New York, Westchester & Boston NYW&B Main Thread

[Jeff Smith]

Noel, I think almost everyone on this page would agree. Especially the White Plains branch, and let's not forget the "Northern", the extension they had planned on that would have run up to Ridgefield I think?

Even though Third St. is gone, that would have been a bridge too far in any case. It seems like they could make it to Kingsbridge (the tail tracks there now nearly go that far). 6th St. would be a stretch.

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And there's no longer a chance at reconnecting to the NEC (NH Harlem River branch aka Hell Gate line) from 180th due to the bus depot and an apartment building on the ROW. Pity. Could you imagine reconverting the line to commuter service? Yeah, I know I'm foaming. I could imagine the East Bronx, which could be called a "transit desert", using this with the Penn Access. And there was the talk back in the 70's of extending the SAS along the NEC in a separate ROW through a new tunnel under the Harlem River.

Yes. SHAME!

On another note, has anyone been by Wykagyl lately? Wonder what's left there. I know they had a fire, and the south side of North Avenue has an apartment building on the ROW.

[Ridgefielder]

Noel, I think almost everyone on this page would agree. Especially the White Plains branch, and let's not forget the "Northern", the extension they had planned on that would have run up to Ridgefield I think?

The Westchester Northern would have gone all the way to Danbury. The line was meant to pass west of downtown Ridgefield, through the valley between High Ridge and West Mountain, cross North Salem Road (CT 116) near the Mapleshade Cemetery, continue along the east side of the Barlow Mountain ridge parallel to Danbury Rd. (CT 35) then run through Sugar Hollow to Mill Plain. Presumably the tracks would have joined the Maybrook Line somewhere near where the Danbury Fair Mall stands today, and accessed downtown Danbury that way. I've seen old maps indicating that a connection with the Ridgefield Branch was planned, running from the WN main near North St to the NH tracks at the corner of Grove St. & Sunset Ln.

If the WN had been built, the Bedford/Lewisboro/Ridgefield area would be completely unrecognizable today, in my opinion. Would have been developed much more heavily, at a much earlier date. I also doubt the Danbury Branch would have survived, at least in its present form.

On another note, has anyone been by Wykagyl lately? Wonder what's left there. I know they had a fire, and the south side of North Avenue has an apartment building on the ROW.

Isn't this the station, here https://goo.gl/maps/1LMgyZnRWkK2 and here https://goo.gl/maps/wVqakfCAwK82? If so it was still there last time I drove by a month or so ago. Might drive over there again tomorrow morning to check it out.

[Jeff Smith]

Curious as to what remains of the platforms and stairs; IIRC there was a fire there a few years ago. Before they built the condos, back in the 80's, it was fairly intact except for garbage and sediment. You could really picture what it must have been like.

[William Abbott]

Not a reply, but I can't remember how to post !

Columbus Avenue Station - Part 1

For those of you who are interested in the Columbus Ave. station and platform complex, here is a hint if you haven’t thought of it already.

Reference: The VHS or DVD of Frank Schlegel’s 8mm movies of the Westchester.

The movie starts with a trip from 133rd St. in the Bronx to Port Chester, NY. It then returns quickly to the 3rd St. station in Mt. Vernon. To do so the must come back to the main line and turn south to pass the Columbus Ave. station and cross the viaduct .

If you are quick with the pause button on you control remote, pause as soon as you can after the train passes the platforms of the Columbus Ave. station. On my VHS and DVD players I can then repeatedly press the pause button to made the film/image advance very slowly. This will enable you to snap a picture with your camera; I suppose someone out there has a way to capture the images created in some other manner.

Of course the image will not be crystal clear due to the motion of the train and the size of the enlargement on one small 8mm movie film frame.

The result should be a series of pictures showing the actual station building to the west of the tracks. Sadly it seems to blend in with some buildings behind it - but the Hopkins map of 1930 shows no structures on the railway property at all besides the station. The hip roof is clear, and what appears to be stairs leading down to the New Haven Columbus Ave. station platform also.

Comments ? Any architects who have some ideas about this ?

[Jeff Smith]

Hunts Point being redeveloped: https://ny.curbed.com/2017/5/8/15583194 ... -food-hall" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Brief, fair-use:

A former railway station on Hunts Point Avenue in the Bronx will likely be transformed into a food court, the Wall Street Journal has learned. Located next to the Bruckner Expressway, this 4,500-square-foot building was designed by noted American architect Cass Gilbert, and served as a railway station for many years before its current use as a retail space.
...
A revamp for another Cass Gilbert-designed railway station was imagined north of here, but that hasn’t moved forward. The Hunts Point Avenue building is still owned by Amtrak, from whom the developers are leasing it. Work on the revamp is expected to wrap up sometime this fall.

[Jeff Smith]

A very dated article (2012): https://ny.curbed.com/2012/9/24/1032564 ... rt-station" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Does anyone know what happened; is the station still there?

The folks at SLO Architecture?they of the floating umbrella dome and a New Practices New York Award?are hoping to gather support for a new proposal: a makeover for the South Bronx's Westchester Avenue Station, designed by Cass Gilbert and built in 1908. The station is currently in a state of extreme disrepair, and Amtrak, on whose Northeast Corridor the building now sits, has thought about demolishing it.
...

[Noel Weaver]

It looks to me like the old Westchester Avenue Station. I guess the remains are still there but it might be beyond a reasonable restoration at this point in time. It is not a nice part of town either.
Noel Weaver

[Jeff Smith]

Another Westchester Avenue link: http://untappedcities.com/2017/05/11/9- ... -in-nyc/8/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Should bring you to the correct slide.

[Statkowski]

Curious as to what remains of the platforms and stairs

Both platforms and stairs are long gone, both as built and as reconfigured (circa 1918). It was originally a NYNH&H station, then became a joint NYNH&H/NYW&B station, and ended up as a NYW&B station (although still NYNH&H-owned).

All of the stations on the New Haven's Harlem River Branch, over which the Westchester operated, were low-level platforms (Westchester Avenue, Hunt's Point, Cassanova, Port Morris and Harlem River). In 1927, with New Haven's Harlem River Branch local service being cut back to Hunt's Point, high-level platforms were installed at Harlem River, but nowhere else.

[Jeff Smith]

Statkowski,

That post was a while ago, but IIRC, I was talking about Wykagyl. Were you talking about Westchester Av?

Sorry for the confusion.

Jeff

[Statkowski]

Jeff, we all get confused, me included.

I may or may not have been commenting on an earlier thread, but the most recent stuff had to do with the Westchester Avenue station.

Now, if you really want a mission, how about some pictures of the Cassanova station? Building, platforms, whatever.

[chnhrr]

I second that. I've searched for long time and never come up with any pictures of Casanova Station, only the old estate house from which the street and station were named.

[Ridgefielder]

I second that. I've searched for long time and never come up with any pictures of Casanova Station, only the old estate house from which the street and station were named.

Where exactly was it?

[Statkowski]

Casanova station on the Harlem River & Portchester was located on the north side of the tracks, just to the west of where Leggett Avenue crossed over the tracks and yard.

The ICC Valuation Map showing the site can be seen here: http://collections.ctdigitalarchive.org ... A860073820

Basically across and down the tracks from S.S. 4, Oak Point.

Since this is a 1915 map, and Hell Gate Bridge was not open, you'll note the platforms are to the outside of Track 3 and between Tracks 2 & 4 (at the time the tracks were numbered 3-1-2-4-5-6, from north to south). Once the bridge was up and running, everything was reconfigured from S.S. 8, West Farms Junction down to S.S. 3, Bungay, the track numbering became 1-2-3-4-5-6, from north to south), with 1 & 2 being for Harlem River local service (NYNH&H & NYW&B), 3 & 4 being the passenger route to Penn. Station, and 5 & 6 being the freight route to Harlem River and Fremont/Bay Ridge. The eastward passenger platform was relocated to sit between what was now Track 4 & Track 5, with all the tracks being shifted sideways a little to accommodate the space where the old platform used to be and where the new platform was.

Casanova did not have either a subway or pedestrian overpass to access the platform between the tracks. One basically walked on the walkway crossing the tracks, being on the lookout for any traffic.

[fordhamroad]

Update on the Highbrook Avenue Bridge of the NYW&B in Pelham September 2017

Just wanted to inform you of the current situation.

-The Village of Pelham has legally adopted parkland status for the bridge and most of the surviving NYW&B the right of way. The Friends of the Highbrook Highline, working with other civic groups and local railfans is continuing to seek funds to develop the property. One third of it has been opened to the public as a little greenspace, lawn and some nice flowers and bushes donated and planted by community volunteers

-This spring the Friends raised $1300.00 to order and erect a NY State Historical Marker on the street by the south side of the bridge. The Pelham Preservation and Garden Society has donated a brass plaque attached to the Bridge, indicating it is on the National Register of Historic Places.

- An Eagle Scout project which secured donated use of a bulldozer and dump truck done over the summer helped to clear about 200 ft of the overgrown route of a woodland trail up to the actual abutment of the bridge. For the time being, while work needs to be done to stabilize some loose concrete, and rearrange the fences to allow passage over the bridge, the bridge part of the trail is still fenced off. We hope to work with community volunteers to complete and open the newly cleared section during the fall. We are negotiating with the Village about extending the walkway over the center of the bridge, with safety fences to keep pedestrians away from the crumbling edges.

- It is already becoming a focus of neighborhood pride. There is still a lot to do, raising funds, applying for possible grants etc. We have commissioned a horticultural study, and are getting advice about planting native trees, shrubs and flowers as we develop the trail. The intent is to create opportunities for birds and butterflies, perhaps some benches and raised flower beds on the bridge itself. Being a National Register property will make the Bridge eligible for more opportunities. We are talking with our local politicians. We still need 300,000.00 to repair the concrete on the bridge.

Getting there.

Roger Wines