Social Security
(Wednesday, 1/18)
So here were are cruising placidly down Routes 5&20 in our bucktooth-bathtub, making the long haul to the Geneva Social Security office, the only SS office in our county.
It’s about 25 miles. Supposedly the idea was to consider signing up for our gumint handouts, but what actually happened was to make an appointment to show up at a later time.
(Sure, dial up SS to schedule an appointment, and thereby avoid an extraneous trip. Once I got a busy-signal, once they weren’t open yet [it was 8:30 a.m.], and all the other times [at least five other tries] no one answered the phone. And I let it ring 89 bazilyun times. Not even a voicemail.
Going to Geneva means driving east of Canandaigua, going under two long-abandoned railroad bridges.
Utterly true to form, as I have done for over 38 years, I identified each railroad: #1) “that was the Pennsy-branch to Canandaigua;” #2) “that was the Pennsy line to Sodus Point.”
Both are originally Northern Central, which was taken over by the Pennsy about 1900. I think NC originally built to Canandaigua, where it could intersect with NYC and the Peanut, originally the Canandaigua & Niagara Falls, originally built to 6-foot gauge. Apparently there was some Erie in this. The Erie was originally 6-foot gauge too. The idea was to deliver coal to the Niagara Frontier (which includes Buffalo).
The line to Sodus Point came later; i.e. a line to deliver coal to Lake Ontario where it could be transloaded onto ships. Pennsy had a huge trestle-dock at Sodus Point. It’s gone; and the railroad’s gone too. (Pennsy had a small yard.)
North of Stanley, the old Pennsy line to Sodus Point is torn up as far as Newark (the Water-Level). From there on the Ontario Midland shortline has it as far as the old Hojack: the old NYC line originally Fonda, Johnstown & Gloversville. It branches onto two spur-ends of the Hojack: one east to Sodus and one west to Webster. The remainder of the Hojack is gone. The old rotating truss over the Genesee is still there, but abandoned.
So in essence both the old Pennsy NC branches are gone. But the grade is still there, as are the two bridges.
Other lines swamped Geneva too; including the Lehigh Valley line to Buffalo, and the old Corning-Secondary, Lyons to Corning. Lehigh Valley is gone. Most of the lines are operated by shortline Finger Lakes Railway. It operates a lot of the old NYC Auburn Road (the original railroad across the state). There is a small piece of the old LV main that junctions with FLR and goes west to Victor — that’s another operator. The old Auburn north of Canandaigua is gone too. I think the Corning Secondary is Norfolk Southern. I know FLR has trackage-rights to attain the old Pennsy line to Watkins Glen, where it services a salt-mine or two.
“I can’t imagine you forgetting that Reading branch to Chester, if we had actually driven next to it,” Linda said.
Our visit to Geneva Social Security went fairly well. We were greeted by a ‘pyooter as we walked in the door. “Please sign in,” the sign said. “Punch #0 if you have an appointment, #1 to get a reissued SS card, and #2 if you don’t have an appointment.”
I punched #2 and was issued a number-slip. “Please have a seat and wait until your number is called.”
An older couple arrived after us and promptly lost it trying to deal with the machine. A security-guard severely excoriated them and made them try again.
I’m left wondering whether Jack could handle this. I was about to order a sub with the Sheetz ‘pyooter-terminal in Altoony, and Jack bulled in grabbing a sales-clerk saying “I speak English!”
Whatever, I have ordered subs over that there ‘pyooter-terminal many times since. It ain’t rocket-science. Plus if you use the terminal; the service is much quicker.
“You can access Social Security 24/7 at www.SocialSecurity.gov.” So what if Granny doesn’t have a ‘pyooter?
The clerk, who weighed about 350, and had hairy forearms, was nice — as well they could be: there were behind bullet-proof glass.
We will jaw about gumint handouts on Friday, 1/26. Another trip under the two abandoned railroad bridges.
So here were are cruising placidly down Routes 5&20 in our bucktooth-bathtub, making the long haul to the Geneva Social Security office, the only SS office in our county.
It’s about 25 miles. Supposedly the idea was to consider signing up for our gumint handouts, but what actually happened was to make an appointment to show up at a later time.
(Sure, dial up SS to schedule an appointment, and thereby avoid an extraneous trip. Once I got a busy-signal, once they weren’t open yet [it was 8:30 a.m.], and all the other times [at least five other tries] no one answered the phone. And I let it ring 89 bazilyun times. Not even a voicemail.
Going to Geneva means driving east of Canandaigua, going under two long-abandoned railroad bridges.
Utterly true to form, as I have done for over 38 years, I identified each railroad: #1) “that was the Pennsy-branch to Canandaigua;” #2) “that was the Pennsy line to Sodus Point.”
Both are originally Northern Central, which was taken over by the Pennsy about 1900. I think NC originally built to Canandaigua, where it could intersect with NYC and the Peanut, originally the Canandaigua & Niagara Falls, originally built to 6-foot gauge. Apparently there was some Erie in this. The Erie was originally 6-foot gauge too. The idea was to deliver coal to the Niagara Frontier (which includes Buffalo).
The line to Sodus Point came later; i.e. a line to deliver coal to Lake Ontario where it could be transloaded onto ships. Pennsy had a huge trestle-dock at Sodus Point. It’s gone; and the railroad’s gone too. (Pennsy had a small yard.)
North of Stanley, the old Pennsy line to Sodus Point is torn up as far as Newark (the Water-Level). From there on the Ontario Midland shortline has it as far as the old Hojack: the old NYC line originally Fonda, Johnstown & Gloversville. It branches onto two spur-ends of the Hojack: one east to Sodus and one west to Webster. The remainder of the Hojack is gone. The old rotating truss over the Genesee is still there, but abandoned.
So in essence both the old Pennsy NC branches are gone. But the grade is still there, as are the two bridges.
Other lines swamped Geneva too; including the Lehigh Valley line to Buffalo, and the old Corning-Secondary, Lyons to Corning. Lehigh Valley is gone. Most of the lines are operated by shortline Finger Lakes Railway. It operates a lot of the old NYC Auburn Road (the original railroad across the state). There is a small piece of the old LV main that junctions with FLR and goes west to Victor — that’s another operator. The old Auburn north of Canandaigua is gone too. I think the Corning Secondary is Norfolk Southern. I know FLR has trackage-rights to attain the old Pennsy line to Watkins Glen, where it services a salt-mine or two.
“I can’t imagine you forgetting that Reading branch to Chester, if we had actually driven next to it,” Linda said.
Our visit to Geneva Social Security went fairly well. We were greeted by a ‘pyooter as we walked in the door. “Please sign in,” the sign said. “Punch #0 if you have an appointment, #1 to get a reissued SS card, and #2 if you don’t have an appointment.”
I punched #2 and was issued a number-slip. “Please have a seat and wait until your number is called.”
An older couple arrived after us and promptly lost it trying to deal with the machine. A security-guard severely excoriated them and made them try again.
I’m left wondering whether Jack could handle this. I was about to order a sub with the Sheetz ‘pyooter-terminal in Altoony, and Jack bulled in grabbing a sales-clerk saying “I speak English!”
Whatever, I have ordered subs over that there ‘pyooter-terminal many times since. It ain’t rocket-science. Plus if you use the terminal; the service is much quicker.
“You can access Social Security 24/7 at www.SocialSecurity.gov.” So what if Granny doesn’t have a ‘pyooter?
The clerk, who weighed about 350, and had hairy forearms, was nice — as well they could be: there were behind bullet-proof glass.
We will jaw about gumint handouts on Friday, 1/26. Another trip under the two abandoned railroad bridges.
posted by BobbaLew at 8:29 AM
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