[PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch

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[PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch
Posted by Bill Newkirk on Fri Mar 22 16:47:49 2019 Photos taken in 1979 and 1987. The ROW has been filled in and homes built along the way. All the steel trestles have been remove except one. Let's look at what remained years after service ceased. Cross streets and stations may or may not be correct. Please let me know so I can document it. Trestle spanning Virginia Ave. (January 1979) Closeup of B&O styled SIRT logo. (January 1979) Another trestle, this one spanning St. John's Ave.(January 1979) Same trestle, eight years later, top view. (December 1987) Ft. Wadsworth station. (January 1979) Possibly Ft. Wadsworth station. (Decemeber 1987) Fingerboard Rd bridge. (December 1987) Rosebank station (December 1987) Possibly the other end of Rosebank. (December 1987) Staircases for the Rosebank station. (December 1987) If my memory serves me correct, the Verrazzono toll plaza should be beyond that dirt fill. But the dirt fill looks too recent [at time photographed] (December 1987). Unknown station. (December 1987) Mysterious underpass - unknown location. (December 1987) Looks can be deceiving. It appears that decades of foliage was removed to reopen the line, but that's not the case. The task has begun to fill in the ROW, wiping out the railroad altogether. (December 1987) I am standing on fill where the South Beach ROW cut once was. Homes will be built on this land. (December 1987) When everything is filled in, only the green colored fencing will remain. (December 1987) The trestle spanning Robin Rd still stands today with homes built on both sides. (December 1987) Closeup of builders plate for the Robin Rd trestle. (December 1987) Want to view more history of this branch ? Then click HERE Thanks in advance for all positive praise.
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Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch
Posted by Catfish 44* on Fri Mar 22 17:27:15 2019, in response to [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch, posted by Bill Newkirk on Fri Mar 22 16:47:49 2019.* Very cool. Very interesting as well.
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Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch
Posted by Joe V* on Fri Mar 22 18:20:32 2019, in response to [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch, posted by Bill Newkirk on Fri Mar 22 16:47:49 2019.* Staten Island equivalent of the Rockaway Beach branch
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Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch
Posted by Express Rider* on Fri Mar 22 19:39:29 2019, in response to [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch, posted by Bill Newkirk on Fri Mar 22 16:47:49 2019.* Thank you for posting these excellent photos!! Sad to see, but a necessary historical record. And thanks for the link - I've been to that site over the years, it's a good one. The Silver Leaf SIRT book has black and white photos from the early 1960s of part of this route. Your photos reminded me/made me think of the abandoned/never finished Northern Heights Routes in London; the former GNR route through Crouch End, Muswell Hill, Cranley gardens etc. is now a public footpath - with overgrown platform remains at the former Crouch End station. The line from Mill Hill East to Edgware apparently is walkable, but not much left of any Northern Line extension work, and the proposed route north of Edgware, is almost all built over with housing - only the partial arch structures for one of the stations remains.
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Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch
Posted by Peter Rosa* on Fri Mar 22 20:15:18 2019, in response to [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch, posted by Bill Newkirk on Fri Mar 22 16:47:49 2019.* It looks as if the Robin Road trestle got painted blue sometime after 1987, though it's getting rusty again.
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Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch
Posted by G1Ravage* on Fri Mar 22 21:44:27 2019, in response to [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch, posted by Bill Newkirk on Fri Mar 22 16:47:49 2019.* Thanks! Didn't know about this.
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Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch
Posted by Andrew Saucci* on Fri Mar 22 21:46:19 2019, in response to [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch, posted by Bill Newkirk on Fri Mar 22 16:47:49 2019.* What is sad here is how much effort and expense was put into elevating and renovating the line only to abandon it 16 years later.
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Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch
Posted by kp5308* on Fri Mar 22 22:43:07 2019, in response to [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch, posted by Bill Newkirk on Fri Mar 22 16:47:49 2019.* Nice....particularly the link!
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Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch
Posted by Steamdriven* on Sat Mar 23 00:49:13 2019, in response to Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch, posted by Andrew Saucci on Fri Mar 22 21:46:19 2019.* Giving up the ROW seems like a fool thing to do. Did they expect SI population to shrink?
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Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch
Posted by Jackson Park B Train* on Sat Mar 23 01:15:44 2019, in response to Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch, posted by kp5308 on Fri Mar 22 22:43:07 2019.* second that. I sent a note to a B&O group with the link.
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Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch
Posted by jimmymc25* on Sat Mar 23 03:13:05 2019, in response to Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch, posted by Andrew Saucci on Fri Mar 22 21:46:19 2019.* Very sad indeed.
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Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch
Posted by Bill Newkirk* on Sat Mar 23 08:05:39 2019, in response to Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch, posted by Peter Rosa on Fri Mar 22 20:15:18 2019.* It looks as if the Robin Road trestle got painted blue sometime after 1987, though it's getting rusty again. I don't think it was painted blue. It looks like graffiti was painted over. Bill Newkirk
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Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch
Posted by chicagomotorman* on Sat Mar 23 09:39:15 2019, in response to [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch, posted by Bill Newkirk on Fri Mar 22 16:47:49 2019.* Many of those remnants still there?
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Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch
Posted by Stephen Bauman* on Sat Mar 23 09:49:36 2019, in response to Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch, posted by Steamdriven on Sat Mar 23 00:49:13 2019.* The ROW went through what was the VZ toll plaza. The early 1950's report with what to do with SIRT was written by Robert Moses. It recommended abandoning the South Beach branch, eliminating passenger service on the North Shore branch and keeping the Tottenville branch.
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Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch
Posted by Spider-Pig* on Sat Mar 23 11:01:32 2019, in response to Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch, posted by Stephen Bauman on Sat Mar 23 09:49:36 2019.* Moses wrote the Book of Exodus to the suburbs.
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Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch
Posted by Avid Reader* on Sat Mar 23 11:20:52 2019, in response to [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch, posted by Bill Newkirk on Fri Mar 22 16:47:49 2019.* SWEET
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Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch
Posted by Jackson Park B Train* on Sat Mar 23 13:04:14 2019, in response to Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch, posted by Spider-Pig on Sat Mar 23 11:01:32 2019.* nice quip.
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Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch
Posted by Joe V* on Sat Mar 23 13:13:39 2019, in response to Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch, posted by Spider-Pig on Sat Mar 23 11:01:32 2019.* DId Moses consider SI to be a city or suburbs ? It was rather rural by NYC standards in the 1950's.
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Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch
Posted by TUNNELRAT* on Sat Mar 23 15:38:36 2019, in response to Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch, posted by Joe V on Sat Mar 23 13:13:39 2019.* .
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Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch
Posted by MainR3664* on Sat Mar 23 15:53:54 2019, in response to [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch, posted by Bill Newkirk on Fri Mar 22 16:47:49 2019.* Thank you. I first heard of that line's existence in 1987, when it was reported in the advance that it was being filled in a serious way. I think up until 1987, the only part of it affirmatively destroyed was the area by the VZ toll plaza. After I read the article, I went looking for it. Interestingly, the Virginia Road trestle lasted until early 1999! I went out to the area looking for an apartment to rent, and there it was, in pieces on the sidewalk, looking like it had been cut away within the past week or so. This was March of '99...
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Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch
Posted by MainR3664* on Sat Mar 23 16:03:12 2019, in response to Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch, posted by Stephen Bauman on Sat Mar 23 09:49:36 2019.* Which is exactly what happened...
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Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch
Posted by MainR3664* on Sat Mar 23 16:04:37 2019, in response to Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch, posted by chicagomotorman on Sat Mar 23 09:39:15 2019.* Only the Robin Road trestle and a retaining wall on St John's Avenue. The rest was gone by 2000.
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Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch
Posted by Peter Rosa* on Sat Mar 23 17:22:24 2019, in response to Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch, posted by MainR3664 on Sat Mar 23 16:04:37 2019.* There's also Railroad Avenue, which may seem puzzling as there's no active railroad anywhere in the vicinity.
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Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch
Posted by Avid Reader* on Sat Mar 23 17:24:11 2019, in response to Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch, posted by TUNNELRAT on Sat Mar 23 15:38:36 2019.* Can I quote you on that?
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Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch
Posted by IRTRedbirdR33* on Sat Mar 23 19:02:36 2019, in response to Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch, posted by Avid Reader on Sat Mar 23 17:24:11 2019.* Can I quote you on that? You can always quote the Tunnelrat. He is the foremost authority. Larry, RedbirdR33
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Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch
Posted by 3-9* on Sun Mar 24 00:35:27 2019, in response to [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch, posted by Bill Newkirk on Fri Mar 22 16:47:49 2019.* Great photos, and thanks for the link!
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Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch
Posted by Union Tpke* on Sun Mar 24 10:01:47 2019, in response to [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch, posted by Bill Newkirk on Fri Mar 22 16:47:49 2019.* EXCEPTIONAL! This is really important work you did!
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Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch
Posted by Peter Rosa* on Sun Mar 24 10:22:42 2019, in response to [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch, posted by Bill Newkirk on Fri Mar 22 16:47:49 2019.* It looks as if this retaining wall on Virginia Avenue at Tilson Place is part of the trestle abutment, cut down partway.
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Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch
Posted by Bill Newkirk* on Sun Mar 24 10:35:18 2019, in response to Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch, posted by Peter Rosa on Sun Mar 24 10:22:42 2019.* It looks as if this retaining wall on Virginia Avenue at Tilson Place is part of the trestle abutment, cut down partway. Yup, also notice how the street dips as to go under a trestle. Bill Newkirk
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Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch
Posted by Bill Newkirk* on Sun Mar 24 20:37:55 2019, in response to Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch, posted by Union Tpke on Sun Mar 24 10:01:47 2019.* EXCEPTIONAL! This is really important work you did! Thanks. Maybe more to come ? Bill Newkirk
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Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch
Posted by Peter Rosa* on Sun Mar 24 21:28:13 2019, in response to [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch, posted by Bill Newkirk on Fri Mar 22 16:47:49 2019.* While the Fingerboard Road bridge over the tracks is gone, on the south side of Fingerboard just east of Tompkins the ground is well below road level. I'm nearly sure that's the old trackway.
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Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch
Posted by Mitch45* on Sun Mar 24 21:29:44 2019, in response to [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch, posted by Bill Newkirk on Fri Mar 22 16:47:49 2019.* Excellent photos. Abandoned facilities like these always make me sad. A lot of money and labor went into the planning and constructions of these lines, and simply allowing to rot seems like a terrible shame. True, in this instance the land was reclaimed and put to good use, but in others, like the LIRR Rockaway Beach line, it just seems wrong to allow useful transit facilities to go unused, especially with the current concerns about climate change.
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Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch
Posted by Peter Rosa* on Sun Mar 24 21:49:40 2019, in response to Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch, posted by Mitch45 on Sun Mar 24 21:29:44 2019.* As much as I dislike the loss of any transit line, I suppose that if the South Beach Branch somehow were around today it would have very low ridership.
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Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch
Posted by Jackson Park B Train* on Mon Mar 25 02:31:38 2019, in response to Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch, posted by Peter Rosa on Sun Mar 24 21:49:40 2019.* probably so given current circumstances, BUT, if tracks were put across the VN bridge, all calculations would change. Undoing Moses' damage (and Cuomo's) will take time and money but need to happen.
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Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch
Posted by MainR3664* on Mon Mar 25 06:56:10 2019, in response to Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch, posted by Peter Rosa on Sat Mar 23 17:22:24 2019.* Yes, there's that. Forgot about it. Not only is there no active railroad- there isn't even an abandoned one there anymore. I guess between the end of service in 1953 and the late 1980s, the derivation of the name was obvious. But now for those who moved in after the ROW was destroyed, it may seem a bit mysterious.
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Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch
Posted by MainR3664* on Mon Mar 25 06:58:13 2019, in response to Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch, posted by Peter Rosa on Sun Mar 24 21:28:13 2019.* It is. I remember the dead ROW right next to that old building on the right. There used to be a restaurant named Keith's there.
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Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch
Posted by Q4 on Mon Mar 25 07:45:17 2019, in response to Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch, posted by Bill Newkirk on Sun Mar 24 20:37:55 2019. Thanks for these. Sad indeed.
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Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch
Posted by italianstallion* on Mon Mar 25 14:52:09 2019, in response to Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch, posted by MainR3664 on Mon Mar 25 06:56:10 2019.* Like the mysterious Putnam Avenue in the Bronx.
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Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch
Posted by Bill Newkirk* on Mon Mar 25 15:24:10 2019, in response to Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch, posted by italianstallion on Mon Mar 25 14:52:09 2019.* Like the mysterious Putnam Avenue in the Bronx. How about Woodlawn Road in the Bronx. :) Bill Newkirk
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Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch
Posted by Spider-Pig* on Mon Mar 25 15:49:10 2019, in response to Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch, posted by Bill Newkirk on Mon Mar 25 15:24:10 2019.* There is no longer a street called Woodlawn Road.
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Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch
Posted by IRTRedbirdR33* on Mon Mar 25 16:10:01 2019, in response to Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch, posted by Bill Newkirk on Mon Mar 25 15:24:10 2019.* There is a PUTNAM AVENUE WEST in the Bronx located alongside the former Putnam Division. PUTNAM AVENUE itself was the former name of Swinton Avenue between Bruckner Boulevard and Lafayette Avenue. Once upon a time there were two Woodlawn Roads in the Bronx. One was the former mane of East 204th Street between the Grand Concourse and the Botanical Garden. The other was the former name of Bainbridge Avenue between East 205th Street and Jerome Avenue. It is now immortalized as the northern terminus of the IRT Jerome Avenue Line. Larry, RedbirdR33
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Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch
Posted by Express Rider* on Mon Mar 25 21:02:27 2019, in response to Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch, posted by Union Tpke on Sun Mar 24 10:01:47 2019.* iawtp!!
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[PHOTOS] THERE'S MORE ! - SIRT Abandoned South Beach
Posted by Bill Newkirk* on Tue Mar 26 08:21:56 2019, in response to [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch, posted by Bill Newkirk on Fri Mar 22 16:47:49 2019.* Here's some more you missed on the first post. All photos December 1987. This was image #14 on OP, but set back to give a better view of the ROW Getting ready to fill in the railroad cut. This is the other side of the first photo Unknown station. The ROW became a trash receptacle adding insult to injury. Robin Rd. trestle top side. Standing there today, there are homes where the trees are. In fact there are homes on both ends of the trestle Looking straight down the ROW towards South Beach. Other end of Image#12 on OP. You can see the concrete underpass at the end of where then platform once was. This was image #3 on OP. St. John's St. trestle on the other side showing concrete retaining wall. That's all today. Coming soon - Abandoned Arlington Branch
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Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch
Posted by MorningsideHeightsM100* on Tue Mar 26 09:11:40 2019, in response to Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch, posted by IRTRedbirdR33 on Mon Mar 25 16:10:01 2019.* Don't forget the Cemetery over there too. Woodlawn Cemetery
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Re: [PHOTOS] THERE'S MORE ! - SIRT Abandoned South Beach
Posted by BILLBKLYN* on Tue Mar 26 10:48:17 2019, in response to [PHOTOS] THERE'S MORE ! - SIRT Abandoned South Beach, posted by Bill Newkirk on Tue Mar 26 08:21:56 2019.* If this was today, the city would have made that into a green belt.
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Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch
Posted by Mark S. Feinman* on Tue Mar 26 10:51:38 2019, in response to Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch, posted by Peter Rosa on Fri Mar 22 20:15:18 2019.* That's just so weird ... why wasn't the trestle removed as part of the "removal" of the ROW for the homes that were built? --Mark
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Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch
Posted by Mark S. Feinman* on Tue Mar 26 10:55:40 2019, in response to [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch, posted by Bill Newkirk on Fri Mar 22 16:47:49 2019.* It's great you had the foresight to do this and then to share it with all of us so many years later. Thank you! --Mark
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Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch
Posted by Bill Newkirk* on Tue Mar 26 12:16:33 2019, in response to Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch, posted by Mark S. Feinman on Tue Mar 26 10:55:40 2019.* It's great you had the foresight to do this and then to share it with all of us so many years later. Thank you! --Mark Thanks, I never knew this would all but vanish. Good thing I recorded on film. Bill Newkirk
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Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch
Posted by MorningsideHeightsM100* on Tue Mar 26 12:27:00 2019, in response to Re: [PHOTOS] SIRT Abandoned South Beach Branch, posted by Mark S. Feinman on Tue Mar 26 10:51:38 2019.* Structural collapse of surroundings???? Wasn't worth the money to raze it?
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Re: [PHOTOS] THERE'S MORE ! - SIRT Abandoned South Beach
Posted by 3-9* on Tue Mar 26 13:07:14 2019, in response to [PHOTOS] THERE'S MORE ! - SIRT Abandoned South Beach, posted by Bill Newkirk on Tue Mar 26 08:21:56 2019.* Cool, thanks for sharing these!
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