Ulster and Delaware Railroad
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Ulster and Delaware Railroad | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Reporting marks | UD |
| Locale | Kingston Point, NY to Oneonta, NY, Hunter, NY & Kaaterskill, NY |
| Dates of operation | 1870 – 1979 |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm) (standard gauge) |
| Headquarters | Rondout, NY |
The Ulster and Delaware Railroad Company (U&D) was a small Class I railroad located in New York State and founded in 1866. It was often advertised as "The Only All-Rail Route To the Catskill Mountains." Its headquarters were in Roundout. At its greatest extent, the U&D ran from Kingston Point, on the Hudson River through the heart of the Catskill Mountains to its western terminus at Oneonta, passing through four counties (Ulster, Delaware, Schoharie and Otsego), with two branches, one going to Kaaterskill and the other going to Hunter in Greene County. The U&D connected with five other railroads: the West Shore, Wallkill, and O&W in Kingston, the D&N in Arkville, the Cooperstown & Charlotte Valley in West Davenport, and the D&H in Oneonta.
Although a small railroad, it was big in stature, as it went through many favored tourist hot-spots. Many elegant hotels kept business going, some of which were sponsored by or built by the railroad, like the Grand Hotel that was built by the railroad in the 1890s. There were also plenty of farms, most of them in Delaware County. There was more proper farming land in that area, along with plenty of creameries. Other commodities shipped included coal, stone, ice and various wood products.
One of the few downfalls was the many grades, some as steep as 4.4%. A train took almost four hours to get from Kingston Point to Oneonta, at an average speed of around 30-40 MPH, although some sections permitted running at 60 MPH or more. When roads improved and automobiles became more widely available, this created another disadvantage; the trains became too slow for some people in the area.
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] Rondout and Oswego Railroad
In the early 1800's waterways formed the principal transportation network in New York. An important point on this network was Rondout. Located at the confluence of the Rondout Creek and the Hudson River, in 1828 it became the eastern terminus of the Delaware and Hudson Canal. Here cargo and passengers were transferred from canal boats to the larger vessels navigating the Hudson.
By the end of the Civil War, it was clear that railroads were pre-empting waterways as the preferred method of transportation. Thomas C. Cornell, founder of the Cornell Steamboat Company and a resident of Rondout was amont those who took notice. Although Cornell made plenty of money from shipping, he dreamed of a railroad that would bring supplies from ports in central or western New York to his port in Rondout. So Cornell chartered the Rondout and Oswego in 1866, with himself as the first president.
Cornell decided to construct this new railroad of 62- and 70-pound rail. It would go from the port in Rondout to the busy city of Oneonta, and then on to the port in Oswego on the shore of Lake Ontario. The R&O reached the summer vacation hot-spot of Olive Branch in 1869, with the railroad now being about 12 miles long. By the next year, in 1870, the first train went along the railroad, and the railroad was finally in an operational state. It was extended to Phoenicia in 1870, and there the railroad built a stucco station across the Esopus Creek from the village. [1] The same year, ownership of the railroad was handed over to John C. Brodhead, who was president for the next two years. [2] The next addition was the small town of Big Indian later that year. By 1871 construction reached Dean's Corner's (now Arkville) (where it would eventually make a junction with the Delaware and Northern). However, R&O folded before completing construction to Roxbury, and that task was left to its newly organized successor, the New York, Kingston & Syracuse (NYK&S).
It was a very successful railroad, and it had plenty of passengers coming up from the surrounding towns along with the bigger cities. They traveled to Rondout aboard steamboats docking on the banks of the Hudson River or the D&H Canal. Later railroad passengers could transfer at Kingston, first via the Wallkill Valley Railroad (1872), then via the West Shore Railroad (1881), and much later via the New York, Ontario and Western (1902). in Kingston. From the boats it was a short walk to the R&O station to transfer to the train. Many locals had never seen a train before, but could now take a train anywhere along the line they wished to go, whether it was a small vacation hot-spot or a city to go shopping. Freight was also very well handled. A lot of the freight income was made off coal. Plenty of it was shipped along the D&H Canal from the Moosic Mountains near Carbondale, Pennsylvania to the port at Rondout. There were also plenty of vegetables, fruit, and milk from the farms in the Catskills and the other parts of New York.
While steadily grading to Moresville (present-day Grand Gorge), up came the first problem; the price of constructing the railroad was much higher than expected, because of the many curves and grades. These created a big problem, as more digging, ties, and rails meant higher costs to complete the rest of the railroad. The railroad couldn't make enough money to pay off the debt and continue building the railroad, so in 1872, R&O ownership was temporarily given to John A. Greene for a period of 10 years. Greene was expected to have the railroad finished to the town of Oneonta by 1874, pay all of the debts, and withstand future debts of up to $700,000. However, this did not work out, and the railroad was slowly losing money. It eventually lost all money and service, and the railroad couldn't do anything to get itself out of its troubles. It went bankrupt in 1872, and was re-organized as the New York, Kingston and Syracuse Railroad later that year to continue with the project. [1]
[edit] New York, Kingston and Syracuse Railroad
After the Rondout and Oswego had gone bankrupt in 1872, it was quickly re-organized as the New York, Kingston and Syracuse Railroad (NYK&S), with the president of the railroad being a man named George Sharpe. The plan of going to Oswego was now gone, and the new plan was to go to Oneonta and make a sharp turn north to Earlville, New York, where it would make a connection with the recently constructed Syracuse and Chenango Valley Railroad. Progress with construction of the railroad had immediately begun, and the railroad was extending very fast. Within the year of 1872, it had already been constructed through the townships of Roxbury, Gilboa and Stamford, with the first train arriving in the village of Stamford late that year.
The good side about this railroad was the fact that, along with the freight business, the passengers now had a rail route to the Catskills. There were many ways to get to this railroad; for instance, there was the newly-constructed Wallkill Valley Railroad, which connected with the Erie Railroad, making a major route to New York City. There was also a ferry that took people from the docks in Rondout to the docks in Rhinebeck, New York, where there stood another station that was owned by the Rhinebeck and Connecticut Railroad (the Rhinebeck station is still in use today by Amtrak), which had been founded by Thomas Cornell in 1870. The Rhinebeck and Connecticut went to the cities of Hartford, Connecticut; Providence, New York; and Boston, Massachusetts, making it so that people from these cities and the surrounding areas could also come to the Catskills, and people from the Catskills could go to these cities.
One profitable town to the railroad was the future city of Kingston, New York. There were three other railroads that served the town; the West Shore, the Wallkill Valley, and the New York, Oswego and Midland, which would later become the New York, Ontario and Western. Industries in the town included those that manufactured cement, concrete, bricks, and bluestone, along with other things. These were much needed products, and would bring prosperity to the railroads, like the NYK&S. The city also made Rosendale cement, which was the world's strongest cement at the time. This very cement would be used decades later to make the dams for the Ashokan Reservoir, which would span from Boiceville to West Hurley, which were served by the NYK&S in the 1870s. It was also a popular passenger stop, where people that were drawn to the town's prosperity, would move to. They would rely on the railroad to take them around the Catskills, for some of them had jobs elsewhere in the Catskills, such as at mills and small factories.
Although things might have seemed good on the surface, there was bad news, as well. The NYK&S still hadn't advanced enough and made enough business to steer clear from bankruptcy. So in 1873, the NYK&S designated the Farmers Loan and Trust Company as trustee for the first mortgage bondholders of the railroad. This helped the railroad a lot, and it ran for another two years until it finally couldn't handle their problems. They couldn't pay the debts off that were created from the further construction of the railroad, and if they stopped building and saved the money for paying off the debt, they would never make it to Earlville, which was their goal. And if they continued construction, they would get bigger debts that could never be paid off. So the railroad eventually went bankrupt in 1875, and it was sold under foreclosure to the bank. It was re-organized as the Ulster and Delaware Railroad later that year. [1]
[edit] Ulster and Delaware Railroad
[edit] Stony Clove and Catskill Mountain Railroad
Cornell got the idea for another railroad that would start at the U&D station at Phoenicia, and go up along the Stony Clove Valley to the bustling village of Hunter, New York. He decided to call it the Stony Clove and Catskill Mountain Railroad, and it would be of three-foot gauge, as this would be cheaper to construct, and to run. Construction started on the railroad in 1881, with Cornell's son-in-law, Samuel Decker Coykendall, supervising the construction. He would also be the future president of the line. It was planned to be a summer-only operation, but eventually became so successful that it became a year-round operation. It served the Ulster County communities of Phoenicia and Chichester, and the Greene County villages of Lanesville, Edgewood, and Hunter, with a flagstop at the Stony Clove Notch. There was also a station between the Notch and Hunter called Kaaterskill Junction Station (originally Tannersville Junction Station), where the Kaaterskill Railway came out and went to Kaaterskill.
As the railroad neared completion, the U&D noticed a problem. They couldn't run standard-gauge rolling stock on the SC&CM because it was narrow-gauge. It would be a waste of time to transfer the products by hand, and it would cost money to continually transfer the freight. So in 1882, the U&D and the SC&CM installed a Ramsey Car Transfer Apparatus in the yard at Phoenicia. This device allowed the standard-gauge equipment to be run on the narrow-gauge line. A pit was dug about twenty inches deep, where the tracks would drop in, standard gauge on one end, narrow gauge on the other. The tracks of both gauges overlapped along the center of the pit. Two sets of light rail 18"-gauge tracks, approximately nine feet apart, ran along either side of the pit, although they didn't drop into the pit. A longitudinal beam rested on the trucks riding on the 18" gauge rails, and was placed under the carrier portion of the car. As the car was moved towards the pit, the wheels dropped from cargo box and were replaced with narrow gauge wheels. The car was then pulled out of the pit by a horse, occasionally with the help of a locomotive. The transfer only took about eight minutes, and the apparatus was very successful, saving the railroads plenty of time and money.
Industries on this line included the William O. Schwartzwalder Furniture Factory in the company-owned town of Chichester. The railway would bring wood to the factory, where it would be sent down a chute to the factory. The wood would then be carved into furniture, and shipped to different areas around the continent by train, some furniture going as far as Mexico City, Mexico. Another big industry was the Fenwick Lumber Company in Edgewood. It cut down trees from the area, and shipped them down a cable tramway to an industrial siding on the railroad. Another lumber-involved industry was the Horatio Lockwood & Company Furniture Factory in Hunter. It was one of the oldest businesses in the town of Hunter. It was located at the junction of Main St. and Windham Rd. The railroad was taken over by the U&D in 1892, and these industries now had a new railroad to transport their products. [3]
[edit] Kaaterskill Railroad
This was another three-foot gauge railroad that went from the SC&CM's Kaaterskill Junction Station, crossed the immense Light Dam Bridge (which got its name from the electric company that had got electricity from a dam in the creek the bridge crossed), and went to the bustling town of Tannersville, where over half of the freight on the Kaaterskill Railroad was handled. It soon crossed a six-span bridge, which was the biggest on the line, and got to Haines Falls. It reached the pathway up to the elegant Laurel House, where there was another station, and a view of the Kaaterskill Falls. The railroad got to Kaaterskill, where the competing Catskill & Tannersville paralleled the line. The C&T served as a 0.93-mile extension to the Otis Summit Station. This station was at the western end of the Otis Elevating Railway, which went up the Catskill Escarpment to the famous Catskill Mountain House.
Another one of the busier hotels on the KRR was the Hotel Kaaterskill, which was perhaps the main reason the Kaaterskill Railway was built. The Laurel House was another popular hotel that was served by the KRR. It had its own train station, which was called the Laurel House Station, although it was just a platform, and tickets were purchased inside the hotel. This was also one of various parts of the line where Christmas trees would be chopped down and sent around the state by train. One busy spot was at Haines Falls. There were many hotels at Haines Falls, along with boarding houses, and people would often come up from the city to stay at these hotels and boarding houses. And in Tannersville, there was the Tannersville Supply Company, on the site of the old "Railroad House", an old bar. The Tannersville Supply Company manufactured products like animal feed and lumber, and was a very profitable business.
The KRR was taken over by the U&D in 1892. A year later, in 1893, the Catskill and Tannersville Railway, which had been built on a tight budget had obtained trackage rights to the KRR. It also leased the entire line, including the rest of its own right-of-way to the Catskill Mountain House. The C&T used the KRR's locomotives and equipment, thus meaning passengers didn't have to get on a separate train to go to the Mountain House. The C&T had made plenty of money from the railroad it leased, and eventually got enough money that it didn't, have to lease it anymore. When the U&D was about to standardize the KRR in 1898, the C&T had stopped running trains on it. It later on used the money it had made, and made its own extension to Tannersville. [3]
[edit] Ulster and Delaware Railroad
The Ulster and Delaware wasn't at the peak of Cornell's interests. He had completed the Rhinebeck and Connecticut Railroad in 1870, along with chartering the Kaaterskill Railroad in 1884. He was also the president of the Wallkill Valley Railroad. Because he was preoccupied with these other railroads, he ordered other railroads to be chartered to go to Oneonta. His first attempt was the Hobart Branch Railroad, which would start at Stamford, and then go to Oneonta. However, it only made it to Hobart in 1884, and it was incorporated into the U&D later that year. His next attempt was the Delaware and Otsego Railroad. But it never made it far, and it was incorporated into the U&D as well in 1887. Neither of these attempts worked, and Cornell refocused his attention on the Ulster and Delaware. He continued with its construction until his death in 1890.
The next year in 1891, another president came into office; a man named Edwin Young. He kept the railroad from being sold to a bigger railroad until he also died in 1893. It would go through presidents Horace Greeley Young and Robert C. Pruyn, each having a one-year term, until it got a new president in 1895. [2] Cornell's stepson, Samuel Decker Coykendall, then became the new president, and also took over as the construction supervisor. And in 1895, the eastern terminus was extended from Rondout to Kingston Point, another town that was incorporated into Kingston, where steamboats could stop at the U&D's new Kingston Point Station. However, it took five more years before the railroad finally got to Oneonta in 1900. [1]
The U&D took over the Stony Clove and Catskill Mountain Railroad and the Kaaterskill Railroad in 1892, and ran them as the Narrow Gauge Division of the Ulster and Delaware Railroad. However, throughout the years of 1898 and 1899, the Narrow Gauge Division was converted to standard gauge, and fully incorporated into the U&D in 1903. After the Stony Clove and Catskill Mountain Railroad and the Kaaterskill Railway became part of the Ulster & Delaware, they quickly became the busiest parts of the line. The Stony Clove and Kaaterskill Branch was the combination of the portion of the Stony Clove and Catskill Mountain Railroad up to Kaaterskill Junction Station, and the Kaaterskill Railroad. This branch was 19 miles (30.5 km) long, and had ten stations. The Hunter Branch was the part of the SC&CM that went from Kaaterskill Junction Station to Hunter, and was the shortest branch on the line, having only two stations. It was 2.66 miles (4.3 km) long, with the entire branch being a 4.4% incline. [3]
In 1908, the City of New York purchased 12-miles of the Esopus Valley, a valley that had been gouged out by the Esopus Creek. The area of land that New York City purchased only stretched from Boiceville, New York to West Hurley, New York. This would be used to create the Ashokan Reservoir, a reservoir that would be used to supply New York City with drinking water. They already had 12 reservoirs, but they were now becoming inadequate, and they needed another one. However, the mainline of the U&D ran right through the middle of the valley, and had six station there, which was bad news for the railroad. One good thing was that the U&D carried supplies from different points to Brown's Station, which would be used to help make the Olivebridge Dam at Olivebridge. When the project was finished, and the reservoir was about to be flooded, the railroad received $1,500,000, and relocated 12.45 miles (20 km) of track, and replaced the previously-existing 64- and 70-pound (35- and 38.5.-kg) rails with 90-pound (49.5 kg) rails from Kingston to Grand Gorge. [1]
A year after the Olivebridge Dam was completed in 1912, railroad president Samuel Coykendall died, and the railroad was handed down to Samuel's son, Thomas C. Coykendall. The new president, however, retired from office the same year, and ownership of the railroad was given to one of his relatives; Edward Coykendall, who would eventually sell the railroad to the New York Central. [2] The stations at Kelly's Corners and West Davenport were abandoned by the railroad in 1923, as they never generated much business, and the Kingston Point Station was abandoned in 1924 when the steamships stopped toting passengers up and down the Hudson River. Cars also started to become popular within the decade, and people started to rely on cars to get around more than they would a train, along with trucks starting to make more money from hauling freight. Along came the Great Depression in 1929, and many people didn't have enough money to buy a train ticket or to pay to keep their products in one of the freight houses. This made the railroad lose a considerable amount of money, and the railroad finally went bankrupt in 1932. [1]
[edit] New York Central Railroad
[edit] Steam era
The NYC wanted to incorporate three mid-western railroads into its system; the Michigan Central, the Big Four, and the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern. They were already leased by the NYC, but not fully absorbed into their system, because the Interstate Commerce Commission wouldn't let them. But the ICC eventually decided that if they bought and ran the U&D, then they might let them buy the other railroads. The NYC scoffed at the idea, as it wasn't important enough for them and the stops were in a bunch of small mountain towns which weren't busy enough to the NYC, even though there were plenty of hotels. But they wanted to buy the other railroads, so they finally purchased the U&D in late 1931 for a price of $2,500,000, and made it a part of the NYC in 1932.
They renamed the U&D the Catskill Mountain Branch, the Stony Clove and Kaaterskill Branch was shortened to the Kaaterskill Branch, and the Hunter Branch kept its name. The roundhouse at Rondout was destroyed, with a sewer plant taking its place, the station, however, was still in use. They also slowed down trains to 35 MPH on the main line, and to 25 MPH on the branches. The stations at Chichester, Lanesville and Edgewood were shut down, the Stony Clove Notch flagstop was entirely destroyed and the siding there taken out, and the Kaaterskill Junction Station, the depots at Haines Falls, Kaaterskill, and the depot serving the Laurel House became summer-only stations. The only year-round stations were all of the stations on the main line and the stations at Tannersville and Hunter. This excluded the West Davenport Station, which had already been closed down in 1923, and eventually burnt down ten years later in 1933. The station at Kelly's Corners was also abandoned in the 1920s, and was demolished soon after. [3] [4]
As for the locomotives, Ulster and Delaware #2, 8, 12-14, 16-19, 20, 24 and 29 were deemed worthless, and were scrapped by the New York Central during the takeover in 1932. The other U&D locomotives had been either scrapped or sold off in the earlier years. However, they kept locomotives #19, 21-23, 25-28, and 30-41 (which were renamed NYC #800-818 in 1936), as the turntables in front of the stations were too small for the regular New York Central locomotives, and they were the only ones with mountain-gear brakes that were specially designed for the steep grades in the Catskill Mountains. These locomotives were assigned as "class F-x" and "class F-x light". Locomotive #31, however, was deemed unreliable by the Central, and they sent it to West Albany in 1933 to be scrapped, becoming the first of the heavier CMB locomotives to go. They also introduced two new locomotives to the branch; NYC moguls #1013 and 1076. They were the only engines run on the CMB and the smaller branches until diesels took over.
The NYC's F-x light" class locomotives (#800-807, ex-U&D #19, 21-23 & 25-28), were assigned to work on the Wallkill Valley Branch of the New York Central, which used to be the Wallkill Valley Railroad, as well as working on the CMB. These trains were light, yet powerful, which was what they needed; the high and frail Rosendale Bridge in Rosendale, New York had always been plagued with annoying weight restrictions for the size of the locomotive going across, and any locomotive heavier than what was acceptable would force the spindly bridge to collapse. The material used to build it was not strong enough to hold a modern locomotive. It was built in the 1870s, when locomotives were much smaller, and rebuilt in 1895, when locomotives had only gotten a little bigger, and was never rebuilt. The locomotives the NYC had been using on the WVB were "Class C" 4-4-0s, and were not as powerful as the U&D's 4-6-0s. They tried using the fx-light locomotives on the Wallkill Valley Branch, and the results were far away from disappointing. Two fx-lights could easily haul a 40-car train on the branch, and they wouldn't cause the bridge to collapse. They were a lifesaver, and were extensively used until the Central tried out light diesel locomotives on it, and replaced the F-x light locomotives as the main source of power on the WVB. [1]
The railroad finally gave in to the several complaints from passengers of the seemingly endless trip from Phoenicia to Kaaterskill or Hunter, as the speed limit on the branches was 25 MPH, and the hard work of running the branches (maintenance, paying to run the trains, etc.), and got permission from the ICC to abandon the Kaaterskill and Hunter branches in 1939. The station agents that worked at any of the branch stations were either assigned to other stations or retired altogether. The Central finally scrapped the branches in 1940. They carried along a demolition crew, and a line of gondola cars, ex-U&D steam crane #1 and NYC #802 (ex-U&D #22) for the scrap train. The demolition crew tore out various bridges,
such as the Light Dam Bridge near Tannersville, the six-span bridge at Haines Falls, and the one in Phoenicia, where the Kaaterskill Branch crossed the Esopus Creek. The rails were sent to be scrapped in Selkirk, New York. The branches were but a memory, and the stations now nothing but abandoned rubbish. Only two of them survive to this day; the Hunter Station, now a house, and the Haines Falls Station, a museum at present. [3]
[edit] Diesel era
The steam locomotives were used heavily on the CMB and the WVB since 1932, and were used for 17 years after that. However, the Central tried diesel locomotives on the Wallkill Valley and the Catskill Mountain Branches in 1948, and they were more preferred by the Central; they were on time more often because they didn't have to take frequent stops for water, and they performed better than the steam locomotives. NYC #809 was scrapped in 1945, locomotives #800 & 807 were scrapped in 1946, locomotives #802, 804 & 811 were sent to West Albany in 1948, leaving only locomotives #801, 803, 805-806, 808, 810 & 812-818, which were then renamed NYC #1218, 1220-1223 & 1225-1231, with #801 keeping its number. The engines that had been scrapped in 1948 were supposed to be renamed as NYC #1217, 1219 & 1224, but weren't reassigned before being scrapped. The last steam engine to run over the CMB was NYC #1226 (ex-NYC #813, and ex-U&D #36). Soon after, all of the remaining U&D steam locomotives were sent to Ashtabula, Ohio to be scrapped in 1949. [4] After that, these branches were diesel locomotive only branches, not seeing another steam locomotive until the a three-mile tourist line was started in the late 1960s that went from Oneonta to a bridge near West Davenport.
The line was entirely dieselized by 1949, and passenger service soon ended in 1954, with the CMB being a freight-only line. The NYC then started to abandon it, using it less and less.[1] The Arkville station was nearly destroyed by a runaway milk truck in the 1960s, and the Central tore the remains of the station down as they were in grave fear that someone would get hurt if they went near there. The Kingston Union Station was abandoned after the end of passenger service in 1954. It was in such bad condition that the Central tore it down for safety sake, although some locals formed groups and tried to save it. [4] The Central then got permission from the ICC to abandon the portion from Bloomville to Oneonta in 1965, and scrapped the abandoned portion in 1966. The Central then abandoned the rest of the branch in 1968. [1]
[edit] Penn Central Transportation
After the New York Central abandoned the CMB in 1968, there were heated rumors that the branch was now going to be sold to the Pennsylvania Railroad, the Central's fierce competitor. However, the PRR ended up merging with the Central that same year, forming the Penn Central Transportation Company. The Penn Central purchased the CMB that same year. The branch's eastern terminus was now at Bloomville and the route from Kingston to Rondout was in great disrepair, and the only businesses that kept it open were the Kingston Coal and Feed Company and the Hudson Cement Company.
But the branch was still in poor shape, and the PC barely ran trains on it. There were frequent derailments on the branch, and the train would have to go so slow, as to not derail, that it would sometimes take days for a single train to travel across the line. They replaced the ties to help with the derailment problems, but that only helped a little bit. The rails were also a problem; they were so old and deteriorated that they were at risk of collapsing, making the train derail. After the many problems with running the branch, the PC filed a petition to abandon the branch. They finally abandoned it in 1976. [1]
[edit] Conrail
 |
This section is a stub. You can help by expanding it. |
In that same year of 1976, a portion of the branch from Rondout to Kingston was purchased and run by Conrail, as the rest was in too poor condition, and was owned by the State of New York. This portion was used to transport goods from the Kingston Coal and Feed Company at Rondout, and the Hudson Cement Company, the last potential customers of the branch, to the junction at Kingston. From there, the goods would be transferred to the West Shore River Division (which used to be the West Shore Railroad) for shipment to New York City and elsewhere. Conrail ran this small portion until 1979, when it decided it couldn't run the line anymore. [1]
[edit] Kingston Terminal Railroad
|
This section is a stub. You can help by expanding it. |
In 1980, the Kingston Terminal Railroad (AAR reporting marks KTER) was organized to operate the approximately 5 miles of track between what is now the CSX River Division to Hudson Cement in East Kingston. Hudson Cement, the last potential customer on the former U&D, closed in 1980. The Kingston Terminal Railroad was also dissolved, having never operated a single train.
[edit] Present condition
[edit] Ulster County
Starting at Kingston Point, Milepost 0, the Trolley Museum of New York operates the trackage in Kingston east of the CSX River Line, up to about Milepost 2.5. The line in this section is owned by the City of Kingston and leased to the Trolley Museum. The Trolley Museum is focused on the preservation of the use of trolleys, and to restore the old Rondout Yard. They rebuilt the engine house in 1987, and the idea of rebuilding the utility building and the station has been suggested.
The next segment of the line, MP 2.8 in Kingston to MP 41.4 at the Delaware County line, is owned by Ulster County, which bought it from the Penn Central in 1979. The Catskill Mountain Railroad leases this portion of line from Ulster County, and operates a tourist train from Phoenicia, MP 27.5 to just north of Cold Brook, MP 22.1. The tracks between Kingston and Cold Brook have been cleared for track car use, and are being upgraded for full train service from Kingston west towards Phoenicia. The Catskill Mountain Railroad is currently applying for funds to restore the line for tourist service to Ashokan, MP 16.2, as well as for freight service in Kingston. They are also working hard to restore a steam engine, former LS&I 23, owned by the Empire State Railway Museum, to eventually run the line from Kingston to Phoenicia.
The portion of the line between Phoenicia, MP 27.9, and Highmount, MP 41.4, also leased by the Catskill Mountain Railroad, is isolated by three large washouts west of Phoenicia, and has not seen a train since it was abandoned in 1976. However, a 2.5 mile section of the line, between Giggle Hollow (MP 38.9) and Highmount, home to the scenic "double horseshoe curve", was cleared for track car use in 2006. In 2007, the clearing is planned to be extended to the Route 28 crossing in Shandaken (MP 33.6), despite two paved-over crossings and a weak bridge abutment in Big Indian (MP 36.4). The remaining six mile segment between Shandaken and the washouts just west of Phoenicia will be cleared in 2008.
The abandoned right of way for the Hunter and Kaaterskill branches in Ulster county can still be walked, despite all but one of the bridges being removed (there is only one surviving bridge on the branches, near the Ulster County-Greene County border line, which is privately owned, and the property owners don't like people going on it. It is located in the northernmost Ulster County village that was served by the branch line, Chichester, New York). There is also a washout along the old right-of-way in Chichester, which has torn out the dirt where the railbed was to a depth of almost 30 feet in some places. It has exposed the soft, delicate clay underneath, and is very difficult to walk on.
[edit] Delaware County
The Delaware and Ulster Rail Ride, based in Arkville, MP 48.1, runs tourist trains from Highmount, MP 41.4, to Roxbury, MP 59.1, where the Roxbury Station is being restored by the Ulster & Delaware Railroad Historical Society. The track ends at Hubbell Corners, MP 60.2, where the ROW becomes a rail trail that extends to Bloomville, MP 86.2, called the Catskill Scenic Trail.
The Delaware County ROW from Highmount to Bloomville is owned by the Catskill Revitalization Corporation.
Currently the DURR's operations are limited to the track between Arkville and Roxbury, as the line to Highmount is out of service due to a weak bridge abutment east of Arkville.
The pride of the DURR is the "Rip Van Winkle Flyer" a five-car Budd streamline train used for charters. The regular train is powered by former D&H 5017, an Alco RS-36, and consists of two flat cars and three former PRR MU coaches lettered for the New York Central.
Other engines at the DURR consist of Alco S-4s 1012 and 5106, and GE 44 tonner No. 76. Currently under restoration is the "Red Heifer" a Model 250 Brill Gas-Electric, formerly NYC M-405.
The Ulster & Delaware Railroad Historical Society owns and stores at Arkville a former NYO&W Bobber Caboose, and a Porter Locomotive Works 0-6-0T steam locomotive, former BEDT 14. Both are presently being restored by the society.
As for the stations in Delaware County, the Halcottville Station, MP 53.0, was cut in half, with the passenger side moved a few hundred feet, where it serves as a shed on private property, and the freight side moved to Arkville, where it is now a tool shed for the Delaware and Ulster Rail Ride. The stations at South Kortright, MP 81.5, East Meredith, MP 97.9, and Davenport Center, MP 103.2, are currently private dwellings, with the railbed in front of them also being privately owned.
Interstate 88 was planned in the 1970s to go from Schenectady, New York to Binghamton, New York, although the original plans suggested that it go to New England and near the Atlantic Coast. The portion that was constructed covers a portion of the U&D's right-of-way in the township of Oneonta, where it connects with New York State Route 28.
[edit] Schoharie County
The South Gilboa Station, MP 70.6, is the only station on the remainder of the Ulster & Delaware that is in any state of poor condition. It is still in its original spot in between the Delaware County stations of Grand Gorge and Stamford. The old right-of-way in front of it is part of the Catskill Scenic Trail. It is also one of many buildings in the United States, including two other Ulster & Delaware railroad stations, that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It has been proposed by the Town of Gilboa Historical Society that the South Gilboa station should have a full cosmetic restoration. However, this is only a proposal, and it is unclear whether it will take place.
[edit] Otsego County
The final station at Oneonta, MP 106.9, was part of a tourist line called the "Delaware and Otsego Railroad" that was created shortly after the portion was abandoned in the late 1960s. It ran trains from the station to a bridge that crossed Charlotte Creek a little ways from the old site of the West Davenport Station. However, it is currently a pub/restaurant called "The Depot". The line from Bloomville, MP 86.2 to Oneonta, MP 106.9, which was abandoned in 1965, is currently in the hands of private owners; all rails from here were removed in the 1960s. [1]
[edit] Greene County
As for the portion of the branches in Greene County, which were torn up in 1940, along with the smaller portion of the branches in Ulster County, the remains are abundant with overgrown paths, bridge abutments, and washouts, with an occasional road, such as most of the right-of-way in Lanesville. New York State Route 214 overlaps where the railroad used to be at the Stony Clove Notch. However, a two mile section of the line from Bloomer Road to Clum Hill Road in Tannersville has been converted into a "Rail Trail" and is locally called the "Huckleberry Trail". There are also a few bridge piers; such as one on the southern side of the Esopus Creek in Phoenicia, one in Chichester (the other one collapsed into the Stony Clove Creek after a flood) (both in Ulster County), and two in Edgewood, where there used to be a bridge that went over Silver Hollow Rd. (now Notch Inn Rd.), along with a small creek.
There are only two surviving stations on what used to be the branches. They are the stations at Hunter and Haines Falls. The Hunter Station, branch MP 2.5, is now a private dwelling. There was an extra set of rooms added onto the station, and the station itself was painted white. The freight house at Hunter is now used as a shed. The Haines Falls Station, branch MP 18.5, is currently the headquarters of the Mountain Top Historical Society. They don't like non-members on their property. The station has new benches based on the benches in the station at Phoenicia. The station was re-painted from brown to blue, and the windowpanes from red to white.
[edit] Stations
[edit] Main Line Stations
- Kingston Point Railroad Station
- Rondout Railroad Station
- Kingston Railroad Station
- Stony Hollow Railroad Station
- West Hurley Railroad Station
- Ashokan Railroad Station
- Cold Brook Railroad Station
- Mount Pleasant Railroad Station
- Phoenicia Railroad Station
- Shandaken Railroad Station
- Big Indian Railroad Station
- Pine Hill Railroad Station
- Grand Hotel Railroad Station
- Fleischmann's Railroad Station
- Arkville Railroad Station
- Kelly's Corners Railroad Station
- Halcottville Railroad Station
- Roxbury Railroad Station
- Grand Gorge Railroad Station
- South Gilboa Railroad Station
- Stamford Railroad Station
- Hobart Railroad Station
- South Kortright Railroad Station
- Bloomville Railroad Station
- Kortright Railroad Station
- East Meredith Railroad Station
- Davenport Center Railroad Station
- West Davenport Railroad Station
- Oneonta Railroad Station
[edit] Esopus Valley Stations
- West Hurley Railroad Station
- Olive Branch Railroad Station
- Brown's Railroad Station
- Brodhead's Bridge Railroad Station
- Shokan Railroad Station
- Boiceville Railroad Station
[edit] Branch Stations
[edit] Stony Clove and Kaaterskill Branch
- Chichester Railroad Station
- Lanesville Railroad Station
- Edgewood Railroad Station
- Stony Clove Notch Railroad Station
- Kaaterskill Junction Railroad Station
- Tannersville Railroad Station
- Haines Falls Railroad Station
- Laurel House Railroad Station
- Kaaterskill Railroad Station
[edit] Hunter Branch
- Hunter Railroad Station
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l John M. Ham, Robert K. Bucenec (2003), The Old "Up and Down" Catskill Mountain Branch of the New York Central, Stony Clove & Catskill Mountain Press
- ^ a b c Delaware, Ulster & Greene County NY Railroad Information (website), courtesy of Phillip M. Goldstein
- ^ a b c d e John M. Ham, Robert K. Bucenec (2002), Light Rail and Short Ties Through the Notch: The Stony Clove & Catskill Mountain Railroad and Her Steam Legacy, Stony Clove & Catskill Mountain Press
- ^ a b c John M. Ham, Robert K. Bucenec (2005), The Grand Old Stations and Steam Locomotives of the Ulster & Delaware, Stony Clove & Catskill Mountain Press
