Vanderbilt Cup Races

Art, Great write up of the Central Ave./LIRR bridge and it’s ultimate fate, well done. With regard to the confusion over the actual removal date let me describe a possible scenario. The Parkway bridge over Clinton Rd. in Garden City was taken down the week of April 2nd 1939. However,  the outer abutments were not removed until April 1944. Could something similar have happened at Central Ave. ?

From Kleiner's Kolumn: Removal of the Central Avenue/LIRR Motor Parkway Bridge

Damn, damn and double-damn!  This feature just reinforces my very clear recollection of the three-bar grilles in the ‘37 Chrysler’s rear quarter panels as pre-vanity-mirror hidden, private peek-throughs for Della.  Don’t bother me with facts, Walt - I was all over that car when it first turned up at the Museum and I knows what I knows!  :·)  Sam, III

From Bringatrailor.com: Kobus Talks Torpedos with the Tuckers at Manhasset Concours

[Had to back into this thread; no comment section on opening.]  What a kick to see dear John Burns; what a dynamo he was!  Mayhap the Preservation Society should make it a goal to (help) restore any missing markers; I never realized there were so many.  How about one for the Aviation CC and its hangar roof and a pair, one at each end of Harned Road (the Commack Spur)?  Ditto for the backing at I. U. Willets Road and especially at Deadman’s Curve at the south end of North Hermann Avenue.  Way to go, Howard; one great thread after another; thanks as always!  Sam, III

From Kleiner's Kolumn:Update-Historical Markers for the Long Island Motor Parkway & Vanderbilt Cup Races

West of Newbridge Rd (106). Currently the site of a LIPA substation. Not sure why it was purchased, but maybe they were considering on constructing a railroad station.

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

The information continues to grow with the history of the LIMP and Bethpage.  We thank you for that.  Central Park Historical Society

From Kleiner's Kolumn: Removal of the Central Avenue/LIRR Motor Parkway Bridge

  Where was this property located?

The property on the south side of the current Salisbury Park Drive, a little west from the intersection with the renamed Newbridge Road.

  Why did the Motor Parkway purchase this property? Provide a rationale.

The engineering drawing has a penciled in comment “Borrow pit.” From Wikipedia “In construction and civil engineering, a borrow pit, also known as a sand box, is an area where material (usually soil, gravel or sand) has been dug for use at another location.[1] Borrow pits can be found close to many major construction projects. For example, soil might be excavated to fill an embankment for a highway, clay might be excavated for use in brick-making, gravel to be used for making concrete, etc.”

There were two LIMP bridges in this immediate area. The New Bridge Road bridge was situated just a few feet from the path from the pit to New Bridge. A short way west was the Westbury Road bridge. Both of these bridges were raised over the existing roads and thus required fill material to build up the embankments to the bridge deck.

  What is currently on this property?

Currently a PSE&G transformer farm resides in this area. I just drove by the area and there are no indications of there being a “pit” here as the farm is all level ground. Where the material from the embankments went would be speculation on my part, though I would add the nearby Wantagh parkway does a slight dip under Salisbury Park Drive, so at one time there was plenty of nearby material to use to level this area.

I sized the drawing to approximately match a Google Map of the area and pasted the drawing in.

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

Thanks for the new info., Peter and all - FYI - the county is currently digging out the walking trail around Eisenhower Park as part of the Motor Parkway Trail Program Trail This section will be along Old Country Road and Salisbury Park Drive.  Will provide pictures later. 
https://www.nassaucountyny.gov/2893/Motor-Parkway-Trail-Program

From Kleiner's Kolumn:Update-Historical Markers for the Long Island Motor Parkway & Vanderbilt Cup Races

The marker at the corner of Commack Rd. & Vanderbilt
pkwy was recently restored. The restoration was initiated on the Long Island Needs A Dragstrip Facebook page. There was a discussion about the parkway and the markers. Someone mentioned that this marker was in bad shape. A member of the group said that he worked for the town of Huntington highway dept. and he would see about getting it restored. It took some time, but the new restored marker was recently installed back in it’s original place.

From Kleiner's Kolumn:Update-Historical Markers for the Long Island Motor Parkway & Vanderbilt Cup Races

Sam - about 112 acres worth of original prairie, and it’s still vacant! That tract always had me curious. Likely flourishing with water issues associated with that pond just to the north.

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

After reading Gary’s comment above, taking a careful look thru Battle Row for the LIMP marker is a good idea.

From Kleiner's Kolumn:Update-Historical Markers for the Long Island Motor Parkway & Vanderbilt Cup Races

Location - southwest of Newbridge Rd & LIRR

Reason for Purchase - I’m thinking the parkway company had plans for a temporarily permanent RR station to be built here for race spectators and the like. Could’ve been for the 1908 VCR, but then decided on the train stop nearer to the grandstand. Or maybe a RR station for the proposed Hempstead Plains Speedway that never came to be. Don’t think anything came of this purchased acre.

Current use - purchased by LILCO in 1938 for substation.

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

1. South side of what was later Salisbury Park Drive and south of the Stewart rail line,
  West side of Newbridge Road.
2. My guess is the LIMP purchased this acre in order to have a convenient location to dig
  and use a source of dirt to construct the raised portions of the roadway in this area
  between the Westbury and Newbridge Road bridges.
3.  Today the LIPA transmission stations occupy the site.

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

Thanks Joe, another piece of information to help make a conclusion.

From Kleiner's Kolumn: Removal of the Central Avenue/LIRR Motor Parkway Bridge

Well put Sam. That early in the game there was nothing in sight for miles!

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

I was about to note that only one tiny patch of the original prairie still exists [at southeast Mitchel Field, tended by Hofstra/LI Studies Inst.(?)], but thought better of it and looked first; there’s more than I realized: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hempstead_Plains> - take a look; its well worth your while!  Sam, III

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

Here is some evidence that helps my hypothesis that it might have been the “New Bridge Road” railroad station: http://www.lirrhistory.com/central.html . I don’t know why the Motor Parkway would build a railroad station for another company; perhaps they had some kind of agreement to be partners.

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

It’s just south of Salisbury Park Dr and the end of my block Grace Lane in Levittown. I can only guess it was purchased to facilitate the construction of the Newbridge Rd Bridge.
The LIPA power substation is there now.

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

New Bridge (or Newbridge) is an old name for Bellmore, but this property is in the Levittown postal zone. Today, it’s the SW corner of Newbridge Road and Salisbury Park Drive. My guess is they purchased the property to build a train station. My rationale is the property is south of the Central Rail Road tracks, but the parkway is north of the tracks, and I found an old timetable of the CRR that lists a “New Bridge Road” station. The property is now occupied by an electrical substation.

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

Anecdotally, 30 years ago a friend of mine was working for the LIRR.  He told me another employee had walked the tracks for years, and made dozens of hand drawn maps of the railroad tracks.  When this mapmaker retired my friend asked for copies of everything, and he gave them to him.  We looked at his drawing from Bethpage. His hand written note regarding the LIMP crossing just said “Removed 1950.”  Don’t know what that is worth, but it has always remained in my mind.

From Kleiner's Kolumn: Removal of the Central Avenue/LIRR Motor Parkway Bridge

The Armour museum is quite impressive.  As you would find at American Airpower Museum, much of the equipment on site runs, and does get out and about at times.  Most they own.  Some, as I’ve been told, is still owned by the US Army, and the museum won’t do anything to get them up and running since they don’t own them.  My personal favorite is the M551 General Sheridan light tank, Viet Nam era.  Probably at Fort Bragg, I got to ride one over 40 years ago.  Also saw one air dropped out of the back of a C130 at very low altitude on a pallet.  It’s crew parachuted down nearby, unhooked the tank from its pallet, and drove off.

From Sam & Dave’s “Excellent 2019 Vanderbilt Day”- #12 Bethpage #3