You never know what you’ll find when you excavate on Governors Island. While trenching for new storm water outfalls, we turned up a relic from the Island’s army days. At one point, the south end of the Island was crisscrossed by a web of train tracks that connected a sea of warehouses.
The ghost of a railroad past. Comment if you know more about this relic! Image courtesy of The Trust.
This appears to be part of a train car or hand cart. The wheels were cast in Baltimore, MD. Any train buffs have thoughts on what it was? Let us know! In the meantime, we’ll keep digging as we rehabilitate the Island’s seawall and storm water system and we’ll let you know what else we find.
Map of the Governors Island railroad. Image courtesy of the National Archives, Art Audley & trainweb.org
A longer history of the Island’s train past can be read here.
