NYC New York Central High Line (West Side Improvement)

I was on a fantrip in Oct 67 that went to West 30th St but not onto the High Line proper.

(BTW The same trip did the Port Morris rat hole and the Put to East View. What a spectacular rare mileage day!!! When you consider this was 3 1/2 months before Penn Central it may well have been the very last NYC fantrip anywhere)

Suggestion: sell the photo's on EBay! That would be incredible.

Does anybody know where I can get a copy of the track charts for the 30th street branch, specifically the High Line ?
I've found numerous pictures and other data but I am looking for actual maps or drawings that show sidings, spurs, etc ...
I've also found one site online that claims to have a copy for sale but haven't gotten and answer back on price.
Thanks -
Allan

I have a Picasa West Side RR album at https://picasaweb.google.com/1163632627 ... estSideRR#
and a Sky Drive album at https://cid-616b1f67315e9e01.office.liv ... x/Westside
The map of the 30th St terminal is at https://cid-616b1f67315e9e01.office.liv ... S30map.jpg

gotta dig but I think I may be able to help you out, depnding on what the wifey did with the envelope I should have from DV in. Give me acouple of days to dig.

Re: Jim Gerofsky
Sorry, I don't have much of substance to say in reply to your interesting post. A couple of minor queries. You say (paragraph below the link to the Canada Southern site)
" 105th Street, just where the line came out from a tunnel under West Side Park"
Speaking as an ex-New Yorker (and not a NY Central expert),
------------->The line comes out of the tunnel at about 122nd street ("about" since the Harlem Valley causes an exception to Manhattan's generally rectangular street grid in this area: there are even a couple of streets the have NAMES!)
----------> And the park above the line is usually called "Riverside Park."

Graytrainpix--
Thanks for reply! There may be some change in the nature of the tunnel at about 107th street (in roughly that area there used to be openings in the retaining wall through which the tracks were visible from the lower part of Riverside Park-- the main park lawn is over the railroad, with a retaining wall to the west of which, just inland from the West Side Highway, there are basketball courts, etc, at roughly track level), but the trains come outdoors further north: downhill from Grant's Tomb or a bit beyond.

There was still a bit of freight into the 72nd Street yard in 1977 or 1978: I remember watching a U25B with a northbound, just north of the tunnel, about to cross (on a viaduct above the street) 125th Street!

I was there last Friday. Two things. First, that they're working on the track that wraps around the yard, which is the last section to be built, I think. They have the rails pulled up and stacked, and have stripped it down to the concrete.

The other thing is that I don't know quite what to think about it. I mean, I'm glad they preserved it, and it needed to become a public park to be preserved. But this, this, thing they've got is a travesy, a mockery of a real set of abandoned tracks. It's what Disney would make if they were told "create a fake abandoned railroad."

All the ties are fake, they're spaced too far apart, they used big-headed nails rather than real spikes (which they must have had by the dozen while they were dismantling the rails.

graytrainpix wrote:Allen,

I stand corrected on Riverside Park (I'm clearly a Jersey boy). As to the tunnel, I'm not qualified on the line, but the NTSB accident report says that the tunnel is 2.6 miles in length from W 72nd St. to just shy of signal 591, at 107th St.

The quote about 107th St is odd because I can tell you for sure (I live in the neighborhood, near Riverside Park farther south) that the north mouth of the tunnel is definitely at or around 122 St. However, engineering-wise there's "tunnel" and "overbuild"on that line The "overbuild" part was done in the 30s when Moses built the Henry Hudson Pkway and extended the park down to the riverfront

See a great story and some great pictures of the West Side Freight Line 30th Street Station and West Side Freight Line Passengers

http://www.kinglyheirs.com/NewYorkState ... passengers

RussNelson wrote:The other thing is that I don't know quite what to think about it. I mean, I'm glad they preserved it, and it needed to become a public park to be preserved. But this, this, thing they've got is a travesy, a mockery of a real set of abandoned tracks. It's what Disney would make if they were told "create a fake abandoned railroad." All the ties are fake, they're spaced too far apart, they used big-headed nails rather than real spikes (which they must have had by the dozen while they were dismantling the rails.

You mean nailing rails to pressure treated 2x6's with garden nails isn't realistic? And remember, Disney loved railroads, he would have done it right. Yeah, it's a nice park to visit, but it seems like they wasted their time putting the rails back in if they are just there for decoration (and not even to gauge). You're not "teaching" anything about railroads, you're just using them as potting.

-otto-

BandBForemanG1431 wrote:Does anybody know where I can get a copy of the track charts for the 30th street branch, specifically the High Line ?
I've found numerous pictures and other data but I am looking for actual maps or drawings that show sidings, spurs, etc ...
I've also found one site online that claims to have a copy for sale but haven't gotten and answer back on price.
Thanks -
Allan

I've yet to find a source that shows the route of the West Side Line after the relocation and elevation. Any leads?

-otto-

How did the West Side Line connect to the 30th Street Yards? Was the a tunnel under 11th Avenue? I'm trying to connect the dots from the High Line Park, down the elevated ramp around the 30th Street Yards, to the Empire Connection. I haven't found any maps that make this clear.

RussNelson wrote:But this, this, thing they've got is a travesy, a mockery of a real set of abandoned tracks. It's what Disney would make if they were told "create a fake abandoned railroad."

A NYU professor has a similarly low opinion of the High Line: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... 388&type=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

From this Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Dirty-Old-1970 ... /timeline/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;