Vanderbilt Cup Races

I run the Internet Checker Taxicab Archive (ICTA) the first five cars depicted in the postcards are Commonwealth Moguls produced in Jolliet, Illinois.  They are not Yellow Cabs produced by John Hertz. The bodies are similar, but Mogul cowl is more curved than the flatter Yellow Cab cowl. The Mogul and renamed Checker Cab of this type was produced until 1928.
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Howard Kroplick

Joe, Thanks!

From Update: Mystery Foto #37 Solved: The Bethpage Lodge Under Construction in September 1908

Meadow Brook bridge (Newbridge Ave/Bellmore Rd), and Long Island Aviation Country Club hangars

From Mystery Friday Foto #45 Still Open for Discussion: A Motor Parkway Bridge Built on a Curve

I’m guessing the car could be early 1900’s Cadillac or Packard,but is more likely a Winton.No clue as to the location,Mineola bike store??? LOL

From Mystery Saturday Auto #1: A Very Early Automobile

The car is a 1903 or 1904 20hp Winton. It is not a truck however, but has the standard tonneau body. The body is concealed partly by the basket on the side of the car (a regular accessory), partly because of the photo cut-off. Attached a few examples of similar models.
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Howard Kroplick

Thanks Ariejan!

From Mystery Saturday Auto #1: A Very Early Automobile

Another great mystery photo, thank you Al. I think I see the Long Island Aviation Country Club hangars in the distance. If correct, the only LIMP bridge configuration to match is the Newbridge Ave Parkway Bridge (Bellmore Rd), once located in Eisenhower Park. Newbridge Ave once traveled through the park and proceeded north into what is today’s Salisbury Park Dr. What’s funny is how the LIMP Stewart Ave Highway Bridge, just beyond the mystery photo is not visible, but it’s there. Also, the iconic Ladenburg wind mill is just to the left of the photo, and also can’t be seen.  Photographer was looking East. Great stuff guys! Keep it going!

From Mystery Friday Foto #45 Still Open for Discussion: A Motor Parkway Bridge Built on a Curve

Great image, Al!

I’ll have to say this is Clinton Rd bridge during construction. The view is broadly west and north. I recall this bridge needed to be wider than originally planned due to the future widening of Clinton Rd, so maybe that’s why Clinton Rd isn’t noticeable. I also see a steam engine westbound on the LIRR - Mineola Line.

Thought maybe that this could be the Westbury Ave Bridge viewing south, with the train eastbound on the LIRR. But I don’t see a any utility poles or wire above for the trolley line.

So my answer is the Clinton Rd location.

From Mystery Friday Foto #45 Still Open for Discussion: A Motor Parkway Bridge Built on a Curve

Yes Sam III, I noticed this. LIMP Corporation must of donated these maps to Nassau County. I only noticed what was Sheep Dr on older Topo Maps. Must of been a livestock route : )

From Kleiner's Kolumn: Removal of the Roosevelt Field Motor Parkway Bridge

I became ‘lost’ with my sense of direction with the 7th image under ‘Removal Plans’. Thinking East was to the right, but South is right ( 5th image under ‘Removal Plans’ ). The South Gate is at the entrance road north from Stewart Ave, leading to The Meadowbrook Club Bridge. Feel free to correct me if wrong.

From Kleiner's Kolumn: Removal of the Roosevelt Field Motor Parkway Bridge

Good catch Brian. It now appears the LIMP Roosevelt Field bridge was the first to be removed as seen in the 1950 aerial below, sometime between 1944-1950, possibly after 1945, after the end of WWII. The bottom 1951 Newsday photo was taken from the Polo bridge, with the car parked where the LIMP bridge once stood.
Sam- I too noticed the proposed tail of the Hemp Spur. I’m not entirely sure where exactly it was planned to be built but I believe the spur was to be further west and closer to the Clinton Rd bridge curve. But that finding doesn’t jive with the Motor Pkwy Atlas. Another interesting subject.

From Kleiner's Kolumn: Removal of the Roosevelt Field Motor Parkway Bridge

Did anyone notice that all three “Original Bridge Removal Plans” show the Mitchel/Hempstead Spur as reality?  See the 14 Sep and 29 Oct 2013 blog posts.  Sam, III

From Kleiner's Kolumn: Removal of the Roosevelt Field Motor Parkway Bridge

Shoulda linked Art Huneke’s ARRT’S ARRCHIVES great page on the electerification tests: <https://www.arrts-arrchives.com/newpage1.html>.  Detective work much like on our own LIMP.  [By the way, if you haven’t yet, you should also see his LIMP/VCR pages: <https://www.arrts-arrchives.com/MOTORPKY1A.html>, <https://www.arrts-arrchives.com/MOTORPKY1Br.html>, and <https://www.arrts-arrchives.com/limp2.html>]  Sam, III

From Mystery Foto #43 Solved : A 1955 View of the Motor Parkway in Levittown Looking West

Don Capps
I have enjoyed the Vanderbilt Cup site virtually since its inception. Given that the topic area that I have focused upon for some years now, American automotive contests until the end of 1920, tends to be somewhat thin on the ground for the most part, your site is certainly a treasure.

Again, my congratulations for your excellent work on keeping the legacy of the Vanderbilt Cup alive—not to mention the LIMP.

Best regards,

Don Capps
President, SAH

From Society of Automotive Historians Honor VanderbiltCupRaces.com with the E.P. Ingersoll Award

OMG!  Some LIRR/PRR historian *I* am!  Fantastic find!  Thanks, Frank, Brian, and Ernie!  Lotsa!!!!  Sam (the chastened), III

From Mystery Foto #44 Solved: One-Acre Property Purchased by the Motor Parkway for a Borrow Pit

Here I am in my ‘think tank’ again : ). Upon viewing a closeup aerial ( below ), the wing walls of these bridges were literally touching each other like the sketch shows. Thought both bridges were demolished at the same time, but the 1950 aerial below shows the Meadowbrook Club Bridge still in use. The gates on the east ( sketch ), may be associated with the Mitchell Gardens Complex.

From Kleiner's Kolumn: Removal of the Roosevelt Field Motor Parkway Bridge

The twin bridges! They weren’t so ‘twin’ after all. Great details here Art. The original LIMP bridge to the east (1909-1940’s) was slightly longer than the latter Meadow Brook Polo Club bridge (1920’s-1940’s). If I read this correctly it looks like the shorter Polo bridge was first to go in ~1944. It appears there was a slight grade uphill as you headed east, but flat under the Polo bridge. and the height clearance of the LIMP bridge was only 11’0”, restricting travel for most modern day tractor trailer heights of 13’6”. As noted, the abutment walls were saved under the dirt below but I doubt they survived the MSP onslaught.
I stand corrected! These two bridges were swapped on the online LIMP map. Correction updated.

From Kleiner's Kolumn: Removal of the Roosevelt Field Motor Parkway Bridge

Very interesting maps and documents. I note that it appears that the Trotting Association must have purchased some property near the bridge from Nassau County between the 1938 closing of the LIMP and 1944. Makes me wonder how many parcels both Nassau and Suffolk sold within 10 years of taking title. Who were the buyers? That could be the subject of future investigations and blog posts. Thanks for the good work Art?

From Kleiner's Kolumn: Removal of the Roosevelt Field Motor Parkway Bridge

Ernie - I believe the image below, a little further west from Newbridge, shows the catenary run from Garden City. Interesting stuff!

From Mystery Foto #44 Solved: One-Acre Property Purchased by the Motor Parkway for a Borrow Pit

Sam III, below explains the location of Frank’s image. If you zoom into Frank’s image, the windmill is seen on the Ladenburgh property.

From Mystery Foto #43 Solved : A 1955 View of the Motor Parkway in Levittown Looking West

WOW! There were so many more posts back then. Almost all (if not all) were still standing in their original place, 32 years after closing. Fantastic post(s), Howard
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From Sam Berliner III: A 1970 Walking Tour of the Motor Parkway in Queens

Thanks for sharing!  Always good to get a refresh.

From Sam Berliner III: A 1970 Walking Tour of the Motor Parkway in Queens