A Scene Near Lebanon, NY

Anyone know the location of this postcard? The inscription reads, taken near Lebanon, NY, but using online satellite maps, I could find no body of water that the old ROW would have traveled within such close proximity to water, other than Cazenovia Lake.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/97630304@N02/13645649115" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Also, can anyone tell me where the Cazenovia tunnel on the West Shore's Chenango Branch is located? It's on my list of places to visit and photograph this spring and summer, but I'm not sure of its exact whereabouts

Thanks, 81

NYCUticaSyracuse81 wrote:Anyone know the location of this postcard? The inscription reads, taken near Lebanon, NY, but using online satellite maps, I could find no body of water that the old ROW would have traveled within such close proximity to water, other than Cazenovia Lake.

See the tall yellow building (might be green given the coloring of the vegetation)? See if that's still there on the southern end of Caz Lake. There is a rather large building which is off Ledyard Ave (US-20) in the right spot. It doesn't have the tower that the postcard has. However, a tower is a maintenance item and if it was no longer stylish, could have been torn down, particularly if it was more functional (think: water tower) than decorative, and not needed anymore.

Also, can anyone tell me where the Cazenovia tunnel on the West Shore's Chenango Branch is located? It's on my list of places to visit and photograph this spring and summer, but I'm not sure of its exact whereabouts

It's underground.

Thanks for the tip Russ. I did some looking on satellite maps, but it's hard to accurately identify anything from an aerial viewpoint.

As for the tunnel, were you being facetious, or has the tunnel been filled in or sealed off?

Oh, you wanted to know WHERE underground. Sheesh, some people are SO pushy! I've not been there, so I may not be the best person to give you directions, however, it's off Tunnel Lane, off CR-15 off SH-92 north of Cazenovia. On OpenStreetMap, Tunnel Lane is marked as a private service road. It may be posted, but again, according to the map, it looks like it goes around and connects to Gorden Road to the south.

Like I say, I've never been there, so I may not be giving you useful information. It looks like you'll encounter fewer people, possibly fewer opinions, too, if you approach the western end of the tunnel bushwhacking off SH-92.

The one thing that I do know is that you should bring waders, three sources of light, and a hardhat.

Looking at Acme Mapper, I see a house at N 42.92416 W 75.86470 that looks promising. It appears to be on a hill, and the driveway used to lead down to Ledyard Road (it now comes off Rippleton Road), which might indicate that the hillside was once clear of trees. I don't see evidence of a tower, but as noted, it could have been removed.

Looking at the topo map on Acme Mapper, you'll see the "Old Railroad Grade" as it passes the southwest corner of the lake (looks like there was an industry next to the road there). follow that north to a sharp bend to the west and you'll see where the tunnel is/was.

Spotted an old concrete bridge a little further south, crossing Chenango Creek.

Search on these forums. There is an old thread with info.

Thanks for all the info guys. I don't think I want to explore inside, but maybe just photograph the entrances. I'll update if I find an easy way to get there.

-81

Did a bit of research a few years ago on the tunnel portal locations.

The south portal is due south of the junction of Tunnel Lane and West Lake Road.

The north portal appears to be out in the woods north of the Cazenovia Golf Club.

There is a good description of the tunnel plus a description how the south portal can be located in the book A Ride Through the Countryside on the Syracuse & Chenango Valley Railroad by John Taibi and Jim Georges. There are also photos of both portals in the book. The authors warn against exploration of the tunnel interior account very dangerous conditions within.

I think this is the Lebanon (Valley?) NY out in Eastern NY. not the Lebanon, NY near Earlville.

Having grown up in the Earlville area and scouting this line since the mid 1960's it doesn't look or resemble Caz Lake or Erieville area.

Could be wrong, but not connecting with anything here. If anything it might be up by the north end of the lake, but I suspect the "snooties" in Cazenovia would be on a tear to be associated with the backwoods farmers of Lebanon.

I don't believe this shows Caz lake.
The shape of the lake is all wrong for that end.
Also, the gap between the lakeshore and hillside is much wider then shown here, the station at the end of the lake would have been visible, and there is not, or ever has been, a building that looks like that there.
The structure Russ mentions sits roughly where the orig. station sat, and is from (I think) the 1930's-40's.
The Lorenzo mansion sits more to the left of where the building in the picture shows (if this was Cazenovia lake), and looks nothing like the one in the postcard.

Thanks for your insight C.J.

I was not able to find Lebanon Valley, NY on google or satellite maps. I did however find the small village of New Lebanon which is in eastern NY, bordering Massachusetts. Openstreetmap shows the presence of an abandoned railroad, but could find no large body of water that would have matched that depicted in the postcard.

I think I'll take another look at Taibi's Syracuse & Chenago Valley RR book. I'm pretty sure that all of these old hand-colored postcards were derived from actual photographs.

NYCUticaSyracuse81 wrote:Anyone know the location of this postcard? The inscription reads, taken near Lebanon, NY, but using online satellite maps, I could find no body of water that the old ROW would have traveled within such close proximity to water, other than Cazenovia Lake.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/97630304@N02/13645649115" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Also, can anyone tell me where the Cazenovia tunnel on the West Shore's Chenango Branch is located? It's on my list of places to visit and photograph this spring and summer, but I'm not sure of its exact whereabouts

Thanks, 81

Is there a postmark on the back?

Could it be along Erieville Res. at Erieville, a few miles northwest of Lebanon ? The line ran close to the water a way's north of the hamlet.

Can you tell us what,if any,information is on the back of the postcard.

Using openstreetmap, I traced the old right-of-way from Cazenovia, south to Earlville, and could find no body of water other than Cazenovia Lake where the tracks would have been in such close proximity of water. Here is the back of the postcard. As you can see, a careless dealer had at one time written Madison Co. on the back side. I couldn't make out the exact town the card was mailed from, but as you can see it is addressed to nearby Chenango Co. Could it be Tuscarora Lake, and is that the same thing as the Erieville Res.? The tracks seem to have skirted the west side of that lake as well, but according to open streetmap, the tracks depicted in the postcard would have been distanced further from the water.