The Railroad Y.M.C.A. at Selkirk

April's Our Towne Bethlehem article focuses on the Selkirk Y.M.C.A.  Pop over to their website for a read.  In doing my research, I came across a booklet called The Story of the Railroad "Y"  by John F. Moore published in 1930.  Inside is a full description of the Selkirk Y that is a wonderful read.  So, quoted below is the whole thing.  The chapter is called "An Inspection Trip."  Enjoy!

     We are at Selkirk, a division point on the West Shore Railroad. Selkirk is a tiny, scattered town with a post office, a small store or two and a few residences. About a mile away, however, is located one of the great freight yards of the continent. Here hundreds of miles of steel rails offer their waiting hospitality to freight cars coming from all directions, those from New England come over the recently opened Alfred H. Smith bridge and here transfer their freight for redirection, or pass through Selkirk to their destination.



Men attend a religious service in a coach near the Selkirk Railroad Y. 
Courtesy of the Bethlehem Historical Association. 

     Through this yard trains carry merchandise to all sections of the land; here hundreds of railroad men spend their "lay-over” hours while their fellows continue to keep open the ways of commerce. We see a Railroad Association building costing nearly $400,000. For, consistent with its general policy, the New York Central Railroad decided upon the erection of such a structure coincident with the opening of the yard.



     This building faces a busy public highway, before it stands a row of fine old trees giving welcome shade, while around it shrubs and flowers bloom in all their beauty. The Selkirk Association is generally known by the title of the lovely poem by Sam Walter Foss—"The House by the Side of the Road.” It is a home away from home, and to the army of railway workers employed at the Selkirk yards, temporarily or permanently, the building is far more than steel, wood and stone—to them it is a living thing, an exemplification of practical Christianity; it ministers to their comfort as a loving mother might. It shelters, entertains and protects them, it fires them with fresh enthusiasm for their tasks, it gives to them new appraisals of life’s values.



The Selkirk Railroad Y about 1930.

     The secretary, who formerly was a locomotive engineer, and his wife live in the building. It is their only home and they work unceasingly to make it comfortable for the boys of the road. Mrs. Paul shares with her husband in the administration of the work, and to tired railroad men coming in from hard runs she brings a refreshing remembrance of home ties and things held dear. Only a Christian motive leads men and women to service such as this, spending and being spent in isolated freight yards, giving the best of strength and affection to others. As we visit Selkirk we come to understand more clearly the underlying secrets of success in the Railroad Y M C As.



     Some idea of the scope of the work of this association is suggested by items given in a recent annual report. "Y" The membership was 982; more than 217,000 meals were served during the year in the restaurant; the beds were used 51,000 times, nearly 1,000 a week; more than 17,000 bath and 88,000 hand towels were used. At Selkirk cleanliness and godliness walk hand in hand.

    

A crowd watches a baseball game circa 1927.

It is a summer Sunday evening. The spacious grounds are crowded with men, women and children. Farmers and their families have come from miles away, some in automobiles, others driving faithful old Dobbins. The adjacent town has sent its quota; railroad men, some in their Sunday best, others in working clothes, are scattered here and there. It is the vesper service of the Selkirk Railroad Association, the lovely twilight hour in which it pays its tribute to Him whose name it bears. Reverently we stand for a little on the edge of this open air congregation to share in its simple and beautiful worship.

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Did you catch the reference to the poem - A House by the Side of the Road?  Growing up, I remember wondering about a cross stitch my grandmother had made with the phrase "Let me live in a house by the side of the road and be a friend to man."  Now, all these years later, I know where it comes from!  

The House by the Side of the Road

by Sam Walter Foss (1858-1911)

There are hermit
souls that live withdrawn
In the peace of their self-content;
There are souls, like stars, that dwell apart,
In a fellowless firmament;
There are pioneer souls that blaze their paths
Where highways never ran;-
But let me live by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.

Let me live in a house
by the side of the road,
Where the race of men go by-
The men who are good and the men who are bad,
As good and as bad as I.
I would not sit in the scorner’s seat,
Or hurl the cynic’s ban;-
Let me live in a house by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.

I see from my house
by the side of the road,
By the side of the highway of life,
The men who press with the ardor of hope,
The men who are faint with the strife.
But I turn not away from their smiles nor their tears-
Both parts of an infinite plan;-
Let me live in my house by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.

I know there are brook-gladdened
meadows ahead
And mountains of wearisome height;
That the road passes on through the long afternoon
And stretches away to the night.
But still I rejoice when the travelers rejoice,
And weep with the strangers that moan,
Nor live in my house by the side of the road
Like a man who dwells alone.

Let me live in my
house by the side of the road
Where the race of men go by-
They are good, they are bad, they are weak, they are strong,
Wise, foolish- so am I.
Then why should I sit in the scorner’s seat
Or hurl the cynic’s ban?-
Let me live in my house by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.

 

The cross stitch hangs in my upstairs hallway.  I do like the sassy quote on the bottom piece!