Belfry was, and perhaps still is, located on Skippack Pike (Route 73) about a mile northwest of Center Square. It was merely a station stop on the Stony Creek Railroad, built in 1884, which runs 11-miles from Norristown through the Norristown Farm Park to Lansdale.
The railroad later became the Stony Creek Branch of the Reading Railroad and is now operated by CSX and is still used for freight.
My parents have often told me stories about how the once-a-night freight train would rumble by in the dark of the wee hours of the night and severely rattle the cottage they rented a few yards from the tracks.
I recently found this photograph of my older brother cleaning the toilet at that rented cottage - he would have been roughly one year old on the date stamped on the picture, so I suspect he is hanging on to the brush simply to hold himself up.
I'm willing to bet he hasn't cleaned any toilets since that time.
I remember seeing freight cars on the Stony Creek branch from the windows my elementary school in West Point, PA where they delivered materials to and from Merck and Co. The West Point Elementary School was torn down a long time ago and is now a parking lot owned by Merck.
This is me at the kindergarten building of the West Point Elementary School. I vaguely remember being in a school play, hence the guards costume. The railroad ran directly behind this building.
23 comments:
Awww...I love the childhood photos. And didn't they have child labor laws back then? I can't get my grown sons (or hubs) to scrub a stool- where did I go wrong?
Oh my gosh, too stinkin' cute! Look at that swingset, they just don't make them like they used to, eh?
I've never heard of Belfry, and I'm just down the road from where you describe. My wife is from further down that way, so maybe she has heard of it. I'll have to check with her.
You always have history behind your stories. Nice.
I love the story and I love the pictures...
How cute... I'm betting Big K will get a chuckle about that picture if he sees it!
Why do those black and white photos look so dismal? I've seen photos of me, as a new babe, in 1959, and they look depressing as all hell. Then a few years later you have color and walla! everyone looks happy. Or happier, anyway.
Ok, the fact that you even have photos from that far back is impressive. I wish I had some to blackmail my parents with, but I think the oldest ones my mom (and I) have are from her early 20s.
Really cute pics. I bet your older brother would love to know we saw a pic of him cleaning a toilet when he was a toddler.
You look cute in your guard costume. :)
so the railroad must have disrupted class time too possibly? your brother was cute trying to clean the toilet (or holding himself up, whatever the case, but an adorable picture)
liked you in your guards uniform too; isn't it a shame sometimes we don't have memories of those early days? it would be interesting to remember what you were feeling as you performed in the play etc
I did tell you I was born in Pennsylvania right? In Sharon which is in the western part by Youngstown, Ohio but I grew up until age 7 in Farrell. Haven't been back in YEARS though.
enjoy Friday :)
and I think Koda listened to the advice you gave him........you just never know with those corgis
betty
I loved the pictures Iggy, and you look so handsome in your costume!! HUGS
Your brother hasn't cleaned a toilet since? Lucky man. I hate cleaning the toilet...
Cute pics. I'm willing to bet you made a great guard.
I love old photos! Not that I'm saying you're old, just the photos. ;o)
lmao only a parent would run for a camera when their child is messing in a dirty toilet rather than rescue the child!
And you in the costume... Priceless. I'm wondering if that was the start of you Nyquil type thinking and OCHAS....
How cute! The one of your brother playing in the toilet is a good blackmail picture. ;)
Awww. What a handsome lil soldier! I don't think I own any pix of me at that age at this point. Shame...I did at one point.
I do so love your pictures and your stories!!! Seems like I haven't been online in a week........wait, it has been a week!! Hugs!
Looking at what would be deemed DANGEROUS play equipment nowadays on concrete LOL
what a cute little soldier boy you are :)
x
Very nice post...cute pics. Love those old photos.
When I moved up here to the FM area in 1999 and lived in Moorhead I was only a block and a half from the tracks that run thru the older part of the towns. It was a shock at first hearing that whistle blasting away all day and night. They lay on that horn all the way thru Moorhead and Fargo! So loud that in the summer when I had the windows open I couldn't hear the TV. When I first moved over to Fargo in 2005--wow! I couldn't believe the silence! Sooo peaceful here in south Fargo--several miles from all those train tracks--hehe!
Funny how kids played in toilets and fell on cement back then and were just fine. Seems as if too much protection garners humans with no common sense or suvival skills. Hence they sue over hot coffee, etc--ROFL! :):)
Very nice post. :)
It's great to find funny old photos. So is this something you can bribe him with????
toddlers and toilets. magnetic draw.. ha ha.
until it is time to toilet train.
I think you are one of the Pope's Guards... or maybe the pope himself. ha ha.
To think that the slightly sloped slide was a hit. Now they have to be 6 feet in the air at LEAST and steep enough to cut your chin on a tree branch as you slide down. Great costume.
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