4775 Tellier Road, Palmyra NY, and CSX

[rls62]

An article appeared in the 4/7 D&C about a dilapidated house at the above address.

"CSX Transportation should reduce or eliminate an $8,900 fee it wants to charge the town of Palmyra for assisting with a home demolition, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer said Thursday.' http://www.democratandchronicle.com/sto ... /82749604/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

My reason for posting this is not because of the dispute between Schumer and CSX but rather the property itself. The article states that the house is 14 feet from the tracks. I found it on google map and it appears very close but it's hard to tell. The house was built in 1889 so the railroad was already built by then. Tellier Rd. curves towards the tracks at this point where the house is located. My question is if the building was built to serve the railroad at one time.

[BR&P]

And just why is a United States Senator worrying about a local matter like that?

[JoeS]

Looking at it on Bing maps (birds' eye view) and using the track as a yardstick it appears the north wall of the structure is no more than about 15 feet from the south rail on track 2.

And, looking at the front of the house on Google street view it is a 2 story structure; so track 2 is within the collapse zone if such an event occurs. The large red "X" sign on the front door indicates the structure is unsound.

So yeah, if I were CSX I would be worried and would like to see it gone ASAP. Perhaps they could not get the town to "do the thing" and applied to Sen. Schumer for help?

As far as being a railroad building: I don't know how wide the railroad right-of-way is, but the house HAS to be on it, so that would indicate that it was some type of RR-owned building. The November 1942 Syracuse Division ETT shows track pans and a water station located at East Palmyra, maybe this was a pump building or caretaker's house.

Then again, if it was railroad owned why did the RR not just demolish it?

Who else would build a house so close to a busy 4 track main line?

[rls62]

Joe,

I like your analysis about the building and suspect that you're on the right track (no pun intended).

I just drove back from poking around the property. I found no evidence other than its location that it served some railroad purpose. It's in much worse shape than the photo on Google shows. The roof is caving in. It's hard to tell when it was last occupied. There is a small deck built on the east side of the house. And yes, it is about 14 feet from track 2. I've always wanted to live next to an active rail line but that would be too close for comfort!

[RussNelson]

So yeah, if I were CSX I would be worried and would like to see it gone ASAP. Perhaps they could not get the town to "do the thing" and applied to Sen. Schumer for help?

It sounds, rather, like the town wants to demolish it, and CSX is charging them to help. Yes, you'd think that CSX would be happy to assist for free. Should the house collapse on its own and cause an accident the cost would be many multiples the $8K fee they seem to want.

[JoeS]

I did a bit more research using the 1942 ETT and a Conrail track chart from 1978. My conclusion was that the water pump building and pans were further to the west, maybe just west of the South Creek Rd crossing.

And yes, the house is a bit too close for comfort but a GREAT location all the same.

[NYCRRson]

" The house was built in 1889 so the railroad was already built by then."

Yes indeed, but I wonder if the house was further away from the original 2 track mainline when built. The 2 tracks became 4 tracks later in the 1800's, perhaps after the house was already built ?

Maybe the railroad company offered to buy the house and the owner refused, or held out for "big bucks" and the railroad just decided to expand their 2 track mainline to a 4 track mainline right near this existing house ?

The original 4 track main line had the #1 and #2 "high line/passenger" tracks on the south side of the #3 and #4 freight tracks. It would make sense that the #3 and #4 tracks were in full operation while the #1 and #2 tracks where added along side ?

So maybe a house that was "away" from the tracks became a house "alongside" the tracks when the mainline was expanded to 4 tracks ?

Would be an interesting historical research project to see when the tracks in that section were expanded to 4.

When the NYC downsized from 4 mainline tracks to 2 they kept the #1 and #2 tracks (southern most) since they were in somewhat better shape (they had been used mainly for passenger trains). They ripped up the northern most tracks (#3 and #4).

My father thought it would have been better to keep #1 and #4 tracks and rip up #2 and #3. This would have created more track to track separation and allowed for trackwork without slowing trains down as much when working on adjacent tracks. But he was just a hogger and not Alfred E. Perlman....

Interesting location for a house, I would not want to try and sleep there...

Cheers, Kevin.

[BandA]

So CSX wants the private but condemned house demolished, town doesn't want to pay and doesn't care. Town can tear it down as a hazard & attach the cost as a lien on the property (I assume). But they just don't care, or the empty lot isn't worth much. Town should really take care of this or let CSX do it & reimburse them!

[thebigham]

It is close to the tracks! Google street view:

https://goo.gl/maps/rxg41bW9Rwr" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[RussNelson]

So CSX wants the private but condemned house demolished, town doesn't want to pay and doesn't care. Town can tear it down as a hazard & attach the cost as a lien on the property (I assume). But they just don't care, or the empty lot isn't worth much. Town should really take care of this or let CSX do it & reimburse them!

WHAT?? Did you even read the linked article? "The Wayne County town, 10 miles east of Fairport, has condemned a private residence and plans to demolish it, using $21,000 of its own money for the work. The unoccupied home, on Tellier Road in the eastern part of the town, is squeezed between the road and CSX's right-of-way.

The railroad's two main line tracks, which carry 50 to 60 freight and passenger trains a day, are just 14 feet from the house, Schumer said.

Florida-based CSX has told town officials it will assist with the demolition, but must station workers on the site to make sure the track remains free of debris and to warn demolition crews of approaching trains. The railroad has said it will charge Palmyra more than $8,900 for this service, according to Schumer."

[lvrr325]

Well, CSX wanting a flagger out there is very reasonable. $8900 does seem high for that though. Maybe they also want some men and equipment on hand to remove debris from CSX property?

I looked at google too, I was amused to see it appears someone put new windows in that house not all that long ago.

[BR&P]

I looked at google too, I was amused to see it appears someone put new windows in that house not all that long ago.

Hmmmmm.....are you SURE it's not owned by the railroad? That sounds like something they would do.

[BandA]

So CSX wants the private but condemned house demolished, town doesn't want to pay and doesn't care. Town can tear it down as a hazard & attach the cost as a lien on the property (I assume). But they just don't care, or the empty lot isn't worth much. Town should really take care of this or let CSX do it & reimburse them!

WHAT?? Did you even read the linked article?

OOPS. No, I commented, then read the article. Was going to go back & fix my stupidity but got busy. CSX wants reimbursement for basically flagging the demolition. They should waive the expense to the town, but be allowed to place it as a lien on the property.

[sd80mac]

I looked at google too, I was amused to see it appears someone put new windows in that house not all that long ago.

Hmmmmm.....are you SURE it's not owned by the railroad? That sounds like something they would do.

New paint on the building = closing down that place is not too far in future...

[JoeS]

Hmmmmm.....are you SURE it's not owned by the railroad? That sounds like something they would do.

I'm glad I wasn't chewing or drinking when I read that.

I did some further research and came up with an article in the Wayne County newspaper: http://www.waynetimes.com/news/palmyra- ... y-owner-2/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

FUQ:
"The house in question is tightly wedged between railroad tracks and Tellier Road and is destined to fall down.
It happens every so often. A bidder at the County tax foreclosure auction bids on a property sight-unseen, thinking there may be a bargain in the making.
That was the case in 2008 when David Kern bought the property at 4775 Tellier Road in the Town of Palmyra for $1750. The house is tightly wedged between CSX railroad tracks on the north and Tellier Road on the south. The distance between the house and the tracks is 14 feet and the road and the front door of the house about the same distance.
Records show the two-story house’s original owner, Anthony Caster, let the dilapidated property go for back taxes and it was seized and auctioned off by Wayne County in August of 2008."

Also, here is a snip of a 1904 map of Palmyra/East Palmyra:

East Palmyra 1904.JPG (126.68 KiB) Viewed 3008 times

link: http://www.historicmapworks.com/Map/US/ ... /New+York/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It appears that it was a private residence even then, though not too far from the station.