Archive for the ‘railroad’ Category
unutterable and unnatural
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Haunting the bridges which carry pedestrian and vehicular traffic over the Sunnyside yards, as always, your humble narrator is both frustrated and relieved at the presence of the stout steel plating which obscures the track.
Frustrated, because it makes it quite difficult to photograph and bear witness to its wonders- Relieved because the vital infrastructure of the rail yard is protected from casual “sapping”.
I, of course, know where every gap in the fencing exists that is large enough to poke a camera lens through.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The Yards are used not just by it’s main tenants- Amtrak and the Long Island Railroad- it also serves as temporary housing for the excess capacity of other area rail lines, such as the New Jersey Transit cars on the left hand side of the shot above. The ones on the right are Amtrak.
In the distance is that assemblage of early 20th century industrial splendor known as the Degnon Terminal.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The amazing layer cake of Western Queens is manifest in this place, where the drained swamp which became the Sunnyside Yards reveals the natural grade of the land. The tracks of the 7 Subway line hang over a viaduct which exits Queens Plaza and becomes Queens Blvd.
In the distance are the former Ever Ready Battery, American Chicle, and Sunshine Biscuits “Thousand Windows” factories which were the crown jewels of the Degnon Terminal.
audient void
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Much is made of the various pollution vectors which we lucky few are exposed to daily, here in the Newtown Pentacle. The air is heavy with ash and soot, hopelessly mingled with sewer effluent and automotive exhaust, and smells a little “odd”. The water is ruined, as is the soil itself, and there’s that whole “Creek thing”. What I’ve been thinking about a lot lately, however, is something a bit less tangible.
It’s the noise.
from wikipedia
Noise pollution is excessive, displeasing human, animal or machine-created environmental noise that disrupts the activity or balance of human or animal life. The word noise comes from the Latin word nauseas, meaning seasickness.
The source of most outdoor noise worldwide is mainly construction and transportation systems, including motor vehicle noise, aircraft noise and rail noise. Poor urban planning may give rise to noise pollution, since side-by-side industrial and residential buildings can result in noise pollution in the residential area.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
These photos are from the heart of industrial Maspeth- a bleak moonscape of rail siding, oil streaked truck routes, and a maelstrom of construction and demolition- and illustrate prime and obvious offenders. Their usage is a bit disingenuous, because the kind of aural pollution which I’m wondering about is the “hum”.
Not some paranoid’s imagined perception of radio waves, that’s a Taos thing– but simply the aggregate melody of millions of engines, electrical transformers, air conditioners, tires on pavement, etc.
from wikipedia
Environmental noise regulations usually specify a maximum outdoor noise level of 60 to 65 dB(A), while occupational safety organizations recommend that the maximum exposure to noise is 40 hours per week at 85 to 90 dB(A). For every additional 3 dB(A), the maximum exposure time is reduced by a factor 2, e.g. 20 hours per week at 88 dB(A). Sometimes, a factor of two per additional 5 dB(A) is used. However, these occupational regulations are acknowledged by the health literature as inadequate to protect against hearing loss and other health effects.
With regard to indoor noise pollution in residences, the U.S. EPA has not set any restrictions on limits to the level of noise. Rather, it has provided a list of recommended levels in its Model Community Noise Control Ordinance, which was published in 1975. For instance, the recommended noise level for indoor residences is less than or equal to 45 dB. Noise pollution control in residences is not funded by the federal government in part because of the disagreements in establishing causal links between sounds and health risks, since the effect of noise is often psychological and also because it leaves no singular tangible trace of damage on the human body. For instance, hearing loss could be attributed to a variety of factors including age, rather than solely due to excessive exposure to noise. However, a state or local government is able to regulate indoor residential noise, such as when excessive noise from within a home causes disturbances to nearby residences.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A noticeable silence hung heavily around Astoria this past holiday weekend, and much to the delight of second story men, two thirds of the neighborhood disappeared for holiday excursions. For around two days, it was actually fairly quiet. It was January 2nd, at least, before the honking and constant vibrato of traffic resumed it’s omnipresence.
One wonders what the effect is, biologically, of living in such a saturation of sound.
One also wonders what sounds- what music of the spheres- may lie just beyond the dross auditory senses of men…
from wikipedia
The human auditory system is sensitive to frequencies from about 20 Hz to a maximum of around 20,000 Hz, although the upper hearing limit decreases with age. Within this range, the human ear is most sensitive between 2 and 5 kHz, largely due to the resonance of the ear canal and the transfer function of the ossicles of the middle ear.
Equal-loudness contours were first measured by Fletcher and Munson using headphones (1933). In their study, listeners were presented with pure tones at various frequencies and over 10 dB increments in stimulus intensity. For each frequency and intensity, the listener was also presented with a reference tone at 1000 Hz. The reference tone was adjusted until it was perceived to be of the same loudness as the test tone. Loudness, being a psychological quantity, is difficult to measure, so Fletcher and Munson averaged their results over many test subjects to derive reasonable averages. The lowest equal-loudness contour represents the quietest audible tone and is also known as the absolute threshold of hearing.
The highest contour is the threshold of pain.
high doors
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Let’s get two thing straight at the start of this, ok? Van Alst Avenue and Hunters Point Avenue translates into 21st Century lingo as 21st Street and 49th Avenue- that’s the first. Second, during the four years between 1916 and 1920, this was the absolute center of Long Island City.
Whilst lingering or loitering near 2100 49th Avenue in Long Island City, you may notice that it is the former Paragon Oils and Burners building- a 108,000 square foot, 6 story former factory and manufacturing facility which serves as a document storage warehouse and pedestal for advertising billboards today.
That is, you might notice it, if you aren’t distracted by the busy train tracks and rail station it sits on top of, or the manifest wonder of the skyline of that Shining City of Manhattan which frames the scene.
from wikipedia
Paragon Oil was founded by brothers Henry, Irving, Robert, Benjamin, and Arnold Schwartz. The brothers, and their sister Bess Schwartz Levy, were first-generation Americans, all born between 1896 and 1909 in Brooklyn, New York.
Their parents were Sholem or “Sam” (Chernofski) Schwartz, born circa 1868, and Lena Krakofsky, born circa 1874, who were Jewish immigrants originally from the town of Belaya Tserkov (Bila Tserkva), near Kiev, Ukraine, who had immigrated to the United States around 1895.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Many of the monolithic constructions of the early 20th century abide in this neighborhood, which is largely given over to industrial pursuits, even today.
As is often repeated in these postings- This is where the industrial revolution actually happened, and Long Island City was not just the workshop of New York City, but America itself (!).
This view is from Skillman Avenue, by the way.
also from wikipedia
…the family was poor upon arrival in New York. Sam worked once again as a blacksmith, but now in eastern Brooklyn. When they were young, elder brothers Henry and Irving went door-to-door in Brooklyn carrying around sacks of coal on their backs, peddling it to the nearby homes and residential buildings to earn extra money for their family. At that time, some large commercial buildings had oil-fired furnaces, but residential buildings did not. A combination of factors, including the equipment available at their father’s blacksmith shop and the experience of their relatives back in Ukraine who were involved in the whale oil business, led to the brothers experimenting, designing, and finally building the first oil heaters designed for residential buildings, which eventually earned the family several patents on the design.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One of the things which kept on popping up in my research on the place is the name “Queens Subway Building”.
The white structure which seems to be a seventh floor, according to online documentation, is some sort of “cellular telephonic” or other electronics installation.
Paragon Oil is a familiar name to some of you who may be acquainted with the story of that tortured cataract of urban infamy known to most as the Newtown Creek.
from nysdecgreenpoint.com
The former Paragon Oil Terminal property is bordered by Newtown Creek to the north, Meeker Avenue to the east, Bridgewater Street to the south, and the Apollo Street Creek parcels to the west. Beginning in 1886, two companies operated on this property; the Locust Hill Refining Company and Greenpoint Oil Refining. Both of these companies ended operation by 1905. From 1905 to 1921, a portion of the property operated as a cement works company. By 1929, a portion of the property was being operated as a petroleum storage terminal by Supreme Oil, which later became known as the Petroleum Terminal Corporation. The other portion of the property was privately owned until 1928 when it became the Brooklyn Ash Removal Company. In 1934, all operations throughout the entire property were either run by or affiliated with the Paragon Oil Company, which operated the site as petroleum storage terminal. Paragon Oil was purchased by Texaco Oil, now is known as the Chevron/Texaco Corporation, in 1960. The property was sold to Peerless Importers (now known as Empire Merchants) in 1968, which now operates the property as a liquor distribution warehouse. According to a 2005 consent agreement made with the NYSDEC, Texaco is responsible to delineate and remediate the portion of the free product plume underlying the Former Paragon Oil Terminal and control seepage of petroleum into Newtown Creek at this location.
– photo by Mitch Waxman, and HOLY MOLY, don’t miss this photo that nycsubway.org has.
About the “Queens Subway Building” angle-
It seems that Degnon Terminal and Realty, the folks who built the subway tunnels which the Paragon building stands over, and who later went on to build the vast industrial complex which began at Thomson and Skillman Avenues which ran all the way to Newtown Creek (the white building in the shot above is just one of the many gargantuan structures still extant) maintained offices at a “Queens Subway Building” for some period.
Add in the presence of the Borough President of Queens, a fellow named Maurice E. Connolly, who moved his offices to a “Queens Subway Building” in 1916 and there’s a whole lot of power and money all under one roof.
The use of the structure, known as “Queens Subway Building”, by both parties is confirmed by multiple sources. I just haven’t been able to ascertain if the Paragon Oil Burner building was indeed, the aforementioned “Queens Subway Building” also located at Van Alst Avenue and Hunters Point Avenue.
From “The Steinway Tunnels”, at nycsubway.org
At 2100 49th Ave., a 7-story office building was erected over the station during its construction and is known as the “Queens Subway Building” and was the former offices of Queens County & Borough. It is occupied today by the Paragon Oil Co.
Check this nycsubway.org shot out as well– WO! Is that the Paragon building going up?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Children in the streets of Long Island City take no notice of the building. Within it are stored pedantic records of business and law, not the lost ark of the covenant or a magick sword or some wizard’s cloak. Charming, the structure is often noticed by passerby that comment on quirky and quaint calligraphic advertisements which surely harken back to golden times of economic splendor and memory of a clear conscience.
from a 1987 report at nytimes.com
FLOOR after floor, row after row, thousands of cardboard boxes full of business memorabilia sit in the old Paragon Oil building two subway stops away from Manhattan in Long Island City, Queens.
Under fire sprinklers and the watchful eyes of security attendants, millions of documents and records wait for their day of destruction or, perhaps, for retrieval back to an office tower across the East River.
The seven-story building at 2100 Hunters Point Avenue is one of dozens serving as giant file cabinets for Manhattan service-sector industries.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The most detailed information on the place which I can pass on to you, lords and ladies, is the following link. It seems to be a 2005 report or proposal of some kind involving a brownfield remediation scheme, but is fairly well focused, and specific enough to claim veracity.
from aux.zicklin.baruch.cuny.edu, and fast forward to page 54
The Paragon Oils and Burners building was built in 1916 to house its growing petroleum products business. Occupied by Paragon through the 1950’s, it was used for production, warehousing, and distribution of petroleum-based products. Since the early 1960’s the building has been used primarily as a warehouse facility and most recently, a mini-storage company. The owner also generates a sizeable annual rent from exterior signage, which faces the entrance to the Midtown tunnel and the Long Island Railroad.
warnings and prophecies
2011’s Greatest Hits:
– photo by Mitch Waxman
In January of 2011, while walking along in knee deep snow, your humble narrator happened across this enigmatic and somehow familiar item sitting in a drift at the NYC S.E.M./Signals Street Light Yard of the DOT at 37th avenue near the Sunnyside and Astoria border. It looked familiar to me, but I didn’t recognize it for what it was until sharp eyed reader TJ Connick suggested that this might be the long missing Light Stanchion which once adorned the Queensboro Bridge’s Manhattan landing.
These two posts: “an odd impulse“, and “wisdom of crowds” discuss the discovery and identification in some detail.
Some good news about this iconic piece of Queens history will be forthcoming, but I’ve been asked to keep it quiet for the moment.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
In February of 2011, “Vapour Soaked” presented a startling concurrence of comparitive detail for the discerning viewer, when the shot above was presented in contrast with a 1920’s shot from The Newtown Creek industrial district of New York City By Merchants’ Association of New York. Industrial Bureau, 1921″, (courtesy Google Books).
Admittedly, not quite as earth shaking as January’s news, but cool nevertheless. I really like these “now and then” shots, expect more of the same to come your way in the future.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
In March of 2011, “first, Calvary” discussed the epic (for me) quest to find a proverbial “needle in a haystack” within First Calvary Cemetery- the grave of its very first interment, an Irish woman named Esther Ennis who died in 1848. I have spent an enormous amount of time searching for this spot, where Dagger John Hughes first consecrated the soil of Newtown.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
In April of 2011, the world lost one of its best people and my official “partner in crime”, Bernard Ente.
He was ill for awhile, but asked me to keep the severity of things quiet. He passed in the beginning of April, and one of the last requests he made of me (along with “taking care” of certain people) was to continue what he had started along the Newtown Creek and all around NY Harbor.
This was when I had to step forward, up my game, and attempt to fill a pair of gargantuan boots. Frankly, I’m not even half of who he was, but I’m trying. That’s when I officially stepped forward and began introducing myself as a representative of Newtown Creek Alliance, and joined the Working Harbor Committee– two organizations which Bernie was committed to. I’m still trying to wrap my head around his loss.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
In May of 2011, while attempting to come to terms with my new roles in both organizations, it was decided that a fitting tribute to our fallen comrade would be the continuance of his annual “Newtown Creek Cruises” and the date of May 21 was set for the event. An incredible learning experience, the success of the voyage would not have been possible without the tutelage of WHC’s John Doswell and Meg Black, NCA’s Katie Schmid, or especially the aid of “Our Lady of the Pentacle” and the Newtown Pentacle’s stalwart far eastern correspondent: Armstrong.
Funny moments from during this period included the question “Whom do you call to get a drawbridge in NYC to open for you?”.
During this time, I also became involved with Forgotten-NY’s Kevin Walsh and Greater Astoria Historical Society’s Richard Melnick and their ambitious schedule of historical tours.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
In June of 2011, the earliest Newtown Creek Chemical Factory which I’ve been able to find in the historical record, so far, was explored in the post “lined with sorrow“- describing “the Bushwick Chemical Works of M. Kalbfleisch & Sons”.
Additionally, my “Newtown Creek Magic Lantern Show” was presented to a sold out and standing room only crowd at the Greater Astoria Historical Society.
This was also the beginning of a period which has persisted all year- in which my efforts of behalf of the various organizations and political causes which I’m advocating for had reduced my output to a mere 15 or fewer postings a month.
All attempts are underway to remedy this situation in 2012, and apologies are offered.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
In July of 2011, another Newtown Creek boat tour was conducted, this time for the Metropolitan Water Alliance’s “City of Water Day”. The “Newtown Creek Magic Lantern Show” was also performed at the Admiral’s House for a packed room.
Additionally, my so called “Grand Walk” was presented in six postings. This was an attempt to follow a 19th century journey from the Bloody Sixth Ward, Manhattan’s notorious Five Points District, to Calvary Cemetery in Queens. Once, this would have been a straightforward endeavor involving minimal connections of Trolley and Ferry, but today one just has to walk. These were certainly not terribly popular posts, but are noteworthy for the hidden and occluded horde of forgotten New York history which they carry.
From the last of these posts, titled “suitable apparatus“- “As the redolent cargo of my camera card revealed- this “Grand Walk”, a panic induced marathon which carried your humble narrator across the East River from St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral in Manhattan into Williamsburg and up Grand Street to Maspeth and the baroque intrigues of the Newtown Creek– wound down into it’s final steps on Laurel Hill Blvd.”
– photo by Mitch Waxman
In August of 2011, “the dark moor” presented intriguing aerial views of the Newtown Creek Watershed, and “sinister exultation” shared the incredible sight of an Amtrak train on fire at the Hunters Point Avenue station in Long Island City. “revel and chaff” explored the aftermath of Hurricane Irene in LIC’s Zone A, and an extraordinary small boat journey around Dutch Kills was detailed in: “ponderous and forbidding“, “ethereal character“, “pillars and niches“, and “another aperture“.
This was an incredible month.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
In September of 2011, a posting called “uncommented masonry” offered this declaration:
” By 1915, there approximately 40,000 automotive trucks plying the streets of New York City.
What’s surprising is that 25% of them were electric.
Lords and ladies of Newtown, I present to you the last mortal remains of the General Electric Vehicle Company, 30-28 Starr Avenue, Long Island City– manufacturer of a substantial number of those electrical trucks.”
I’m particularly fond of this post, as this was a wholly forgotten moment of Newtown Creek and industrial history which I was able to reveal. Organically born, it was discovered in the course of other research, and I believed at the time that it was going to be the biggest story that I would present all year about Blissville.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
In October of 2011, a trio of Newtown Creek Tours (two public and one for educators) were accomplished. The public tours were full to capacity, as were the Open House New York tours I conducted on the 15th and 16th of that Month. Also, the Metropolitan Water Alliance invited me to photograph their “Parade of Boats” on October 11th, and I got the shot below of the FDNY Fireboat 343.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
– photo by Mitch Waxman
In November of 2011, a visit to Lovecraft Country in Brooklyn was described in “frightful pull“, and “vague stones and symbols” came pretty close to answering certain mysteries associated with the sky flung Miller Building found at the foot of the Greenpoint Avenue Bridge in Brooklyn.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A December 2011 post titled “An Oil spill… in Queens” broke the news that petroleum products are seeping out of the bulkheads of Newtown Creek, this time along the Northern shoreline, which lies in the Queens neighborhood of Blissville.
Rest assured that your Newtown Pentacle is on top of the story of “the Blissville Oil Spill”, lords and ladies of Newtown, and will bring you breaking news as it develops in 2012.
corporeal presence
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Presented today are a few shots of a very common occurrence presented from a fairly uncommon point of view. The Amtrak train above is traveling down the Hudson toward Manhattan, approaching the Spuyten Duyvil bridge, and the vantage point is onboard a small boat bobbing around in the river.
From Wikipedia
The Spuyten Duyvil Bridge is a swing bridge that carries Amtrak’s Empire Corridor line across the Spuyten Duyvil Creek between Manhattan and the Bronx, in New York City. The bridge is located at the northern tip of Manhattan where the Spuyten Duyvil Creek meets the Hudson River, approximately 1,000 feet (300 m) to the west of the Henry Hudson Bridge. It was built to carry two tracks, but now carries only a single track on the east side of the bridge.
A wooden railroad bridge across the Spuyten Duyvil was first constructed by the New York & Hudson River Railroad in 1849. The current steel bridge was designed by Robert Giles and constructed in 1900; the piers rest on pile foundations in the riverbed. Trains stopped running across the bridge in 1982 and the following year the bridge was damaged by a vessel and left stuck in the open position.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Amtrak runs a passenger line down the Hudson River which occupies a historic corridor of tracks. As is Newtown Pentacle policy on the subject, your humble narrator freely admits to “don’t know much more than squat” status about the rail system, but the Spuyten Duyvil bridge seems to have suffered a lot of bad luck over the years.
From Wikipedia
Spuyten Duyvil Creek (pronounced /ˈspaɪtən ˈdaɪvəl/) is a channel connecting the Hudson River to the Harlem River Ship Canal, and on to the Harlem River in New York City, separating the island of Manhattan from the Bronx and the rest of the mainland. The neighborhood named Spuyten Duyvil lies to the north of the creek.
Spuyten Duyvil Creek originally flowed north of Manhattan’s Marble Hill. The construction of the Harlem River Ship Canal to the south of the neighborhood in 1895 turned Marble Hill into an island, and in 1914, when the original creekbed was filled in, Marble Hill became physically attached to the Bronx, though it remains part of the borough of Manhattan.
Another realignment of the creek occurred in the 1930s, to the west of the original realignment. This had the opposite effect: It separated a portion of the Bronx and resulted in its attachment to Manhattan as a small peninsula where the Inwood Hill Park Nature Center is now situated.
“Spuyten Duyvil” literally means “Devil’s Spout” or Spuitende Duivel in Dutch; a reference to the strong and wild currents found at that location.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Several times have I encountered the rumors that these tracks are haunted, in both modern and historical accounts. A long history of tragedy, including a ghoulish 1882 collision, seems to be associated with this place. Fires, maritime and vehicular accidents, pedestrians crossing the tracks being struck, even the weather has nearly done this bridge in more than once. There were sightings of spectral locomotives in the 19th century along this stretch (and all up and down the tracks between here and Albany as well).
There has been much speculation concerning the origin of the name “Spuyten Duyvil.” Dutch in origin, Spuyten Duyvil can be translated in two ways, depending on the pronunciation. One translation is “Devil’s whirlpool,” and indeed, sections of the creek were sometimes turbulent during high tide. The second interpretation is “to spite the Devil.” This translation was popularized by Washington Irving’s story in which a Dutch trumpeter vowed to swim across the turbulent creek during the British attack on New Amsterdam “en spijt den Duyvil (in spite of the Devil).”
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Practical, private, and stern- the iron visage of the laborers who captain these locomotives do not discuss such frivolous subjects with outsiders, and instead focus on craft and profession. It is a sad thing to see the rich folklore of the rails fade away from the American mind, since these were once the miracle machines of “progress”.
You don’t hear kids talking about “John Henry” or “Casey Jones” anymore, for instance, or threaten their parents with jumping onto a passing train and living life as a “Hobo“.
From Wikipedia
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak (reporting mark AMTK), is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. “Amtrak” is a portmanteau of the words “America” and “track”.It is headquartered at Union Station in Washington, D.C.
All of Amtrak’s preferred stock is owned by the U.S. federal government. The members of its board of directors are appointed by the President of the United States and are subject to confirmation by the United States Senate. Common stock was issued in 1971 to railroads that contributed capital and equipment; these shares convey almost no benefits but their current holders declined a 2002 buy-out offer by Amtrak.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Folkloric to the generations of the latter 19th century, rail offers up some of the greatest stories. Here’s a couple:
Express Train to Hell, Lincoln Death Train.
From Wikipedia
With primarily passenger services, the Northeast Corridor is a cooperative venture between Amtrak and various state agencies. Amtrak owns the track between Washington and New Rochelle, New York, a northern suburb of New York City. The segment from New Rochelle to New Haven is owned by the states of New York and Connecticut; Metro-North Railroad commuter trains operate on this segment. North of New Haven, ownership again reverts to Amtrak, whose tracks stretch to the border between Rhode Island and Massachusetts. The final segment from the border north to Boston is owned by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Under Amtrak’s ownership, the Northeast Corridor suffered from several high-profile electric-power failures in 2006 and other infrastructure problems. Intermittent power outages caused delays of up to five hours for Amtrak and commuter trains. Railroad officials have blamed Amtrak’s funding woes for the deterioration of the track and power supply infrastructure, which in places is almost a hundred years old.
Amtrak owns Pennsylvania Station in New York, 30th Street Station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Station in Baltimore, and Union Station in Washington.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Passenger service is remarkably unexciting, of course, what you want to see are long chains of variegated freight cars hauling lumber and coal and who know what else beneath a stretching trail of steam and smoke painted across the sky. Unfortunately, New York isn’t in that kind of business anymore.
From Wikipedia
The tale of how Spuyten Duyvil got its name is said to be that Peter Stuyvesant, then Governor of New Amsterdam, got wind that the British Navy was going to invade the city. He dispatched Anthony Van Corlaer, to ride up to the northernmost point of Manhattan Island and blow his trumpet, a common means of summoning the people. As he neared the shores where the Hudson meets the Harlem River, Van Corlaer couldn’t cross. It was a stormy evening when he arrived at the upper end of the island, and as no ferryman was available he vowed to swim across the river “in spite of the devil” (Dutch: “in spuyt den duyvil”). Halfway across, legend has it that the devil pulled Van Corlaer under, and while he was able to escape his grasp, he was too tired to continue swimming and drowned there despite his escape. From then on, the little area in the Bronx where Van Corlaer would have come to shore is called Spuyten Duyvil.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This is the first of several postings detailing certain sites and scenes which were observed along the Hudson, Harlem, and East Rivers on a brisk Saturday in the month of November. The small boat I was on is operated by the good folks at Riverkeeper and a hearty thanks is sent for both their good work and for allowing me to ride along on one of their regular patrols.
From Wikipedia
The P32AC-DM locomotive was developed for both Amtrak and Metro-North so it can operate on power generated either by the on-board diesel prime mover or a third rail electrification system at 750 volts direct current. The P32AC-DM is rated at 3,200 horsepower (2,390 kW), 2,900 horsepower (2,160 kW) when supplying HEP, and is geared for a maximum speed of 110 mph (177 km/h)
The Dual Mode P32AC-DM is unique not only because of its third-rail capability, but also because it is equipped with GE’s GEB15 AC (alternating current) traction motors, rather than DC (direct current) motors as used in the other subtypes. The type is confined to services operating from New York City, where diesel emissions through its two fully enclosed main terminals are prohibited. The P32AC-DM are seen only on Amtrak’s Empire Corridor between Penn Station and Buffalo, the Ethan Allen Express, Lake Shore Limited (New York section), Adirondack, and Maple Leaf services, and locomotive-hauled Metro-North Railroad commuter trains to and from Grand Central Terminal. Metro-North Railroad Genesis locomotives have an escape hatch in the nose.
The Amtrak model third-rail shoes are for use on the over-running third-rail in Pennsylvania Station and the Metro-North Model are for under-running third-rail in Grand Central Terminal.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A proper historical workup of the bridge, with the patented Newtown Pentacle multi view technology in place, will be forthcoming at some point in the future. You’d be doing your inner geek a disservice by not clicking on the diagram rich PDF linked to below.
an in depth analysis of this bridge (with diagrams, plans, and detailed engineering), and the herculean task of maintaining it, can be found in this 2004 PDF at arema.org
The bridge was originally constructed in 1899 by the King Bridge Company for the New York Central Railroad, and served for many years as a key link for freight delivery by rail to the west side of New Y ork City’ s main borough of Manhattan. Freight rail service to Manhattan dwindled in the years after World War II, but continued through the takeover of the line by Conrail in the 1970s, and into the 1980s. In the 1980s, Conrail discontinued all service on the line. Amtrak acquired rights to the line and initiated a program to start passenger service on the line.
The Newtown Pentacle 