New York, Westchester & Boston NYW&B Main Thread

[Statkowski]

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.

If you're watching the video on a laptop, hold down the Windows key (bottom left side of the keyboard) while pressing the Print Scrn key (top right). You'll get a screen shot posted to your Pictures file.

[Noel Weaver]

I know this is a heck of a time to comment on books published several years ago and maybe out of print today BUT the Robert Bang book on the Westchester is an interesting read and I recommend it. I do, however, have some suggestions if this book is ever reprinted: Get rid of the duplication in photos, the same photos appear more than once on a number of pages, instead refer to the photo on page XX and include something else. It is obvious that there was access to various timetables, how about including a full passenger timetable in readable form in the book, there is some very interesting information to be found in old timetables. A reproduction of an employee timetable would be even better. An old employee timetable has operating information and history that can not be found elsewhere and is always interesting reading at least to me and probably most other readers as well. I am not taking away from an interesting book with I think is pretty well done with good photo reproduction for the period as well.
Dates on the newspaper clips would help as well. I hope consideration would be given to a reprint of this book including both public and employee timetables as well. I have a similar book in my collection "Every Hour on the Hour" about the Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis which includes both public and employee timetables of the period and it makes that book outstanding. Including these items in a Westchester book would make a good book even better. Thanks for reading this.
Noel Weaver

[Otto Vondrak]

I know this is a heck of a time to comment on books published several years ago and maybe out of print today BUT the Robert Bang book on the Westchester is an interesting read and I recommend it. I do, however, have some suggestions if this book is ever reprinted: Get rid of the duplication in photos, the same photos appear more than once on a number of pages, instead refer to the photo on page XX and include something else.

I appreciate the feedback, Noel. Which book specifically? I worked on both. Can you let me know which pages have the duplicate photos?

It is obvious that there was access to various timetables, how about including a full passenger timetable in readable form in the book, there is some very interesting information to be found in old timetables.

Not a bad idea, as I'm into timetables myself. Depending which book you're talking about, it was either outside the scope of interest or we ran out of room.

A reproduction of an employee timetable would be even better. An old employee timetable has operating information and history that can not be found elsewhere and is always interesting reading at least to me and probably most other readers as well.

Agree. Not sure we had access to NYW&B employee timetables when we were putting the books together.

Dates on the newspaper clips would help as well.

That was a tough one. If there wasn't a date on the news clip it's because we didn't have it. Some of those clippings came out of scrapbooks and the dates long-forgotten, and no digital index was available to search against. It's frustrating to not have the exact dates, but for some of the stories, an approximate date can be extrapolated from the content.

-otto-

[newkirk]

This attached photo intrigues me. Is this the only NYW&B coach in Peru, SA ? Has it been scrapped ? Any info would be appreciated

(click photo to enlarge)

[Kurt]

Here is a Facebook post from November, 2019 showing the inside of the Westchester Avenue station in the Bronx.

https://www.facebook.com/LovingtheBronx ... __tn__=K-R

[newkirk]

kurt wrote: Here is a Facebook post from November, 2019 showing the inside of the Westchester Avenue station in the Bronx.

What a shame. I'm surprised the roof didn't collapse. Probably costs too much to demolish.

[Backshophoss]

Any possibility of MN rehabbing this station for New Haven Line-Penn station access?

[newkirk]

backshophoss wrote: Any possibility of MN rehabbing this station for New Haven Line-Penn station access?

Probably not in my opinion. The structure would be deemed unsalvageable and demolished.

But with the current pandemic and US economy in the toilet, that's the farthest thing on anyone's mind now.

[Kurt]

Any possibility of MN rehabbing this station for New Haven Line-Penn station access?

No. The plans that have been out there show a new station at Hunts Point. There is/was a plan/pipe dream to split this structure in half. The tall portion would become an entrance to the Bronx River Park (Starlite Park), and the portion over the tracks being moved to the river front. Looking at the photos, I just do not see how it would be possible without it falling apart. https://www.sloarchitecture.com/bronx-r ... ght-of-way

[newkirk]

Photo of #155, ex-NYW&B coach, location unknown.
Three questions:
1) How long was their service in Boston?
2) Was the fleet kept together ?
3) What routes did they operate over?
Any help would be appreciated.

[jamoldover]

Photo of #155, ex-NYW&B coach, location unknown.
Three questions:
1) How long was their service in Boston?
2) Was the fleet kept together ?
3) What routes did they operate over?
Any help would be appreciated.

The New Haven diagram I have for these cars shows them as having been rebuilt in 1938 into suburban coaches, with the last diagram update in 1955, so they were in service at least until then. They're not listed in the 1956 descriptions of passenger equipment, however, so I would guess they were retired somewhere between April 1955 (when the diagram was updated) and September 1956 (when the passenger equipment listing is dated). My guess would be that they were mostly used on Boston-area routes, since most/all of the commuter equipment out of New York was electric.

Joshua

[newkirk]

Thank you Joshua.

[edbear]

My Sept. 1951 Equipment Assignment and Consist book has the fleet stored at Boston, "used on major holidays in Boston suburban service."

[jamoldover]

A possible answer to the question of "Why" (as in why did the New Haven spend so much for the NYW&B, and follow through with completing it?) -

I was looking at an old copy of the Electric Railway Journal (1911, v38), and came across an article talking about the NYW&B asking for a franchise to build a line to Pelham Bay (in exchange for one it had permission to build to Throgs Neck). Part of the request included a statement that if the city didn't want to take over the Pelham Bay line after it was built, that the NYW&B and New Haven would be happy to connect the branch to the New Haven main line, and connect it to the subway system on their own (operating the branch as part of the New Haven).

The explicit implication is, of course, that this would give the New Haven a way to get into Manhattan that wasn't dependent on the NYC and the route into Grand Central. Is it possible that something like that was the plan all along (at least in Morgan and Mellen's minds), but that 1) approval was never able to be obtained for making that happen, and 2) the NYC never turned hostile towards the New Haven which would have forced the issue?

Joshua

[Jeff Smith]