Caboose at Silver Lake, NY

[BR&P]

Wow, great info Charles and that will eliminate quite a few options. Sounds like it may have been one which escaped the rebuild and upgrade. would be interested in contacting the son if he can be found.

[nydepot]

I just pulled this off the tax rolls then did a google search. Nothing private about any of it.

Should be the current owner:

Wilkinson, Thomas J.
47 Green Acres Rd
Tonawanda, NY 14150
716-832-0352

Location of caboose (mailing address for that side of lake):
3913 Luther Rd, Silver Springs, NY 14550

You can tell this is the property because you can see the shadow of the tall, elevated crossing tower on the shore.

[BR&P]

Thanks Charles! Tomorrow I'll try sending a letter to that address, perhaps they can tell what became of the caboose (although I can take a guess! )

Wonder if the son, if still surviving, would have any old pics of it.

[nydepot]

Confirmed the train disappeared about 10+ years ago.

[BR&P]

Confirmed the train disappeared about 10+ years ago.

Right there practically under my nose for almost 50 years!

[sd80mac]

where would caboose had been at? I'm not getting that clearly where. I know that line ran on east side of lake , at least I could follow south portion of lake. after that, it disappeared.

[nydepot]

It was moved to a lawn on the west side of the lake, up near the shore. Trucked in from parts unknown. Could have been trucked from as close as Perry. Not sure.

Look back on the thread to the lat/long coordinated I posted. That is where the elevated tower is. The caboose was right behind it (to the west).

[sd80mac]

It was moved to a lawn on the west side of the lake, up near the shore. Trucked in from parts unknown. Could have been trucked from as close as Perry. Not sure.

Look back on the thread to the lat/long coordinated I posted. That is where the elevated tower is. The caboose was right behind it (to the west).

more like of right above the water rather than in the lawn.

Google Earth showed no caboose next to it in the historical imagery. 1994 and 2006 does not show caboose being there. (NYdepot mentioned about 10 yrs ago that it disappeared.)

[nydepot]

more like of right above the water rather than in the lawn.

What does this mean?

The caboose would be covered by these trees. I've also marked a T next to the tower.

caboose.JPG

[sd80mac]

more like of right above the water rather than in the lawn.

What does this mean?

The caboose would be covered by these trees. I've also marked a T next to the tower.

caboose.JPG

I meant that the tower was placed above the water.

[nydepot]

Ah, the "in the lawn" was referring to the caboose.

[sd80mac]

Ah, the "in the lawn" was referring to the caboose.

Yeah. I know... it was my fault for not making it clear.... I find it interesting that owner had placed tower in the water... He must had gone through a lot of red tapes to get that approved. Also putting that in the lake... I'm interesting to see what foundation base he was using for that that can resist the ice damages. Steel is no match for ice...

[nydepot]

There was no red tape in the 60s. Now it's harder. If you buy a cottage and there is no dock, no may be SOL getting a dock.

It's not really in the water but because it's tall and the plane angle/photo angle, it looks like it. It rises from the shoreline.

Our dock on the east side was two parts. You had steps down from the cottage to the B&O and then from the B&O down the shoreline/hill to the water. The steps ended at a rectangular deck in the water with a wooden dock out into the water 20-30 feet. What was the first part made from. Same thing as everyone else, discarded railroad ties, used to build up a frame. Then that whole thing was filled with rock. What kind of rock? Ballast right from the tracks. A giant pit filled with railroad ballast that you walked on during the summer. The ties are still there, behind a new wall made from pressure-treated wood. The ballast is still down there under wooden-composite deck material. The wood dock is replaced with metal now.

Some people had steps down from the railroad and straight onto a wood dock into the water, with no initial platform. Those are the cottages that when they were finally renovated in the 1980s, had a harder time with building a platform as they had nothing grandfathered in from the earlier times.

Part of that east shoreline bank is also just fill from the railroad. There are metal caboose steps, signal bases, sidewalk slabs - all kinds of stuff. This was in sections with no cottages.

[nydepot]

BR&P,

Did you ever send your letter?

Charles

[BR&P]

Yes sir, sent it, got no reply, and forgot about it. Guess I should try again! Thanks for the reminder, between cars and music the railroading kind of got shuffled to the bottom of the list!

EDIT: I lied, just re-read the old posts and I was thinking of a previous letter. Wish this site numbered the posts, but I see an address I was going to contact and dropped the ball. Flies on me!