging, I considered them an essential element in any mainline railroad photo. I miss them.

Art House

cjvrr Wrote:
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> I think the railroads just don't clear as far away
> from the tracks anymore too.   Some used to
> clear or burn the entire right of way of any
> vegetation.   Not anymore.

that is why after heavy winds trees are across the tracks.  I can just hear the evironmental groups if they cleared the right of way...

Amtrak has made a concerted effort to clear trees etc which might threaten its right of way in NJ.  I posted some pictures a while back of Asplundh doing a "vertical clear cut" of trees which hung over the company's property..  The adjacent property owners were not amused.

Amtrak sued a few home owners after their trees fell on Amtrak's property, after the owners declined to trim their own trees.

I absolutely love these "then and now" photos.

Great stuff.

 

I like "then and now photos" as well.  I still think of the D&H as an RS3 railroad.  It's funny how your first encounter with a railroad always sticks with you.

I like the 1968 striping on the barn in the background!

The "striped barn" was a Grossman's Lumber Store.  The striping was part of their corporate signature.

RS3?  I'll show you an RS3 ...... and MORE!

1, Oneonta engine terminal
2. Southbound assaults Richmondville Hill
3. Northbound D&H taken from Starruca Viaduct.  Foolishly, I walked out on the viaduct.  1970



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 11/18/20 12:15 by cinder.

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Nice Contrast !!

The RS-3, RS-11, RS-36 spent a lot of time on the D&H.

randgust Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The big thing that you'll see everywhere - and the
> further you go back the worse it gets - is the
> tree growth over time.  
>
> Back in the early 1900's and through the
> Depression it was like trees were cleared just for
> firewood, and as oil furnaces and gas came in, and
> family farming went out, suddenly the tree
> population everywhere exploded particularly along
> farm hedgerows and railroad right-of-ways.
>
> I know if PA - particularly during the oil boom -
> everthing that could be burned for either steam or
> heat was cut.  Add in lumber, chemical wood, and
> pulpwood and the hills were relatively barren.
>
> I've got Erie Railroad shots with the same issues,
> and even stuff that I took in the Erie Lackawanna
> years with nice curve views is now totally
> obstructed to the point the lines have turned into
> green tunnels.
>
> Look not only on the inside of the curve, but
> right above the autoracks at the growth of White
> Pine now towering above the hardwood canopy in the
> background.   Seriously large trees

There's more to it than this. Steam engines were pretty good herbicide applicators. The cinders that got deposited along rights of way were very bad stuff to grow in if you were a plant. Cinders are basically sand-sized glass particles. They don't retain water worth a damn, and in the summer months they get really hot (they're black, you know) and dry. Not a good thing for growth , even in a place that gets 40 inches of rain each year.

It's now been 60-some years since steam visited Oneonta, and fine grained material has made its way into the trackside cinder deposits. They now grow sumac, willow, poplar, and other bushy crap just fine. Those species weren't cut for firewood in the old days. They don't burn worth a hoot anyway. They just didn't grow at all. 

Do the railroads still run herbicide spray cars? They used to spray nasty, oily stuff along the right of way.

Sounds like something no longer done.

Posted from Android

Years ago I walked up to MG tower from the Curve and when a train came, we took refuge up on the hillside above the track for a different view.

I was astounded how deep the cinders were, feet sunk in up to my ankles.   It was like volcanic ash up there, still, this many years later.   There were trees growing through it, but that stuff lasts forever.

My TO applelation (cinder) is carefully chosen.  I am old, water passes easily through me, people walking over me can't get a good foothold and I get hot in warm weather.  Enough said !



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/19/20 11:57 by cinder.

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
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> Do the railroads still run herbicide spray cars?
> They used to spray nasty, oily stuff along the
> right of way.
>
> Sounds like something no longer done.
>
> Posted from Android

Yes indeed, weed spraying is still a thing, now with contractors like Asplundh. Not sure what they use, but NS ran a sprayer through here (former D&H, upstate NY) last spring. Couldn’t have been Roundup, because that only works on leaf contact and most of the weeds hadn’t sprouted yet. Looks like it worked pretty well.