Unadilla Valley Railway
| Unadilla Valley Railway | |
|---|---|
| Reporting mark | UV |
| Locale | New York |
| Dates of operation | 1888–1960 |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Length | 48 miles (77 kilometres) |
| Headquarters | New Berlin, New York |
The Unadilla Valley Railway was a shortline railroad company that operated in the Unadilla Valley of upstate New York from 1889 to its abandonment in December 1960.
History
The Utica & Unadilla Railroad was incorporated in 1888 to build south along the Unadilla River from the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad's (DL&W) Utica branch at Bridgewater, New York. Construction began in 1889, and the railroad was opened as far as West Edmeston, 9 miles (14 km), in 1894. That year it was reorganized as the Unadilla Valley Railroad. The railroad used DL&W rolling stock until it purchased its own locomotive and car in 1895, the same year it was extended another 11 miles (18 km) to New Berlin, New York and a connection with the New York, Ontario and Western Railway (OW).[1][2]
In 1904, control of the railroad was obtained by Lewis Morris, who organized it as the Unadilla Valley Railway (UV). The railroad became prosperous, and the principal commodity it carried was milk. In the early 1930s, Morris purchased a gravel bed, then sold it to the railroad as a potential traffic source; the gravel from it, however, did not meet the specification of the state highway department. The gravel bed and the quarrying equipment became an expensive millstone around the railroad's neck.[1]
In 1936, the railroad (minus the quarry) was purchased by the H. E. Salzberg Company, a scrap dealer and railroad dismantler — but rather than dismantle the UV, Salzberg set out to see if it could be made profitable. One of Salzberg's first actions was to call on shippers up and down the line to reassure them that the railroad would not be scrapped. In the late 1930s, the railroad was subject to an article in Fortune magazine. In October 1941, the UV bought the OW's New Berlin Branch from Edmeston through New Berlin to New Berlin Junction (East Guilford), 29 miles (47 km), with trackage rights 3 miles (4.8 km) farther on OW's main line into Sidney, New York.[1]
In 1956, the Dairyman's League plant at Mount Upton closed. It had provided 35% of the UV's revenue. The UV cut back the south end of the line from New Berline Junction to Mount Upton — and in 1957, the OW was abandoned in its entirety. The UV continued to operate, running up deficits. Its abandonment petition was approved, and the line was closed on December 23, 1960.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Drury, George H. (1994). The Historical Guide to North American Railroads: Histories, Figures, and Features of more than 160 Railroads Abandoned or Merged since 1930. Waukesha, Wisconsin: Kalmbach Publishing. p. 333. ISBN 0-89024-072-8.
- ↑ Pugh, Fred (1997). Days Along the Buckwheat and Dandelion: The Unadilla Valley Railway. Brookfield, New York: Worden Press. p. 142. ISBN 0-914821-04-0.