Grand Central Operations - Garbage Train

Anyone familiar with the garbage train operations out of GCT? Where did it go? Also, beyond equipment moves to and from Mott Haven, were there any other regular, non-revenue operations in and out of Grand Central?

Adam--------------------------------------------------

Sure don't remember any "GARBAGE TRAIN" mvmts to/from GCT, tho we had a regular mvmt of baled waste newspapers loaded into boxcars that were switched in/out on a regular basis. Misc 'debris' from the DINERS was disposed-of in DUMPSTERS located on various platforms. TRACK DEPT, and SIGNAL DEPT material was handled in and out via MOTT HAVEN. Any mvmt of "GARBAGE" musta been during METRO-NORTH, as NYCRR handled internally.....LARRY BAGGERLY

The memory is faded, but I think all the trash from that place went out the back by the Post Office. No "Trash Train" service that I can recall until Penn Central..... THEN THEY ALL BECAME TRASH TRAINS!

Dieter/

In 1960, one of the Mott Haven - GCT shuttle trains, No. 5004, was listed in the time-table as "Freight." It was the last eastward train of the night, MO at 10.55 p.m. EST (11.55 EDT) and GCT at 11.07. There was no "freight" job carded westward. GCT was not a freight station, and the "freight" was company material. After midnight the M of W Department often ran work trains between MO and GCT, and the Burro Crane from MO usually went down there to spend the night.

There was an incinerator at Harmon at the time, and an occasional box car or gon from GCT found its way up there with trash for disposal. The trash was probably handled to MO with a work train or shuttle 5003, which was carded as "Extra cars," and then to Harmon with the traveling switchers.

NYCTA has run regular garbage collection trains for probably 100 years, since the IRT started, but I never saw or heard of a dedicated regular garbage collection train on the NYC. Every railroad has at some time or another run trains with gons and cranes to collect scrap and clean up the right of way.