Vanderbilt Cup Races

Looks like the car is heading away from us eastbound toward Levittown from the Newbridge Road Bridge, as it seperates from the RR Central Line and meanders northeast to Pintail lane section and the grandstand in the distance. Since the road looks freshly poured it may be the surveyor photographing parts here and there in his Buick.  Have no idea what the train was pulling but it looks like temporary shelters with a chimney and a window, building materials and some railroad ties.

It looks like the curve is in present-day Levittown, with the photographer just east of Newbridge Road, looking east. Rationale: Acres and acres of empty land, and further down the road, it curves again, to the right, which would be in the vicinity of present-day Orchid Road.

The car looks like a Renault (although the picture is fuzzy so it’s hard to tell). This very website has reported that Willie K. was a big fan of the Renault racecar and requested the manufacturer to build smaller versions of the car for him and his friends (http://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/blog/article/willie_ks_cars_6_the_1907_renault_vanderbilt_racer). o could that be the man himself?

The train looks like it’s loaded with prefab buildings, so I’m guessing that it was used to move lodges to the parkway.

The car is a1908 Buick that also shown on the cover of The Long Island Motor Parkway cowrote by Howard and Al Velocci, photo taken in Sept.1908.

My guess is the photographer is standing on the embankment of the Newbridge Road bridge looking East. The Newbridge hotel would be directly to the photographers left but not seen in the photo. Also seen is the grandstands/press box far off in the distance.
This would be 1908 and that’s our famous photographers Buick and trusty assistant driving. I assume the train is bringing in building supplies of some sort.

One would automatically guess Deadman’s Curve in Central Park (Bethpage).  However, this photo has no trees but an abundance of telephone poles which might indicate otherwise.  Possibly Salisbury area/Hempstead Plains/Stewart Ave. area looking east.  Well could also be Powell’s Avenue back in Central Park.  In any case, the train looks to be for frieght/construction material possibly hauling material to/from the brickworks further east in Bethpage. 

Since this is a construction photo, the auto had to belong to a Motor Parkway official, General Manager A.R. Pardington inspecting the progress.

I think we’re looking east from on top of the Newbridge Road bridge in present day Levittown. The proximity to the railroad track along with the curve to the northeast seems about right. The car is probably the 1908 Buick model 10 used by the photographer employed by Spooner & Wells to document the LIMP construction. The train appears to be a work train of some type. Maybe it was delivering cement posts for the right-of-way or guard rails for the nearby curves. Since the grandstand was not far away, maybe building materials had just been dropped off.

Almost certain we’re in Levittown, descending from the Newbridge Road bridge heading east, with two LIACC hangars in the distance. The RR cars appear to be maintenance cars stopped on a siding off the mainline, with a stack of ties resting nearby. I believe this photo was taken sometime around 1930s with Levittown grandstand and press stand already taken down, and it’s an exact opposite view of Mystery foto 43 on Oct 28, 2019. Keeping my fingers crossed.
http://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/blog/article/mystery_friday_foto_43_a_view_of_the_motor_parkway_in_1956

Some of the adjacent railroad data: 

That was adjacent to the LIRR’s old Central Branch between Garden City and Farmingdale.  Here’s some info from Art Huneke’s LIRR Site Arrts-Arrchives.com.
The steam railroad chose this site to test future use of electric power on the LIRR and Pennsylvania Railroad here.  The test wires were probably being constructed in the photo in 1908.
—-
IN 1908 FIVE MILES OF TRACK EAST OF HEMPSTEAD CROSSING
WERE ELECTRIFIED WITH 11,000 VOLT A.C. CATENARY

THE TEST TRACK HAD 70 LB. RAIL WITH NEW TIES AND GRAVEL BALLAST AND WAS DIVIDED INTO ELEVEN SECTIONS.  THE FIRST AND LAST SECTIONS WERE FOR ACCELERATION AND BRAKING AND HAD WESTINGHOUSE STANDARD WOODEN POLE BRACKET CONSTRUCTION OF THE SINGLE CATENARY TYPE.
ON THE OTHER SECTIONS WERE TESTED A VARIETY OF STEEL BRACKET POLES, STEEL STRUT AND SPAN WIRE SUPPORT BRIDGES,  SINGLE AND SECONDARY CATENARY CONSTRUCTION WITH SINGLE AND DOUBLE TROLLEY WIRE.
ALSO TESTED WERE VARIETIES OF HANGERS AND STEADY STRAINS.  THE
TESTS WERE CONDUCTED FROM OCTOBER FIRST UNTIL DECEMBER FIRST.

https://www.arrts-arrchives.com/newpage1.html

We see the LIMP making a turn away from a railroad. The only place I know of such a turn would be looking east from the bridge over Newbridge Road in what is now Levittown. This is about a half mile from my home.

Several items in the image agree with this:

1) the turn from the LIRR (Stewart Branch) only occurs in two places: Newbridge and Dead Man’s Curve. As this is a gentle curve that rules out “dead man’s curve.”

2) The left hand side of the LIMP shows a building embankment for the Newbridge overpass. No such bridge was built at Broadway.

3) In 1908 the Pennsylvania (then owner of the LIRR) electrified the Steward line as a test track for the impending electrification of Penn Station in NYC.  These poles can be seen in an image of the Vanderbilt Race in 1908 on page 58 of “The Long Island Motor Parkway” (Arcadia) looking the other way.

Also see: http://arrts-arrchives.com/newpage1.html

The train is interesting. Looks like a work train, either installing or removing the trolley type overhead electric wire. From the timeline I would say installing.

I have no ideas about the car. It does appear loaded with several barrels, perhaps to support the LIRR work or some other inspection function. It may well be the photographer’s car.

No ideas to contribute toward the answers…but I am excited to see more of these scrapbook photos…

Not a clue. It’s not the LIRR Central RR in Fresh Meadows. It’s not the LIRR Oyster Bay Branch out of Mineola. It’s not a passby at Creedmoor Hospital. Maybe it’s near and next to the LIRR in Nassau Co., although I don’t see enough room for Stewart Ave between the RR and the Motor Parkway to be built. But what about the long U-bend in Nassau County heading east and west near the Central RR.

Location - LIMP East Meadow( Levittown) looking east with the LIRR central branch
                  branch to the south
Purpose of train - Pennsylvania RR electrification test section used for
                  the electrification of Penn station in 1908.  The train appears to
                  be a work train possibly being used for installation of posts and
                  fencing for the railroad.

Great Image. Sorry to say I have no idea but the desolation Long Island when my father was a toddler is just so striking…

OMG!  I may not know as much as I should about the LIMP but I sure know a LIRR work train when I see one and look carefully at the enlargement.  Betcha that’s the 1908 PRR five-mile test electrification being erected east of Hempstead Crossing with 11,000 volt A.C. catenary, with 70# rail, and divided into 11 sections, with the first and last being for acceleration and braking (all per Art Huneke).  As to the auto, it’s unusual for being white and so may well be Willie’s 1900 23HP Daimler Phoenix “White Ghost” (see 02 Sp 2010 blog); the photographer’s usual car was black.  Can’t make out what’s on the horizon.  Sam, III

Looking southeast from Jerusalem Avenue Levittown towards the snake turn at Bloomingdale Road.  Train holding equipment to build bridge or water pump station.  Joe Tracey in Locomobile road testing the new pavement.

Great photo and guesses. Is the white shirted man going to carry all those bridge guardrail posts by himself? He’s carried two to the roadside and back tracking for more.

Well, I “shoulda knowed” the location LIMP-wise but the car ‘s sure NOT on a bridge!  East “of”, not “on”.  Next, the train is highly-unlikely to be dropping off supplies, nit with tents up; it’s a base for the electification crew and the timbers in the foreground are ties for the track.  It’s fabulous that Bill has, and is sharing, the scrapbook with us; thanks.  However, while the S&W car may well have been a white Buick, the car Willie or his personal photog. used when the long-missing bound construction photo album <http://sbiii.com/limpkwy0.html#limpbklt> was shot was a black touring car (someone on the Island ought to go to the Hempstead P. L. and check further).  Sam, III

Howard, Regarding the photo of the work train, My guess is the two white objects are tents probably used by railroad workers. Is that a ramp in an elevated position between the two tents?  Steve, The cement posts that replaced the original cedar posts were first installed around 1921.

Al, the ladder-like contraption between the tents is probably an extensible platform used to reach up to the catenary supports and wire.  If so, it was the first “tower” car (more modern version attached).  Frank F. - re your “white shirted man” carrying “posts” - you see far more there than I can.  Sam, III

Sam - Could be two separated piles of RR ties and posts. Note the different color wood on the two stacks.

Frank - doubt it; that work train wouldn’t have had anything to do with LIMP or posts.  The ties were all replaced for the test and you can see old and new ties in the two piles by the track.  It’s single track - no siding; that last car is over-width because of the work platform.  Also spotted two more details.  1. - Where’s the ubiquitous water supply pipe?  2. - the back of the Buick is NOT carrying barrels; that’s a “mother-in-law” (jump or dickey ) seat (see 1908 Buick 10 Runabout pic attached - need better pic of S&W car)!  Sam, III

Love that last pic, that Buick is sharp.  What a fun purchase for the affluent buyer!

Hope I’m not belaboring the point but I just found that I have a far better and contemporaneous, if unprovenanced, photo of a tower car in use (possibly even on the project in question), attached.  {Hey - that guy in the white shirt could be running madly away from the photog’s cat racing wildly down from the bridge!  :·) }  Sam, III

Wow, NICE FIND Sam! The electric towers look the same and photo quality ca. around same time. Could it be the test line crew? Three toots on the whistle! Fowl and dogs also running madly away behind the farmer. The races are coming!!!

[Somehow this got lost in the shuffle - it wasn’t posted:]  “Affluent”?  Sorry to rain on your parade, Tom.  The 1908 Buick 10 Runabout was priced at $900 specifically to compete with the Ford Model T Runabout at $825.  You got a lot more for your additional $75.  Found a contemporary Buick 10 pic with all three people aboard, attached.  - - -  // - - -  Added now: - I’d love to see a similar side view of the S&W Buick, itself.  Sam, III