Thanks Robert (and others) for your help. With your description I was able to get a similar view from the Street View option on Google Maps. See
http://www.geocities.com/jim_lancaster.geo/chatmart/google_st_view_1.jpgRegarding the question of why the freight cars would be on the passenger mainline, I've had a couple of responses pointing out that this location is close to the Bronx Terminal Market where the Eastern Wine Company (who owned the Chateau Martin brand) was located. John Horvath offered this explanation on the Yahoo milk trains list:
"My initial reaction at seeing a train of reefers at this location is
one of surprise. The only thing I can think of is that it's a local
freight working cars to the Bronx Terminal Market (where Chateau Martin
was located) which would be a mile or two to the west of this location
up the Hudson line. The shadows suggest midday or early afternoon when
passenger traffic through that busy junction would be minimal so
perhaps the main is being used to drill cars going to the Market."
Jim Lancaster
On Nov 21, 2008, at 11:35 PM, Robert Bogie wrote:
Jim,
The photo was taken on the NYC Electric Division. The exact location is at the south end of the Mott Haven coach yard. The large building behind the reefers is a US Post Office building and the interlocking tower to the right is MO Tower. The cars are sitting on the mainline from Grand Central Terminal and at that point they are curving to the west to head towards Spuyten Duyvil, before turning to the north to Harmon and then points west. The tracks that can be seen in the foreground are the approach leads to Mott Haven yard and part of yard A. Out of view in the foreground are the mainline tracks for the Harlem Division. To the left out of view is the road overbridge for E 149th Street. Also out of view to the right of the photo and behind MO tower are the two tracks that connect the mainline to the Harlem Division and the Port Morris branch, which is where you would normally expect to see freight cars. So the photo raises the question of why these freight reefers are sitting on this busy passenger mainline. The date would be prior to mid sixties, judging by the manicured garden in the middle of the photo. A similar view of this location can be seen on page 15 in the book by HF Cavanaugh titled "New York Central System Gone But Not Forgotten".
Regards,
Robert Bogie
Melbourne, Australia
--- Original Message -----
From: Lancaster James
To: STMFC@... ; milktrains@...
Sent: Saturday, November 22, 2008 4:48 PM
Subject: [STMFC] Need Help with Photo Location
I have obtained a photo of a Chateau Martin wine car in a train of
reefers. The photo is at
http://www.geocities.com/jim_lancaster.geo/chatmart/ cm_in_train_001.jpg
Does anyone recognize the location? The tracks in the foreground
with the third rail probably indicate someplace in or near New York
City.
Jim Lancaster
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