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  • New York, Westchester & Boston NYW&B Main Thread

  • Discussion relating to the NH and its subsidiaries (NYW&B, Union Freight Railroad, Connecticut Company, steamship lines, etc.). up until its 1969 inclusion into the Penn Central merger. This forum is also for the discussion of efforts to preserve former New Haven equipment, artifacts and its history. You may also wish to visit www.nhrhta.org for more information.
Discussion relating to the NH and its subsidiaries (NYW&B, Union Freight Railroad, Connecticut Company, steamship lines, etc.). up until its 1969 inclusion into the Penn Central merger. This forum is also for the discussion of efforts to preserve former New Haven equipment, artifacts and its history. You may also wish to visit www.nhrhta.org for more information.
 #1188996  by Kilgore Trout
 
Travelsonic wrote:
pbass wrote:That's easier said than done.Except for the Roger Arcara video which has a portion of the video dedicated to the NYWB,all the other views of the NYWB that I have seen on film,are very short snippets and mine are so old they are still on VHS format.
VHS? Not that hard to - with the right equipment - capture or convert I'd figure?
Not at all, there's plenty of inexpensive high-quality equipment available, along with many services which will digitize old films/tapes/etc. I'd gladly donate my time and experience (I used to work in video production) unfortunately I have no time to do so right now.
 #1199286  by pbass
 
Rereading my NYWB historical accounts for the umpteenth time,I just want to set the record straight on Judge Knox: he is not the bad guy as potrayed by Roger Arcara and others who followed Roger's lead.The judge's directive of June 9,1939,ordering the scrapping of the copper wires to help satisfy some of the debts incurred by the NYWB was rescinded.The judge didnot wish to see the company dissolved,but entertained all proposals set before him to keep the line solvent and ordered that the line remain intact until further notice.It became all for not by early 1942 with the United States a combatant nation in World War 2 and all materials were needed for the war effort.Hope this clarifies some questions while the company lay dormant pursuant to it's ultimate destruction in the Spring and early Summer of 1942.
 #1204381  by Travelsonic
 
During the construction at Mamaroneck, I saw a pile of concrete, and momentarily got nervous that they removed the catenary tower base from the NYW&B that stood there - on the hill of the parking lot piece immediately adjacent to Mamaroneck Avenue - but I walked around, and saw it's still there.

[Wish the piece of NYW&B conduit I saved and stowed at my parent's office was still there though. Somebody musta thrown it out... :( ]
 #1204720  by pbass
 
Don't feel bad,travelsonic.I left in the Bronx,the NYWB logo from the Mamaroneck Avenue station,gave away a danger sign from Mt.Vernon,lost a 1910 & 1913 datenails from Gedney Way.However,I will keep until death,my assortment of station and destination signs.
 #1262868  by CNJ999
 
I'd like to relate a most pleasant surprise that I experienced this afternoon, relating to this thread.

Shortly past noon a FedEx man came to my door carrying a rather large, thin, box measuring about 14x20x3 inches. Although I'm currently awaiting the arrival for several small HO layout items acquired from eBay, the appearance of this large box puzzled me no end. At first glancing at the label I didn't immediately recognize the sender, but I was just about to leave the house so I simply put the parcel aside.

Upon returning home and beginning to open the box I realized it was heavier than any of my current mail-orders could possibly be. Once opened, the thing that I took notice of first was a cylindrical mailing tube within. Opening this revealed a beautifully rendered image of several New Haven diesels, one of which was seen in x-ray fashion. This puzzled me even further, as I could not recall having ordered anything like that recently. Only then did I notice that pressed against one inside wall of the shipping box there was something further. It resembled a bubble-wrapped piece of cardboard with the same large dimensions as the box. Was it some manner of spacer? Only when I started to remove it did it reveal itself to the source of the box's real weight. Turning the item over as I unwrapped it to see its face I was stunned to find that it was the metal NYW&B Centennial Commemorative sign by Beyond Real that I had ordered nearly two years ago at the NYW&B Centennial Celebration which I'm sure others of you also attended in New Rochelle!

The sign, itself is a truly striking and beautiful piece of artwork, rendered in an early 20th century style. It' wording commemorates the railroad's 100th anniversary together with depicting the image of a goddess holding one of the railroad's insulators aloft and two of the NYW&B passenger cars toward the sign's bottom. I'm sure others of you reading this placed orders for this same item at the time of the meeting. If you haven't yet paid Chris for yours beyond a deposit, by all means do so at this time as the sign is worth every penny, and more. It also may be possible that Chris has some extras from the run that still might be available if you wish to enquire. I believe that his website is cited either much earlier in this thread, or in the original meeting notice, which is also likely to be found here somewhere. Failing that, I'm taking the liberty to note his e-mail address below:

http://WWW.beyond-real.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Now, if you gentlemen will excuse me, I'll be going to my layout room to hang my sign on the wall!

CNJ999
 #1263907  by Otto Vondrak
 
Neat, that's part of a project I started with Chris Iorillo a couple years ago to get some realistic renderings of NYW&B Stillwell cars made in time for the 100th anniversary celebration I was putting together at the time. I lost touch with Chris, but I'm glad to see that the project wasn't abandoned (unlike the NYW&B itself). Thanks for sharing!

-otto-
Last edited by Jeff Smith on Sun Aug 09, 2015 12:00 pm, edited 1 time in total. Reason: Remove nesting quote from immediately preceding quote (indexing)
 #1343059  by Jeff Smith
 
<Bump>

A picture I found on the Mamaroneck History Facebook page. I tried googling the article, but didn't get any hits. Not even sure what paper this is.
Attachments:
Here's All That's Left of the Good Old W &amp; B
Here's All That's Left of the Good Old W & B
11873708_793095720789423_1699313221338165127_n.jpg (129.38 KiB) Viewed 11425 times
 #1389286  by William Abbott
 
First of all, I apologize for putting my recent request concerning the Columbus Avenue station in a separate thread instead of this one.

Second, I have been working on gathering information from books and web photographs so as to be able to draw a scale plan of the Columbus Ave. station. So far all I have as facts are that the rails are 4 feet 8 1/2 inches apart, the stairs may be 8 feet wide (if they are the same width as the passageways), and the platform slabs of concrete are probably 6 inches thick.

That’s not much to work with and there are other problems such as all the photos of the east wall are not taken with the camera pointed at right angles to the wall. This distorts the measurements so that while one opening appears to be a certain width the third opening over is wider. This inconsistency stalls the whole project.

Once I have accurate measurements I can proceed and attempt to sketch in the location of the steps and interior passageways leading to the NYW&B station building and the NHNY&H platforms thanks to Howard Finkel’s most revealing pictures.

Living 550 miles away and getting on in years it is quite impractical for me to obtain the measurements required, so if there is some brave soul who can spend perhaps a hour at the station site on, say, a Sunday morning, getting a batch of measurements I would appreciate the help and everyone in the NYW&B community should soon be quite pleased. How long the station will be standing is hard to tell, but when I was there in 2000 with another enthusiasts we were approached by a resident of the nearby apartments who said she hoped we were from the town or the railroad and would do something to tear down the structure as it was a danger to the children in the area.

Contact me directly at: [email protected] (DSP&P was a Colorado narrow gauge line)

Thank you,

Bill Abbott who rode on US #1 under the NYW&B on May 9, 1937, age 6!
Attachments:
This pix shows what I have to work with now.
This pix shows what I have to work with now.
NYW&B Columbus Ave NB platform.jpeg (835.12 KiB) Viewed 9913 times
 #1389869  by bigfellah
 
Glad to see you guys are still chatting away. It's been years since I visited.
The last time I was here, we were chatting about the NYW&B and the Harlem River yard. There was a question about the location of the station tracks. I tried to thread to no avail. Here is a link to a tax map you might find relevant:

Tax Map at University of Connecticut Library

You probably have seen this map. It's interesting as it shows the connection to the Third Ave. EL
Last edited by John_Perkowski on Thu Jun 23, 2016 2:41 pm, edited 1 time in total. Reason: Create functioning link
 #1400487  by fordhamroad
 
UPDATE 9-2016 ON NYW&B HIGHBROOK AVENUE BRIDGE

-Would like to let NYW&B fans and supporters know that we have finally succeeded in having the Highbrook Avenue Bridge of the NYW&B placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Friends of Highbrook Highline, ably led by Pelham's Susan Mutti pushed the approval of the application through a reluctant village board -- then got support of the NY State Historic Preservation staff -- and now we have an official national landmark.

-Our friends in Pelham had to struggle through several village elections, but finally defeated the "tear it down, build housing" folk, won a favorable majority on the board, and got support from the Pelham Preservation & Garden Society and other local groups. Donations of time and money were made. Professional consultants cut or waived their fees. The village agreed to let the Friends improve the property with volunteer help, and to solicit funds. The 900 ft. of NYW&B right of way is being transformed into an attractive greenspace. One third of it has been opened to the public. We have started on a woodland nature trail over the bridge, hopefully open by next year. Horticultural plans, using local native plants are underway. We have part of the path cleared, and are working on an active spring to develop a small pond or water feature. The village board agreed to allow its crew to work on the site, when no other duties were pending. In short, we have managed all this without expensive consultants and big grants on a nearly zero budget and using a lot of volunteers. Planning to get some Eagle Scout projects started next, and to raise funds for an historical marker.

-Putting the Bridge on the National Register may make us eligible for some federal, state, or foundation money. We still need $300,000 to reface the original bridge concrete stucco and fix a few fallen parapets.

-Many neighbors who opposed development of the park site have now become strong supporters. We will get there, and are prepared to keep working till we get it done.

-Thanks to forum members like Bob Bang and Otto Vondrak who helped with pictures, advice and encouragement.


Roger Wines
 #1405039  by fordhamroad
 
NYW&B THIRD STREET STATION IN MT. VERNON IS BEING DEMOLISHED THIS WEEK

October 14th -- Passed the old NYW&B station on Third Street, Mount Vernon today. The construction machinery is crumbling the station, which is now half demolished.

For decades it has sat unused, but the graceful lines of the old building, designed by Alfred Fellheimer and opened in 1912, were still intact. The lower part of the station, a sunken track level where the local and express train platforms were, was still visible. Of course, all trace of the track, descending stairs and station platforms was removed years ago, The window and door openings, now bricked up were clearly visible.

Run over to Mount Vernon this weekend if you want to see what remains. It will probably all be gone by next week.

I'm not sure who is developing the site, or what it will be used for.

The NYW&B stations at E. 180th Street and Morris Park were both retained as NY City subway stops, and have been put on the National Register of Historic Places. The concrete arch NYW&B railroad bridge at Highbrook Avenue in Pelham has been listed, as of this September, on the National Register of Historic Places. The Heathcoate station in Scarsdale has been preserved and restored to 1912 appearance by the present owners, a real estate firm. There is a section of the NYW&B in Mount Vernon at the old Kingsbridge Road station, which may be preserved as a local greenspace, but I have not had news of it lately.

Too bad Third Street didn't have enough friends or a sensitive real estate developer. I will miss it, as a local piece of history.

Roger Wines
 #1405094  by Jeff Smith
 
Thanks for the update, Roger. Little by little it's going away. I think there's nothing left at 6th (Sanford Blvd); according to Otto's site NYWBRY.com/Kingsbridge has some remnants, after that the remaining remnants (is that redundant?) are Columbus Ave and the bridge abutment near the Hutch.

This was the most recent article I could find: LoHud

It obviously never got "landmark" status. Brief, fair-use.
Former Mount Vernon train station could be landmark

MOUNT VERNON - A study of East Third Street that officials are targeting for a makeover concluded there's not much worth saving, except for a defunct train station that helped spur the city's development.

The former East Third Street Station at 222 E. Third St. near Fulton Avenue was once a major stop for the New York, Westchester and Boston Railway. With its Italianate design and arches along its facade, the station was the showpiece of the railroad's five stations in Mount Vernon, said historian Larry Spruill.

"It was an elegant train station for the very wealthy and it was constructed during Mount Vernon's golden age when Mount Vernon was the city of homes and it was a model for suburban Westchester," said Spruill, author of the book "Mount Vernon (Images of America)."

In Mount Vernon's Draft Environmental Impact Statement, a document that will guide the city's rezoning of the area, the authors noted that the East Third Street Station was the only property in the area with a potential National Register of Historic Places status. However, damage to the building's facade since a 1986 historic preservation study has decreased the station's eligibility for placement on the National Register, according to the environmental impact statement.
...
 #1405098  by Noel Weaver
 
Whenever I think of the "Westchester" all I can think of is boy could they ever have made use of this magnificent rail line today had it survived the period of the 30's. There could have been a number of things that could have worked if the government leaders had a little vision in 1937 and beyond. SHAME! SHAME! SHAME!
Noel Weaver
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