Old New York

For many years, a feature of Railroad Model Craftsman magazine was the "Collector Consist" column authored by Mr. Keith Wills. I always looked forward to his column as he discussed many different items in a variety of scales, some of which were quite unique and rare. One article in particular sticks in my mind. It told the story of the trip made by him and his Dad to sample the city's numerous railroading delights at Christmas time. It was published in the December 1983 issue. Evidently, it was a popular piece as RMC has seen fit to post it on its website to be enjoyed again. Here's the link:

 

http://rrmodelcraftsman.com/ex...cm_extra_dec1983.php

 

"For the Love of Trains".....I can't think of a more appropriate title for that article.

 

Enjoy,

Bob  

Bob,

 Nice article. Never saw that one before. Thanks for sharing it.

 

Tom

Bob.....thank you....that was a great article!

 

Peter

Thanks, Bob.

 

I remember that article when it was published. It pretty much described my annual Christmas trips with my father, too, with the exception that we traveled from the Bronx instead of LI.

 

I always looked forward to Keith's collector articles in RMC.

 

Jim

I, too, really enjoyed the article.  I lived in Queens Village for 36 years, not far from "Belleaire" station on the LIRR.

 

Richie

They had a 1:24 Slot car track on the upper floor that I used with my friends back in the 60's. I don't think there was a charge, bring your own cars and run them. Since they were so diverse, there wasn't a whole lot of O gauge stuff. Madison Hardware, 9 blocks south was the place to go for trains.

I don't know any of the area these pics are from. BUT, they are great.   I love the pics of the old trams, trolleys etc.  Keep them coming.

This is slightly amusing to me, because I "grew up" on 161st & Broadway and my buddy lived down the block on Ft. Washington Avenue.  We walked to many Giants and Mets games at the Polo Grounds without ever being hassled.  Walked across the bridge to Yankee Stadium too, lots of times, no problem.  To this day we still "discuss" the relative merits of Mantle vs. Mays, and Gilbert vs. Lionel. 

 

Pete

Pete,

 

I don't know what it was about Manhattan, but my parents gave me pretty much free rein to go where I wanted in the Bronx. But, I couldn't cross that river!!!

 

I'm sure Washington Heights and the Coogan's Bluff area were much friendlier places than some of the south Bronx neighborhoods I wandered through on a regular basis!

 

Jim

 

Jim,
As a kid we would ride our bikes from 167th St. Near Jerome Ave. Up the Edward L Grant Highway ( Boscobel Ave.) Across the (Martha) Washington Bridge to the George Washington Bridge to Rt 9 in Jersey. Then up to where you could ride down the Palisades on a winding road without pedaling at all to the bottom at the waters edge. Then cross the Hudson River on the Yonkers Ferry to Yonkers. The go South back to the Bronx and home. That took up most of the day.Life was good!
Nate

Sent from my iPad

> On Feb 12, 2015, at 12:06 PM, O Gauge Railroading On Line Forum <alerts@hoop.la> wrote:
>

Nate......that sounds like a real blast!

 

Peter

Nate,

 

Those were great days!

 

I should have crossed the river(s) more often!

 

Jim

Nate - You're freakin' me out here!  One of my favorite rides after I got my Peugeot ten speed (in my twenties during a temporary bounce back to the parents') was to cross the GW bridge and go down those switchbacks to Palisades Interstate Park, it was called, along the Hudson.  A great spot to watch the trains on the Hudson line across the river.  The Yonkers ferry was long gone by then but I'd keep pedaling North, making my way up the North end switchbacks to Route 9W, and from there go visit pals in Tappan and gals in Piermont.  Return trip usually was through Jersey on the West side of the Palisades.

 

Jim - The only place in New Yawk City that ever gave me pause about being there was East New York, in Brooklyn, at the New Lots Avenue station.  Had a guitar player lived out there and boy were my nerves wracked when we walked from the train to his dad's apartment in the projects.  Interestingly, Bernard is a waaaay better musician than I and does a lot of recording production and playing on records of various rap artists.  He tells me some of those guys ain't so easy to collect from.

 

Pete

These pictures are from Broad channel when the Long Island Railroad operated the line   This is now the A train to Far Rock and Rock park.

 

The most rewarding flavor in this man's world, for people who are having fun...

 

 

 

 

This is one of my all time favorite pics  Combines railroading and Ballantine beer.  That's the Jersey Central mainline in Newark ( Sounds something like New York)

 

Ben:

 

You probably know this already but the CNJ operated a fleet of cars in service for Ballantine. Pictured below is an HO model.

 

Bob 

 

Hi Bob

Yes I did know that Atlas did that car in their early O scale stuff in the 1980's

 

This is the Third ave car barn and on the opposite side it was the power house with the second ave el in front.