Vanderbilt Cup Races

Interesting 1903 timeline.  Presumably that bridge predates the extant trestle.  Do we know when the existing bridge/over/underpass was constructed?  I’ve never seen a cornerstone in any of the photos of it.  What became of the earlier bridge, only Alexander Stewart knows for sure.  And he’s not talking!

From Mystery Friday Foto #5 Solved: A 1930's view of the Motor Parkway area around Merrick Avenue in Westbury and East Meadow

Why ‘toy’?

From Mystery Friday Foto #6 Solved: Henry Austin Clark, Jr. visiting Lynhurst in Tarrytown in his 1912 Simplex Toy Tonneau in1970

This isn’t surprising. If you look at the prices of Classic and Muscle Cars at the Mecum and Barrett-Jackson auction lately they are insane! These plates are very rare and it appears that multiple buyers (probably including you Howard) wanted it. The value is just what someone is willing to pay.

From 1933 Long Island Motor Parkway License Plate sells for a record $4,434 on Ebay

Lee, The entire area on the east side of the Meadow Brook creek between Stewart Ave. and Hempstead Tpke. for the longest time was subject to “ponding” from the overflow of the creek. An article in the Feb. 7, 1870 issue of the B.D.E. states “on the west bank the ground is some 15 feet above the bed of the creek” Regarding your mention of a previous bridge….  an article in the Apr. 23, 1903 mentions “a bridge that spans the creek” Did the CRR build it ? What happened to it ?

From Mystery Friday Foto #5 Solved: A 1930's view of the Motor Parkway area around Merrick Avenue in Westbury and East Meadow

Lee, based on the “1906 Atlas” map you posted above, the Meadow Brook creek RoW north of the two ponds shown, is indicated by a boundary line reaching the east side of the Club, likely requiring a bridge there for the CRR to pass over (the original “West Trestle #1”). Seems that manipulation of the creek occurred at some point to improve land use. This is also true for other points in Nassau, Queens, and the New York World’s Fair of ‘39

From Mystery Friday Foto #5 Solved: A 1930's view of the Motor Parkway area around Merrick Avenue in Westbury and East Meadow

Don’t know, except to say there were sources of water in the area adjacent to the trestle.  Water tends to find the lowest point.  As I recall, they had to make a minor adjustment of the route of Meadow Brook Creek to accommodate construction of the Parkway in that area.

From Mystery Friday Foto #5 Solved: A 1930's view of the Motor Parkway area around Merrick Avenue in Westbury and East Meadow

Lee, I don’t think the Parkway needed any fill from outside sources. Check Greg’s post of the McCamish family photos of April 18, 2020. The first photo is of the Lodge, the view is to the east. Note the grade level on the left ( north) side of the photo, it is much higher than the grade level of the ROW and the lodge. My gut tells me once the height of the bridge over Merrick Ave was determined, the Parkway wanted the Lodge at the same grade level as the bridge for several reasons. Can you imagine what the grade of the Parkway entrance from Merrick Ave. would have been if they didn’t lower the grade level of the lodge…. I’m guessing about 10 feet. I wonder how far back west and south the Parkway went lowering the grade.

From Mystery Friday Foto #5 Solved: A 1930's view of the Motor Parkway area around Merrick Avenue in Westbury and East Meadow

When I first stumbled upon the CRR trestle in 1971, I recall there being a fairly deep gully on the South side of it.  My suspicion is that this may not have been a natural occurrence and resulted from the build up of grading for the Parkway.  Last I saw the gully, it was full of leaves.

From Mystery Friday Foto #5 Solved: A 1930's view of the Motor Parkway area around Merrick Avenue in Westbury and East Meadow

The cute, little 3 year old Marion Spooner, Frank Spooner’s daughter.

From Vintage Motorsport: Candid Cameras- The story behind Nathan Lazarnick and F. Ed Spooner

Frank, The Meadow Brook Club didn’t have access from Stewart Ave. until they acquired property north of Stewart Ave. in late 1929/early 1930 and built the new polo fields. At the same time the Club acquired a strip of land from Stewart Ave. south ( part of which I think is today’s Endo Blvd.), to the CRR.  This tract was used primarily by the polo ponies to and from the stable area and the new fields. Knowing the grade level of the CRR at that point, I’m guessing the Club built an underpass at the time ???

From Mystery Friday Foto #5 Solved: A 1930's view of the Motor Parkway area around Merrick Avenue in Westbury and East Meadow

Gary & Lee, My comment about the underpass… it appears from the two top photos of the bridges it wasn’t necessary to excavate under the CRR to construct the road from Merrick Ave. to the interior of polo grounds. The area around the underpass on both sides of the CRR is at the same level as the road surface. Also, it appears as if the CRR was built on fill thru that area, so in reality… the CRR ended up in “bridging” the polo grounds roadway.

From Mystery Friday Foto #5 Solved: A 1930's view of the Motor Parkway area around Merrick Avenue in Westbury and East Meadow

Possibly Henry Austin Clark Jr driving what resembles a 1904 Mercedes at the Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum??? Photo appears to be looking west.

From Mystery Friday Foto #6 Solved: Henry Austin Clark, Jr. visiting Lynhurst in Tarrytown in his 1912 Simplex Toy Tonneau in1970

Just speculating but I always thought of the east access road as the service entrance for horses’ arrival to the Club, and the west access road as the main entrance from Stewart Ave.

From Mystery Friday Foto #5 Solved: A 1930's view of the Motor Parkway area around Merrick Avenue in Westbury and East Meadow

The driver appears to be Henry Austin Clark jr. ...................

From Mystery Friday Foto #6 Solved: Henry Austin Clark, Jr. visiting Lynhurst in Tarrytown in his 1912 Simplex Toy Tonneau in1970

Fascinating story.  I have many of their photos of Walter Christie’s automobiles.  Another good photographer of the period was Ted Hansom, I believe.

From Vintage Motorsport: Candid Cameras- The story behind Nathan Lazarnick and F. Ed Spooner

Mystery Foto #6… I want to believe that that is Henry Austin Clark in a 1912 Simplex 50 Toy Tonneau but I don’t know the location.

From Mystery Friday Foto #6 Solved: Henry Austin Clark, Jr. visiting Lynhurst in Tarrytown in his 1912 Simplex Toy Tonneau in1970

I’m probably wrong, but it looks to me like Austin Clark.
Rog

From Mystery Friday Foto #6 Solved: Henry Austin Clark, Jr. visiting Lynhurst in Tarrytown in his 1912 Simplex Toy Tonneau in1970

Austin Clark is behind the wheel of his Simplex toy tonneau. Location 9is Tarrytown, NY at the Lyndhurst historic site. The New York Region of the Veteran Motor Car Club of America ( now name changed to Vintage Motor Car Club of America) used to have an annual pre WWII era car meet there that Austin organized and got a few of us to volunteer to help run, work the registration table, and judge cars. I did all of those areas but never liked to judge cars nor have my own cars judged. I usually drove up there in my 1931 Franklin but one year rode up with noted modern sculptor Richard Lippold of Locust Valley in his 1929 Bentley 4 1/2 litre tourer. That was an exhausting trip in the Bentley - top down lots of wind and Richard drove that car flat out as often as possible. We were doing 75 mph when on the Cross Westchester Expressway. Richard also owned a R-R Phantom II convertible victoria that was bought new by Charlie Chaplin for his new wife Paulette Goddard. Richard was a well known sculptor in gold wire ( yes real gold) and his main work is in the a museum of art in NY City.

From Mystery Friday Foto #6 Solved: Henry Austin Clark, Jr. visiting Lynhurst in Tarrytown in his 1912 Simplex Toy Tonneau in1970

Henry Austin Clark, Jr., driving his 1912 Simplex Toy Tonneau with the Misses Margaret Hoffman, Anne Adams and Mary Ryan as passengers, stopped before the Gothic Revival Mansion owned and maintained by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

From Mystery Friday Foto #6 Solved: Henry Austin Clark, Jr. visiting Lynhurst in Tarrytown in his 1912 Simplex Toy Tonneau in1970

Oswald Jacoby in his 1962 book “Mathemetics for Pleasure” used a race on the Motor Parkway between “Newcar” and “Jalopy” in one of his math problems.  According to the author the race actually did occur in 1914.

From UPDATE - Kleiner's Korner: The Motor Parkway and the Vanderbilt Cup Race in Literature and Entertainment (Part 2)