Re: (erielack) The Piermont Branch

["STGCOMM_@_aol.com"]

Just checked out the website and it looks great.  I discovered a lot about 
Rockland County Erie rail history this fall by poking around and asking the 
right people questions.  On the topic of the Piermont Line, the original 6' 
gauge ROW is still intact as a trail through Rockland County in some areas 
(ie. Blauvelt behind Dominican College- marked as "Erie Trail" and Hudson 
Shores hobby shop behind the library) This runs parallel to the existing West 
Shore freight line in many places.  
    I found out about this by talking to the owner of Hudson Shores, one day 
when I stumbled upon the shop while out driving.  For those of you who are 
modelers in the area, I highly recommend the store.  He has many of the 
models featured in the current Walthers catalog assembled and on display on a 
large HO layout.  Also in stock is Lionel, N and Z scale equipment.
    There are two sandstone bridges that I have seen in Rockland County, one 
on Pascack Rd by the Spring Valley Marketplace and another somewhere in 
Orangetown (sorry to be so vague, but I don't know the area well).  Are these 
remnants of the 6' line?  Why did the Erie go with 6' gauge to begin with 
(Was standard gauge not established in the US yet)? 
    I don't know who owns the old Erie ROW's in Rockland County, although the 
good news is that a lot of them are clear or reasonably so (overgrown, tracks 
ripped up in many places), and although most of the infrastructure is gone 
(no more stations, though from what pictures I saw they were little sheds for 
the most part) there are few if any buildings blocking the ROW.  However, 
things have changed since the Erie rolled through places like Summit Park, 
which was woods and a camp  for the blind, now in addition to the camp, there 
is a residential neighborhood, and Mt. Ivy, where a major traffic 
intersection (45 and 202) is over the ROW.
    What would of course be great is restoration of the Spring Valley-Suffern 
connection linking the Bergen Main and Pascack Valley Lines.  

    

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