Erie Lackawanna
Railfan.net 'erielack' E-Mail List Photo Archive

Denville-19621222-Tower-1.jpg   Original: 1404 by 939 pixels - Current: 1404 by 939 - 100%
                          Try your mouse wheel too!

Previous Image - Denville-19621222-HB9_6311.jpg Denville-19621222-Tower-2.jpg - Next Image

From: Daniel McFadden dan DOT mcfadden AT gmail DOT com
Date: Fri, 01 Jul 2016 14:27:09 -0400
Subject: George MacLean scenes at Denville
"Denville-19621222-Tower-1.jpg" - image/jpeg, 1404x939 (256c)


Here is one last blast of snapshots from the late George MacLean, all taken at Denville.

195907-969 shows a mystery engine, at least to me. Although I had gotten to Denville Station on my bike by 1958, I really began to spend major time there in 1960 when I got to know the tower man, Jimmy Morris. From that time, the 969 never was around. Could it have been assigned to a Syracuse operation?

195907-Newpaperdrop shows Hi-Roof MU Combine 2407 on a late night newspaper drop. I also remember papers stacked in a vestibule being dropped at the various stations. They were quite simply dropped on the platform and I suppose it was the store that was responsible for pickup.

19611015-PDX shows a Per Diem Xtra. I saw these a number of times on a Sunday afternoon. Sometimes it was just a lite engine power move, for example 12 F units, 3 ABBA sets heading west. But always on a Sunday, at least in my experience.

19621222-HB9 shows what was typically a morning freight. Looks like maybe a caboose right behind the power.

19621222-Tower 1 and 2 are murky views of the tower on what was probably a cold winter evening. I doubt there would have been train much watching in the month of December without the warm confines of the tower. The folks left to right in one shot are me mostly hidden, tower man Jimmy Morris, and Ed Ruland. What could we all be so interested in? Looks like an Official Guide on the desk?

19650303 shows the big FM’s making some sort of move. Could this be a CS-9 or had that designation not yet kicked in?

196503227-MulberryTree has the following caption on the back of the snap: "Mulberry Tree at Denville Jct Supposed to be 100 years old”. Note the old freight house through the branches. On one occasion, a kid was climbing the tree and fell but his ankle caught in a nook and he hung there with a broken ankle. Maybe that was why the tree was taken out? The same tree species can still be found at the Mountain Lakes station and (I think) Chatham. How amazing to think that the railroad showed such pride in beautifying their stations.

19740900-Crew shows the waning days of the crew at Denville. Left to right are our photographer George MacLean, Ed Ruland, tower man Jimmy Morris, and Wayne Ruland. Jimmy was retired at this point but the friendships endured. Jimmy grew up in Andover and if I remember right, his first job was at Greendell in 1932. The interesting traffic had largely gone by this point in 1974 and without the tower as a refuge in tough weather, it was time to move on. As well shortly after this, the tower situation moved pretty quickly from friendly to outright hostility.

That is a wrap for Mr. Maclean’s snapshots, at least for a while.

Dan




Denville-19621222-Tower-1.jpg

Click Here or on the corner X to close this window.


    All photos are the property of the original photographer unless otherwise noted and are to be used for personal viewing purposes only.

    The use of these photos on any website or other distribution media is strictly forbidden without the express consent of the image copyright holder.

    Linking directly to this page is permitted as long as "Railfan.net Erie Lackawanna Email List Photo Archive" is creditted on the linking page.