Imagine that we are in the year 1920. A train has just had an accident. As people rush over to attempt to assist, so too does a photographer. Camera in hand, the photographer takes a couple snaps of the wreck. Not only for event detailing purposes, but for postcards too. I’ve become a crazy postcard-collecting nutjob, and every time I see a train crash postcard, it makes me chuckle a little. Postcards were printed with pretty much anything and everything on them… but I suppose it makes sense, they provided an easy way to share (back before we had this thing called internet, boggles the mind!) Of course, it is just human nature to want to see a train crash, or any crash, period. Any person that has ever been in a car moving past an accident knows exactly what I’m talking about.

And if I wanted to send you a LOLCat back in the day, I’d send you this.

Unfortunately, I’ve yet to discover a Harlem Division train crash postcard. I have found quite a few station images, many of which I’ve posted previously. Today I have a few more of those for you, as well as some more “everyday” scenes: track workers at Dover Plains, a locomotive crossing a road in the snow, and horse carts delivering milk to the train station to be transported to the city. Thrown in the mix is a card of the Harlem Valley State Hospital, with the location of the current Harlem Valley-Wingdale station visible.

Make sure you enjoy this somewhat chilly Friday (where’s my hat?!), and don’t get too frustrated if you see anybody rubbernecking on your way home this evening! Just think, hey, that could be on a postcard!

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

If you missed parts one through four, you can find them here:
Sending Postcards from the Harlem Line, Part 1
Sending Postcards from the Harlem Line, Part 2
Sending Postcards from the Harlem Line, Part 3
Sending Postcards from the Harlem Line, Part 4

As an added bonus, I have photos from a former train station: Thornwood. As part of the Panorama Project my goal is to also photograph former stations, though I am undecided whether they are deserving of their own posts as part of the “tour”. Instead I think the few former stations will be featured as “bonuses”.

Thornwood is located in between the current stations of Hawthorne and Pleasantville. The station was closed in the early 80’s when the Harlem Line was electrified past North White Plains. It was not an incredible loss, as anyone who used the station had the option to use Hawthorne, approximately one mile south, or Pleasantville, approximately one mile north. The sign on the front of the old station building says it is now occupied by the Thornwood-Hawthorne Chamber of Commerce. I didn’t see anyone inside the building, though it is possible they were hiding behind the windows and laughing at me as a took pictures.