Re: Freight Car Surprise in Boston Harbor
Schuyler Larrabee
You are correct, Don. The tools we have today to investigate this are
astounding. I used Google Earth, and while the "lens" used by GE is different than the lens used in taking the Shorpy photo, I was able to establish that the "eye level" of the photograph is about 70' above sea level, and that it is just north of the present-day New England Aquarium, at the shoreward end of the Aquarium building, so it must have been from a rooftop. Or perhaps a ladder set up on the rooftop of the "Metropolitan S. S. Co." in the foreground. And yes, the Customs House tower was likely beat for height by the Hancock building, but not by New England T&T. Take a look at GE in three-d view and you'll see that the Hancock is taller, by maybe 100', but the NET&T is definitely shorter. Years ago you could just walk into the Customs House Tower and take the elevator to the outdoor walkway around the top, above the clock and just below the sloping roof. I don't think you can do that now, since it's been turned into expensive residential condos. It was a great break at lunchtime, and you could still see some steam-era passenger and freight cars over in the Fort Point area, the fan pier. (Whew, gotta get list-relevant somehow!) Schuyler --- In STMFC@... <mailto:STMFC%40yahoogroups.com> , "Schuyler Larrabee" <schuyler.larrabee@...> wrote: I, too, wondered if the photo was taken from the Custom House tower but believe the angle is wrong and that it was taken for a rooftop along Atlntic Ave. But the first building taller than the Custom House tower in Boston was not the Prudential. It was either the old New England Telephone & Telegraph Building or the original John Hancock Buillding with the light in its tower to tell what the weather forecast was by changing its color. I was told as a youngster that airline pilots approaching Boston form NYC could see the beacon on the John Hancock Building by teh time they reached Hartford, CT. Cordially, Don Valentine ======= Email scanned by PC Tools - No viruses or spyware found. (Email Guard: 7.0.0.21, Virus/Spyware Database: 6.18900) http://www.pctools.com <http://www.pctools.com/?cclick=EmailFooterClean_51> ======= ======= Email scanned by PC Tools - No viruses or spyware found. (Email Guard: 7.0.0.21, Virus/Spyware Database: 6.18900) http://www.pctools.com/ =======
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