(erielack) Re: Assorted Thoughts

["J. McEachen" <jmcea_@_optonline.net>]

I love memories. I lived in Leonia, many relatives in Brooklyn so I
spent many a Saturday and Sunday afternoon in the early 1950's 'train
watching' at all the terminals and stations, and riding these 'steam
ferries' as well as the "Electric Boats' at 125th Street. We drove Route
6/US 46 out to Blairstown to our Scout camp, Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco, at
Blairstown, NJ. 

But Route 6 was indeed US46, identified as a US highway by the '46' on a
white shield with black outline. S-3 was State Route 3, which had the
'3' in a circle with a black border. These highway markers were cast
iron with raised numerals and borders, later some aluminum; before they
became the nondescript reflective paint on flat aluminum. 

I went to Rutgers, and many a fraternity house's party room was graced
with highway signs, acquired from various parts of NJ by different
brothers. 46 was on the US shield, 3 was on the State circle (my
fraternity's party room had both.) On my drives to Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco we
would always look for the DL&W tracks and crossings, especially the
Sussex branch as we crossed it heading to Stillwater (the Stillwater Inn
was called the Scoutmasters' Inn due to its popularity in the Summer
after the boys fell asleep at taps.) As I stopped in Blairstown on
"Phoebe" I would try to imagine from this high perch where No-Be was. It
was (and probably still is) the best Boy Scout camp in the country. S-3
stood for State Route 3.
Joel McEachen
Fairfield, CT

>In it were outlines of Route 6 (now US 46) and 
>S-3.  (I suppose most people now just call it Route 3, but back 
>when I was growing up, it was S-3 for some reason).

>Your dissertation on New York and New Jersey evoked many memories.

>I remember watching the Sam Braen (an Erie customer) Construction 
>Company building S-3 (and yes, I too refer to it as S-3, which 
>stood for Superhighway #3, to this day).

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