Then and Now - Cohoes yard office (1973)

Here is a picture from 1973 of what was in the old Cohoes freight yard. This old Cohoes passenger station is just north of here (to the right in the picture) and in the background is an old church, now the Cohoes Public Library. This is an interesting photo for a number of reasons. I am sure we have all seen pictures of retired boxcars or passenger cars sitting on the ground being used for MOW purposes. I even showed a picture of some cars in Colonie here. But this is quite a bit different. Look at the poured concrete foundation below the ex-combine car! This was clearly not a temporary arrangement. The side door even retained its steps underneath and the foundation was notched to accommodate them. With the stairway on the end so close by, I can't imagine why people would want to use the side door. 

On a cold January day in 2022, I drove back to the area to see what remained. Here is roughly the same perspective. The baggage car and yard are long gone, and some luxury apartments have been built on the left of the picture. A couple of the telephone pole cross-arms are missing. But the church remains.

Rotating to the right a little bit, you can see the long-abandoned D&H station. For many years it was an Off-Track-Betting (OTB) site, but I guess the pandemic killed that. The streetlight it out of place, though I imagine it was installed as part of the luxury apartment program. It would be nice to live there and watch the trains go by, but my wife reminded me that I would need to give my my basement. Nope!

For some other great photos of the D&H in Cohoes, check out Gino DiCarlo's webpage.