Alphabet Soup in History Form

The 0-6-0 Switcher locomotive on the front of this post card is the

No. 2 of the Cooperstown & Charlotte Valley Railroad. It is leaving Cooperstown Junction and headed for Cooperstown. It is carrying the Saturday mixed train on the former Delaware & Hudson Railroad's branch line. When this picture was taken on May 15, 1971 the line was one of the newest shortlines in the United States. This website gives a complex history of the history and owners of this line. Thus, the title "Alphabet Soup in History Form" https://www.lrhs.com/history-of-the-cooperstown-and-charlotte-valley/ In 1865 the Articles of Association for the Cooperstown and Susquehanna Valley R.R. Company (C&SVRR) were filed. The stated purpose was to construct a railroad “from a point at or near the Village of Cooperstown to a point at or near Colliersville forming a junction with the Albany and Susquehanna Rail Road”. In February 1868 work was started on the line. However, the first train was not run until July 14, 1869. The road was broad gauge (6 feet) to be compatible with the Albany & Susquehanna. On May 28, 1876, in exactly one day, the entire 16 miles was “narrowed up” “the work being completed by 4 p.m.” Two extensions of the C&SVRR were authorized by the State. The first was in 1869 from Cooperstown to Richfield Springs. The second was in 1885 for an extension from its “southern terminus … to or near the ‘Hemlocks’ on the Charlotte creek in the town of Davenport”. In 1888 Articles of Association were filed for the Cooperstown and Charlotte Valley R.R. Co. (C&CVRR) The C&CVRR was likewise authorized to build from the “Hemlocks”, but only as far as the lands of Matthew Ward in the town of Davenport. In February 1891 the West Davenport R. R. was chartered. It was authorized to build from the West Davenport depot of the C&CVRR to the lands of “the McLaury sisters a short distance east of the Kort Right Brook”. On April 13, 1891, the C&CVRR and the West Davenport R.R. were consolidated. Two days later the C&CVRR leased the C&SVRR. Work on this railroad started after the blizzard of 1888. By 1889, “the track of the new Cooperstown & Charlotte Valley Railroad (C&CV) progressed eastward for only 6 miles to West Davenport, though graders built culverts, fills and rock cuttings up the valley of Charlotte Creek beyond Davenport, well into Harpersfield Township, before the winter of 1889-90 set in.” “Early in February 1890, the C&CV tracklayers reached Davenport Center, while the graders resuIn 1934, the New York State Public Service Commission permitted the discontinuance of passenger service on the C&CV. The last scheduled passenger train left Cooperstown on June 24.med work east of Harpersfield.” The C&CV was merged into the D&H effective March 1, 1957. The remaining segment of the C&CV line from Cooperstown Junction to Cooperstown was sold by the D&H in 1970 to Delaware Otsego Corporation The sale took place after Delaware Otsego was forced to sell an ex-New York Central Railroad line, following the construction of Interstate 88 between Binghampton and Albany. Delaware Otsego resurrected the C&CV name which was last used in 1930 when the company was merged into the Delaware & Hudson Railroad (D&H). Freight traffic on the CACV declined by the early 1980s to several cars per week, typically loads of lumber in Portlandville, animal feed at Agway in Milford, and several customers in Cooperstown. The CACV was used during the 1980s to store large numbers of idle St. Lawrence Railroad boxcars. The last CACV freight train operated in December 1987, followed by infrequent equipment moves until being purchased by the Leatherstocking Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society in 1996. The Leatherstocking Railway Historical Society (Leatherstocking Chapter NRHS) purchased the line from Delaware Otsego Corporation in 1996. Volunteers performed vegetation removal and trackbed rehabilitation before the line was reopened for seasonal passenger excursion trains between Cooperstown and Milford in 1999, retaining the CACV name. The southern half of the line provides a connection to the Canadian Pacific Railway the current owner of the D&H.

The post card is one of 333 I have that were published by Audio Visual Designs.

Inside the Cab of a Narrow Gauge

The picture on the front of this post card is showing the engineer

and fireman attending to their duties on the narrow gauge railroad (Pine Creek Railroad) located inside the Allaire State Parkin in New Jersey. The following information was gleaned from this website: http://www.thortrains.net/JerseyRR/pinerr1.html The Pine Creek Railroad is part of the New Jersey Museum of Transportation, located at Allaire State Park. Pine Creek has the distinction of being one of the few real railroads whose trackage is an oval, like the common toy train set. It is a "narrow gauge" railway, meaning that the distance between the rails is narrower than the standard gauge of US railroads. Narrow gauge trackage is used for industrial, mining, logging, and operations in difficult terrain. It all began in a sand pit. Around 1950, under pressure to convert to diesel power, the Raritan River Sand Company in Nixon, New Jersey, contemplated scrapping their steamers. Meanwhile, railroad enthusiasts James Wright (who worked for his family's sand company) and Jay L. Wulfson (manager of the Mayfair Dress Company in South River, New Jersey) formed Wright & Wulfson, Inc., and bought a Baldwin 0-4-0T to become Pine Creek No. 1. Together with Pierre "Pete" Rasmussen (an agent for the Central Railroad of New Jersey), Wright & Wulfson founded the Pine Creek Railroad Museum in 1952. They purchased a 2.5-acre plot of commercial real estate in New Jersey and set about building a little narrow-gauge railroad using rail rescued from abandoned sand pits. They began attracting other railroad enthusiasts willing to volunteer their time, and eventually they cobbled together a passenger coach and ran the railroad as an amusement attraction. In 1956 they purchased another locomotive from Raritan River Sand—this time a Porter 0-4-0T saddle tanker. Then, Pine Creek leased Ely-Thomas Shay No. 6 from owner Edgar Mead. The volunteers had also formed the New Jersey Museum of Transportation, Inc., a new not-for-profit organization. Pine Creek No. 1 was sold to Disneyland in California, whereas Copper Creek No. 3 and the two homemade coaches became the property of the Busch Woodlands Museum in Cooperstown, New York. Wulfson and Rasmussen then donated all of the remaining rolling stock and other assets to the New Jersey Museum of Transportation. The museum had already been contemplating relocating to another location so as to expand their operations, but in 1962 moving became critical when, owing to a land reassessment, they were hit with a 300% property tax hike; Allaire State Park in Wall Township, Monmouth County became their new home. A charter was drawn up in December 1962 that formalized the creation of the not-for-profit Pine Creek Railroad Division of the New Jersey Museum of Transportation, Inc. Work on the new roadbed began in 1963, making use of rail provided by Trooper Alden T. Cottrell, Chief of the Bureau of Forests and Parks, who obtained it from an unused siding that ran to the county jail. While a search was reportedly undertaken to find an existing trestle that could be moved, no further mention of the bridge can be found, and when the golden spike was driven on 20 June 1964 (with New Jersey Governor Richard Hughes performing the honors), the loop of track had shrunk to just a little over half a mile.   By 1967 the Pine Creek Railroad had come a long way: the station was refurbished, a new enginehouse was built, a Raritan River caboose was converted into living quarters for the resident machinist, the Railroadiana shop opened, a small diesel was acquired, and the Ely-Thomas Shay was running the loop, as reported by the NJMT Newsletter editor at the time, Theodore F. Gleichmann. Thanks to the efforts of many volunteers, the railroad has been in continuous operation ever since, and the Museum has featured an ever-changing roster of unique and historically significant railroad artifacts.

This information was taken from the Audio-Visual Designs' website: The post card was one of the first post cards published by the publisher, Audio-Visual Designs out of Earlton, New York. Founded in 1964 by the late Carl H. Sturner, Audio-Visual Designs has been a leader in providing high quality railroad images products for over 4 decades. The business was originally located in Earlton, NY. The name was derived by the products sold at the time – audio soundtracks of trains well as visual items (post cards, books, & calendars). The first All Pennsy Calendar was published in 1966 and for many years used exclusively the photos of Don Wood, a long time friend of Carl's. In the late 80's, Carl started showcasing other photographer's work as well. Railroad Christmas cards were added to the line of products early on and with a few exceptions have featured real photos of trains in action. Three railroad books have been published by Audio-Visual Designs: I Remember Pennsy, Locomotives in My Life, and The Unique New York and Long Branch: all of which were projects worked on by Carl and Mr. Wood. Audio-Visual Designs has also published books for other non-railroad related organizations. In 1997, the business was purchased by us (Joe & Colleen Suo) and moved to the present Herkimer, NY location. We have maintained and expanded the level of quality in our products and services established by the founder.

Close to My Home

The train pictured on the front of this post card no longer exists. It is a MACK Type AS Railbus that was built in 1928. This 1990 photo was one of the last ones taken of the train because it was wrecked in a grade crossing accident in 1991.

It belonged to The Greater Winnipeg Water District Railway. The railway was built to transport men and supplies for the construction of an aqueduct from Shoal Lake on the Manitoba-Ontario border to Winnipeg. Shoal Lake is the source of drinking water for the City of Winnipeg. Work began on the railway in 1914 with the railway advancing along the right of way of the proposed aqueduct, building up the grade from bed material, with gravel for ballast and lumber for ties. The line was completed in 1915, and serviced the construction of the aqueduct, which began the same year. The entire project was finished by 1919, when the first water was supplied from Shoal Lake to Winnipeg. In the beginning, three trains a week carried men and materials to the working sites along the way. They also carried early settlers and their goods to and from St. Boniface. Passengers travelled to and from their homes and cottages in southeastern Manitoba. The Greater Winnipeg Water District (GWWD) attempted to reduce overall costs by working for other customers and bringing in revenue. Freight included: Firewood, pulpwood, poles, railway ties, ice, mail, milk, gravel and sand. The forest along the line was a valuable source of lumber, providing ties for the railway. In the early years, trains brought firewood for resale to Winnipeg residents. In 1935, more than 35,000 cords of wood were stacked in the St. Boniface Station yards. As this market declined, lumber was shipped to pulp and paper mills in the US. By the 1950s, the forest close to the railway had all been cleared. Gravel was another source of revenue. The GWWD dug pits to supply aggregate for the construction of the aqueduct, and trains continued to haul gravel for use on municipal roads. Eventually, more carefully graded material was needed for use in concrete. At the peak of this service, up to six trains a day were hauling gravel for use as aggregate by Supercrete Ltd. The last gravel train ran in 1993. Until the 1950s, trains were hauled by steam locomotives. The first diesel locomotive arrived in 1946, and others soon replaced the steam engines. By 1969 four diesels were in service, and three are operating today. Today, the train is used only for City of Winnipeg water supply needs. It is used to haul workers and supplies to maintain the aqueduct and railway. It also hauls supplies to the water intake facility at Shoal Lake, and returns with waste materials that might otherwise contaminate the site. The train is also used to provide security and surveillance along the aqueduct. In order to protect the water supply, the railway is still the only means of reaching the intake.

Some interesting facts about the railway: - The railway is standard gauge and 167 kilometers long. - The GWWD is Canada's longest industrial railway line. - The railway station at St. Boniface was built in 1935 and was made from granite quarried along the line. - The GWWD station at 598 Plinguet Street, St. Boniface, was designed by Winnipeg architect William Fingland. - During the construction of the aqueduct, more than 1,000,000 cubic yards of sand and gravel and 600,000 barrels of cement were moved. - The last steam locomotive was ready for emergency service during the 1950 flood, but was not needed. The Greater Winnipeg Water District no longer exists. The railway and the aqueduct belong to the City of Winnipeg, and are maintained and operated by the Water and Waste Department. As a result, the railway has been assigned the task of maintaining and providing security for the aqueduct. It also takes workers and supplies needed for the aqueduct and hauls supplies to the water intake facility at Shoal Lake, returning with contaminated materials.

Both post cards were based on photographs by Margan B. Turney and were published by "Railfan Canada". They were printed by North Kildonan Publications out of Winnipeg, Manitoba in Canada.

Flying Fast in Pomona

The picture on the front of this post card is of a steam-powered trolley car, "The North Pomona Flier". It was in service in Southern California providing transportation to Pomona, Chino, and Ontario, Calfornia in or about the year 1897, when this picture was taken. The following information was gleaned from this website: http://www.erha.org/pelines/peepll.htm The thriving city of Pomona was founded in 1875, and soon grew large enough to support street railways The first four lines were operated by horses, but the last was spectacular; on it operated by "North Pomona Flier", a steam Dummy Line combining passenger car and locomotive in one vehicle—it went huffing and puffing down the street, billowing clouds of smoke and steam, visual evidence to the awe inspired citizenry that the machine age had arrived. The "North Pomona Flier" operated from Garey Avenue & Bertie Street, Pomona, north along Garey Avenue, Orange Grove Avenue, Hiwasse Street, Laurel Street to Railroad Street, then went west to a point opposite the Santa Fe Station in North Pomona. It operated continuously from November or December, 1887 to November, 1907. During 1895 the SP acquired control and operated it until operation ceased. SP then sold the line to Pacific Electric (PE) giving PE its first entry into Pomona. PE tore up the old rail on Garey Avenue and put down an electric railway constructed of 70-lb. steel rails. PE did retain enough Pomona Street Railway real estate to furnish a site for its substation at Garey & Bertie streets. PE at once began the development of its Pomona city lines, doing the work through the PE Land Company. This work was performed from 1 October 1907 to 15 September 1911. When completed, the Pomona city lines aggregated to 10.43 miles of equivalent single track, 0.06 mile spurs and sidings.

This post cards was published and distributed by the Olde Tyme Photo Cards Bicentennial Station in Los Angeles, California. I have five post cards from Olde Tyme Photo Cards in my collection. The post card was first printed in 1976.

Cahuenga - Little Hills

The railroad that is featured in these two post cards is a "Dummy Line" that ran between Los Angeles and Hollywood in the late 19th and early 20th centures. A Dummy Line is a term used in railroading to describe railroad tracks that did not connect communities nor seem have any serious direction to them. This Dummy Line was named the Cahuenga Valley Railroad. Cahuenga is the Spanish word for the community of Indigenous Peoples (Tongva and Tataviam) that lived in the area. It means "Little Hills". With the completion of the Santa Fe Railroad in 1885 Southern California experienced the fastest growth that had been know up to that time. In about 1883 Harvey Henderson Wilcox moved to Los Angeles from Topeka, Kansas; ultimately founding Hollywood in 1888. Mr. Wilcox made considerable money opening subdivisions but he sold little land in Hollywood to the newcomers. He moved one of his farm houses to Cahuenga Avenue, gave up his ornate Los Angeles home and made the move to Hollywood permanently. Mr. Wilcox was not frightened by the bursting of the boom in 1889. He cut up his 160 acre ranch with avenues and lined his streets with pepper trees.

Wilcox persuaded the Cahuenga Valley Railroad to extend its steam dummy line up Western Avenue and out Prospect Avenue (now Hollywood Boulevard) to Wilcox Avenue. The Cahuenda Valley Railroad was a dummy line that was built to a narrow gauge. Its sole purpose was to move people across the Cahuenga Pass into the Hollywood area. The train shown on the front of this post card belonged to that Railroad. Tourists began to come, and some bought ranches, but not enough to keep the line running. Then E.C. Hurd, a wealthy Colorado miner arrived. He bought acreage at the corner of Wilcox and Prospect and put in an immense lemon orchard, spending $50,000 for water. Hurd bought out the Cahuenga Valley Railroad and extended it to Laurel Canyon.

The train on the front of this post card is shown sitting in front of Mr. Hurd's home. Hurd's purchase and extension of the line was somewhat of a help, but Hollywood was only a fair success. In 1892 Wilcox had died, land poor. Hurd followed him a few years later. In the meantime, the Los Angeles Pacific Electric Railway bought the Cahuenga Valley Railroad, standardized the gauge (1908) and electrified it. Up to 1900 there were not more than 500 people in Hollywood and most of them came only after the electric cars began running through to Santa Monica from Los Angeles. The cars brought tourists, and at Cahuenga Avenue delivered them to C.M. Pierce (later to be the operator and chief tour guide of the Balloon Route Trolley Trip), who drove them around the valley in a tallyho hand gave them a chicken dinner at the Glen-Holl Hotel, all for 75¢. This hotel, a rambling frame structure stood at Ivar and Yucca. After dinner the tourists retook the car on to the beach. The railroad line was abandoned and removed in 1915.

Both of these post cards are published and distributed by the Olde Tyme Photo Cards Bicentennial Station in Los Angeles, California. These two post cards represent 40% of the total of post cards from Olde Tyme Photo Cards. Both were printed between 1963 and 1983. 1963 is when Zip Codes were introduced and 1983 is when the 5-digit zip code had four more digits added to make it a 9-digit zip code.