Piermont, New York was the Erie Railroad’s original eastern terminus. This Hudson River port was so-designated because the railroad was intended to operate within the State of New York. The railroad developed a large pier here for transshipping goods and people via the Hudson to New York City.
The other day my brother Sean and I explored Piermont and it’s Pier. Although there’s very little evidence left of the Erie itself, I was curious to see this once important place. This is part of my on-going research and photography of the old Erie Railroad.
These images were exposed digitally using my FujiFilm XT1. However, I also exposed a few 35mm color slides that will be useful in future slide presentations.
The Erie Railroad continued to serve Piermont long after the pier ceased to function as the railroad’s primary eastern terminus in the 1850s or 1860s.
You might want to research that end of the Erie through WW II history. Camp Shanks was a major gathering point for troops on their way to Europe. I’m not sure, but I think both the NYC West Shore Line and the Erie served the Camp.
One of my uncles told me his unit arrived at night via train (from the mid-west) the windows were covered for the last miles of the trip, so (he said) the soldiers wouldn’t know by what route they reached the camp.
I grew up in New City, NY (that’s NOT NYC). It was at the end of a short branch running north from Nanuet. Service ended in the 1920s.
The second photo features an old fly wheel on display that was once part of a factory built on the pier.
The factory was served by the Erie, but post-dated the pier as Erie’s primary eastern terminus, so far as I can tell.
An interesting focus on history – old piers! There are many of these along major waterways, and I often wonder what the motivation was for building them – and what it would have been like to see them in operation when they were in use. Early INTERMODAL in this case! In some ports on Lake Superior, old ore docks remain (all or in part) and they tell interesting stories.
What is the large piece of machinery in the second photo? Was it part of this rail/water interchange?