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(erielack) Re: Trefoil design (was Milk Cars In Branchville Photo)

Mike,

Both the Branchville and Franklin stations (and I believe also Boonton 
pre 1905) were not built by the DLW, but by the M&E.  Branchville was 
built in 1869 and Franklin 1869-70.

Without actually looking it up, I think the Boonton line was built 
somewhere around 1969, but I'm not sure when the DLW took over that 
line.  I do know that the DLW took over the Sussex Branch in 1881, at 
least 10 years after Branchville and Franklin were built.

As far as the symbolism if the trefoil, it would likely symbolize the 
Holy Trinity, not the stations of the cross, as I believe there are more 
than 3 of them.

Dave

mdelvec952_@_aol.com wrote:
> I've seen it written that those are "trefoil-in-a-circle" eve supports; they are not carved. The eve support itself is a standard item, and the circles and trefoils within them?were cut from larger boards and added to larger eve support. The trefoils show evidence of a coping saw and are attached to the eve support by methods obviously not done at the time of manufacture.? I didn't notice them on pre-1905 Boonton, but Branchville and Franklin depots had them and were very similar depots built by the same company.? I wouldn't call them a Lackawanna trademark considering that both were Sussex Railroad depots.? I did retrieve one from the collapsed Branchville depot -- the contractor drove his heavy equipment over the depot several times to break it into smaller pieces for removal. Mine was?was busted up, but complete enough to reassemble.
> 
> Circles in eve supports show up on various depots all over the country; they're not unique to DL&W, though many wooden Morris & Essex Railroad depots used circles in the even supports.? But?in Linden, N.J., near where I work there is a large 19th Century church that uses trefoils within circles as its archetectural theme that are nearly identical in style?to those Sussex County depots.?It is used?as a framework in the big stained-glass mural in the street-side gable, and smaller ones around the rest of the building as ornamentation. Seeing that got me wondering if there wasn't some religious significance to that design -- the three circles possibly referring to the stations of the cross --?and could that?faith possibly relate to the people using the Franklin and Branchville branches.? 
> 
> Mike Del Vecchio
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Dave Rutan <rutan3_@_embarqmail.com>
> To: EL Mail List <erielack_@_lists.railfan.net>
> Sent: Tue, 2 Sep 2008 10:07 pm
> Subject: Re: (erielack) Milk Cars In Branchville Photo
> 
> 
> 
> The darkness above is actually the intricately carved roof supports (there's a name for those...Dave?) ?
> I've always called them trefoil design eaves brackets, but an architect might have a more correct term.?
> ?
> What I find curious about those eaves brackets is that they have been called a 'Lackawanna trademark' even though I know of only 3 station on the DLW who sported them. One is Branchville, one Franklin, and one...?
> ?
> (Drum Roll...)?
> ?
> Pre-1905 Boonton?
> ?
> Everyone go look carefully and you'll notice that Jamesburg, NY and Stewartsville, NJ have similar eaves brackets, but that they are just plain circles, not trefoils.?
> ?
> Dave?
> -- Sussex Branch Tales - A book by Dave Rutan?
> Get yours now!?
> http://books.cafepress.com/item/sussex-branch-tales/281959517?
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- -- 
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Get yours now!
http://books.cafepress.com/item/sussex-branch-tales/281959517


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