November 10, 2003
Railroad Drinking
The Boxcar, an old bar and restaurant long since closed, sits rusting just down the street from me. Someone seemed to be using a chainsaw in the course of repairing it last week, and hopefully that went well. My father-in-law went to this place about thirty years ago, but I think all that's really left of its former spirit is this fine sign:
Railroad Drinking sign at the Boxcar
Of course, you're not supposed to drink when you're running a railroad any longer, but given that the front end of the restaurant is an old boxcar, this is just charming decor.
The Boxcar (map)
The Loading Dock Restaurant
The Boxcar's parking lot has been very handy when we've been sealing the driveway or had a driveway full of contractors, as parking on 366 isn't much fun. I took delivery of my planer in that parking lot, since a tractor-trailer backing into my driveway would be a really bad idea. The Department of Transportation seems to use the parking lot as a staging area for road construction as well.
I have occasional visions of buying it and turning it into a very cool woodshop, but that isn't likely to happen unless I suddenly hit the lottery (I don't play). In the meantime, it's not exactly a symbol of the neighborhood's strength, but at least it's interesting.
There was a question at the Dryden Town Board debate held a few weeks ago at the Varna Community Center of what should be done with this property and the former state police station shown below, but the question wasn't too clear and didn't get answered in depth. The Boxcar site might work as a possible park-and-ride for the TCAT bus system as well, taking traffic off 366, but who knows.
Old State Police station (map)
Note on photos
Who are you and why would you make a comment like you need to win the lottery to buy the boxcar. As the reprenative of ownership of this property I would like you to remove these photos unless you identify yourself and can tell me why you feel the need to post them.
Thank you,
Martha Hardesty
I live about 200 yards from the Boxcar and I run this web site. I'm your neighbor, in some sense, at 1259 Dryden Road.
The answer to your lottery question is simple: I'd love to be able to buy it and do something interesting with it. I like the building. The full quote was:
"I have occasional visions of buying it and turning it into a very cool woodshop, but that isn't likely to happen unless I suddenly hit the lottery (I don't play)."
I've posted pictures of every building from the 13/366 intersection to where 366 crosses the Town of Ithaca line as part of an effort to get people to actually see the buildings they drive by every day.
If this was a residence, I'd happily take the photos down, but the Boxcar is definitely a commercial site. It's meant to have people coming and going, and it's definitely quite legal to post these pictures.
Posted by: Simon St.Laurent at November 3, 2004 01:50 PM