The Erie Lackawanna Station is where we will begin our trip across the river to Manhattan. The ferry is scheduled to make it's last run on November 22nd, 1967. The station clock (not seen in this view) reads a bit after 6:30am.
Comments:
During the 1950's, the DL&W needed to expand its mail-handling facilities at Hoboken; the cavernous area occupied by an unused portion of the upper ferry concourse had been used for some years after WWII. Formerly, the upper level was used by passengers boarding the ferries of three crossings: Christopher St., W. 23rd St., Barclay St. In 1946, service to W. 23rd St. was abandoned; in 1955, the Christopher St. crossing was shut down.
The NYSME had to vacate its space at Hoboken to allow expansion if the DL&W's mail facility. A complex network of chutes, conveyors, and elevators connected the upper level to the lower (team) concourse, where a number of loading dock spaces provided access to us mail trucks and tractor-trailers.
Well into the 60's, E-L trains handled a substantial mail traffic. But, by the late 60's, most of the long-distance trains had been discontinued, and RPO service had also been abandoned.
By 1970, when the very last through train, "The Lake Cities", made its final run, mail service on the E-L was relegated to history.
Into the 1980's, the rusting ganglia of mail conveyors and chutes sat idling and rusting, along with piles of discarded baggage carts and mail wagons. It was a sad sight, to be sure. Today, even these relics of another time are gone.
Back in the early and mid-60's, I well remember all the hubbub and noise that came from the mail handling area, mingling with the sounds of the arriving and departing ferryboats, crossing to and from Barclay St. It was a noisy and exciting place, even if all you did was stand outside the loading area and listened to all the activity. It all changed far too quickly for me.
The NYSME had to vacate its space at Hoboken to allow expansion if the DL&W's mail facility. A complex network of chutes, conveyors, and elevators connected the upper level to the lower (team) concourse, where a number of loading dock spaces provided access to us mail trucks and tractor-trailers.
Well into the 60's, E-L trains handled a substantial mail traffic. But, by the late 60's, most of the long-distance trains had been discontinued, and RPO service had also been abandoned.
By 1970, when the very last through train, "The Lake Cities", made its final run, mail service on the E-L was relegated to history.
Into the 1980's, the rusting ganglia of mail conveyors and chutes sat idling and rusting, along with piles of discarded baggage carts and mail wagons. It was a sad sight, to be sure. Today, even these relics of another time are gone.
Back in the early and mid-60's, I well remember all the hubbub and noise that came from the mail handling area, mingling with the sounds of the arriving and departing ferryboats, crossing to and from Barclay St. It was a noisy and exciting place, even if all you did was stand outside the loading area and listened to all the activity. It all changed far too quickly for me.