Vintage Video From the 1930s Shows the West Side Cowboys in Pre-High Line Chelsea

The author behind the excellent blog Livin' The High Line recently came across some amazing vintage footage from the 1930s showing street locomotives and the Urban Cowboys of pre-High Line Chelsea and Meatpacking District on the West Side of Manhattan.

The footage was taken in the 1930s and shows a New York Central locomotive steaming down Tenth Avenue, past the High Line — then a working railroad — preceded by the now-famous man on horseback. The footage is scrappy, but you can see many wonderful details, including (at the beginning) a glimpse of a large luxury liner in the harbor. This video shows, in a way that still photographs simply can’t, what it was like when freight trains ran at grade down the streets of Manhattan’s West Side.

Check out the full article for more on the film and 10th Avenue in the 1930s.