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Re: (erielack) FW: Sunday after the convention

I suspect that the rails came first (there were hardly any buildings around
in them thar days) and that the buildings got built close to the tracks for
exactly the reason you suggest.

I do wonder, though, about the curvy route.  Not all of the curves appear
(to the naked eye in the field, anyway) to have been motivated by conforming
the grade to the existing slope of the land, attempting to "minimize" the
grade of the track.

SGL
- ----- Original Message -----
From: "Ken" <erie910_@_harborbeach.com>
To: "Tupaczewski, Paul R (Paul)" <paultup_@_lucent.com>;
<erielack_@_lists.railfan.net>
Sent: Thursday, October 03, 2002 8:32 PM
Subject: Re: (erielack) FW: Sunday after the convention


> I couldn't help wondering after reading this saga as to whether, on the
old
> Main Line, the railroad or the close-in buildings came first.  Seems that
> railroads attracted close buildings to minimize the costs of sidetrack
> construction.
>
>
> Ken B.
>
> At 10:40 AM 10/3/02 -0400, Tupaczewski, Paul R (Paul) wrote:
> >From: Schuyler Larrabee [mailto:sgl2_@_laai.net]
> >Subject: Sunday after the convention
> >
> >
> >I took the Orange County tour on Sunday after the convention.  Spent the
> >day with Mike Quinn, who's a NYS Trooper, (occasionally helpful . . .)
and
> >three other ELHS members.  Since I can't recall all three, I won't
mention
> >any of their names.  We left about 8:45 AM, and went to Mill RIft bridge
> >first, on the NYS side, which I'd never been to before. You could see the
> >D&H Canal, and during the day we learned why that's Bridge No 2 on the
> >Erie.  Bridge No 1 was between Port J and the river, where the canal went
> >back to the north side of the tracks.  This apparently was a location
with
> >quite a large number of tracks crosssing the canal as it was, even in
those
> >days, part of the yard.
> >
> >Then we went to Graham, high up on the west side of Shawangunk Mountain,
> >which is the final west-end junction between the low-grade Graham line
and
> >the original Main Line which went over the top through Otisville.  It's
> >here you can see clearly that "low-grade" is a completely relative term!
> >  Then on up to Otisville, with a quick stop to see where the road now
> >occupies a short section of the line west of town.  Located the station
> >site, now a parking lot, and then went down to the present Metro North
> >station location.  From there we went pretty directly to Maybrook, where
> >the local Museum was opened just for us.  Doug Barbario was there to
assist
> >in interpretation, and to provide some guidance on details of what we'd
> >already seen.  Spent a very short hour here, a lot more time would be
> >justified.
> >
> >Then to Chester, where the station is on a curve and a significant grade.
> >  The station is recycled as the local historical society's building,
along
> >with an art gallery/display space (nice stuff on display!). The tracks
are
> >gone here, converted to a bicycle/walking trail which sees some pretty
> >serious use.  There's also a significant hunk of concrete in a parking
lot
> >across the way, a track bumper, since there used to be a small yard here.
> >  In Doug's superb PowerPoint program he showed a slide of this location,
> >with an Erie steel stockcar in that yard.  I asked why a stock car would
be
> >spotted here, and learned that there used to be an abbatoir in Chester.
> >  According to the local citizens the stock used to be driven in the
streets
> >across town.  And this is NYS, not Colorado!
> >
> >The day got interesting here. One of out party wanted to catch Metro
North
> >at Salisbury Mills, just east of Moodna Viaduct, which was to be on the
> >tour.  Just out of Chester, going north, we came upon a just-occurred
auto
> >accident with the local Fire and Police in somewhat exaggerated
attendance,
> >and they proceeded to hold up traffic (for no really good reason) for a
> >good half-hour, so the Salisbury connection was missed.  So, with a
> >somewhat relaxed schedule we proceeded up through Blooming Grove and
> >Washingtonville, where Mike pointed out the former ERIE station on the
> >Newburgh branch (you would never know) and on down to the Viaduct.  Our
> >rail-borne passenger decided to go to Beacon, and catch a Metro North or
> >Amtrak train to GCT, so he could connect to Penn Station for his Amtrak
> >train to Rhode Island.  On the way there, east on Route 94, we spotted
the
> >former O&W ROW, the Newburgh branch coming into town, and the Newburgh
> >Short Cut.
> >
> >By now, we're down to just Mike and me, since the other two either went
on
> >the layout tour, or had a commitment in Easton PA to get to.  Mike, a
very
> >courteous man, bore with me, and we went to Greycourt, where the L&HR
> >crossed (and the NYS&W still does cross) the old ERIE line (now the bike
> >trail).  Then to Goshen, where the station is now the City Police
station.
> >  Here we were able to sort out the root of the Montgomery Branch, and
(sort
> >of) figure out where the tracks went south on the Pine Island branch.
> >  These two branches were really pretty much the main line for the L&NE
on
> >its way to Maybrook.  We went south from here attempting to find traces
of
> >the Pine Island Branch, with only two successes (and that's not for a
lack
> >of back-road wandering looking for traces).  In Florida, NY, we found a
bit
> >of ROW, and a lumber yard with doors spaces at 40' on the road side, with
> >just enough space for there to have once been a track there.  In Pine
> >Island, where the once-station is now a back room for the local NAPA auto
> >parts store.  It was pretty hard to imagine that this was a location
where
> >L&NE 2-10-0's and ABBA FAs hauled long strings of anthracite to Maybrook.
> >  North of where the tracks were in front of the station, the neighbors
have
> >filled in the depression where the tracks would have been and there's
trees
> >there that were probably planted a year or so after the tracks were
pulled
> >out.  You cannot identify where those tracks used to be . . .
> >
> >One thing I was pretty amazed about was the grades on the old Main Line.
> >  It's perfectly clear why the Graham Line was built.  The old line had
> >steep (!) grades, sharp (!) curves (often at the same time) and was
> >surrounded very tightly by buildings and rock faces all along the line.
It
> >was clearly a line from the 1840's.  It's really surprising it survived
as
> >long as it did.
> >
> >I have to extend deep appreciation to Mike Quinn, who provided a long
day's
> >ride (we got back to Matamoras about 5:30 PM) and pleasant company.
> >
> >Schuyler
>

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