"Lehigh Valley Freight Terminal"

Hey LV slueths,
we have a location to try to pinpoint!

I got an email from a gentleman doing some research on a speedboat,
he has a photo of the boat, and is trying to determine where and when the photo was taken.
Behind the boat is a sign for a LV Freight Terminal.



Since its clearly a waterfront area, its likely either Buffalo or the New York City (NJ) terminal areas..possibly Rochester too, on the Genesee River.

Can anyone recognize that sign and the LV buildings and determine where that photo was taken??

thanks,
Scot

The LVRR served the Thompson Boat Co. in Cortland, NY. Don't know if the subject boat is a Thompson or not, but am sure that the location is not Cortland. Another possible guess as to the location would be Ithaca, NY. Beats me.

Hey Scot, I have seen that building before. It should be in Manhattan, and I believe that Carfloater has a picture of it. I know it's in a book, although mine are still packed since my move out west. It might be in the Archer book, but I have definately seen it before, in a NY section of a LV book. Regards,

GOLDEN-ARM Posted: Mon May 29, 2006 10:31 pm wrote -

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"Hey Scot, I have seen that building before. It should be in Manhattan, and I believe that Carfloater has a picture of it."

Probelm with that theory is, the rest of the buildings in the picture are not "spatially" correct for 149th St. Bronx Terminal area. The 27th St. Manhattan wouldn't have a sign anyway, and the picture doesn't look old enough to be pre-Starrett-Lehigh. I am leaning towards Grand Street Jersey City, because of what little shape of the freight house I CAN see.
Still a mystery, but we'll crack it!

CF

Here's pics of Pier 6, Jersey City. Anyone find pics of Grand St.?
link

Also the http://www.jerseyhistory.org/findingaid.php?aid=0802 may be able to identify the photo.

From the shadows it would appear that the freight terminal pictured faces East or West. Also the start of a sign on other building beginning "JUN..", does that help hone down on location possibility/ies?

edit: fixed the link so it works - Cyrus

Carter -

Pictures of Grand Street are hard to come by. They usually show up in books, though not as the subject itself. I have drawings of Grand Street, thus the reason I lean towards the picture as a possible location due to the juxtaposition of buildings.
I wish I had something to post to "prove" my hypothesis, but I do not as of now.

CF

CF, my entire collection, save for the few recent aquisitions I have made, are still in storage. Do you have Archers' book? That arch, with the freight terminal on it, is seen in another picture, facing a street, with the waterfront behind it. (what is the large "N" seen in the left of the picture? is it as funnel, on a tug?) Until I get the rest of my stuff, delivered out here to NM, I won't have access to any paper items. That shot has been printed, in a book, though. Perhaps it was on a postcard, from the early teens? Maybe CF can contact Fred, and use his collection, to locate that shot...........

The more I look at the pic in question the more I remember that the boat shown looks very similar to the one my grandfather had on the Finger Lakes.
Could this possibly be Geneva or Ithaca?

GOLDEN-ARM wrote:CF, my entire collection, save for the few recent aquisitions I have made, are still in storage. Do you have Archers' book? That arch, with the freight terminal on it, is seen in another picture, facing a street, with the waterfront behind it. (what is the large "N" seen in the left of the picture? is it as funnel, on a tug?) Until I get the rest of my stuff, delivered out here to NM, I won't have access to any paper items. :( That shot has been printed, in a book, though. Perhaps it was on a postcard, from the early teens? Maybe CF can contact Fred, and use his collection, to locate that shot........... :-D

G-A, I don't think that's a funnel of a tug, becasue if it IS, it can't be Grand Street OR 149th St. (or any othe other suggestions I put forth)because of the wrong angle to be looking towards water. So maybe the location is "up north' somewhere? Personally, I think it's just a sign (I can make out an "N") maybe Lehigh Valley Freight StatioN? OR, PeNNsylvania, as in PRR? Then maybe this is the E. 22nd Street Bayonne freight station, shared with the PRR at the end of the Nat. Docks.

Scot, is there a way to tweak the image for contrast? It looks like we may be missing roof lines or other separations due to the exposure. Also, did you crop anything out? Just wondering......

I will check Archer's book tonight for a similar photo when I get home. Now G-A, by "arch" do you mean the peake of the roof under the sign? I don't see an arch anywhere in the photo.
I will also see if Freddy can help us.

Hey, CF. My wording of the sign, on the building, is what I was using to call it an arch. My memory of this particular sign (perhaps another one) was the LVRR freight terminal having a curved bottom, and top, kind of like an arch. My entire pre-war LV postcard collection was sold on ebay, late last year, although I did scan them, on my home computer, to sell them. (problem is, I am still working off a laptop, with my "big" computer still being trapped in a Pods container, somewhere in southern Florida) I might be thinking of a particular sign, from a postcard, or from a book. As far as it not being a funnel, if that building is on a pier, the water would come up either side, with the "boat" residing in a slip, alongside the building. I am almost wondering if it is the Jersey City freight building, at the north side of the angled piers of Claremont. A PRR pier and building would be just north of this, if it was THAT location. Email the pic, to LVFred, and see if he can pin it to a particular pier, or location. On a positive note, my stuff should be shipped here, before the end of the year.............

I emailed Justin (the guy who sent me the photo and is interested in the boat) for a larger scan, here it is!

http://img375.imageshack.us/img375/3457 ... rge5jy.jpg

He said he thinks the photo was probably taken around 1930.

Scot

Okay, first of all I'd like to say hi to everyone - I'm the guy who's looking for info on this picture. I'd also like to say thanks to Scot for posting the original message for me and taking such an interest. Seeing your responses were so great, I wanted to say what little more I know about the picture

Some background (though not really of much use to you I guess): the guy in the boat is my grandfather. Never knew him, he died when my mum was 12. He lived in NYC around 1930 (coming from, and returning to, Ireland) - the only address I have comes from the album with this picture in it: 27?? B????brook Ave, Bronx, New York. He was a maritime engineer, so we think he was probably building boats in NYC (had worked for himself in the past - but could as easily have worked for Thompson I guess, TB Diamond).

Anyhoo, the photo I have is original so I'm interested in Golen Arm saying it's been published - would definately like to find out more!

The image hasn't really been cropped (although looking at the original the letters on the extreme right are definitely J-U-N). In terms of contrast, I've made it about as dark as I can without loosing detail, sorry - hopefully the larger image Scot posted will help with that.

So: about 1930, and the guy lived (but didn't necessarily work) in the Bronx. Anything you can tell me about where on LV this photo was taken would be greatly appreciated!

Also, I'll go see if there are any other pictures of trains and stuff in his album, case they'd be of interest to anybody here (though all the pics could easily turn out to be of boats! )

Thanks again guys

Greetings, Justin, and welcome to THE forum. I mentioned I have seen the building in print, the LVRR freight house, in the background. Have not seen your particular picture, but I enjoyed seeing that early inboard racing boat. I watched a program on tv, about those old handmade racers, from the early 30's and 40's. Wisconsin, and Maine were two states, well known for the boats they made, looking very similar to the one in your picture. The program was either on OLN, or the Sunshine Network. I watched it, in Florida, which is my home. There are a group of guys, who find, and restore those old boats, and display them on a lake, every year, I believe in Wisconsin. The LV had several piers, and terminals in and around the Bronx, so perhaps this will speed up the locating process. Good luck in your search. Regards

Justin,
welcome to the forum!
as you can see, there are a bunch of guys here who really know their stuff when it comes to the New York City end of the LV!
(personally I know next to nothing about that area..I have only been to NJ once in my life! Im a "Sayre to Buffalo" guy when it comes to LV stuff!)

other photos are out there that show that LV sign..I bet someone will turn something up!

Scot

Golden Arm - thanks for the extra boat info, I know this forum isn't really the place for it


...btw, still haven't come across any train pics: boats yes, gas stations yes, the Bronx yes, Coney Island yes, mosterous big seaplanes in front of the statue of liberty, yes... erm, I'll keep hunting