Over the years I’ve shot both medium format and 35mm B&W negative film. Mostly Plus-X and Tri-X. Looking through my negatives, I’ve recently come across photos taken in the 70s of the Maybrook NY rail yard in its decaying state. The turntable, over grown with weeds and small trees seems to beckon For just one more engine. Its rooted to the ground and will never turn again.
The engine house doors are open, the buildings windows are broken. Outside, a small inspection car sits in a pile of rubble. When was it last used? Who was the last man to drive it along the right-of-way?
I went back to Maybrook a few weeks ago to see what was left, if anything of the locomotive shed and turntable. The area was fenced, now the property of Yellow Freight. The turntable, I assume was buried, covered over unceremoniously and forgotten. The engine shed is used for storage.
The last train to pass through Maybrook on its way East crossing the Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge was in 1974. After the bridge caught fire, it was never used again and any need for what was left of the facility at Maybrook ended.
John Fasulo
2007