The Union Freight Railroad Office - 87 Atlantic Ave Boston MA

The Union Freight Railroad's office at 87 Atlantic Avenue, Boston MA.  Judging by the cars, I'd guess the photo was taken in the 1940s.  The building at right still exists.

Name That Photo Location: Boston & Maine Wreck at Lynn MA

I have managed to figure out the location of another vintage B&M photograph in my collection, and am sharing my findings with YOU!

The image shows B&M locomotive #827 on its side, with B&M crane #3359 hooked up to a baggage car.  The area has multiple tracks and a signal, which helped confirm the location of Lynn Massachusetts, just west of the West Lynn station.   (The Boston, Revere Beach & Lynn RR also had a West Lynn station)

The only real lead I had to go by was the sign in the distance atop a commercial building.  It appeared to read "Hoag & Wald_n", which I assumed was "Walden" or "Waldon".  After much web searching, I found a reference to a shoe manufacturer in Lynn named "Hoag & Walden". 

I then started looking at old maps and aerial photos to see if I could find the building in the middle-background, as it had an easy-to-spot roof style.  I finally found the exact building, which in 1916 belonged to Fred M. Page & Company, "manufacturers of cotton and paper specialties"and was located on 29 Bennett Street.  Amazingly, this building was still standing as of 2014, though partially re-sided and in tatty condition.  There was also a building to its left that may possibly be the one in the photo with a water tower on the roof.   If so, it has been altered quite a bit.

As for the key Hoag & Walden building, it was located on Commercial Street in an area that appears to now be a playing field. 

Now that I had located the location of the photo, I needed to figure out the date it was taken.  I used an online newspaper archive to search for Lynn train accidents that made the news.  I knew that locomotive #827 had been scrapped in 1913.  I used that date, along with the style of automobiles in the photo, to narrow down my search.  I finally found a short article in the March 29, 1910 issue of The Lowell Sun newspaper which said that just before noon, the "Portland express... Train 44" derailed while traveling on the Eastern Division toward Boston.  The train consisted of "a couple of baggage cars, a Pullman, and three regular coaches, the latter being in the rear".  The passenger cars being in the rear explains the baggage car being present behind the locomotive. 

The train was not scheduled to stop at West Lynn, and left the track "a hundred yards beyond that station", followed by all but two coaches.  The article states that an open switch had caused the accident, which also confirms the photo's location, as even today there is a track that curves off the main.  This is the now abandoned Saugus Branch. 

No one died in the accident.

Name That Photo Location: Bradford MA LOCATION FOUND!

Back in 2011, I posted about a set of photographs I have that didn't have a location noted.  I ended up finding out they are of the Boston & Maine bridge connecting Bradford to Haverhill MA.  

The other day, while pondering selling or donating the photos, I decided to try once again to identify the business who's name was painted on the brick building to the right of the bridge.  This time, I actually had some luck!

The name is F.N. Livingston Co, one of many businesses in the area involved in the shoe industry.  At left is a page from an 1889 business directory of Haverhill MA.  At that time, they were located at 12 Porter Place, which was near 74 Washington St.  That is the road directly behind the buildings in the photo.  

In 1905, F.N. Livingston was located at 17 Sanders Place, which was from 130 Washington St. 

Another bit of info I found was that the building with the painted sign ALSO once housed Perley A. Stone's company, also a shoe related business.  There is a drawing of the building in the same 1889 directory.    So it appears these companies moved around a lot!

From a 1914 map of Haverhill MA

This view looks south toward Bradford, away from our buildings.

 

I also found out that the existing railroad bridge was opened in 1920.  It sits on piers from "the 1880 bridge", which is the bridge in the photos!  Therefore, the photos I was wondering about were taken most likely in 1879-1880!  

Lastly, I noticed in one photo an ornate tower/cupola.  Sure enough, that belonged to the B&M railroad station that stood right near the shore.  

Tower of B&M station at Haverhill