Towns and Nature

Wednesday, November 20, 2024

Coeymans, NY: Port of Coeymans Fabricating Arches for New Portal Bridge

(Satellite, 172 photos)

Several comments explained that this arch is headed to the New Portal Bridge.

Sharron Crocker posted
A piece of bridge coming down the Hudson now...near Saugerties.
[Why is there so much falsework on this side of the arch but not the other side? Also, there is very little freeboard for the barges under the arch.]
Brian R Maghran shared

Dennis DeBruler: The destination is the replacement Portal Bridge, https://maps.app.goo.gl/korrufWZmZMvcCHVA.

Chris Colton commented on Sharon's post
Lots of huge buildings with cool things inside them at Port of Coeymans. But infrastructure this massive has to be assembled outdoors!

Lee Jamison commented on Sharon's post
Near Stuyvesant earlier.

A satellite image caught one of the arches being fabricated.

Satellite

Rock Springs/Ableman, WI: Moved/C&NW Depot

Original Depot Location: (Satellite, based on the photos and aerial photo below.)

Current Depot Location: (Satellite)

According to the topo maps below, the town changed its name from Ableman to Rock Springs.

Kim Potaracke posted six photos with the comment: "Ableman."

Mike Laabs: Train Depot is currently at Mid-Continent Railway Museum 6 miles to the East in New Freedom, Wisconsin.

Jack Franklin shared with the comment: "Now in North Freedom."

Dave Braun commented on Kim's post
ca. WWI, section crew just finished new roof on crossing ramp. R: E.C. Bently, depot agent; 5th from right: John Hindes, C&NW bridge foreman; 8th from right: John Hubbe, section man (John Hindes is my great-grandfather)

1958/60 North Freedom Quad @ 62,500

This topo map taught me that Ableman became Rock Springs.

1901/01 Denzer Quad @ 62,500

1937 Aerial Photo

Donovan, IL: and Beaverville, IL: Grain Elevators (Wood) and KB&S Rail Service

Donovan: (Satellite)

Beaverville: (Satellite)

KB&S = Kankakee, Beaverville & Southern

Street View, Jun 2024

Adam Elias posted, Flickr
KBS 704 & 705 bringing their cars South from UP interchange in St. Anne.

That is a long fall protector.

Street View, Jun 2024

The loadout

Street View, Jun 2024

Beaverville

Adam Elias posted, Flickr
KBS returning from St. Anne through the small town of Beaverville. The old elevator and perfectly placed old tractor make this scene.

I wonder what is parked on the siding in the right background. It looks like this elevator does not ship by rail even though KB&S is a very accommodating shortline.

Street View, Oct 2009

Tuesday, November 19, 2024

Syracuse, NY: NYC Depot & Dewitt Yard and DL&W Depot & Roundhouse

NYC Depot: (Satellite)

NYC Yard: (Satellite)

DL&W Depot: (Satellite)

DL&W Roundhouse: (Satellite, I wonder how well they cleaned up the soil before letting kids play on the baseball diamond.)

Street View, Aug 2023

Barbara Walters posted

New York Central Train Station, Erie Boulevard, Syracuse, NY.

Now restored Time Warner Building and Route 690

Bill Dexter shared

Jim Kelling shared with the comment: "New York Central Station in Syracuse NY (1936)."

Dennis DeBruler commented on Jim's share
I was surprised to see that the support buildings on the other side of the tracks, including the smokestack, are still standing. https://maps.app.goo.gl/1K6ZELprFBhtRDAC8

I included the intersection of James and Lodi Streets because that landmark is what I used to find the location of the station along I-690.

1948/60 Syracuse West and 1957/59 Syracuse East Quads @ 24,000

May 7, 1956 @ 24,000; AR1VKX000010144

Was this a predecessor depot?

Raymond Storey posted
SYRACUSE NY

NYC Dewitt Railyard

1957/59 Syracuse East Quads @ 24,000

Looking West. I presume diesel fuel is stored in those three white tanks on the right. (A satellite image shows that there were six thanks here, and it still has five of therm.)

Street View, Jul 2019

Looking East.

Street View, Jul 2019

Delaware, Lackawanna & Western

Peter Fleszar posted three photos with the comment: "Then and now - the 1940 DL&W passenger station at Syracuse, NY, USA, now an office building with an addition in front. Bonus, the adjacent replacement Downtown/Armory Square station building for NYS&W/OnTrack, now abandoned awaiting reuse."

Robert DiFiore: That was probably the last major station building the Lackawanna built. Very utilitarian, pretty bland by Lackawanna standards. Looking back on it, 1940 was very late in the game for a new station. And on a branch line to boot.

Glen Brown shared

This street view includes both of the buildings.

Street View, Jul 2023

The roundhouse is in the middle of the left side and the depot is south of the Armory near the right side. Robert's comment above confirms that the DL&W terminated in this town.

1958/60 Syracuse West @ 24,000

Did this Rail Line Event Venue use to be a freight house for the DL&W? I found it while looking for the depot. This building is the reason I added the label "freighthouse" to these notes.

raillinesyr

Lake Park, IA: Lost/Rock Island Depot

(Satellite, a guess based on the aerial photo below.)

Historic Design Consulting LLC posted
Here is a view of a recently arrived Chicago Rock Island & Pacific Ry passenger train in Lake Park, IA ca. 1910. There’s lots of activity as they unload the baggage car and drays wait to make deliveries. The 4-4-0 locomotive had 69” drivers and was suited for speedy, lower-weight passenger service. These elegant depots were built by the Burlington Cedar Rapids and Northern Ry in the 1880s, and one example still stands in nearby Rock Rapids, IA.
Dave Garland shared

I had a choice between a high-res aerial that was more recent or a low-res aerial that was older. I started with the high-res photo, but then I got the older one because the grain elevators in the background had changed so much that I was confused. In hindsight, they both have a rectangle at the location indicated by the satellite link at the top of these notes.

May 4, 1966 @ 19,000; AR1VBIT00010105

It looks like the grain elevators did change a lot.

Oct 14, 1949 @ 70,000; ARA000700090609

This is the oldest high-res topo map that I could find.

1970/72 Lake Park Quad @ 24,000

The abandoned railroad land has allowed the grain elevators to easily grow.

Satellite

Dunbar, PA: Dunbar Furnace and Belle Vernon, PA: Glass Manufacturing

Jackson-Township historical preservation posted

Dunbar Furnace in the town of Dunbar, Fayette County on September 11, 1908.

(Photo from The Gallis Family via https://www.facebook.com/Fayette-County-Historical-SocietyAbel-Colley-Tavern-Museum-156864401040108/)

Jack Davis shared

A blast furnace in Dawson, Pa, from 1889 to 1923. Made pig iron the steel industry.

Brian Yurkovich: Dunbar not Dawson

Jack Davis: Brian Yurkovich - correct, i missed typed.

Fayette County Historical Society/Abel Colley Tavern & Museum posted
Glass manufacturing began in Belle Vernon in 1836, making it the oldest window glass factory in the United States at one point. On July 23, 1907, an early morning fire destroyed the old No. 1 factory. Damages were estimated at $20,000. Another incident happened in 1949 when a tank being drained sprung a leak and molten glass started to flow onto the floor. Eighteen men were taken to the hospital for treatment, including 4 plant employees who were overcome by gas and 14 Belle Vernon firemen who were injured while trying to stop the flow of the molten glass. In 1949 the company announced that they would be shutting down the plant. The owner sought a major reduction in the tax assessment; the borough opposed this reduction. Another company eventually moved in but in 1976, a devastating fire gutted the plant. Arson was suspected in the blaze which caused an estimated $100,000 loss.