The tower in the background is the Delaware & Hudson's headquarters (The Plaza) it is now the headquarters for the State University of New York system (larger, more expensive and harder to get into than State University Colleges, with a headquarters elsewhere) It was used for a time by a bank as well. The train looks like the Laurentian, judging by the lighting.
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You sure some of your slides didn't get mixed in with Don Haskel's? This is a classic. Wish I was there then. Give yourself a cigar (band)!
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A beautiful classic shot, no matter the era.
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The way it was; I love it! Terrific shot.
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Excellent photo, John
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| Posted by tsched on July 8, 2010 | |
What a wonderful photo. Reminds me of my childhood in another part of the country, but with the same railroad!
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| Posted by on July 9, 2010 | |
The New York Central station in Albany is on a north-south axis, parallel to the Hudson River, on the west bank. The D&H office building sits south of the station, which makes this train a westbound, from New York or Boston. Were it the Laurentian, it would be more towards the center of the station layout, and not on the west side, as this one is, since trains headed for Montreal had to negotiate a ramp down to the D&H line, situated at street level. (It would also duck under the Central's north crossing of the Hudson, which handled freight and the 20th Century Limited, which did not stop at Albany.) The Central's trains stayed elevated leaving the station and swung to the west toward West Albany Hill. A very nice photograph and a warm memory of things long past.
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As everyone else has said this is an ABSOLUTE CLASSIC NYC photo from just before the PC merger. I also believe this train is westbound, but, would really like to know the story behind what the Santa Fe head-end car was doing in Albany. Some ATSF baggage cars were leased by PC, ( I saw them running through Lancaster, PA) but that was AFTER the merger.
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It does not matter to me where it is going as long as it is a train. Beautiful shot John.
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First off, I stand corrected, this is clearly a westbound train. That said, I have spent a bit of time checking old timetables to figure out what train. My hypothosis now is this is No. 51, the Empire State Express, that hauled my Montreal bound cars from NYC to Albany. No other passenger trains appear to have been scheduled into Albany around that time. Apparently I walked up to the front end to get this picture during the 20 minutes scheduled to switch the Montreal cars from No. 51 to the outbound D&H train that was scheduled to leave 20 minutes after 51's arrival. I find it interesting that, even though the station appears to be working headend storage mail on 51, the timetable says 51 did not handle checked baggage. I guess mail was more important.
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What a great old photograph. From the crew in the cab to the carts with the mail bags, this photo is really a classic piece of history.
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| Posted by on July 19, 2010 | |
Outstanding Photo.
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Wow. Fantastic, John!
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| Posted by on July 20, 2010 | |
Regarding the Santa Fe baggage car, all railroads had such types assigned to The Railway Express Agency for less than carload shipments and to the Post Office for storage mail duties. As such, they were interchanged just as freely as freight cars, and could be found at any place at any time. Passenger checked baggage seldom required an entire car, so most of the fleet was purchased for and allocated to interchange routes, much like through Pullman cars and coaches.
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Don't know how I missed this one, but congrats on the PCA. Amazing quality for an older photograph.
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Count me among those who missed this shot the first time around. What a classic shot, with so much to look at, including that Santa Fe baggage to the left of the frame.
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| Posted by on July 22, 2010 | |
Nice classic shot! That E8 is is really good shape despite it's age too! In most shots i've seen of the old covered wagons from the late 6o's the units look old and battered.
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