What little remains....a train station in the woods.

I noticed this support post while driving down a parkway in New York. While many might not notice this or give it a second thought, I was immediately intrigued. I soon discovered this was the remains of a train station. I knew I needed to see it up close.

I ended up at an event nearby, and knew I couldn't head home without a quick stop to see this place. I never explore alone (because I'm a big chicken), but I had to at least see it. I parked, pulled on boots, and ran, camera in hand, down the path to find this train station. 

The platform.

Not much remains, but it was still a really cool find. I wanted to explore more, but I didn't want to wander too far into the woods alone. I will be heading back to explore more and take more pictures.

I will definitely be heading back to explore more and find out more about the history of this forgotten place.

On top of a mountain...

On a recent road trip, we found this forgotten railroad track.  We were curious because it went up this insanely steep incline to the top of a mountain.  Of course this meant, it needed to be explored.  

The trail was challenging.  It was steep and rocky, and I kept hoping the trip to the top would be worth it. We came around a bend in the trail and we saw this...

It was worth it!  This was the wheel house that housed the gears that pulled the train to the top of the mountain.  It was worth the climb, and the view was amazing.

Inside the remains of the wheel house...

Why did a train climb this steep climb to the top of the mountain?  While the view was beautiful, it seemed like a lot of work to get to the top.  We found out there used to be a hotel, casino and dance hall (all in one building) at the top.  All that remains is the foundation and an amazing view.

When I told my mom we climbed to the top, she told me she rode this train as a little girl.  She said the ride was scary! The train was an open trolley like train and at times it felt like you were going straight up (or down) the mountain.

 There was so much to see here, that I need to split it into two blog posts.  Stay tuned for pictures of the collapsed cabin we found nearby.

My favorite castle...

Everyone should have a favorite castle.  Sitting high on a hill in the woods is my favorite beautiful forgotten castle.  It's magical.

It was built in the 1890's by the inventor of one of the early movie cameras.  He built the castle for his wife.  All the rocks for the castle are from the property on which it was built. They even built a small railroad on the property to get the rocks up to the top of the hill for the castle.

Looking up into the porch you can see the remains on the ceiling.  I can imagine how magnificent it must have been.

Through the openings under the porch, you can see some of the collapsed pieces of the porch above.

Through the window, the remains of a collapsed staircase.

This was my favorite window.  I realize that might seem strange since you can't see much through it. I was drawn to it because it was the last spot I expected to find a bathtub. The window is at the lowest point of the house, and I wonder just how far that bathtub fell.