Peter, as I read your post about smelling the cookies from Stella Doro I am sitting here downing a cannoli from DiLillo's on 'a hun eighty seventh'. Yesterday was my 50th reunion at Cardinal Hayes, so I ran up to Arthur Ave for some bread and pastry. Oh, back to Stella Doro: my father was a cop in the 50th pct when you were at Manhattan College. Often we were the beneficiaries of the end-of-day 'overage' there. They were nice guys who ran that bakery and a loss to the Bronx with their departure a few years ago.
The old Put......gone but not forgotten.....
Ran my New York 4-6-0 10 wheeler earlier today.
Peter
Just to update some points...there are still several sections of rail that can be found, Elmsford for one, quite a few in Yonkers. Last I looked there were tell tales still up by Gray Oaks. Coal is still easy to find as is the occasional spike or tie plate along the whole line.
On a sad note, for those who were not aware, Joe Schiavone passed away recently. Thanks to Joe for doing his share to keep The Put's history alive for future generations.
Tom
Alentown posted:Peter, as I read your post about smelling the cookies from Stella Doro I am sitting here downing a cannoli from DiLillo's on 'a hun eighty seventh'. Yesterday was my 50th reunion at Cardinal Hayes, so I ran up to Arthur Ave for some bread and pastry. Oh, back to Stella Doro: my father was a cop in the 50th pct when you were at Manhattan College. Often we were the beneficiaries of the end-of-day 'overage' there. They were nice guys who ran that bakery and a loss to the Bronx with their departure a few years ago.
Where did they go?
.... Never mind!
MNCW posted:On a sad note, for those who were not aware, Joe Schiavone passed away recently. Thanks to Joe for doing his share to keep The Put's history alive for future generations.
Tom
May he rest in peace.....A really nice man.....I spoke to him a few times on the phone.
Peter
A few pics of the Put.....
Remnants in VanCortland Park......
Peter
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I'am sure it's been noted...but for the record Gabe Pressman passed away on 24 June,2017 age 93....
MNCW posted:Just to update some points...there are still several sections of rail that can be found, Elmsford for one, quite a few in Yonkers. Last I looked there were tell tales still up by Gray Oaks. Coal is still easy to find as is the occasional spike or tie plate along the whole line.
Tom
Thanks for the correction, Tom. Guess it’s true what they say... you can’t believe everything you read on the internet/Facebook 
The Put was a unique and interesting piece of a big railroad. It was interesting enough that even those of us in the opposite corner of the USA (southern California) knew of it, thanks to Trains Magazine. And now we have passed 60 years since its last run.
Does the right-of-way easment revert to the landowner in a case like Putnam?
In Nevada we have a number of old railway routes (track long gone). complete with early tunnels that people often hike. There are also quite a few miles of abandon track the people ride with home built contraptions with small motors.
I know railroads don't want to give up rights, but we also have a number of routes (like to Hoover Dam) that have been paved over where it crosses streets. So I often wonder why/if the railroad (probably UP) still ownes tracks that can't be used.
GVDobler posted:Does the right-of-way easment revert to the landowner in a case like Putnam?
In Westchester County, it took a long time to finish the trail as businesses had encroached onto the right-of-way...not sure what finally convinced everyone to cooperate, but in the end the Old Put is useful once again, now reincarnated as a walking/running/biking trail. I believe Westchester County owns that portion that exists within its borders.
Tom
MNCW posted:Just to update some points...there are still several sections of rail that can be found, Elmsford for one, quite a few in Yonkers. Last I looked there were tell tales still up by Gray Oaks. Coal is still easy to find as is the occasional spike or tie plate along the whole line.
On a sad note, for those who were not aware, Joe Schiavone passed away recently. Thanks to Joe for doing his share to keep The Put's history alive for future generations.
Tom
Yes, sad news about Joe. Living in Carmel, New York where Joe taught middle school I ran into him all the time. He was my son's 3rd grade teacher. One of the nicest men you could meet and cared immensely for his students.
Mike
I remember reading about the situation with the High Line in NYC and the rules around railroad lines and abandonment and so forth. With a rails to trails it depends on the agreement between the railroad and those who build the park, with the high line the property actually was transferred over to the NYC department of parks I believe by CSX, they no longer own the right of way. In other cases the railroads allow the rail to trail conversion and the sponsoring agency is in charge of the trail, but the property is still owned by the railroad and they can retain the right to 'claw back' the trail if they ever decide to re-activate the line (for example, I think they did that with the route that was supposed to become the so called Lackawanna cutoff, I believe that they took back rights to what had been a rail to trail including the Paulinskill viaduct (and I could be wrong, they may have talked about doing that but didn't). I remember reading about the process where a railroad makes a rail line having suspended operations versus formal abandonment, the latter is a big deal.
I had to go to a funeral home in Mahopac the other day that is across the street from the Lake Mahopac station. It is part of a business now but the sign is still up on the station. I would love to find where the Harlem station was. I understand it was very near the Put station.
This Friday ( weather permitting), I will be driving up the Saw Mill River parkwaY on the way to the "Big E" . I always like to study the old put on the way up .... And down if it's not too dark!
Cincytrains posted:I had to go to a funeral home in Mahopac the other day that is across the street from the Lake Mahopac station. It is part of a business now but the sign is still up on the station. I would love to find where the Harlem station was. I understand it was very near the Put station.
Cincy;
Hope this pic is clear enough... according to “The Last of The Old Put...”, page 103, the sign is on the old train building (which is, at the time the book was written, an American Legion Post):
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prrhorseshoecurve posted:This Friday ( weather permitting), I will be driving up the Saw Mill River parkwaY on the way to the "Big E" . I always like to study the old put on the way up .... And down if it's not too dark!
PRR;
Good news/bad news... the good news:
If you have time... the Saw Mill ends at I-684. The first exit you will hit on 684 is 6A - Goldens Bridge. You will exit on to Rt. 22. Make a left and Follow 22 for a short distance - make a right on to North Street (you should see a Metro-North parking lot on the far corner). Follow North Street around the curve (past a small strip mall on your right) till it ends at Rt. 138. Make a left on to 138, cross over 684 and the Metro-North tracks at the Goldens Bridge Station - continue on 138 for a short distance and on your left you will see Bridge L158 from the Lake Mahopac branch of the Put.
Now the bad news... on 684, Goldens Bridge only has an exit going northbound and an entrance going southbound. If you decide to have a look, make sure you have a GPS!!! You can use the address of the MN station (1 Old Bedford Road, Goldens Bridge, NY 10526). Going in either direction, you will need to go use exit 8, Hardscrabble Road, which has an entrance and exit in both directions.
My brother lives 5 minutes from there, so I’ve seen the bridge many times.
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My grandfather used to run the putnam valley coal and lumber in elmsford in the 1930s
Growing up in white plains we used attend church in elmsford i have a picture somewhere of penn central rs 3 in the early 1970s by the old elmsford train station which was turned into a italian restaurant later
I am also a Jasper from manhattan college fondly remembering the smell of the stella dora bakery
Kind of funny as a child I wanted to be a train engineer wound up engineering aircraft.
Still love trains just need to build that layout I’ve been planning for 25 years lol.
So were exactly in Lake Mahopac did the Put meet up with the Metro North Harlem line?
That bridge was not a Put bridge but a Harlem Line bridge. The Harlem line a had a branch to Mahopac until 1958 or near and it stub ended in lake Mahopac only a couple of hundred feet from the Put main line. There was a cross over to permit interline trains.
