The Central New York Railroad ran to Richfield Springs. This traffic signal controlled cars on historic Route 20 for many years.
Find other interesting stories here
https://penneyandkc.wordpress.com/central-new-york-railroad/
Category Archives: New York State
The Ontario & Western Served Many Resorts…Like Sylvan Beach
Ontario & Western in Sylvan Beach, New York
This resort was once served by the O&W Rome Branch
See more stories about the Ontario & Western
https://penneyandkc.wordpress.com/ontario-western/
The Utica, Chenango & Susquehanna Valley Railroad
The Utica, Chenango & Susquehanna Valley Railroad was organized in 1866 and came under the Lackawanna in 1870. Inclusion of the Greene Railroad Company linked up this road with the Syracuse route at Chenango Forks. As well as providing an important link, it also put the Lackawanna in the resort business. The branch to Richfield Springs was on Canadarago Lake and tourist trains now ran from Hoboken. The Utica-Binghamton line was a big dairy carrier and solid milk trains ran until the late 1940’s. Army reservists also used this line up to the 50’s to travel from New Jersey to Utica then over the New York Central’s St. Lawrence Division to Camp Drum near Watertown.
Scranton Division, Utica Branch |
| Station | Mile | Note |
| Chenango Forks | 11.1 | |
| Willard’s | 12.0 | |
| Greene | 19.2 | |
| Brisben | 25.0 | |
| Coventry | 28.5 | |
| Oxford | 33.1 | |
| Haynes | 36.5 | |
| Norwich | 41.3 | Ontario & Western |
| Galena | 46.9 | |
| Sherburne | 52.4 | |
| Earlville | 57.5 | |
| Poolville | 60.0 | |
| Hubbardsville | 64.2 | |
| North Brookfield | 68.0 | |
| Sangerfield | 72.4 | |
| Waterville | 73.7 | |
| Paris | 77.9 | |
| Richfield Junction | 81.7 | Richfield Springs Branch |
| Clayville | 83.9 | |
| Sauquoit | 85.9 | |
| Chadwicks | 87.3 | |
| Washington Mills | 89.9 | |
| New Hartford | 91.1 | |
| West Utica | 94.0 | |
| Utica | 95.2 | NYC Union Station |
Troy and Albany Passenger Trains in 1939
The “Information Superhighway”, sometimes called the Internet, has several “discussion groups”. One or more of these are railroad related. Some of the computer “chatter” on the Internet relates to the old railroads of New York and New England. Joe Brennan of New York City found some interesting facts from his 1939 NY Central timetable. Regarding the Boston and Maine train 59, “The Minute Man”, 1939…
Boston 3:50–Troy 8:45 (all times p.m.)
Troy 9:02–Albany 9:22
Albany 9:45–Chicago
Study reveals the facts of the matter to be a New York Central Troy–Albany local as the link. He notes that train 5611 shown in the full B&M timetable for the line, running just the last 16 miles to Troy, shown are Troy 8:22 and then the same times Troy–Albany. It requires a turn to the Rutland RR page to find this is Rutland train 56 from Rutland to Troy, running as B&M 5611 on the B&M’s tracks.
B&M 59 passed just one sleeper to the NYC at Troy. The B&M parlor came off at Troy along with the coaches. Thus everyone other than sleeper passengers had to change at Troy to coaches on the NYC local, and then again at Albany. The Rutland train 56 (B&M 5611) was only coaches and ended at Troy, so their passengers changed too– this is not made explicit in the Rutland timetable but is seen in the equipment list.
Turning to the NY Central itself… The Troy–Albany locals are listed in a little table printed sideways, just a list of depart times from each city with “approximate running time 25 minutes”. We see the 9:02 Troy time. This local carried the B&M sleeper, besides local coaches.
The NY Central train Albany–Chicago was NYC 19, “Lake Shore Limited”. Interestingly, it carried not only the sleeper leaving Boston North Station 3:50 via the B&M, but also one leaving Boston South Station at exactly the same time via the NYC’s Boston and Albany. The B&A train also had a second sleeper to Chicago taken by NYC 17 “The Wolverine”, leaving Albany 45 minutes earlier but arriving Chicago 15 minutes later. The B&A sleeper into 19 sat at Albany for 55 minutes (a tight 10 minutes into 17), while the B&M sleeper spent 17 minutes at Troy and 23 minutes at Albany. B&A coach passengers had to change at Albany as against two changes for the B&M coach passengers.
The Rutland train 56 advertised a connection south to New York, unlike the connection west for the “Minute Man”. This could have meant a reasonable if unadvertised Boston-New York route via B&M, but the Rutland connection is shown as arriving Grand Central at a very late 4:45 a.m. The time leaving Albany is not shown, and only the NYC timetable reveals it to be 1:15 a.m., just 7 minutes shy of four hours at Albany! The only earlier connecting train south was the West Shore 12:30 a.m., which reached Weehawken 4:25 a.m. and foot of 42d St at 4:40 a.m., no big advantage over the Grand Central train unless a ferry ride under the stars sounds good; and the Grand Central train also offered sleepers.
Two other B&M trains connected at Troy for Albany, with waits of 15 and 20 minutes respectively. In 1934, the B&M sleeper (arriving Albany 9:10) is picked up by NYC 47 “The Detroiter” at Albany 9:43 and dropped at Buffalo, not a scheduled passenger stop for 47, where it is then picked up by 19 “Lake Shore Limited” about an hour later. The reason seems to be that 19 had to drop cars from New York to the Adirondacks at Utica; taking the B&M car at Buffalo is simpler than juggling the cars at Albany or Utica. However, coach passengers off the B&M and Troy local had to wait at Albany for 19, since 47 has no coaches, only pullmans! Thus the B&M’s sleeper and coach passengers rode separate trains from Albany to Buffalo, but neither had to get out and change at Buffalo.
In 1940, all timetabled B&M passenger trains went via Troy. The trackage from Mechanicville to Rotterdam Junction was for freight service and it shows D&H trains as “scheduled”.
Troy was essentially a passenger only route, except for one local freight a day. Main interchange with D&H was Mechanicville and with NYC at Rotterdam Jct. There were thru freights from DeWitt (Syracuse) until the traffic left the B&M to run Conrail via Worcester. B&M also ran a train or two into Selkirk yard once a day; ran up to Rotterdam Jct, switched ends and went into Selkirk. They had several engines equipped with NYC style train control for this service.
***********
See more short stories at: https://penneyandkc.wordpress.com/a-collection-of-short-stories-about-railroads-book-one/
Second Avenue Subway and the Politicians
See the empty tunnel. It is part of the Second Avenue Subway.
The problem is that financing this monster is bigger than New York City. It is bigger than the giant Metropolitan Transportation Authority. It even stresses the State of New York although Governor Cuomo has helped a lot. Well, there is always Washington.
NY Mayor is a pain in the tail. Hope his wonderful Presidential candidate looses, but not to a Republican.
Two members of Congress said they were “deeply concerned” this afternoon following the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s plan to slash $1 billion in funding from the proposed Second Avenue subway.
Congressman Charles Rangel and Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, two Democrats who represent Manhattan neighborhoods where the subway is being built or is supposed to eventually reach, said the authority was making a “huge mistake.”
“While we are delighted that the state and city were able to reach an agreement to move the MTA’s capital plan forward, we are deeply concerned that roughly one-half of the reduction in the cost of plan … is coming from the Second Avenue subway,” the veteran lawmakers said.
They pointed out the $26.1 billion MTA capital plan, formally passed yesterday, includes only $535 million for the Second Avenue subway, most of which will be spent for preliminary engineering and design, as opposed to the $1.5 billion originally proposed.
The first segment of the Second Avenue Subway, scheduled to open at the end of next year, will go from 63rd Street to 96th Street. The MTA had originally planned to pay for the tunneling north from 96th to 125th streets by 2019. But under the revised plan, that work will be deferred until 2020 or later.
Adam Lisberg, a spokesman for the MTA, told the Observer the authority is “full speed ahead” on the Second Avenue subway, and made the decision for practical and not financial reasons. “We eventually came to the realization we wouldn’t be able to get a tunnel boring machine at the end of 2019 and all the money in world wouldn’t get us to that point. It would be silly to keep a billion for tunneling when we wouldn’t be able to tunnel,” he said.
But this was little comfort to Mr. Rangel and Ms. Maloney. The East Side of Manhattan has been waiting for a new Second Avenue subway since the old elevated line was torn down a century ago. “Based on the current schedule, one hundred years will have passed and we will still be waiting. This ‘go slow’ approach to the Second Avenue subway is a huge mistake,” they said.
Oddly enough, another leading elected official in the area, Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito of East Harlem, said at an unrelated City Hall press conference today that she was unaware the cuts had even taken place.
“I’m not aware of what you’re referencing,” she told a reporter. “I’ll look into that.”
Super Crane: First Historic Lift, Placement on New Bridge
Placements can take from 1 to 4 hours/© Janie Rosman 2015
Another page of bridge history was written yesterday when the I Lift NY fitted a 600-ton precast concrete pile cap on a set of piles.
It was the super crane’s first of many placements and future lifts.
“You have the tub sitting over four piles that are accepting the load, so precision is key,” Prof. Ted Zoli, HNTB National Bridge Chief Engineer on the bridge project, explained.
Strong winds and choppy waters were no match for the crane’s precision and zero margin for error.
Prof. Ted Zoli describes to reporters the intricate process of placing a cap on groups of piles/© Janie Rosman 2015
“You’re surveying it and want to hold it (tub) vertically so you’re not changing the position of the load,” Zoli said. Cleared around the piles, the arm began lowering the tub carefully, slowly, within that…
View original post 371 more words
Dairymen’s League Milk Car in Troy Union RR Station
We are always talking about the “Fabled Rutland Milk” that went through Troy. But it didn’t stop in Troy? So why is a single milk car (great photo above from JS Horvath) doing in Troy? So what was/is the Dairymen’s League?
Going to blame it on the Delaware & Hudson Railroad.
The D&H negotiated the joint trackage between Mechanicville and Crescent with the BHT&W while it was still separate from the Boston & Maine.The D&H had trackage rights on the Troy and Boston (and then B&M) from Troy to Eagle Bridge. The D&H’s R&W Milk train started from Green Island, crossed to Troy, ran on the B&M to Eagle Bridge, then picked up milk on the R&W (Rutland and Washington, D&H Washington Branch) to Castleton and Whitehall. Then it ran non-stop to Albany with the milk cars to the NYCRR for New York, and…
View original post 71 more words
Troy Union Railroad Company and the City of Troy, New York
Picture at top: Hoffman’s Playland, an amusement park in the Albany, NY area announced it is closing at the end of the season. That immediately led to some discussion about a new home for the Ferris Wheel which can be seen from Route 9 as you drive pass Hoffman’s. Some comments suggest Troy and it’s Riverfront Park. A wheel would have historic ties to Troy. George Washington Gale Ferris a graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, designed and built the first Ferris Wheel for the World’s Columbian Expostion in 1893 in Chicago, Ill.
This blog will be a collection of stories, mostly directly concerning the Troy Union Railroad Company, but also the city of Troy too.
NEW YORK CENTRAL ANNUAL REPORT
Let’s start out with what the Troy Union Railroad looked like on the New York Central balance sheet and income statement.
See some cool stuff in 1939 Annual Report
View original post 970 more words
A Day in Alexandria Bay
Uncle Sam Boat Tour
The best time to take in the sights of Alexandria Bay is in early autumn, after the tourist season, and the kids have returned to school. I try to get a trip on the St. Lawrence River at least once a year, through Uncle Sam Boat Tours. On this day, I chose the Two Island Nation tour. Over two hours long, it is entertaining and educational. I have taken these tours about a dozen times and I learn something new about the region every time.
Riley’s on the River
I chose this restaurant for lunch because it was in close proximity to the Uncle Sam Boat Tours. The food here is what I would call simple elegance. I ordered a shrimp cocktail appetizer and four collassal shrimp appeared in glass vessels that also contained horseradish sauce with big chunks of lobster meat! I shared them with…
View original post 137 more words
Gas-related explosion suspected in East Village fire that injures 22, takes down buildings, mayor says
A blast from a suspected gas leak set off a seven-alarm inferno that burned four Manhattan buildings, collapsed one, partially collapsed two others and injured 22 people, four of them critically, New York City officials said.
At least two people are unaccounted for on Friday afternoon, the mayor’s office and the NYPD said.
The explosion, which injured four firefighters, rocked the block where employees of a private contractor were adding a new plumbing and gas system to an existing one inside a sushi restaurant at 121 Second Ave. in the East Village, authorities said.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Friday there could be a possiblity that a gas pipe had been accessed improperly.
Although city officials said it didn’t appear that anyone was missing, late Thursday Tyler Figueroa, 19, of Manhattan said his 23-year-old brother, Nicholas, had disappeared after going on a date at the sushi restaurant, which was leveled by the explosion, the Associated Press reported. Figueroa said the couple was paying for their meal when the blast occurred, and that his brother’s date, who is in the hospital, remembers only stumbling outside before losing consciousness.
Advertisement
Advertise here
Emergency personnel move an injured New York City East Village building explosion: Photos Pommes Frites is seen engulfed in flames in RIP #PommesFrites
“I just pray my brother shows up,” he told the AP. “We just hope my brother comes back.” Police said early Friday they have no reports of a missing person.
Six of those injured were firefighters, de Blasio said on Friday.
Even hours after the blast on Thursday night, firefighters were hosing down the smoldering, smoking scene, where debris was still falling, as heavy rain poured down at times. They also used water pressure to take down leftover facades as displaced residents searched for shelter and Con Edison workers investigated.
“Preliminary evidence suggests a gas explosion,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said earlier at the scene in the East Village.
But he warned, “until we know what happened here, we cannot pass judgment.”
On Thursday night, Con Edison released a statement saying its personnel had been at the building to “evaluate work the building plumber was doing inside 121 2nd Ave. in connection with a gas service upgrade. The work failed our inspection for several reasons, including insufficient spacing for the installation of the meter in the basement.
“We had no reports of gas odors in the area prior to the fire and explosion,” the statement continued. “A survey conducted yesterday of the gas mains on the block found no leaks. We continue to work with all agencies on the investigation into the cause, and we are praying for the recovery of all the injured.”
The boom was heard about 3:15 p.m., after the 2 p.m. Con Edison inspection that gave failing marks to the new work, preventing any gas from flowing through the new lines, authorities said.
“It sounded like two tractor-trailers hitting head on,” said Jason Birchard, whose family owns Veselka, a restaurant a block north.
He and his employees raced out to a smoky scene, and saw debris everywhere, then flames 10 to 15 minutes later.
“My first visual was multiple people down in the street . . . on Second Avenue on the sidewalk,” he said. “They were cut by flying glass, it looked like, some people just lying on the ground from the impact of the explosions, bleeding.”
Ataur Rahman, 57, general manager of the Dallas BBQ at one end of the block, said his building shook from the explosion. He ran outside to see what had happened.
“The storefront was completely empty,” Rahman said. “The glass was all over the street.”
There was just debris where the Japanese restaurant had been, he said: “I saw the whole storefront was on the street.”
Two bloodied victims were lying in the street, he said, and neighbors began stopping traffic rolling down Second Avenue.
Tobarka Hassan, a waiter working at a nearby Indian restaurant, said he rushed out at the sound of a huge explosion and spotted a woman on the third floor of one building fleeing to safety using the fire escape of an adjacent building.
“Everything was falling down,” Hassan said. “Fire was coming from the basement to the top of the building. I felt the heat from here, at least half a block away.”
The first of 250 firefighters arrived three minutes after the first 911 call came at 3:17 p.m., said FDNY Commissioner Dan Nigro: “They certainly didn’t expect to see the explosion blow the front of 121 across the street.”
Flames consumed the upper floors of the five-story buildings at No. 121 and 123.
Then just before 4 p.m., as firefighters had feared, No. 123 crumbled. A huge gray plume of smoke and dust mushroomed up, but no firefighters were hurt. No. 121 also partially collapsed.
The inferno spread to adjacent buildings, No. 119 and 125 and later, the FDNY said, 119 also partially collapsed.
De Blasio told reporters that subduing the fire was a tough battle.
“This is a complex and difficult operation they’re mounting here,” he said. Firefighters are “obviously doing everything they can to search for anyone who still may be in those buildings, but also to ensure that there’s no spread of fire to the surrounding buildings.”
Of the four critically injured, two had burns to their airways and one was knocked unconscious, Nigro said.
City officials said they did not have any reports so far of people smelling gas just before the blast.
Con Edison crews shut off gas to the area, and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said the state Department of Public Service was on the scene to monitor the utility’s performance.
He also said the state agency will conduct a “full investigation” to determine the cause of the explosion.
“We will continue to monitor this tragedy and do whatever is needed to support the ongoing response and recovery in the days ahead,” he said in a statement.
Joe Esposito, the city’s emergency management head, said authorities were concerned about air quality and warned people to keep windows closed and limit time outside.
He said a “debris task force” would try to clear debris out as soon as possible.
Red Cross officials set up a shelter at a nearby school, where Anna Ramotowska, 26, and her roommate, Lucie Bauermeister, showed up.
Ramotowska said after lunch she had returned to their third-floor apartment at 129 Second Ave. when they felt the blast.
“It felt like an earthquake,” Ramotowska said.
They grabbed their dog, their phones and wallets, and ran out, where they saw glass all around the street and people, young and old, trying to escape down a mangled fire escape.
The roommates said they will stay with friends.
“We want to know what is going on,” Ramotowska said, “and when we can go back.”
About 79 adults and one child had registered for services at a Red Cross disaster center at PS 63, said Josh Lockwood, regional CEO for the American Red Cross Greater New York region.
“People are stunned. Most people are in a state of shock. They’re processing the day’s events. They’re grieving over the loss of a home. They might have a pet that’s missing,” Lockwood said.
Crazy Pasta Child 