Photos of Harlem Line Wooden High-Level Stations?

Does anybody out there have photos of platforms when they were still wooden with corrugated metal underneath? I'm particularly interested in the Fleetwood station, but I'd like to see what you guys have.

I remember these stations from when I was young, but they began rebuilding them with the current concrete and red girder look shortly thereafter...

Hey Mike,

Consider visiting the central branch of the Rochester Public Library... they have a copy of Lou Grogran's "The Coming of The New York & Harlem Railroad" and there should be pictures of Fleetwood in there. Each station is covered in fairly good detail...

-otto-

Otto Vondrak wrote:[...]Lou Grogran's "The Coming of The New York & Harlem Railroad"

I KNOW ABOUT THIS BOOK!

Seriously, I did actually go down there one day and check it out, but I didn't find what I was looking for.

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I'd <i>really</i> be interested to see a photo of Fleetwood when it was low-level...

Mike,

Corrugated metal underneath? Do you mean along the sides, or underneath the wood? I don't recall seeing corrugated metal anywhere at those stations.

One thing to remember about those old New York Central wooden platforms is, they had a strong smell of creosote, and if you were fool enough to walk on one in the summer in bare feet, you were likely to get a few splinters. The boards were NOT smooth, but had a very rough, deep grained texture.

You could always tell when you arrived at the train station back then, because even before you got out of the car, you could smell the creosote, and it was a strong smell. Once the high-level platforms came along and the wooden platforms were torn out, you couldn't smell the creosote anymore unless you leaned over the platform so you could smell the ties....

........Great way to get your head smacked by an arrival.....HAR!

Anyway, with the advent of concrete ties, that smell is all but gone. I wonder if the smell of creosote had anything to do with my poor grades in math?

Dieter.

Dieter,

I'm looking for photos of Fleetwood when the platforms looked like this (This is Crestwood):

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Mike, I remember the old pedestrian bridge there. Before the concrete raised platforms they used blacktop that used to sag in the heat.

Now, that corrugated material mentioned previously. This shot brings something back worth sharing. At White Plains, BEFORE the fire, they used a corrugated material like this along the sides but it was green. It was either some kind of plastic, or I had the impression at the time that it was fiberglass. You could see the light shine through it! There were openings so I figured they wanted something translucent so somebody working beneath the platforms (what for?) had some level of daylight to work in.

Perhaps later construction was and likely is, metal. As you can see, there are openings between the corrugated material.

D/

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These photos by Peter Ehrlich were posted on the nycsubway.org website the other day, and show a few of the old wooden platforms on the Harlem.

Mt. Vernon West, 11/4/89:
http://world.nycsubway.org/perl/show?93296

Fleetwood, 10/23/86:
http://world.nycsubway.org/perl/show?93323

Hartsdale, 10/23/86:
http://world.nycsubway.org/perl/show?93324

Awesome! Thanks so much.

The shot of Fleetwood brings back so many memories...I spent many hours there as a child in the 80s. How different it looked before the current platforms and overpass were built!

PC1100 wrote:.....by Peter Ehrlich were posted on the nycsubway.org website the other day
Mt. Vernon West, 11/4/89:
http://world.nycsubway.org/perl/show?93296

That shot takes me back. Anybody remember when they were installing the extended platforms at Mt. Vernon West? Judging by this photo it must've been the following summer, 1990.

I was commuting from an all-nite job in White Plains to the City. I used to have to change trains in Mt. Vernon and wait for the Bronx local to show up. They built a huge wooden staircase between the platforms when the north end of the platforms were closed. I forget how you accessed it, not through the station I don't think, the wooden staircase was south of the station building.

I used to sit on the top step on the eastbd/southbd side catching the early morning summer breeze and wait for the Bronx train to show.

I love that shot of Crestwood. I lived up the hill on White Plains Rd for a year after my divorce in 92, the station was just like that. When was that shot taken? Also, what was pulling the Inspection Train and Phoebe Snow that day?

Sarge wrote:I love that shot of Crestwood. I lived up the hill on White Plains Rd for a year after my divorce in 92, the station was just like that. When was that shot taken? Also, what was pulling the Inspection Train and Phoebe Snow that day?

That was the famous farewell fan trip for the end of the S-motors. Except the last S-motor died that morning, so the trip was pulled by one of the ex-Niagara Junction Rwy. E10B motors....

1981.

Jim

The signs weren't color-coded back in those days, either. When were they given the colors?