Millwood Station to be torn down

My friend, an MN engineer with an interest in history rung every bell from the County to the Town and no one has yet expressed interest or an intent to invest funds.

Drove by the other day- there is now a FOR LEASE sign on the structure again. I didn't get the number, but maybe someone wants to call the agency and get some figures for laughs.

-otto-

Sorry for the deviation from the Millwood station topic, but since there was an inquiry about the pedestrian overpass, I thought I'd post some links to photos I snapped back in June 2006 near the Mt. Hope station location while biking on the South County Trailway:

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... ?id=401140
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... ?id=401136
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... ?id=401135

Page 60 of Dan Gallo's book shows period photos of this same location.

Thanks for posting that. I would point out for those who haven't been there that the T-shaped steel support was for the stairway to the pedestrian overpass that crossed the Saw Mill Parkway, which at that spot is parallel to and immediately west of the RR ROW. The actual station (long gone) was on the east side of the tracks and accessed from Rt 9A

I went by the station yesterday and all of the windows were boarded up. Not much else to report.

Tom, great story about your 1965 "ride" on the upper Put! From what you recall, how much was left behind by the railroad after the tracks were torn up? Were any of the RR telephone poles still intact at that point? Any grade crossing equipment?

whats going on with millwood?

dansapo wrote:whats going on will millwood?

The town is waiting for someone to either accidentally burn down the structure or hope that is just collapses under its own weight under this winter's snow. Too bad, it's a sound structure. Just needs a little TLC. Would make a great "hikers stop" for the rail trail.

Otto Vondrak wrote:

dansapo wrote:whats going on will millwood?

The town is waiting for someone to either accidentally burn down the structure or hope that is just collapses under its own weight under this winter's snow. Too bad, it's a sound structure. Just needs a little TLC. Would make a great "hikers stop" for the rail trail.

It would be a really nice stop on the rail trail! And wouldn't take all that much to fix up.

Oh wow, someone boarded up the windows.

What about a refreshment stand? I.e. nothing prepared on site, just chips, cokes, etc. Even a little gift shop with t-shirts "I rode the Put! and I got was this stupid T-shirt".

The trail gets a fair amount of use, even on a weekday.

Sarge wrote:What about a refreshment stand? I.e. nothing prepared on site, just chips, cokes, etc. Even a little gift shop with t-shirts "I rode the Put! and I got was this stupid T-shirt".

You'd need plumbing and electricity for that. Oh, and you'd have to have some sort of cooperation from the town zoning board. And dont forget that this building is owned by a private individual. Call up the real estate agent listed on the sign if you want a good laugh.

-otto-

Otto Vondrak wrote:Call up the real estate agent listed on the sign if you want a good laugh.

You sound like you've had that laugh. Share, do share!

Eh, when I inquired about six years ago, the deal was the owner wanted someone to come in and renovate the building and open a commercial establishment... and that the lease could be terminated at will. Laughable. If the owner has no interest in the building, the town should take action and offer to take it off his hands in exchange for forgiveness of back taxes. Then the town could turn it into an ASSET versus a LIABILITY. There's only two stations of this design remaining, Yorktown being the other.

-otto-

I hate to drag up an old thread, but the Millwood Station is again a topic of debate. Property owner (lumber yard) has no interest in improving the property and town wants the structure GONE.

http://www.newcastlenow.org/index.php/a ... d_matters9

Station house a dangerous eyesore

Task force members expressed impatience that Millwood Lumber, after procuring permission from the planning board for changes to its landscaping and paving, has done little to improve its appearance and eliminate hazardous parking in front of its store. When a task force member suggested that parking enforcement by the town might cure the parking problem, the discussion shifted to the red stationhouse that sits in the middle of the half-acre, part of which is used by Millwood Lumber for parking at the corner of Millwood Road and Station Place.

“You raise the issue of safety,” said task force member Jordan Schiffman. “When are we going to condemn the train station house? It should be torn down. It’s now a public hazard, clearly a public nuisance. We’ve raised this issue for six or eight months.”

Susan Carpenter, chairperson of the New Castle Planning Board and Democratic nominee for town supervisor in this November’s election, suggested that task force members write to the town board and ask that the town building inspector take a look at the stationhouse. “Put in a written complaint to the building department,” said Carpenter.

Task force members voted to approve the drafting of an email to Town Supervisor Barbara Gerrard. The following day, Friday, June 3, task force member Louis M. Russo wrote to Supervisor Gerrard asking for contact numbers for the building department, the town engineer, the code enforcement officer and building inspector. In his letter, he stated that
the task force would like to have the “Dangerous” former “Briarcliff Train Station Building” removed from the Station Road and Millwood Road corner property.
The property was only supposed to have limited parking but it is being used by people using the “North Trailway” and the old building on the property is a danger to the community and serves no “Historical” purpose for New Castle nor for Millwood. The building is beyond repair and is “an accident waiting to happen” and a potential lawsuit for the Town of New Castle. The building is not maintained and is an “unattractive topic of discussion” for Millwood.

The station house and the half-acre on which it sits at 14 Station Place are classified as “non-homestead” and are assessed by the town at $60,000, with a market value of $299,251. The owner, Leo Rota, also owns Millwood Lumber, which uses a portion of the station house land for parking.

one piece of Millwood station history that will always be preseved is the station name board as it appears in Dan Gallo's Putnam Division book. it has been restored to it's original NYC black & gold lettering and background.