Railroad Forums 

Discussion relating to the Penn Central, up until its 1976 inclusion in Conrail. Visit the Penn Central Railroad Historical Society for more information.

Moderator: JJMDiMunno

 #1424970  by scoostraw
 
This was up on eBay recently. It is listed as Chatham NY (1969) but somehow the buildings, signage etc. do not look right. Can any of you confirm where this location is?

Image
 #1424993  by TrainDetainer
 
Looks like Chatham to me. Taken from the corner of Hudson and Hoffman. Harlem Line service to Chatham ended 1971ish. The garage building on the right is just a crumbling concrete pad now, the track the train is on is gone and the one to the left of it is covered with vegetation in current Google view.
 #1424998  by scoostraw
 
That's what I thought too. But a former Harlem engineer that I know looked at it and said it didn't look right to him. He remembered there being only 1 track on the west leg of the wye for example. He agrees that the train is absolutely correct as # 902 - 911. And he added that they did turn that train on the wye. He also thought the old engine house was still there up until at least 1970.

But he also realizes that memories get fuzzy..
 #1425068  by Noel Weaver
 
I think the engine house in Chatham was torn down before 1970. Maybe closer to the end of steam which happened in 1952. The Central was good at tearing down buildings that they figured they could get along without in order to save on property taxes.
Noel Weaver
 #1425075  by Backshophoss
 
Took a look at the track diagram of Chatham on pg 263 of Louis Grogan's Book on the Harlem line
If that's the west leg of the wye,that track in front was the lead track to the turntable off the Harlem side of the yard trackage.
The engine house site was turned into a Feed Mill,was serviced by Conrail for a while.
 #1425246  by scoostraw
 
I didn't think to look at Lou's book. What's interesting is that the track diagram shows one track on the west leg of the wye, which is what my friend remembers. However there are clearly 2 tracks in the photo.
 #1425300  by Backshophoss
 
(Wild Guess)Could have been an industry siding,or B&A's "direct" access to "their" Hudson Branch,that shared the Harlem ROW to
Ghent,then went thru Claverack to Hudson.
The track between Hudson and Claverack might be still used by CSX as the "Claverack Industrial Track"
 #1425916  by scoostraw
 
The fellow I referred to left the railroad very near the time this photo was taken. And he did not operate all the way to Chatham regularly.

Being that the building in the photo looks spanking new, I suppose it's possible he never saw it - and hence does not remember it. This still leaves the question of the second track on the west leg of the wye. But I can't think of another location that this could be.

The church spire in the background should clinch it I would think. I'm not familiar enough with Chatham to say either way. Looking on google there is a church at that approximate location today, but it looks nothing like that building.