February 03, 2004

Fire damages historic railroad station
Blaze creates traffic headaches

By Nathan Hegedus
   Times Herald-Record
nhegedus@th-record.com

   Middletown – The O&W Station fueled the chugging engine of thriving old Middletown.
   Yesterday, that engine, long broken down, went up in flames.
   At about 8:15 a.m. a raging fire started in the old railroad station at the corner of Low and Wickham avenues.
   Flames were visible from Orange Regional Medical Center, bystanders said. A massive plume of smoke rose hundreds of feet in the air, visible from as far away as Chester. Wickham Avenue was closed until about 5 p.m., causing serious traffic delays.
   Between 75 and 80 firefighters from Middletown and nine nearby fire companies responded, containing the blaze to the back one-third of the 112-year-old large timber building.
   "They made a real good stop," said Middletown fire Chief Ralph Parenti. "We tried hard not to tear it down."
   The fire took several hours to contain. There were "huge" holes in the floors, which made it too dangerous for firefighters to enter, said the first assistant chief, Sam Barone.
   So firefighters tried to "knock it down from the outside," with several hoses flooding the building with water, Barone said. Firefighters spent the entire day containing the remaining hot spots.
   The Orange County Arson Task Force and the Middletown Police Department are investigating. They also brought in a fire dog from Ulster County.
   The front of the station, with its old broken clock and the O&W Station sign, remained untouched. Yesterday afternoon, water from the fire hoses formed icicles hanging over the eaves of the station.
   The station is home to several businesses, the most visible a baseball card and collectible store. Parts of the building are empty, and the facade is shabby.
   Yet for decades, the New York, Ontario & Western Railway was one of the city's two pillars, along with the once-thriving Middletown Psychiatric Center.
   The railway employed up to 5,000 people in 1909, its passenger and milk-shipping business peaking in 1912. In the 1930s, after a bankruptcy, Middletown became the home office, a beneficiary even in tough times.
   Its meandering path completed in 1873, the O&W, nicknamed the "Old & Weary," reached from Weehawken, N.J. to Oswego, with a major spur into Scranton.
   There was no meal service on the O&W, so passengers poured off the trains in Middletown to eat. With the Erie Railroad thriving downtown, Middletown was a bustling railroad hub, with plenty of jobs and action.
   Railroad cars were built here, mountains of coal stored here. You could buy a train ticket to Chicago on the Erie. Businesses thrived on Wisner Avenue to support the O&W staff.
   But Oswego never developed into much of a port. And there were no major populations in between – just places like Middletown, Walden and Cornwall. Plus, people started driving their cars, abandoning the trains.
   The railway still had its moments, taking New Yorkers up to the Catskills and hauling coal out of Pennsylvania. World War II meant a brief boom.
   But the company was doomed. Employees fought hard as it slowly declined, but by March 1957, the federal government stepped in and ordered it shut down, according to Arthur Robb and Bill Scott, archivists for the Ontario & Western Railway Historical Society.
   The O&W was the first "class one" railroad to close in the U.S. It was far from the last.
   After the railway left, the building had a second wind as a popular nightclub, a place for dancing and wedding receptions. There have been driving schools and barbers, churches and restaurant supplies.
   But as Middletown faded, so did the O&W station. With Middletown again on the rise, the O&W hasn't followed – yet.
   By late yesterday afternoon, the Middletown firefighters were a tired bunch. Late Sunday night, during the third quarter of the Super Bowl, many of them responded to a fully-involved house fire at 65 Horton Avenue.
   They did not leave until about 2:30 in the morning, Parenti said. A mere six hours later, they were out for another big blaze.
   "Most guys took a beating," Parenti said. "They're tired."
   So is the O&W Station.

O&W station facts
   - Built in 1892 at the corner of Wickham and Low avenues, the structure was designed by Bradford Lee Gilbert, a noted station architect responsible for the design of Chicago's Illinois Central Station and New York's Grand Central Terminal.
   - The large station was made of Hudson River brick and Scranton, Pa. sandstone and trimmed with hard pine. It was the hub of the O&W Railroad and its offices, replacing an earlier wooden station at a cost of $50,000.
   - A fire in 1919 left Southern Division travelers without a place to eat along the route. The Middletown station became well-known for its Seeholzer's restaurant. The reputation of the Seeholzer brothers' pastry, especially the crullers, spread far and wide. The O&W never put dining cars into service. Instead, trains made 10-minute meal stops at the restaurant until the end of passenger service.
   - The station was renovated in 1936 to accommodate O&W staff that moved to Middletown from the New York offices.
   - On March 29, 1957, the New York, Ontario and Western ceased operations. In July 1957, the O&W line was auctioned off piecemeal for $10 million. Conrail later bought the line.
   - The station became a restaurant/club in the late 1970s, retaining the name O&W Station.
   - According to Arthur T. Robb of Newburgh, a trustee and archivist of the O&W Railroad Historical Society, "The section that runs in front of the station is still active, carrying freight to customers of the Middletown & New Jersey [Railroad]."
Lisa Hewel
Sources: "The Final Years: New York, Ontario & Western Ry" by John Krause and Ed Crist (1977); "O.&W.: The Long Life and Slow Death of the New York, Ontario & Western Ry." by William F. Helmer (1959).