Hidden away in a nearly-forgotten corner of my computer’s almost-full hard drive are a few photos that were never meant to see the light of day. They were dark, and the day was rainy, and they were downright horrible. But a bit of graffiti scrawled on the side of the station that I remembered photographing always sat in the back of my mind. It read, “The trains don’t stop here any more. Save me, I’m your history.” A news article that was sent to me today (thanks, Jeff!) led me to dig out those photos.

The station on which the graffiti was written is Millwood – once part of the long-gone Putnam Division. Hardly in spectacular condition (but certainly not the worst), the status of the building has been in limbo for quite a while. Again the station finds itself in the news, as a demolition permit has been applied for. Though tearing down this historical building would be sad, I find it laughable that the article mentions a proposal for making a replica of the station. Why not save the real thing, while it is still here?

 

“Save me, I’m your history.” An apt observation. I wonder who wrote it…

10 Responses

  1. Emily says:

    Yes, a different Jeff. I’m easily confuzzled. :P

  2. Backshophoss says:

    Millwood is still standing! It would be nice if the Town of New Castle
    take control of the station and take care of it.
    Millwood and Yorktown stations are the last remaining New York &
    Northern buildings in northern Westchester County along the Put’s
    ROW.
    FYI,There is 1 station along the Lake Mahopac Branch that might
    still exist,Lincolndale,(Town of Somers),is/was a stone building that
    was turned into a Real Estate office,if memory serves.

    • Emily says:

      Yeah, I think Lincolndale is still around, so is Lake Mahopac, which is what… the VFW hall now?

      • Backshophoss says:

        But Lake Mahopac has been “remodeled” to the point you can’t tell
        it was a station at one time.
        On page 68 of the Gallo/Kramer book,
        THE PUTNAM DIVISION,there are 2 photos(B/W) of
        Millwood when trains were running.

        • Emily says:

          True. As has Briarcliff Manor… though it is pretty attractive now. Is Elmsford still around?

          • Backshophoss says:

            Thompson House(Lake Mahopac)looked like a house with a long
            porch(see B/W photo,pg 76,THE PUTNAM DIVISION).
            Elmsford station was converted to a restaurant in the 60’s,
            It still may exist,just not sure.(Google maps,maybe?)
            Anything else back to Sedgwick Ave. except for ROW remains
            is gone.

      • Bob says:

        Lincolndale was definitely still around a couple of years ago http://www.roadandrailpictures.com/rnylinco.htm and was one of those places where after I took my pictures someone came out to ask me what I was doing.

        I’m pretty sure Elmsford is still there. I passed a building in Elmsford last year that sure looked like an old station and seemed like it would back up to the old RoW (I didn’t photograph it yet though).

        • Backshophoss says:

          I heard that Millwood was leveled on wed, may 9th.
          One can only hope that the student crews at BOCES-Yorktown
          can build a proper replacement.

          FYI,the brick buildings at GB and Purdys were built around
          the time I-684 was built, the orignal stations was razed due to
          overpass construction

  3. Heather says:

    Because saving the real thing, and a piece of history is too much work.
    *grumble*Like Torrington*grumble* ;)

    • Emily says:

      Thought I commented on this last night… guess I didn’t. Yeah, Torrington is really too bad. Torrington in general just seems like a craphole though. At least the people in Canaan had the right idea. After that fire, I didn’t think that place was ever going to come back (the kids that started the fire should have been forced to help rebuild it, hah!). It was certainly a lot of work to get it to the state it is in now – Millwood however, is in great condition compared to that!

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