An NYC switcher in a Manhattan park?

If this is a repost, I apologize in advance.

A friend living on the West Side of Manhattan wrote today, telling me that a restored Alco S1 Switcher donated by the Cross Harbor Railroad, is fenced in at a new park being constructed on the site of the West Side Yards. There seems to be a lot of landscaping going on around the engine, and our report says that it's looking better and better every day.

The engine was built for the Erie, here's an old article about it;

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/11/nyreg ... html?fta=y

Any pictures of the sides of this unit?

D/

25 was never a New York Central unit..
her history is:

built as Erie 307
to EL 307
to BEDT 25
to NYCH 25


Im surprised there havent been any photos of the unit on display!
its going on 2 years since the unit arrived in the Manhattan park..
but yet I have not seen one single photo on-line of the unit there..

Looks like it was painted before it made the trip across the river!
because its painted black in the photo from the article, but she was always blue while in service with the NYCH:
http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/misc-n/nych25ags.jpg

what scheme is she currently in?
is it Erie?
(or perhaps a "fake" NYC scheme? "New York Central" for "New York City"?)

where are all the pics?

Scot

ah..here we go..one can always rely on google:

25, S1, was built by Alco in October 1946, #74962, as Erie RR 307, Class SA-6b. It became Erie Lackawanna 307, Class SA-6, and sold as BEDT 25 in November 1967. It became NYCH 25 in August 1983. It has been displayed as New York Central 8625.

from: http://donsdepot.donrossgroup.net/dr820.htm

huh..NYC scheme..weird.
they must have done that because of where its displayed.

Scot

Found it on "windows live local"

http://maps.live.com/



that photo is probably a year or so old..

And it explains why there have been no recent photos..
As Dieter's friend said, the park isnt done yet..its been under construction...looks like the area isnt yet accessable to the general public..
(maybe it is now?)

its "Riverside Park South" on the Hudson River shore, west side of the island.

West 62nd street doesnt go all the way to the Hudson, but follow the line of West 62nd straight to the river and you will be at the switcher.

Scot

This is quite interesting to me as it is in our neighborhood. As "Riverside South" Park gets developed the folks responsible are keeping very cognizant of the railroad heritage of the area. Right near the S-1 there's an area with a bunch of railroad logos --- correct ones, believe it or not --- engraved in the granite. Of course the yard that was formerly here was served exclusively by the NYC and not by any of the other roads whose logos are represented.

The most conspicuous railroad antique here is the NYC 69th Street carfloat Transfer bridge which is just about fully intact. It's a rusting hulk, and I doubt if very many of my neighbors have any idea what it is/was. I have heard there are plans to restore the appearance if it somewhat.

Of course the railroad is still active here, if invisible --- the Amtrak empire corridor route uses the former West Side Freight line which the apartment buildings on Riverside Blvd. have been built directly on top of. I have become fond of telling people I have 12-inch scale trains (literally) in the basement and waiting to see the look on their face

My friend told me he's running by it, so there must be a path or a jogging trail. I can only hope that someone has the idea to MOVE the S1 BENEATH the roadway to protect it from the elements to some degree.

Looking at that aerial shot, if they don't move it, the unit is going to suffer corrosion from all the crap plowed over the side of the elevated roadway in the winter.

The shot in the 2006 article looks good to my memory; black with yellow handrails on the end, true Central. Don't you wonder why a TIMES photographer would take that shot, and not a shot of the unit from the side where you could see the lettering?

Help the foggy memory; would an S1 have a Cigar Band beneath the side windows or what?

D/

Dieter wrote:My friend told me he's running by it, so there must be a path or a jogging trail. I can only hope that someone has the idea to MOVE the S1 BENEATH the roadway to protect it from the elements to some degree.

/

RE your first comment: yes, it's right next to the West Side walking/running/rollerblading/biking trail which runs from Dyckman Street down the whole west side shoreline of Manhattan (not always right on the riverfront). RE your second comment, yes, I agree that snow removal will not be kind to it.

For those who have not been there, the west side bikeway is superb north of 59th St. South of there it's busy and commercial and you have to contend with crossing traffic. The S-1 is at about 62nd Street.

From about 83rd St. to 92nd St. you are on a broad promenade literally on top of the ex NYC west side freight line, now Amtrak. If you do the route, stop at 91st St. to smell the roses -- literally. The large floral garden at that location is done by a garden club that my wife is part of (and on the board of).

Show up hungry so you will have an excuse to stop at the Boat Basin Cafe at 79th St., right next to the bikeway. Fabulous river views and excellent char-broiled [if slightly pricey] burgers.

Here is a more recent and more revealing shot of the switcher:

http://www.z-mation.com/phpbb/files/ny_ ... ve_124.jpg

For more shots of the area around the loco, go to the website on which the photo is located:

http://www.theweblicist.com/wordpress/2 ... ump-place/

Paint and lettering look off from what I could see. Looks like someone's best attempt at lettering based on a photo. Didnt realize the float bridges were still intact!

-otto-

Heres a distant view..

Otto Vondrak wrote:Didnt realize the float bridges were still intact!-otto-

Well, that depends on what your idea of "intact" is....To a layman, yes, there is/are structures to see, but they are all but hunks of steel and wood, waiting (though I hope not) to be removed in the quest to "beautify" the park.
The LIRR float bridges in LIC are in better condition than the one here, and the pontoon bridges are all but trash.

CF

The left most (French Bridge) is listed on the National Register of Historic Buildings/Places. There are/were plans to use it for a ferry landing.

This article from 2006 explains more:

http://www.seafarers.org/log/2006/112006/railcar.xml

Here is an article in today's (August 19, 2008) New York Times with a good photo of the "New York Central" switch engine in the park. The article is about the completion of a section of parkland/walkways extending along Manhattan's West side bordering the Hudson River.

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/ ... uth-opens/

Wow! This evokes great memories of my first cab ride.

When I was eight or nine my grandmother, who knew how crazy I was about trains, walked with me from her apartment on Broadway in the West 70s to the north end of the New York Central West Side Yard so I could see the freight trains and locomotives. An engineer running a switch engine (probably an Alco) spotted us and invited me up. All of a sudden he pulled forward then backward as he shunted cars off a car float. I was too surprised to say anything and my grandmother was afraid he'd kidnap me to Albany, but it was an experience I'll never forget. The next time we visited the yard, railroad police chased us out.