New York Central Railroad Station (Rome, NY)

Located on Martin Street, the train station in Rome was built between 1912 and 1914. The station was necessitated when tracks were realigned in the city and replaced an older station downtown. Currently, the station is served by Amtrak.

Restored in 2004, the interior of this lightly used station is beautiful. Many of the original (or at least old) features have been preserved. The wood benches that are fixtures in many stations look pristine. Signs direct patrons to services, such as newsagents and subways, that are no longer available. Overall, the station is a portal, not only to other places, but to a time when Rome was larger and more prosperous.  

A Texas Lunch in Lock Haven

Even though I had multiple ringed coffee-stains on my khaki shorts from a leaky cup I rested on my leg while driving, the employees and management of the Texas Lunch Restaurant in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania welcomed me to their fine establishment. After much consideration I chose the Texas Lunch after hearing an interview with Shawn Micallef about his new book about how we dismiss some eating options because of class concerns. This establishment, I decided, is where you have breakfast, not brunch. Open since 1918, the restaurant bills itself as the “home of the Growler,” which appears to be a hot dog of sorts. Large hot dogs and hamburgers seem to be a theme of “Texas lunch” establishments that dot Pennsylvania.

As you walk into the Texas Lunch, there are ten small booths that line the right hand wall. To the left is an open kitchen with a grill top and a deep fryer. Stainless steel is the predominant material throughout the restaurant. Beyond the cooking area, there is a double-U shaped counter with traditional diner stools, which is where I had my lunch. Prominently adorning the walls in the back of the restaurant are four replica New York Yankee uniforms (Ruth #3, Gehrig #4, DiMaggio #5, and Mantle #7). Across the way is a large shadow box with several autographed baseballs. There are a few items from Lock Haven University as well.

As I was having my grilled ham and cheese sandwich, two fellows wearing sleeveless shirts sat a few seats away at the counter. They each had two chili dogs and shared a plate of fries. Meanwhile, in a booth behind me, two late-middle age men talked about the experience of serving in the military while finishing the remainders of their soft drinks. This restaurant, located in the heart of downtown Lock Haven, is a place where all kinds of people gather for food and conversation, apparently for nearly 100 years.

Baseball: July 2014

Bowman Field in Williamsport, PA

This month I attended a game in my 48th minor league stadium, Susquehanna Bank Park at Historical Bowman Field in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The stadium was built in 1926 and is currently the home of the Williamsport Crosscutters. Originally the field was named Memorial Field but was renamed in 1929 to honor J. Warren Bowman.

The outfield wall of Forbes Field

Bowman Field hosted its first game on 27 April 1926, which was the first of a two game series between the Williamsport Grays and the Harrisburg Giants of the Negro National League. The Grays played as a member of the New York-Pennsylvania League in 1926, but opened against the Giants as a warm-up exhibition. The Giants, a much more experienced team, won both games easily.

Homeplate from the final game at Forbes Field, 28 June 1970

On my way to see two games at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, I stopped by to recce the remains of old Forbes Field. The former home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, from 1909 to 1971, was the site of some historic players and games, including Roberto Clements and Honus Wagner. The stadium saw Bill Mazeroski’s World Series winning homerun as well as the final three homeruns of the Babe Ruth’s career. Today, all that remains of the great stadium are the outfield wall and home plate, which is situated inside Posvar Hall (University of Pittsburgh).

PNC Park (July 2014)

Statue of Satchel Paige at PNC Park 

Shippensburg Community Fair

Every year since 1958, during the full week in July, Shippensburg hosts the community fair that appeals to all generations. I know many people who regularly attend the fair so that they can eat meals on the fairgrounds. There is something nostalgic about the fair: the bright lights, the noises, and the smell of classic fair food, which entices us to amusement. Older people seem to channel their inner child; young people enjoy everything with reckless abandon. And the community renews itself each summer. 

Interesting and Derelict Buildings: US30 from Bedford to Jeannette, PA

A house near Wolfsburg

It is impossible to list all the interesting places and sites on the Lincoln Highway. It would take an inordinate amount of time even stop at even half the places that spark imagination along the way. Therefore, the journey I took in July 2014 along US30, which closely coincides with the Lincoln Highway, focused on interesting and mostly derelict buildings I observed. The journey started just west of Bedford, Pennsylvania where I photographed an abandoned house just outside the village of Wolfsburg.

A.W. Covin Dry Goods (Schellsburg)

IOOF building (Schellsburg)

Lincoln Highway Auto Center (Schellsburg)

As the Lincoln Highway makes its way through the town of Schellsburg it is known as Pitt Street. At the corner of Market and Pitt there appears what seems to be an old department store with palimpsest: “A.W. Colvin / Dry Goods / Notions / Shoes / Clothing / &₠.” A little further west on Pitt, two interesting buildings stand across the street from one another. The IOOF building, built in 1876, still has a fallout shelter sign on its front. Given the size and age of the building, it seems improbably that it would provide much protection in the event of a nuclear attack. Any such attack would, no doubt, destroy the Lincoln Highway Auto Center just across the street. The garage has a Lincoln Highway historical marker on its sign with a picture of the building as it appeared in 1921. The marker indicated that the automobiles were so expensive that owners often sought places to park the cars indoors while travelling. As an additional service many began to offer repair services as well, hence in the United States, it is how the word “garage” came to mean a place where one could get one’s car repaired.

As I continued west, I drove by a sign that indicated the turnoff to the town of New Paris, which is just a few miles off the Lincoln Highway. I was tempted to have a look at the town purporting to be the new incarnation of the capital of France. A brief search of the internet did not shed any light onto why the moniker was chosen. When New Paris was settled in 1846, I wondered if the founders had delusions of grandeur, even if there was not a great river running through the town, or a city island. The population in 2010 was only 186 people.

The Lincoln Highway meanders into the Laurel Highlands, passing attractions such as Mount Ararat Lookout and Bald Eagle Summit (the location of a prominent wind farm these days). There are a number of covered bridges in the area as well. Coming into Jenners, a small town founded in 1907 by the Consolidated Coal Company to house the workers at a local mine, I noticed a derelict church that retained some very nice stained glass windows. No marker indicate what the denomination the church was, or when it closed; however, a date over the front door seems to indicate that the church was built in 1901.

Amadio Motors (Jeannette)

US30 straddles Loyalhanna Creek for a few miles, with traffic travelling either side of the pretty body of water. Near the end of that stretch of the highway there is a Lincoln Highway experience that will be explored in the future. About seven miles from Greensburg, the highway opens up to a four-lane, suburban highway with a great deal of sprawl. Just past Greensburg, which will most likely be the subject of a future post, the highway has several remnants of the past as you drive towards Pittsburgh. I took a picture of Amadio Motors, operating since 1949 and now closed, through the windshield of my car while waiting for a light to change. 

Windsor Lock State Canal Trail

The Windsor Lock State Canal Trail

This 4.5-mile trail is a canal towpath along the Connecticut River that was built to bypass the Enfield Rapids. The canal was built between May 1827 and November 1829 by four hundred Irish laborers using picks and shovels to complete the task. The canal was the first to be built so that steamboats could use the river and employed three locks facilitating boats being lowered 30 feet over the course of the canal. By 1836, because of the canal, eight steamboats a day were making the run from Hartford to Springfield.

Rest stop along the Connecticut between 1 and 1.5-mile marker

I have fond memories of this trail. A decade ago it would be common for us to walk the trail, and that was at a time before I became serious about walking. Travelling south from the parking lot in Suffield, the Connecticut River is to your left and the canal to your right. Once you get beyond the initial lock, of which the gate and some hardware remains, there is farmland to the west. Soon after, however, the landscape quickly turns to a heavily-treed area with several cliffs. The rapids provide an audio background to the numerous song birds as you walk. On the opposite side of the river, there is a railroad track with frequent trains. The sound of the trains, which probably helped spell the demise of the canal, often drowns out most of the noise along the path.

Turtle sunning itself in the canal

The relative remoteness of the trail to houses and buildings means that there is a great deal of avian life. Some of the birds are quite colorful and interesting; however, there are so many hiding places that it is sometimes difficult to identify some species. Nevertheless, I readily identified catbirds, goldfinches, and house finches.

Other wildlife is sometimes observed as well. Soon after I started, two otters crossed the trail about fifty yards ahead of me. They disappeared into the brush and canal before I would get my camera out (no, really). Turtles, sunning themselves on half-submerged trees in the canal, often make big splashes as you walk by. They dive in the water sensing impending danger even though the proximity of the trail to them is quite far. Waterfowl (geese, ducks and egrets) are especially common in the canal.

The remaining lock near the beginning of the trail

The trail itself is asphalt and it is marked with half-mile markers spray-painted directly onto the trail. As I walked on a humid July morning, there were a number of cyclists, however, only one jogger. The trail is closed from November 14 until April 1 so that endangered birds of prey are not disturbed. 

Milford, Pennsylvania

Hotel Fauchere

I stopped in Milford for lunch and a short perambulation on a hot and humid, July afternoon. I had lunch at the Milford Diner, which has a nostalgic feel but has been substantially upgraded in recent years.  Among the pictures and memorabilia hanging on the wall is a photograph, signature and newspaper clipping of President Clinton. He stopped at the diner in 2008 while campaigning for his wife Hillary during the Democratic primaries. Perhaps even more interesting (and amusing) is another picture frame that contains a photograph and explanation: A scoutmaster from a Boy Scout troop took the boys for a meal in 1983. I am sure there is an excellent story behind the photos and frame (which was not disclosed) and suspect there are many more such stories around the walls of the diner.

Bucolic Ann Street

After lunch, I took a quick walk around town. Among the more intriguing places was the Hotel Fauchére, established in 1852 as a summer hotel. It quickly became famous for its French cuisine under the direction of Louis Fauchére, the chef of Delmonico’s in New York City. Over the years the hotel’s guests included three American presidents and a number of actors, including Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Mae West.

Village Diner, on US6

Walking in the residential neighborhoods, many of the houses retain hitching posts for horses in the front yards. The streets are quaint and charmingly kept. Walking the length of Ann Street, there were many beautiful houses and yards. At the end of the street, the petite Ethel Barckley Memorial Park is a beautiful overlook of the Delaware River.
 

About three miles northwest of town, near the 398 mile marker on US6, the Village Diner appears to be a great classic diner.