LeRoy Pennysaver & News

LE ROY PENNYSAVER & NEWS - NOVEMBER 24, 2019 by Lynne Belluscio It amazes me when I find a postcard that we don’t have in the collection. The Histor- ical Society has quite a large postcard collection but a cou- ple of weeks ago, this postcard showed up on Ebay. I was pretty sure that we didn’t have it. It was late at night and I didn’t have time to check in the files at the Historical Society before the auction ended, so I just went ahead and bought it. When I had the chance to look through the postcard collection, sure enough, it is the only one of the B.P.&R station (D&R Depot Restaurant) looking east. I think from the automo- biles in the photo, that it dates from 1910 or a few years lat- er. A steam engine is standing at the station with a couple of passenger cars and probably a mail car. Behind the passenger cars is a “tilted post.” I knew it wasn’t a telephone pole, so what was it? Steam engines need a lot of water and coal so I figured it was a coal chute. I checked a couple of maps which showed railroad sidings in that area. I posted the pho- tograph on LeRoy Then and Now and Larry Munt said that his uncle, Ralph Munt bought the coal bins and had them torn down in the 1950s. Oth- er folks remembered riding the steam trains in the 1950s. Ray Yacuzzo remembered a Boy Scout trip to Buffalo and other folks taking the train to Cleve- land for ball games. Frances Smoot remembered standing with the nuns from school and waving to the engineers and singing: “Down by the Sta- tion, early in the morning, see the little Bumper cars, all in a row. See the station master turn the little handle. Chug. Chug. Puff. Puff. Off they go.” ( I remember that song too but the bumper cars were puffer- bellies. And I think there were hand motions.) By chance I thought I’d check the photographs in the 1940s Book. I wasn’t too sure what I was looking for, but as I turned the pages, there was the tall tilted tower attached to L.M. Bryant’s Coal and Ice tower – Lehigh Valley Anthra- cite Established in 1931. The office was located at 68 Lake Street. So, if the photograph was from the 1920s and Bry- ants Coal and Ice was estab- lished in 1931, perhaps the photo was later or the tower was built earlier and bought by Bryant. I’ve looked at some of the insurance maps, but I don’t have anything later than 1929. Anyway, it’s a neat postcard, and I’ll have to do some more research. A Different View T-shirts • Hats • Visors • Tank Tops • Jackets • Towels GREAT GIFTS FOR YOUR FAMILY • FRIENDS • ETC. 1 Church St., Le Roy, NY • 585-768-2201 • Fax 585-768-6334 • Hours: Mon.-Fri. 8:00-5:00 E M B R O I D E R Y lpgraphics.net