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Re: (erielack) Re: Erie in Nyack

Ken,



Ken,
      As best I can remember, we began our runs out of Hoboken. By the time I got there(1962-63), ALL trains ran from Hoboken. MT equipment for some trains backed out of the trminal & down the hill at Grove St. tower then went to JC for the layover during the day. 
    Leaving in the afternoon, we'd go thru the tunnel & West End tower'd put us up the former ERIE mainline from which there was a reverse move down the hill onto the Northern line. We'd head North on what appeared to be double track (one of which I understood to be the property of the Susquehanna) until we came to an old cinderblock construction tower, long abandoned, and at this point the Susquehanna track swung away to the left while we continued on up the Northern. The name of the tower just hit me - GRANTON JUNCTION. It must have belonged to the Susquehanna. I don't remember any ERIE towers that looked like that.
    As for the Susquehanna Transfer, we didn't make any stops there. The oldhead engineer pointed it out to me, but that was it. This is written after 40 or so years, but to the best of my memory, that's how it was. There were a lot of changes going on, so there may have been backup moves, but I didn't participate in any. We ran engine first all the way into Hoboken except for the move at west End from the Northern onto the ERIE mainline which was a reverse move coming & going. Think about it.............ur headed railroad East on the Northern (on the way to Hoboken) then u have to do a reverse move onto the ERIE, so u'd still be headed RR East. No need for a backup move into the terminal.
Regards,
Walter E. Smith







  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Hoboken 
  To: Dad 
  Sent: Friday, December 31, 2004 3:40 PM
  Subject: Re: (erielack) Re: Erie in Nyack


  Walter,
  When you worked that Northern Branch run, do you recall whether passenger loads were decent?  Since the Susie-Q terminated its trains at Susquehanna Transfer, did you pick up many passengers who chose to take the train to Hoboken rather than take the bus through the Lincoln Tunnel?

  When you worked that run, did you have to make a shove move into the Hoboken terminal, or had an interchange been built to avoid that?  I understand that, after the move to Hoboken, both Northern Branch and Susquehanna trains still went to Jersey City.  Then, after the Susie-Q decided to stop at Susquehanna Transfer, the Northern Branch trains pulled onto the Erie Main headed westbound, and then backed into Hoboken.  Who protected the rear for that shove move?  Were radios in use then?  Or did whoever protected the rear use the signal cord to pass info to the cab?  How did the man on the rear indicate "slow" and give distances to the stop in the station?  Or did they use hand signals?


  Happy New Year,

  Ken Bush

  Dad wrote:

Vince & all;
 Great fotos of an old 900 class at Nyack............I don't know if u
caught the post I did on sleeping in the Nyack station in 1961 or 62. I'd
caught the job (one of 3 jobs) off the firemens xtra list for a week when
the regular man was on vacation. It was in the fall & pretty cool so I asked
the station agent if it's  OK for me to sleep in the station. He let me in &
then locked up. He woke me the nexxt morning & I checked the engine over &
worked the job to Hoboken & back. There was no diner or anything near the
station & the few bars even then were very 'yuppified' - I felt I'd be kind
of out of place in my denim jacket & work clothes. I think I got a sandwich
to go at Shaeffers in Hoboken & ate that in the old Nyack depot before
reclining on one of the benches in the waiting room.
       The first night as I said, I wandered around looking for a diner or
restaurant, & recall there being a Mrecedes dealership a block or 2 away.
That set the tone for the town. The Northern line was a neat job, but unless
u lived nearby, it was kind of lonely. Looking at the station foto, I
realize now how the mind plays tricks on u. I always had in my mind that the
NYACK depot had walls of fieldstone. It appears to be stucco.
       Other thoughts.........Happy New Year to all of u on the list. I had
my tinplate layout under the tree (0-27) with an EMD switcher painted in
ERIE colors & numbered 452 for one of the engines that rattled around the
Binghamton area & on which I spent many a cold night. The caboose is a DL&W
gray with the cupola toward the rear. Does this make it a Keyser Valley
caboose? I never really noticed the difference. I have several 'snow
village' lighted houses, church, business, but the only station looks like a
Lehigh Valley one. It's neat to put out the lights & see the little EMD
pulling a 6 or 7 car consist. Kind of reminds me of the 'over the river' job
as they called the  crew that left Conklin yard & & at West BD left the EL
mainline &  worked the industries on the former DL&W mainline as far as
Vestal.
      I wish u all a Happy & prosperous New Year.
Regards to all,
Walter E. Smith
employee #102156
- ----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Vincent Lee" <vincejlee_@_yahoo.com>
To: "Mailist ErieLackawnna" <erielack_@_lists.railfan.net>
Sent: Friday, December 31, 2004 1:02 PM
Subject: (erielack) Re: Erie in Nyack


  NOTE: This message had contained at least one image attachment.
To view or download the image(s), click on or cut and paste the following
    URL into your web browser:
  http://www.Railfan.net/lists/listthumb.cgi?erielack-12-31-04

Erie909Nyack.jpg (image/jpeg, 133913 bytes)
Erie909TrntableNyack.jpg (image/jpeg, 171626 bytes)

"Gary R. Kazin" <gkazin_@_yahoo.com> wrote:


    "http://terraserver.microsoft.com/image.aspx?T=1&S=10&Z=18&X=2953&Y=22746&W
1
  is the Terraserver satellite view of Nyack at closest
resolution.  The building in the center is a shopping mall
facing Main Street.  The station was a block or two south
of there.  Depot Place begins three blocks south of the
mall

(Snip)

The depot is long gone, from what I've read, and I don't
see anything that looks 'train station' on the overhead
view."


I haven't been to Nyack in many years. The amount of change
and gentrification visible in the satellite view is
amazing. Here's how I prefer to remember Nyack, both views
taken in the early 1960's:

Vince Lee

===
Modelling the Erie Wyoming Divison in Pennsylvania and
the Erie 28th Street Terminal in New York City

East and West Railfanning Photos:
http://www.eastwestrails.com/



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