The next town north of Tappan is Orangeburg. North of the signal at Milepost 20, which is not easily accessible, you will find a cluster of things that are accessible. The Orangeburg team track siding and Orangeburg defect detector are at MP 20.5, alongside Western Highway. The former train depot sits there also, on the north side of Highview Avenue. Just to the north, Orangeburg Road crosses over the tracks and provides a vantage point for above-grade views.
Getting there: From Tappan, continue north on Route 303 to the traffic light at Orangeburg Road. Turn west onto Orangeburg Road as it goes over the tracks, and then left onto Western Highway. The defect detector is just down the hill.
Highview Avenue & Western Highway
Above: Early in the morning at Western Highway and Highview Avenue, February 25, 2008, viewed from Orangeburg Road.
Rail cars are rarely seen sitting on this siding.Below: Early on a summer morning, Q169 passes Highview Avenue, the former train depot, the
team track siding, the defect detector, and in the far distance just behind the last car of the train,
the faint glow of the red signal on Automatic 20. August 1, 2008.
Above: Q165 peaks into the Highview Avenue grade crossing on August 1, 2008.
The view is looking west toward Western Highway. According
to a Federal Railroad Administration report issued in 2008,
this crossing was the 10th most dangerous in New York.
We caught up with this train later in the day in Malden.
To see a little more of this train there, click here.
The former Orangeburg train depot, below, has been significantly altered since it was built in 1883. The original south end was cut off so that the road could be widened, at which time an addition was added to the north end. At the start of World War 2 a second addition was added to the north end, giving the present look of the building.
Below: Q118 on September 27, 2005.
The Orangeburg station as it originally looked. The Blauvelt, Orangeburg, and Tappan stations all followed "station plan #5," though the Tappan station was the mirror image of the other two. Thanks to Allan F. Seebach, Jr. for photo and information.
Above: Southbound across Highview Avenue past the former train depot -- Q433 on March 19, 2007.Below: Q417 on August 19, 2004.
Two Below: X551 ducks under Orangeburg Road on March 19, 2007. The T-5 Tie Gang was unable to get any time from the dispatcher on this very busy day and have parked their track cars on the siding and quit the scene.
Above: Southbound Q433 hits the Orangeburg defect detector (hot box and dragging equipment detector) on June 7, 2007. Western Highway is visible to the left. The Orangeburg Road bridge is also visible behind and above the train.
Below: Q404 comes north over the defect detector on August 19, 2004.
