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INDUSTRIAL & TERMINAL RAILROADS & RAIL-MARINE OPERATIONS OF BROOKLYN, QUEENS, STATEN ISLAND, BRONX & MANHATTAN

DEVELOPMENT OF THE CARFLOAT TRANSFER BRIDGE IN NEW YORK HARBOR

MILITARY RAILROADS OF THE NEW YORK METROPOLITAN AREA

DOUBLE ENDED RAILROAD WRECKERS OF THE NEW YORK AREA

ERIE RAILROADS' L1 CLASS  "ANGUS TYPE" 0-8-8-0 CAMELBACK

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ABOUT YOUR AUTHOR:

Philip M. Goldstein
updated 28 May 2026

former Canadian Pacific East Region / Freight Main
(now Norfolk Southern Harrisburg Division / D&H South Line)
West Richmondville, NY - 2013
Deborah M. Pickering photo

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Sharon Goldstein photo - August 1970 NKP #759 Lima Locomotive Works c/n 8667 built August 1944

I was born in May 1969 in Brooklyn, NY; and for as long as I can remember; I have always been heavily interested in railroading. And for the record, it runs in the family. I was introduced to trains and railroading at an early age by my father Stan.    Some fathers played catch or football with their sons... My dad took me to see trains and railroads.        When I was 14 months old, NKP #759, a 2-8-4 "Berkshire" type, formerly from the New York, Chicago & St Louis Railroad (better known as NKP or the Nickel Plate Road) was laying over in Warwick, NY at the Lehigh & Hudson River Railroad shops, after the August 1970 High Iron Excursions along the Erie Lackawanna Main Line.    My mother Sharon took the picture (seen at left) of me on its front coupler being held by my father.    As a child, I also had the Remco "Mighty Casey" 6 volt battery powered train set; that a child could ride. Mom contacted the company, and dad ordered extra track, and the "layout" was set up in our huge 16' x 20' living room.        If only they knew where that would lead... And I think Dad did know - and hoped it would!    My father passed away on 05 October 2009. Rest In Peace Dad! I ♥ U.

I may have been born 6 years too late for the BEDT steam show; but I did get to see some BEDT diesels in action on Kent Avenue, as well as New York Dock diesel operations at Fulton, Atlantic and Bush Terminals, in Brooklyn.    Matter of fact, when I was a child; I was fortunate enough to get a ride in a New York Dock RS3 diesel (in background) at Bush Terminal in October 1974.    The crew just pulled up to my father and I, and said "come on up!" And away we went.

Stan Goldstein photo - 1974

Stan Goldstein photo - 1975 New York Dock #55 - GE 44 tonner  c/n 31225 built December 1951

The image at left was taken by my father on April 14, 1975.    Here I am standing in front of the New York Dock Railway's Fulton Terminal enginehouse in downtown Brooklyn.    I may not have had good fashion sense (checked pants with plaid jacket with a striped engineers cap?), but no doubt I have good taste in railroads! And that hair which was my mother's choice. Classic 70's.    As a result of the Offline Terminals being located in Brooklyn, introduced me to them at an early age.    Therefore, these Brooklyn based offline terminals hold a special place in my heart and it is how I came to author the website on their colorful histories. As you can tell by my writing, I have remained loyal to their existence.

   By the time I able to use it, my father had gotten me my own 35mm camera. I had a cheap camera before this, until I dropped it. I couldn't tell you what camera this was as I don't remember it at all. My father knew and he's gone.

   So to replace that one, he purchased me a Yashica GTN Electro Rangefinder with fixed 45mm f1.7 lens; and trust me; it came to see plenty of use at railroads and railroad yards up and down the East Coast and Michigan. 

   It was a great beginner's camera; equipped with a red indicator light in the viewfinder for overexposed shots and yellow indicator light for slow. More importantly it taught me the Reciprocity Law, and the Rule of Thirds.

   I have this gaily colored 1970's denim strap for it, that one could see from a mile away. While most straps were black or brown leather back then, I had this. 

   Now, you have to understand; every railroad I was at, I was always asked by the crew to come up in the cab. This is a kids duty, especially the kid of a railfan. 

   Well, I can't tell you how many steps and ladders and grab irons this camera got bashed into, but it held up. I still have it, dings, dents and all. The viewfinder is loose, the original mercury battery for has been discontinued.. The "leatherette" case is peeling from age.  But, I still have the camera.

Here I am on the platform in Hollywood, Florida on April 19, 1976; (which makes me 7 years old) catching Amtrak train #93 "The Floridian," with the much maligned SDP40F locomotive on point.    Every spring vacation we drove down the Eastern Seaboard to visit my maternal grandparents in North Miami Beach; stopping at railroad venues along the way.    Florida East Coast and Amtrak. What could be better? And there I am carrying my trusty Yashica.    The engineer was quite friendly on one of the other trains I caught this day, as he threw me down a handful of flimsies (Form 19's) from Seaboard Coast Line, which I still have!    These is what constituted my spring (Easter) vacations from school, for several years.

Stan Goldstein photo - 1976 EMD SDP40F c/n 74611 - built July 1974

Now, for summer vacations; my family spent a week or so practically every year in Strasburg, Pennsylvania.    Most families go once, maybe twice; then go somewhere else. Not this family. Our first trip took place in 1974, we did the de rigueur stay at the Red Caboose Lodge. Nothing like waking up in the morning to the sound of the steam whistles a half a mile down the track at the enginehouse. Dad and owner Don Denlinger became friends.     After the Red Caboose became so popular that even we could not get reservations more than 6 to 8 months out; so we became regulars at the Carriage Light Motel on Main Street. This was convenient for me because in my early teens, I would walk down the street to the Choo Choo Barn and purchase HO scale cars for my layout at home.    As us kids got older, mom and my sister wanted a pool to cool off in, so we switched to the Amish Lanterns on 896.     Dad and I would spend the day trackside. Obviously, this meant I was constantly around operating steam locomotives; which as you can imagine, never seemed to grow boring. Matter of fact, this repetitive exposure helped develop my affinity for and a deep understanding of steam locomotives and their operation.    While in Pennsylvania, we would usually shoehorn a day or two at Horseshoe Curve in Altoona, as well as visit the Altoona Yards at night. Here's some little brat in the engineers seat of ex-Erie Lackawanna #3667 in August 1977, patched for the 16 month old Conrail.

Altoona Yard - August 1977 EMD SDP-45 c/n 36885 built August 1970 to Conrail #6698 Stan Goldstein photo

   These were the days when train crews saw a kid and said come on up! Middle management couldn't care less, and this was an era before frivolous injury claims and soaring liability insurance premiums made management say, "Sorry kid, can't do it."

   Oddly enough though all the summer trips to Altoona, Dad never seemed to travel the few extra miles to the Gallitzin Tunnels, and I never thought to ask him why. Now with him passed on, I'll never know.

   We were too good to stand inside the 'Shoe, and dad had his favorite spot picked on the rocks on the south (east) slope coming off the curve on the uphill side. Again these were the days the railroads couldn't care less. Now, Norfolk Southern has railroad police regularly assigned to the area, and woe be upon the railfan that gets caught anywhere outside the park and this close to trackside.

   This pair of images was completely unrehearsed or timed. That train was creeping up the grade maybe doing all of 5 miles an hour. Dad shot them as I waved (thats me in the red shirt - recognize that camera strap yet?) and put down his camera. I picked mine up, turned as it passed dad. 

Gettin' a wave from the hogger. August 1977 - Conrail 6249 EMD SD40 - c/n 36905 - built December 1970 as Penn Central 6249 Stan Goldstein photo

August 1977 - Conrail 6035 EMD SD35 c/n 30423 - built May 1965 as Louisville & Nashville 1202 Philip M. Goldstein photo

   Like I said earlier, Pennsylvania may have been for summer vacations, but spring vacations were for driving to Florida. We stayed once at the South of the Border, in Hamer, SC. After that, our motel of choice was The Thunderbird and located in Florence, SC. Literally right off I-95, the Thunderbird has (and still does) an active railroad line right in front. 

   With our first visit and upon checking in; dad asked the front desk clerk, "Do trains ever run out front?" The clerk replied "Yes, but don't worry, I'll put you in a room away from it, so they won't disturb you." 

   Dad was like, "Oh, no, no, no.. We want the room up front!" A short conversation later; we had our room overlooking the tracks. About 30 minutes later, we were at dinner in the dining room up front; when the clerk came over, and said, "I made a phone call to my brother in law who works at the railroad yard. There's a train due through in about 15 minutes. It's actually running a few hours late." 

   Well, dad and I dropped our forks and ran to the motel room to fetch our cameras, and went trackside. My poor mother was left to explain to the waitress that nothing was wrong with the food (or me) as we simply rushed out out of the dining room; she was simply married to, and had a railfan for a son. 

   After the train passed, we finished dinner, washed up; and dad (with me) in tow drove over to the railyard. The train that passed us was changing crews at the yard and well, guess who got to go up in the cab of yet another locomotive.

   The next morning, we went to the railroad yard and there wasn't much action; but we got to see the steam locomotive on display: Atlantic Coast Line #1031.

   Now, closer to home, it seemed as if my father and I were perpetually at Sunnyside Yards, which is located in Long Island City, Queens, NY. This facility which at that time housed Amtrak, Penn Central and the New Jersey Department of Transportation (commuter rail). 

J. Testagrose photo	We would visit it several times a year and we witnessed first hand the transition from Penn Central to Conrail and the New Jersey Department of Transportation into New Jersey Transit.     We watched the venerable GG1's give way to AEM7's and E60's: "toasters" with "ghetto grates".    Here is a shot of me on the 39th Street overpass which overlooks Sunnyside Yards (before they put up the high walls along the sidewalks); and down in the yard.         Again, there I am with my trusty Yashica GT, '70's era strap and all; as it holds some very fond memories. It really has taken quite a bit of railroad photos.	S. Goldstein photo
By this time in our lives, my father, who part timed at his friend Lloyd Cannon's camera shop "Apparatus Plus" / "Photofaction" on Seventh Avenue in Brooklyn, met and become very good friends with John Testragrose.    John, was one of two brothers to Joe Testagrose; of whom was a significant photographer of New York City subway scenes and equipment.    John on the other hand was into heavy rail; and would accompany us on our railfan jaunts into Sunnyside Yard. Following his divorce, he was "adopted" and became a part of our family. I remember many a Sunday morning after John had delivered his route, he's show up at our house bright and early with a sack of bagels, a couple pounds of cream cheese, lox and pints of Haagen-Daz ice cream.     The fact that John was a photographer for the New York Post (and a newspaper delivery truck driver for them as well), didn't hinder us I'm sure. John would respond to large FDNY fire responses and scenes within the 5 boroughs to contribute to the newspaper, and can't help if this helped inspire my interest in fire photography.		J. Testagrose photo

   During the mid 1980's there was a definite slow down in our railfanning. Most of the railroading in Brooklyn was gone; dad went through a mid life crisis: first John passed suddenly (a health food nut, was diagnosed with cancer and gone within months), and then the same with my grandmother - my father's mother. Losing both within the same year took a heavy mental toll on my dad, and he lost a lot of his interest in all hobbies.

   But, by 1993 I was out of high school and in my mid 20's, I had the pleasure of assisting (the now deceased) Robert Diamond in organizing the fledgling Brooklyn Historical Railway Museum, when it first was getting set up on the Van Brunt Street Pier in Brooklyn, NY. I've got god memories of Bob, in spite of how eccentric he was.

   He and I met through the coincidence of our both trying to save BEDT #16 from Kent Avenue. From then until and through 1996, I helped hose out the former warehouse of pigeon droppings with a fire hose (and got a hell of a case of contact dermatitis on my legs.) We set up industrial shelving and cataloged street car parts, we ran electrical lighting and got running and maintained both the generator sets: first a 4 cylinder Hercules / Winpower (believed to be surplussed from one of the NIKE Missile Sites on Staten Island), as well as the 8V71 superturbocharged set donated to the BHRA from the LIRR. I learned about diesel engines from and old blind Hyster fork lift mechanic that came by to help. I also installed the muffler and exhaust systems for them that Bob scrounged, (so we wouldn't all go deaf) as well as helped rewire and restore the lighting in the PCC cars. 

   I also assisted in rebuilding the stairs in the Atlantic Avenue Tunnel, as well as construct cribbing for the cut granite wall in anticipated excavation for that locomotive believed to be hidden behind that wall in the tunnel. The tunnel, a constant 59 degrees and high humidity; anything that was wood grew mold within days. So, all new construction we were doing; it was all wood was coated with Cuprinol. We had a 55 gallon drum of it donated to us from some chemical company in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Neither he or I had much in the way of spending cash, so we lived off pizza and White Castle.

   In those years; Bob, co-opted my father and the three of us went to SEPTA in Philadelphia to pick up their donation of a partial spool of solid copper trolley wire; and we were invited to spend the day on the street cars, to which we needed no further enticement or encouragement. On another occasion, Bob and I and several other of his acquaintances crammed into a rented car and tooled down to Amtrak's Baltimore Station to palletize several thousand of the paving stones from the station platforms (that Amtrak was removing) for shipment by tractor trailer back to Brooklyn. This took place on my birthday - I literally blew out the candles on the cake, took a bite, kissed my mother on the cheek and ran out the house. The drive down took place in the middle of torrential thunderstorms, five guys crammed into a rented car, windows all fogged up. The next day, we were out in those downpours, caked in mud, stacking paving stones and shrink wrapping them for the journey. The upper management representative of Amtrak that Bob was coordinating with, took us out to dinner out at some high end tavern in the Philly business district (someplace where the attorneys and politicians ate in three piece suits slowly sipping on snifters of brandy.) A class joint. Talk about pigs in a manger, I'm sure the cleaning staff is still mopping up the mud where we sat. Then we all went back to the reps house for hot showers and the drive back to Brooklyn. 

   On another occasion we made our way to Long Island Rail Road's Oyster Bay Yard, to hand load 600 "relay" railroad cross ties which were donated to the BHRA, onto flatbed tractor trailers. On yet another occasion, we also picked up some donated rail from the NYCTA 36th Street Yard. The sacrifices I made! 

   One of my fondest memories with the BHRA was learning how to operate Oslo #3; a genuine museum piece owned by George Hassoldt and loaned to the BHRA. #3 is an overhead electric four wheel trolley built in 1897 by Mann-Schukert in Germany; for use in Olso, Norway. During the time it was on loan to the BHRA, we laid the rail from NYCTA and operated on short section of track within the Van Brunt Street warehouse powered by the SEPTA trolley wire and the LIRR generator. 

   This trolley car is currently located at the Trolley Museum of New York, in Kingston, NY. Speaking of the TMNY, and after my relocation to upstate NY in 1998, I joined their organization and became certified to operate #358 (ex-Johnstown, PA), a 1925 St. Louis Car Foundry (now reconfigured as self propelled diesel). I am also certified to operate railcars through the North American Rail Car Owners Association (NARCOA). 

   I have also been at one point or another, to some degree or another; involved in the cosmetic restorations of Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal #14 (Ulster & Delaware RR Historical Society) and #16 (before and after it went to the Railroad Museum of Long Island, Riverhead, NY.)

   As it is every railfans sworn duty to try and finagle a cab ride as often as possible. In this modern litigious society, corporations frown upon it to the point of even issuing penalties for crews; so such opportunities rarely occur on spur of the moment, but they do. That is, unless you either know someone higher up in the food chain or you are just exceptionally lucky, of course. At least one (usually the later), but often both applies to me. 

   So, not to be overlooked are the numerous "discreet" cab and hi-rail rides I have received from active duty employees on my local Class 1's and 2's, even if it was only from one end of the yard to another. I won't go into details to protect the crews from possible disciplinary action, but these guys were friendly enough and remote enough to know how to make a rail enthusiast smile, and they have my utmost gratitude. Inward facing cameras in the locomotive cabs really put the kibosh on this form of enjoyment. 

   In addition to the New York Dock cab ride mentioned above when I was a child, I have also had the pleasure of numerous -publishable- cab rides as I got older as well: at least one cab ride in almost every piece of motive power of the Delaware & Ulster Railroad: ALCo RS36 #5017, ALCo S4 #5106 & #1012, GE 44T #76, and Brill M405. With their acquisition of NYO&W #116, I will now have to try to get a cab ride in that if I ever get back there.

   I have also been fortunate to have had a cab ride in Catskill Mountain Railroad #407 [ALCo S1]. This ride actually means a bit to me, as this locomotive is as close as I'll ever get to an operating former carfloating / rail-marine terminal locomotive, due to the fact that:

1. This locomotive is an ALCo S1, and Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal used the identical model locomotive for its carfloating operations after 1963 through closure in 1983,
2. #407 itself was used in carfloat drilling for the Long Island Rail Road at Long Island City Freight Terminal (just a few hundred feet upriver from the BEDT Pidgeon Street Yard)
3. As #407 was still equipped at that time with "eared" knuckles on her couplers (used for float bridge / carfloat interchange operation - it's the little things);

Catskill Mountain Railroad #407 - September 26, 2010
ALCo S1 (ex-SIRT #407, exx-LIRR #407)
Earl Pardini, President and Chief Mechanical Officer of CMRR and myself.
J. Tanksley photo

   By now, I was a hardcore railfan. The website was up and running and that led to research. Research led me to communicate with railroad employees and management.

   The Catskill Mountain RR acquired ex-LIRR 407; which operated at the LIRR rail-marine terminal in Long Island City, Queens. The "dispatcher" for the CMRR was an old friend from adolescence and by now his regular employment was one of the trainmasters of the New York, Susquehanna & Western Railway. 

   So from 2011 through 2018 (even after I moved to Texas); if there was something moving on the Susquehanna, I knew about it happening 5 minutes after the executive / middle management meeting / phone conference concluded. Special moves, vintage equipment be hauled, bridge testing, and of course - hanging out in the office and the high rail truck inspecting the crews.

   I became close friends with Joseph Roborecky - retired BEDT and NJT locomotive engineer and Designated Supervisor of Locomotive Engineers. Our friendship led to us railfanning the Conrail Shared Assets Operating areas together; which in turn led me to meet and becomes involved with the "Bound Brook Irregulars" - Brian Kincaid, Gabe Ruffi, Steve Usalj and Janice Fix, Mike Tierney and his father Bill; Nick Gagliardi, Joe Aziz, Chris Urban, Thomas Healy, John James, Matt Mancuso, Laura Johnston and Zach Ryan and so many more. If I forgot your name, don't take it personally! 

   A lot of those youngsters are now working for the railroad! Just a bunch of good people, good railfans that gathered at the Bound Brook platform of NJT / CSAO.

   But, there is nothing like cab riding a steam locomotive. I vaguely recall riding a steam locomotive as child, but not sure of when or where. Doubt it was Strasburg. Steamtown in Vermont perhaps or Morris County Central? I cannot say for sure. 

   But, in September 2013, I had the very distinct pleasure of riding in the cab of Texas State Railroad #316 (4-6-0). Texas heat is just a tad more bearable (or maybe unnoticeable!) in the cab of steam locomotive. If one is going to roast, you might as well enjoy it!

   Deborah, my better half of railfanning; purchased a cab ride for me as a first anniversary present. This worked out to her favor as well, because it was the last run of the day and after we arrived in Palestine, the crew invited her up as well for the run to the enginehouse.

Texas State Railroad #316 - [4-6-0 - ALCo-Cooke Works, 1901] Rusk, Texas - 21 September 2013 Deborah M. Pickering photo    Oh, and I think it's worth mentioning, that she got bit by the railfan bug upon meeting me.
That your girlfriend? Yup! What's she doing on the ground? Didn't think there was enough room in the cab for two riders... We can make accommodations! Get her up here!	Hold on! . . . .	Wind blowing in her hair as we ride back to the enginehouse . . . .

Photography Equipment

   Railfanning usually (but not always) involves an interest in photography, and I am not precluded from this.

   As for my photographic equipment, after my Yashica GT mentioned above, I eventually graduated to an Olympus Pen-FT 35mm Half Frame SLR with 50-90mm f3.5-4.5 zoom lens around 1980 or so. Unfortunately, as I grew older and graduated high school; my interests matured and changed, (work, women and muscle cars) and I drifted away from railfanning in 1983 with a coinciding hiatus in photography as well.

   In 1995 however, I developed an interest in NASCAR Winston Cup Racing and my manual focus Olympus body just was not cutting it for high speed action photography. So, I purchased my first autofocus SLR: a used Minolta Maxxum 8000i. I added two 7000i's to the camera bag over the next few years. But from the get go, my used camera salesman, Paul Truly (for both the sake of his commission and my image quality) convinced me to always invest in better lenses. 

   So, as a result; I purchased higher end / professional, fast focal ratio lenses: Minolta 50mm f1.4, Tamron 70-210mm f2.8 SP LD IF, Minolta 85mm f1.4 and so on. The very best I can afford - but always used.  These better lenses allowed me to dabble in modeling photography, and apparently my skill was satisfactory enough to attain a position for a friends son for a modeling contract at Ford for Children Modeling Agency. I turned down an employment opportunity with them, as well as a position of forensic photographer with the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner. Hindsight is 20/20 and I regrent not taking either of those positions.

   In 1999, and after I relocated to upstate New York the previous year, I became a member of a pit crew for a friend's DIRT Motorsports 358 Modified racecar. By proxy, I became the "team photographer" as well as some freelance photography work at Accord Speedway, when the regular track photographer wasn't available.

   In 2003 or so, my interests in railfanning were rekindled, and I also became even more serious about my camera equipment. I upgraded to a Minolta Maxxum 9 (with vertical grip) in 2008 and purchased a Minolta 28-70 f2.8G to accompany it. But, I remained a stalwart film user. Come hell or high water, I was going to be dragged screaming and kicking into digital photography era. That, wouldn't take place until 2010, well after mostly everyone else

   I made the switch to digital, and I started with a Sony ɑ350, which utilized all my high end Minolta lenses. By 2012, I added a Sony ɑ700 to the camera bag. About that same time, while I was railfanning on the Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge (it having been converted to the linear park "Walkway Over The Hudson"), my Minolta 28-70 f2.8G "committed suicide" by jumping out of my camera bag and onto the concrete deck. Unfortunately, it was not salvageable.

   I replaced it with a Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II PZD for "all in one" portability, but in the end I found I could not live without low light capability of a fast lens and went back to a two body system. So in 2015, I purchased a Sony ɑ900 Full Frame DLSR. All my DSLR's have a vertical grip mounted for extra battery capacity and vertical controls. But, I found a lot of my older Minolta lenses would not function on the ɑ900, so I packed them up.

   At this time, I also commenced in updating my lenses either because of this, as a result of age or as stated above; attrition. So, I retired my trusty Tamron 70-210 f2.8 and 85 f1.4 and bit the bullet and shelled out for a Sony 70-400 f4-5.6 SSM GII. This body / lens combination became my workhorse.

   As stated, I went back to a two body system, and also have a Sony 16-50mm f2.8 coupled with the ɑ700 (APS-C), and the Sony 70-400 f4-5.6 SSM GII paired with the ɑ900. 

   For some odd reason, ɑ700 began giving me metering issues. Lapse forward to September 2023, and the final Full Frame Sony A-mount DSLR appears to be the ɑ99ii. With it holding a high resale value in the second hand market, unfortunately; more than I am willing to spend. So, I purchased a gently used Sony ɑ99V with a Sony 28-75 f2.8 (SAL2875). On a whim, I decided to try the ɑ99 with the retired Minolta 85 1.4, and wouldn't you know, it works! So, that lens as well as the other f1.4's came out of retirement. 

   The ɑ700 has been reunited with the Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II PZD and now kept in the car for emergencies.

   I am not so serious about videography, and shoot it when as the situation requires. I started with a Flip Mino I found, and moved up to a Sony HD-CX440 Handycam for the situations that require zoom, but most of the time I just video on my iPhone 8. Both mounted on tripods of course. The Sony a99V also had built in HD video, so I have using that.

   Another on my interests is Astrophotography, and for the Total Solar Eclipse of 2024; I purchased a third generation Minolta 600mm f4 APO-G (high speed focusing).

   I have compiled a table of photography equipment I have acquired over my lifetime:

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   I am also extremely fortunate that my fiancèe Deborah is almost as interested in railfanning as I am, and whom I might add very conveniently lives next to the BNSF Red River Division / Houston Subdivision in Flynn, Texas!

   This allowed me to get away from my local roads CSX, CP, NYS&W and NS here in New York; and catch some UP, BNSF and KCS in action on their turf; as well as all the interesting industrial operations down there. That is, before I moved down there full time!

Deborah at Texas State Railroad;
Rusk Depot, Texas

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Collecting

   My railfanning interests have extended further from just taking images of trains to the point I now collect current & obsolete Employee Timetables as well as Track Charts for the locations of my railfanning. 

   I am also an ardent collector of railroad memorabilia & ephemera from the railroads that operated where I have lived near (Brooklyn, NY; Margaretville, NY; and now Flynn, TX) including but not limited to: New York City Transit System, and now the Trinity & Brazos Valley and Burlington-Rock Island Railroads.

   Before moving down to Flynn permanently, I would take Amtrak between Texas & New York and "let someone else do the driving". This allows me to shoot the trackside industries and shortlines along the route, not to mention railfanning Chicago during layovers and between trains.

   On occasion I will splurge and rent a sleeper instead of coaching it!

   I am a member of National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP), and I am a strong advocate of AMTRAK, and passenger railroad transportation as a whole as well as freight railroads.  

"First Classing" it on the Amtrak #22 "Texas Eagle" - 2014
Whatta shit eatin' grin...
Deborah M. Pickering photo

    I continue to be an avid railfan and I am constantly exploring and visiting new locations to add to my "list" as well as scratch off items on my "bucket list". 

   These locations can reviewed below in my list of the railroads, locations and railroad museums I have either visited, photographed, and in some cases had the opportunity to ride as a passenger.

   My railfanning images & videos (as well as other topics) are shared on FLICKR, YouTube and Railroad Picture Archives, as well as many diverse groups and pages on Facebook:

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   Currently, as a result of my research and this website, either in part or in whole; has found its way to serving the public through the following agencies, publications and preservation groups, either by contribution or consultation:

• "Accidental Playground", D. Campo
  
• Classic Trains Magazine: Fall 2017 issue: "What's in a Photograph? Erie's Harlem River Freight Station, circa 1940" (in collaboration with Jerry Pinkepank)
  
• "Diesel Railroad Tugboats - Volume 1", P. F. Strubeck
  
• Erie Lackawanna Historical Society "The Transfer"
  
• "Greater Gotham", Mike Wallace; Oxford University Press
  
• Liberty State Park, History of the NY Region
  
• "30 Years of Garbage", June Gonzalez; Peel Here Productions
  
• "Metroliners", B. Goldberg & D. Warner
  
• New York State Office of Parks, Recreation & Historical Preservation; Marsha P. Johnson State Park (former BEDT site)
  
• New York Susquehanna & Western RR Technical Society 2018 annual calendar
  
• New York Times
  
• Normangee Star: December 19, 2018 issue; BNSF derailment in North Zulch, TX
  
• Northeast Corridor Infrastructure & Operations Advisory Commission
  
• Phoenicia Times: October 14, 2004; inaugural crossing of State Route 28 by Catskill Mountain Railroad, in Mt. Tremper, NY
  
• Railfan & Railroad: February 2019 issue; photos & roster of George H. W. Bush funeral train; UP Navasota Subdivision; College Station, TX
  
• Steiner Studios
  
• Society of Industrial Archeology, Roebling Chapter: Greater New York & New Jersey area
  
• Surface Transportation Board, Office of Environmental Analysis
  
• Tampa Review, University of Tampa 
  
• "Tracks of the New York City Subway System", by Peter Dougherty
  
• Tugster, A Water Blog
  
• Urban Oyster Tours
  
• Whitney Museum of American Art, Whitney Museum of American Art 
  
• WABC-TV Channel 7, New York
  
  
• numerous symposiums, presentations, clinics, discussions and articles presented by both prototype and scale model rail enthusiasts,
  including Railway & Locomotive Historical Society, National Model Railroaders Association and others
  
  
• and while I cannot find the email or remember the title, Arcadia Publishing requested use of my material for one of their Images of America books (if you find it or my name please let me know!).
  
  

    In addition to the research of, and collecting photographs and memorabilia from Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal, my other railroad related hobbies and interests include:

• history, research and collecting memorabilia of Industrial Railroads & Locomotives that operated in Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, Bronx and Manhattan; NY;

• history, research and collecting memorabilia of Military Railroads & Locomotives that operated in the New York Metropolitan Area;

• scratchbuilding HO scale locomotives of BEDT and Erie L-1;

• "weird" camelback style locomotives: i.e.: Erie L1 0-8-8-0 camelbacks and the St. Clair Tunnel Co. 0-10-0 sidetank camelback are two of my favorites)

• collecting memorabilia from Trinity & Brazos Valley Railway and Burlington - Rock Island Railroad.
  

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   Currently, my full time occupation (unpaid) is research and historian of Industrial & Terminal Railroads of Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, Bronx and Manhattan; and as a result, maintaining the websites and page associated with this research. 
 

   Other times, when funds and time permit; I can be found chasing trains and since relocating to Flynn, Texas in November 2017; I find myself doing some freelance photo journalism for local newspapers.

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Should you find the need to contact me, please feel free to email or call me:


bedt14@aol.com

(845) 707-9290
(936) 396- 6103

newyorkcentric.info