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............................................................................................................................................................................... Andes & Delhi     Andes & Middletown     Cairo     Canajoharie & Catskill    Catskill Mountain     Catskill & Tannersville     Delaware & Eastern      Delaware & Northern   Delaware & Otsego     Delaware Valley & Kingston     Delhi & Middletown     Ellenville & Kingston Hancock & East Branch     Hancock & Wilkes Barre     Hobart Branch Kaaterskill N.Y. RAILROAD MEMORABILIA Kingston & Lake Katrine Kingston & Rondout (streetcar) Kingston & Rondout Valley New York, Kingston & Syracuse     New York & Oswego Midland     Otis Elevating     Penn Central "Catskill Mountain Branch"     Rondout & Oswego     Schenectady & Margaretville     South Cairo & East Durham     Stony Clove & Catskill Mountain     Ulster & Delaware     Wallkill Valley    West Shore "Catskill Mountain Branch" from the collection of PHILIP M. GOLDSTEIN revised: WEDNESDAY,  17 NOVEMBER 2010 - 15:45 Double ended wrecker photos & info added 11/17/2010 Amtrak #16000 info Catskill Mountain RR roster added, Delaware & Ulster RR roster updated 11/17/2010 DURR & CMRR Rosters First train on the Delaware & Eastern Railroad October 28, 1905 E.P. Baumgardner collection

Hello & Welcome to another of my websites!

My name is Phil, and this website showcases my interests in collecting railroad emphera, exonumia and memorabilia from the following topics:

• Railroads that operated in the Northern Catskill region of New York State, more specifically: Delaware, Ulster and Greene Counties;
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• "Freight only" (industrial & offline terminal) railroads located in Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, Bronx and Manhattan, NY;
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• Military Railroads that operated in the New York Metropolitan Area
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• Erie Railroad L-1 class locomotives;
  

• Amtrak #16000 double-ended wrecker & other double-ended wreckers of the New York Area;
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• Transportation Emphera from New York City Transit & its predecessor Transportation Companies;
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• Idlewild Airport Baggage Destination Tags;
(ok, so it's not railroad, but it is transportation related!)

This webpage is respectively divided into those sections :

Memorabilia and Information of
Railroads operating in the Northern Catskills Region of New York:

I primarily collect all types of memorabilia from the following Railroads that operated in
Delaware, Ulster, Greene & Schoharie Counties of New York State, i.e.:

§ = As the WEST SHORE RAILROAD (New York Central) connected with the Ulster & Delaware at Kingston, NY;
and the NEW YORK, ONTARIO & WESTERN connected with the Delaware & Eastern / Delaware & Northern
at East Branch, NY; and the Ulster & Delaware in Kingston, NY:
I also collect those items from the West Shore and NYO&W when also marked with a railroad from above..

As a result of this collecting, I have begun updating old data, and collating new data pertaining to the information of those railroads listed above.

Northern Catskills Railroad Collection Showcase

Please click on the link to view items for the topic listed.
Duplicate items are not shown unless differences or significant history is evident.
These pages are updated individually as warranted. Please check back frequently.

Too big to scan, or not yet photographed, I own the following:

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Eventually, all the material in my collection will be photographed or scanned and shown here.

I have, for the convenience of historians and collectors;
compiled and created a webpage with information pertaining to these railroads listed above.
Please feel free to visit it at:

Delaware, Ulster, Greene & Schoharie County, NY;
Railroad Information

Offline Freight Terminal, Industrial & Pier Stations of:
Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, Bronx and Manhattan, NY

I am a historian of, and collect all memorabilia from the following "Freight Only" Industrial & Terminal Railroads,
which operated in:
Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, Bronx and Manhattan, NY:

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Please visit my websites on these subjects at:

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Military Railroads of the:
New York Metropolitan Area

I am a historian of, and collect all memorabilia and photographs of Military Railroads that operated in
which operated in:
New York (Manhattan), Kings (Brooklyn), Queens, Richmond (Staten Island), Bronx  and New York (Manhattan) Counties (NY:

Please visit my website on this subject at:

Military Railroads of the
New York Metropolitan Area

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Erie RR L-1 class
0-8-8-0
#2600,  #2601  &   #2602

   Simply put: I also collect anything in reference to Erie Railroad L1 Class Locomotives #2600, 2601 & 2602:
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Erie RR - L1 Class #2600 "Angus type" AMERICAN LOCOMOTIVE WORKS BUILDERS PHOTO - 1907 Specifications road Erie driver diameter 51" class L-1 .              . boiler diameter (min) 84" wheel arrangement 0-8-8-0 steam pressure 215 p.s.i. builder ALCo (Schenectady, NY) grate area 100 sq. ft. number built three heating surface (total) 5313.6 sq. ft. road numbers 2600, 2601, 2602 weight (on drivers) 410,000 lbs. cylinders (front) 39" d  x  28" s (simple) weight (total) 410,000 lbs. cylinders (rear) 25" d  x  28" s (compound) tractive force 94,070 lbs.

   At the time of their construction in 1907 and for several years of operation, these L-1 Class engines were the largest steam locomotives built, and they operated in pusher service over the famed Starrucca Viaduct on the New York - Pennsylvania border.

   The L-1 class were the only Articulated Camelback steam locomotives ever built.

   Necessity dictated the cab be located on the center of the boiler instead of on the rear as normal, and this was due to the availability of anthracite coal in the Eastern U.S. It should be noted, these locomotives has 100 sq. ft. of grate area, and were hand fired!

   As anthracite coal was harder than bituminous (soft) coal, and taking longer to burn, locomotives using anthracite therefore needed more "grate area" to sufficiently "fire" a locomotive. As a result, oversized "Wootten" fireboxes took up most if not all of the space on the rear of the boiler, and the cab was relocated to middle of the boiler. Such locomotives became known as "Camelbacks" or "Mother Hubbards".

   In 1921, Baldwin Locomotive Works was contracted to rebuild these three L-1 class locomotives into rear cab 2-8-8-2 locomotives. Upon rebuilding, they were also equipped with superheaters, automatic stokers and feedwater heaters. Just nine years later, all three of these behemoths would be scrapped.

   There is not much in the way of memorabilia for these engines, with the exception of postcards and litho prints, which I collect as they present themselves.

   There are commercially produced scale models of this class of locomotive in both HO Scale (brass - unknown manufacturer ca. 1970's) (brass - current - Daiyoung) and O Scale (current - MTH), but all of these are cost prohibitive for a casual modeller like myself to own (all are currently in excess of $1400 retail). So, I scratchbuilt my own. This was my second attempt at scratchbuilding any locomotive in any scale. My first scratchbuilding attempt being 0-6-0T BEDT #16 in HO scale and I already modified ready to run locomotives into either BEDT #14 and #15 or Camelback 4-4-2 Atlantics. While I am particularly critical of my own creations (I have no patience painting, but will spend hours custom fabricating or modifying frames) I am quite proud of this attempt.

unknown railroad modelers magazine
(if any reader knows which magazine this is from, please let me know at bedt14@aol.com)

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   The locomotive started as an undecorated Mantua HO scale 2-6-6-2 logging loco (catalog #334) and the tender is from the Mantua 4-4-2 #460 "Lindbergh Special" (catalog #460) or PRR #7002 (catalog #336) locomotives (as well as used by other locomotives in the catalog). This tender closely conforms to the silhouette of the tenders used on the L1's. I purchased super-detailing parts (valves, boiler plugs, handrail standoffs from various venders in Walthers Catalog and through local fellow modeller Frank Bell as well as Mantua. Frank was also generous enough to lend me his copy of Al Staufer's "Erie Power", and somewhere along the line, I had located and acquired HO scale drawings of the Erie L1 class in one of the railroad modeller magazines.

   The cab is an "as molded" from Mantua as are the domes and front headlight (which I know is incorrect). Front cylinders are Mantua castings from the 2-6-6-2T Booth Kelly logger, (catalog #326) while rear cylinders were original to this model. Hoses and piping are custom bent brass rod and various diameter solder. The live steam crossover is large diameter solder with heat shrink tubing. The valve in front of the cab is a custom hand filed piece of solder. The reversing bell crank is styrene and bronze phosphor wire, as are the handrails. The firebox is from the shell of a Mantua camelback locomotive (although I can't recall which one though, either a 4-6-2 or 2-8-2). The boiler in front of the cab is from the same Mantua kit. The section of boiler between the firebox and cab is heated and bent styrene sheet, as are the running boards.

   The frames are Mantua zamac castings for the 2-6-6-2 locomotive (three axles per frame), which as it turned out driver diameter and axle spacing was close enough to satisfy my needs and I think both were only off by a few scale inches). As I required a four axle per frame arrangement for my 0-8-8-0, I purchased four frames (two front, two rear) from Mantua and proceeded cut the first two of the three axles off the rear frames and the last two of the three axles on the front frames, making a total of four two axle half frames. Then placing them in a jig, I scored the parts with guide lines for alignment, measuring axle spacing, and proceeded to file the mating surfaces with a jewelers file. I bored holes lengthwise on the cut ends of the four pieces, and using solid brass rod as alignment pins and a dot of two part epoxy on the ends of pins, I proceeded to mate the two halves together for each frame and clamped for an hour. Also, the bottom frame covers (which hold the axles in place) were made using the same techinque (two each cut in halves), only they are not joined and are four pieces, each held in place by the original screw at each end of the frame.

   Once the frame pins cured, I assembled the drive wheels with connecting rods (but not main rods) and checked for alignment and binding movement. Fortunately, the design of the frame has brass 'u' shaped axle bearing sleeves that are the full width of the frame, so I only had to file to "tweak" alignment on one bearing sleeve. Once I was satisfied with the axle alignments, I assembled the sub-chassis and motor drive, lubricated all axle bearing surfaces with graphite and sewing machine oil lubricant of my own concoction, and ran the mechanism for two hours in a vise to break in the mechanisms, rods, pistons and other reciprocating parts.

   While this was going on, I finished super-detailing the body and began painting. The smokebox is FloQuil flat black with the rest of the body being Floquil semigloss black, applied with a sable brush. Like I said, I am not patient when it comes to painting. My personal philosophy has always been that freight and industrial engines were for the most part grimy and dented and a shiny, perfect paint job just doesn't capture the "grit and use" of a freight engine. 

   While I used the cast zamac boiler weights from the original model, I added a substantial amount of lead weight to fill in the remainder of the open space within the body shell. I then test assembled the body and chassis for fit, and tweaked accordingly.

   Upon completion and my satisfaction of fit, I took the locomotive to the Catskill Mountain Model Railroaders club (then located in Kelly Corners, NY in the Hubble Brothers building), I test ran the locomotive on an actual layout with various radius curves and grades.. After some minor tweaking of the articulating frames, I operated the locomotive at various speeds, loads and direction for several hours. It ran flawlessly! I returned home, finished painting, and applied decals. Funny sideline here: I wanted to number the locomotive 2600, but the 2600 decal wouldn't fit the brass number plate I had purchased for the smokebox front. So, I numbered it 2601! Also, all the lead and solder I packed into the body cavities brings the weight of the locomotive without tender to 2.2 pounds!

   The next operating day of the Catskill Model Railroaders Club, I unveiled #2601 in front of the other members. Frank Bell, (who supplied some of the parts and Erie fan) was so totally taken aback by the locomotive, he immediately offered me a substantial amount of money for it! As much as I liked Frank, I just couldn't bear to part with "my 2601". We held a little contest on the layout, pitting #2601 against the other locos. For starters, 2601 out-pulled every other single locomotive in presence. Then we did a "load test". We kept adding cars to a train pulled by #2601, which included a 2.5% grade containing a 20" radius reversing 's' curve (somewhat replicating the famous Ulster & Delaware Railroad's Pine Hill double horseshoe curve here in NY). #2601 only stalled out after 49 cars weighing around 1.5 to 3 ounces each (the Catskill layout standard weight was 1.5 oz., while my personal cars were weighted for 3 oz, due to poor trackage on my old home layout.) This 49 car train this may not seem like much, but keep in mind this was on a scale 2.5% grade with a double 's' curve. I would eventually like to see what #2601 could pull on the straight & level with a consistent 1.25 or 1.5 oz car weight for all the cars.

   Other members tried pulling the same train with one, or in some cases two or three locomotives, and failed. In one case, another member had two diesel locomotives with six powered axles attempting to pull the 49 car train, but stalled just past the double 's' turn (point of maximum resistance both on grade and lateral). I ran 2601 up behind the train, and shoved, "pushing" the train just like the prototype in 1907 (albeit this with steam locomotives on the head end)!

   I never got around to installing DCC into the locomotive, so for the most part, 2601 now sits on a piece of panel track in my china cabinet on display. Every so often I take it out, put in locomotive cradle and run it to keep the mechanism in working order. Someday, I hope to take a trip over to Starrucca Viaduct and take better images with Starrucca as a back drop. (You'd think I would have already done so, as Starrucca is only about an hour and half away from me!)

Erie L1 Art, Postcards & Pictures

Amtrak #16000 - double ended wrecker
(and other double ended wreckers in the New York area)

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April 1983 - Sunnyside Yard, Queens, NY
Stan Goldstein photo
authors collection

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   In 1983, my father and I made one of regular "jaunts" to Sunnyside Yards in Queens, NY. This former Pennsylvania Railroad facility was now the scene for Amtrak, Long Island Railroad and fledgling Erie Lackawanna passenger service (pre-New Jersey Transit) action. Don't ask how or why, but we had unparalleled access to the entire yard for many years.

   One of my favorite pieces of equipment, was / is a double ended heavy wrecker: Amtrak 16000. Dad photographed this wrecker in April 1983 with Ektachrome.

   What I thought was an image of this wrecker in use while in Penn Central livery, turned out not to be. There were significant design differences beteen the Penn Central double ended wrecker and Amtrak #16000.

   Then, James Thompson sent me an email on 15 January 2009:

"I have been to the railroad museum in Danbury, CT; and they have a double ended crane there that looks identical to the Amtrak 16000 in the photos on your website.

   I am trying to find where the photos I have of that are.

   I remember being told by one of the people that work at that museum that the car in question was used extensively in New York City, often times in and around stations to replace/repair track, and sometimes for wrecking purposes, due to the compact nature of the car.

I hope I may have been of some help with this."

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   So, I immediately contacted the Danbury Railroad Museum inquiring about this piece of equipment. Within 15 minutes, I received a reply from Patty Osmer. (Kudos to DRM for a super fast reply!)

Patty sent the following info regarding the wrecker in their collection:

Wrecker/Double-Ended Crane GCT-1 "Wellington"
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"This unit was built specifically for the tunnels in and around Grand Central Terminal and has lifting booms at each end such that it doesn't matter in which direction it is headed into a tunnel - it will be in a position to work at re-railing cars. It is powered electrically from the third rail in the tunnels; nevertheless, it requires a large number of sizeable storage batteries which are ganged up in series in the ceiling of the wrecker to provide constant power. For a time toward the end of its working days the crane was known as the "Wellington" in honor of Ed Wellington Whitney, the onetime wreckmaster in Metro North's White Plains yards. Of the three that were built, this is the only one that remains."

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   So, apparently the Danbury Museum acquired the Penn Central double ended wrecker. Unfortunately, Amtrak #16000 is not listed as part of the history, so I began to wonder if #16000 was one of the other two cranes built. I believe this because there are significant design differences between Grand Central Terminal #1 and #16000 (sheave orientation, boom swivel mechanism), so I don't think GCT #1 is #16000.

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17 November 2010:

   While perusing the NE Rails page http://www.northeast.railfan.net/mow6.html , I began looking through the crane images, I happened across an image of Pennsylvania Railroad double ended wrecker #490797. Lo & behold, she is almost, if not identical to; Amtrak #16000! Sheave orientation is correct as is window style and door placement!

   I also looked through my archives and did a little further comparison between Grand Central Terminal #1 / Metro-North #001 double ended wrecker and the image of Penn Central's double ended wrecker. These two cranes appear to be identical as well.

   (By the way, Cleveland Union Terminal (CUT) also had a double ended wrecker; X99; but fortunately appears significantly different enough from PRR #490797 / Amtrak #16000 and PC #50021 and Metro-North / Grand Central Terminal #1, so as not to cause further confusion. But now I wonder if this is the third double ended wrecker to have been built, as stated by Patty Osmer in her email.)

   Therefore it is my contention that Pennsylvania #490797 became Amtrak #16000, and Grand Central Terminal #1 became Penn Central # 50021, which in turn became Metro-North #001:

   I welcome all information and photos.  Please contact me at

bedt14@aol.com

New York City Subway & Surface
Transportation Companies - Student / School Passes

   Now, after the present day New York City Transit Authority absorbed the Brooklyn passenger railroads (mentioned below), and likewise the other individually owned and operated transportation companies, I find that these items have a place in my collection as well.

   There were dozens of competing transportation companies in the City of New York before the formation of the present Transit Authority. While I began purchasing all items from the various Transportation Companies of New York City, I realized I would need to seriously limit my scope of collecting, due to both limited financial resources and limited space in which to store. 

   Of all the items, a particularly favorite topic of mine are the school / student passes of the New York City Transit Authority. As a former student of the NYC Board of Education myself, I have many fond memories of these passes. So, I chose an item I remember fondly from my student days: the "Bus Pass"!

   In short; I collect tickets, tokens, coupons, passes, transfers, metrocards and other fiscal memorabilia  pertaining to student or school fares from these companies. Here is a small sampling of my NYC Transit school pass collection:
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Idlewild Airport Baggage Destination Tags

   About the oddest items I collect and that I am most fondest of, are Baggage Destination Tags, marked "IDL" for Idlewild Airport, NY (now known as John F. Kennedy International Airport). The name change took place to honor the slain president, so this dates all IDL baggage tags to pre-1964.

   My first IDL baggage tag was found hanging from a piece of luggage amongst a huge pile of others set by the curb outside an apartment house for sanitation department removal. I happened to be going by on my bike and saw the tag from Trans World Airlines (TWA) swirling in the breeze. I cut it off and brought home where I show my father, who smiles and says follow me. He brings me to our basement, roots around under some boxes and pulls out his old army issue duffle bag from his service days. What should happen to be attached to the canvas strap handle? Another IDL Tag from Eastern Airlines! Well, I put both in my miscellaneous album.

   Well, several years pass, and I locate only one other IDL Baggage Tag on eBay, this one from American Airlines (AA). I email the seller and it turns out, he has two others (United, KLM). Many years pass, and I was unable to locate any others, but wouldn't you know it; two show up on eBay at the same time! (Pan Am & BOAC).

   So, in short; I collect these very obscure markers of aviation history. 
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