(Change of direction:  I've decided to start posting to this blog again, but with a different angle; not that there was a specific angle in the past.  Although some of the posts will be off-subject musings, I will post photos off trains and depots.  I've collected post cards of both for quite some time, so will post them one, or a few, at a time.  I will try to include a short history or story to each, so may also attach photos which aren't mine to make the story understandable.  These will be clearly marked.)

Moonlight on the Ocean

The Florida East Coast's Key West Extension (officially known as the Florida Overseas Railroad or "Flagler's Folly") became one of the railroad industry's most celebrated accomplishments. The extension operated for just over twenty years before it was heavily damaged by a hurricane in 1935 and, with the FEC being bankrupt at the time, it was unable to repair the bridges and right-of-way. The property was sold to the state of Florida, which turned the railbed into a major roadway, the Overseas Highway (U.S. 1).  The highway still serves Key West today, but the former railroad bridges were replaced during the 1980s and no longer carry vehicle traffic.  

The Florida East Coast Railway had its beginnings on September 7, 1895 when it was officially dedicated by its original owner, Henry Flagler, who purchased the Jacksonville, St. Augustine & Halifax River Railway and renamed it.

The Key West Extension was built as a freight corridor, but Key West never materialized into the deep water port Henry Flagler had envisioned.  The extension was already in decline when the Labor Day Hurricane struck in 1935.

Havana Special

FEC passenger train on Seven Mile Bridge

Although built for its potential freight services, the railroad launched the Havana Special to operate up and down the US eastern seaboard between New York and Key West.  The entire route covered 1,523 miles to Key West, making it the longest east coast passenger route.  The train was quite successful due to the fact that rail service was still the most efficient means of transportation at the time and the FEC spared no expense in providing top level service. It was an all-Pullman train that include coaches, a lounge, a diner, six sleepers, and a parlor-observation car.  The lounge car offered separate areas for men and women to relax and included baths.

A 4-8-2 Mountain leaving the FEC main terminal at Trumbo Island in Key West in 1933

Our Time in Cambron Casteau 1987-1993

This is a recent photo of the house we lived in for 6 years.  It hasn't changed a bit on the outside.

The red arrow marks the house.  There is a cafe marked up the street.  David Wood and I would occasionally have beers there.  It was less than a 5-minute walk from the house.  The area in green was the Domaine de Cambron.  The domaine is now known at the Pairi Daiza -- a wonderful zoo.  Wish it had been there when we lived in the area.  Check them out here:  https://www.pairidaiza.eu/en.

Twelve monks from Clairvaux arrived at Cambron on August 1, 1148. They were sent by St. Bernard, abbot of Clairvaux, at the invitation of Anselm of Trazegnies, lord of Péronnes-lez-Binche and canon and treasurer of the Collegiate Chapter of Soignies, who offered land on the banks of the Dender for the foundation of an abbey. Living conditions were rudimentary. However, the Cistercian Order had already become prestigious. A Cistercian, the abbot of Tre Fontaine, had just been elected as Pope Eugene III.

According to Émile Poumon, St. Bernard stayed in Hainaut in 1148, when the abbey was founded. St. Bernard visited Cambron in 1150, by which time the monks were facing significant difficulties. The endowment from Anselm of Trazegnies was contested by his brother Gilles of Silly. The abbey, however, managed to win the case. The first abbots were skilled administrators, as well as religious men, who brought together temporal competence and spiritual vigor. Fastré de Gaviamez, the second successor to St. Bernard, was an especially successful abbot.

By the end of the 14th century, there were more than 70 monks at Cambron pursuing the abbey's charitable mission. The monks increasingly recruited the aid of lay-brothers to tend the fields. The contribution of agricultural techniques to the local peasantry substantially improved both the status of the rural class and the local economy.

After facing difficulties in the 15th century, the abbey contributed greatly in the 16th century to the renaissance in the arts and in theology. The master of novices André Enobarb, a distinguished humanist who corresponded with Erasmus, wrote a Latin tragedy about the miracles of Our Lady of Cambron. The abbot Robert d'Ostelart (d. 1613), supported the college in Ath and provided scholarships for theology students at Leuven. There were many other eminent monks at Cambron. Jean d'Assignies and Gregory de Lattefleur would both later become abbot of Nizelles. Baudouin Moreau, author of a famous commentary on the Rule of St. Benedict, became an emissary of the Cistercian Order in Rome. Jean Farinart, of Chièvres, who succeeded Robert d'Ostelart as abbot, was an excellent theologian and doctor of theology at Douai. Antoine Le Waitte, author of a history of Cambron Abbey (1672), was the abbey's librarian and significantly expanded its collections.

By the 17th century, the abbey had become rich from years of gifts, legacies, and productive agriculture. The abbey enjoyed great renown, but strict adherence to monastic life had begun to loosen. The abbey's wealth attracted the envy of others. At the end of the 17th century, the wars of King Louis XIV devastated the province of Hainaut and set off the abbey's first period of decline.

At the beginning of the 18th century, a period of peace allowed for new prosperity, and a spate of construction and renovation. The majority of structures still visible at the site today date from this period. The entrance gate of the abbey was given a statuary niche that held an image of the Virgin Mary. The abbey's tower, built under the direction of the architect Jean-François Wincqz, was constructed in a pure Neoclassical style. The carriage house, with five stalls and a dovecote in the center, is unique. The monumental staircase evokes the garden of a palace more than a monastery.

The abbey was still prosperous in 1782, at which time it had 58 monks. But in 1783, Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II, the so-called enlightened despot, classified Cambron Abbey as one of the useless monasteries and convents. It was therefore dissolved. The decision took effect in 1789. On May 27, 1789, the monks were expelled from the abbey and went into exile in the Netherlands.

The waning of Austrian power, hastened by the Brabant Revolution, and the establishment of the short-lived unified Belgian states, allowed the monks to return to the abbey for a time beginning in December 1789. Most of the buildings had already been looted. The subsequent French occupation would put an end to nine centuries of Cistercian life. Expelled by the Revolutionary government, the monks left the abbey for good in 1797. The 44th and final abbot of Cambron, Florent Pépin, died in the Netherlands on November 16, 1795. The abbey's assets were sold and the buildings torn down by the succeeding owners.

It was later sold to the Counts of Val de Beaulieu, who built a large château on the site and whose property it remained until 1993. It was then sold to the Domb family, who set up a zoo here, the present Pairi Daiza.

In 1982 it was declared a protected area

Of the abbey buildings there still remain the tower of the abbey church of 1774, a monumental staircase of 1776, the entire medieval precinct wall and a 13th-century cellar that was formerly beneath the now-vanished lay brothers' quarters, measuring 12 metres by 18 metres with twelve pointed vaults, the main abbey gateway of 1722 and the former abbey farm with an 18th-century coach house. Remains of the former abbey church are kept in Attre Castle. In Bermeries near Bavay in France a grange of Cambron is still extant. 

Others of the monastery's farms remain at Diksmuide, Rosière, Thiennes, Horrues, Wodecq, Rebais, Lombise and Stoppeldijk.

Lackawaxen

More photos of our metropolis.

Gregory's

This is currently a branch of the Honesdale National Bank and the post office is in the small 2-story addition to the left.  The single story addition is no longer there.  Neither the post office or bank sell gas, so the pump is gone.  Other than those pseudo-businesses, Lackawaxen contains a bar/restaurant called the Lackawaxen Inn and a breakfast joint called Two River Junction, which also houses a B&B and sporting goods shop among other things.  The highlight of the town is probably the Zane Grey Museum.  Unlike the good old days of Gregory's, there is no where to get bread, milk or a newspaper.

Port Jervis to Narrowsburg on the Erie Railroad

Port Jervis

Erie RR bridge over the Neversink River.  This bridge is currently used by New Jersey Transit.

Erie RR bridge over the Delaware River.  This bridge is currently used by the New York, Susquehanna and Western RR.

Photos were taken circa 1910 of all Erie railroad depots.  These are the depots you would have traveled through after leaving Port Jervis going north along the Delaware River, ending up in Narrowsburg.  There were summer resorts throughout this area prior to WWI as New Yorkers escaped the yellow fever and cholera epidemics that infected the city.  These stations no longer exist.

Pond Eddy

Pond Eddy Side Hill Cut and Fill .

1870 suspension bridge at Pond Eddy.

Early Pond Eddy station.

Conrail train traveling through Pond Eddy in 1990.

Parker's Glen

Originally called Carr's Rock, the town was renamed Parker's Glen following a tragic Erie RR accident on April 17, 1868.  The community peaked at more than 1,000 residents around 1900 and was famous for its bluestone quarries.  Pike County bluestone was shipped around the world for use as building material, especially sidewalks.  The town was destroyed by Hurricane Diane in August 1955.  All that remains are graveyards, foundations, and some structures.

I drove a one-lane dirt road to the Parkers Glen railroad crossing in August 2020.  Everything in the area was built post-1955.  Nothing remains of the town.

Howard Ellsworth "Smoky Joe" Wood (October 25, 1889 – July 27, 1985) was a professional baseball player for 14 years. He played for the Boston Red Sox from 1908 to 1915, where he was primarily a pitcher, and for the Cleveland Indians from 1917 to 1922, where he was primarily an outfielder.  Wood's best season came in 1912, in which he won 34 games while losing only 5, had an ERA of 1.91 and struck out 258. Since 1900, pitchers have won 30 or more games only 21 times, with Wood's 34 wins being the sixth-highest total.  He also tied Walter Johnson's record for consecutive victories with 16.  Smoky Joe Wood is buried in the Wood Family Cemetery in Shohola Township near Parkers Glen, where his father was born.

 

Shohola

Shohola Glen Hotel, also known as Rohman's Inn, is a historic hotel located at Shohola Township, Pike County, Pennsylvania. It was built in 1875, and is a 2 1/2-story, "L"-shaped, wood frame, banked building. It is seven bays wide, cross-gabled roof, and a full-width front porch. The building was updated in the 1940s, after a fire, at which time a bowling alley was added.   It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.

Shohola Glen Hotel, 1950's

Shohola Glen Hotel fire, 1941

Shohola Glen Hotel, 1974

Shohola Glen

On July 15, 1864 a locomotive pulling 17 passenger and freight cars moved along the Erie Railroad in Southern New York State. Aboard were 833 Confederate prisoners of war and 128 Union guards. The guards were members of the 11th and 20th Regiments of the United States Veteran Reserve Corps under the command of Capt. Morris L. Church. Most of the guards rode in the last three cars, others stood atop and inside boxcars. The Confederates were the fourth group of prisoners to be sent from Point Lookout, Maryland to Elmira, New York.

Locomotive engine 171 moved along the tracks averaging 20 miles per hour. Engine 171 was classified as an "extra", indicating it ran behind a scheduled train. The scheduled train, West 23, displayed warning flags giving the right-of-way to Engine 171. However, Engine 171 was delayed leaving Jersey City to Elmira while the guards located several missing prisoners and waiting for a drawbridge. Engine 171 arrived at Port Jervis four hours behind schedule. 

The next leg of the trip ran along a single track. This run of the track contained sharp curves and ran along the Delaware River. Ahead at Lackawaxen was a junction with the Hawley Branch, a rail spur connection to Hawley and Honesdale Pennsylvania. At the junction station a telegraph operator, Douglas "Duff" Kent was on duty. Kent saw the West 23 pass by during the morning with flags warning of a special "extra" following. Kent was responsible for holding all eastbound traffic at Lackawaxen until the "extra" had gone through. At around 2:30 PM a coal train , Engine 237 with 50 cars stopped at Lackawaxen Junction. At the junction John Martin descended from his post and entered Lackawaxen Station and asked if the track was clear to Shohola. Kent answered that the track was indeed clear. Erie Engine 237 moved onto the mainline and headed east. At 2:45 PM Engine 171 passed Shohola heading west, only four miles of track remained between the two trains.

The trains met at "King and Fullers Cut". This section of track followed a blind curve where only 50 feet of visibility was possible. When the two trains met only Engineer Hoit had time to jump clear. When the two trains hit, the troop train's wood tender jolted forward and buckled upright, throwing its load of firewood into the engine cab killing Tuttle instantly. Ingram was pinned against the split boiler plate where he was scalded to death in the sight of all present. It was said that "With his last breath he warned away all who went near to try and aid him, declaring that there was danger of the boiler exploding and killing them."
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Shohola was also the debarcation point for those whose destination was Greeley, 7 miles distant.

Hotel Greeley

Geneva Lake House

Lackawaxen

Gregory's before it was known as such

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Lackawaxen was also the debarcation point for those whose destination was Westcolang Lake and Delaware River Park and the Westcolang Park House, 5 miles distant.

Mast Hope

Narrowsburg New York