REFERENCE Complete List of New York State Railroads New York State Railroads The Kellogg Branch near Amsterdam Our WebPages on Abandoned Railroads CSX Timetables in New York State Railfanning Pictures from the Capital District ALCO locomotives of New York State Welcome to NY State History Net All about museums in NY State The Photographer's Railroad Page Railroads in Oswego Railroads in our Ominous Weather section Railroads in our Weathertopia section Railroads in our EDI section Railroads in Florida Railroads in our vacations section

The American Museum of Electricity (What! You never heard of it?)
stored its collection on the old Troy & Schenectady Railroad.

Ogdensburg Bridge and Port Authority
The Ogdensburg Bridge and Port Authority owns two shortline railroads that are operated by a private contractor d/b/a the New York and Ogdensburg Railway Company. This railroad serves the Port of Ogdensburg and connects with CSX, thus providing total intermodal service for industries of Northern and Central New York, as well as Eastern Ontario, Canada

Old map/picture of Ballston Spa
(courtesy of attorney Saul Balmuth)

Ballston Spa

In 1832-33, the 22-mile long Saratoga-Schenectady Railroad reached Ballston Spa. It was the second oldest railroad in the United States (after the Mohawk & Hudson). The trip from Schenectady to Saratoga Springs via Ballston Spa took 1 1/2 hours and cost $1.25 one way. Trains could carry as many as 160 passengers. 24' X 8' coaches were used.

The Rensselaer & Saratoga Railroad was established in 1835 by Troy and Hudson Valley businessmen. It ran from Troy to Waterford; then to Mechanicville and finally to Ballston Spa where it connected with the Schenectady & Saratoga Railroad.

The route became more important after 1848 when the Saratoga & Washington was completed to Whitehall via Fort Edward. The Adirondack R.R. Co. was completed to Hadley by 1865 and to North Creek by 1871. It was originally going to be built to Sackett's Harbor but never made it. An extension of 24 miles was built to Tahawas in World War II to haul out titanium ore.

All of these railroads were merged into the Delaware & Hudson.

Ballston Spa was formerly called Ballston Springs. It was incorporated as a village in 1807.

Nearby Ballston Lake became the principal shipping point for agricultural produce grown in the area by virtue of having a railroad siding.

In 1901, the Schenectady Railway Company was operating electrified lines covering 12 miles from Schenectady to Albany, 15 miles from Schenectady to Troy as well as streetcar lines in Schenectady city and county. The trolley company, which was indirectly controlled by the General Electric Company, also owned the gas and electric light business in Schenectady (the trolley lines were later to be under the control of the Delaware & Hudson and the New York Central). Their new double track line to Ballston Spa was built to provide a connection with what became the Hudson Valley Railway from Mechanicville to Saratoga Springs , Glens Falls and Warrensburg.

The Schenectady to Ballston route was 15 1/2 miles long (of which 3.9 miles was existing street car lines within the city of Schenectady). The interurban portion was wired with 2,200 volt alternating current trolley wires using cross-arm supports. It was also wired with direct current using center pole bracket construction. It was built on private right-of-way using 75-pound rails. The maximum grade was 1.8 percent and the sharpest curve was 4 ¼ degrees. The official opening on August 18, 1904 saw GE demonstration car No. 3 carry a party of dignitaries to Ballston Spa. The line had already been running since June 27 using direct current trolleys.

The Schenectady to Ballston Spa line was next extended to Saratoga via the D&H. A third and fourth track between Ballston Spa and Saratoga Springs carried the trolleys. After leaving Schenectady the line crossed the Mohawk River on what was for a time supposedly the longest trolley bridge in the world. Across the bridge was a junction with the line to Rexford. On this line was an amusement park called Luna Park. At Ballston Lake was a Schenectady Railway-owned picnic area and park called Forrest Park.

Several of the cars used on the Schenectady to Saratoga line were ex-Albany Southern purchased by Schenectady Railway in 1914. By 1941, only two of these cars were left and they usually only ran rush hour as far as Ballston Spa. Abandonment of the Schenectady line did not occur until twelve hours before the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. Car No. 650 (built new in 1916) of the Schenectady Railway Company made the last trip. While most of the Schenectady Railway equipment was burned, this car and several others went to Oklahoma for several more years of service.

Created in 1901, the Hudson Valley Railway ran from Waterford north to Warrensburg. Between Mechanicville and Glens Falls it had alternate main lines. One followed the Hudson River through Schuylerville while the other went via Ballston Spa and Saratoga Springs. There were several small branches including one to Saratoga Lake where the company owned Kaydeross Park. Connections to Troy were via the Hudson Valley's owner - the United Traction Company (in turn a Delaware & Hudson subsidiary).

The Hudson Valley Railway operated over 100 miles of track. Between the various lakes and the Saratoga racing season, much of the line's business was summer-oriented. As well as passengers, it carried mail, less-than-carload freight and even standard box cars for the mills along the route.

Interurbans originally ran through Ballston Junction (outside the village) between Mechanicville and Saratoga Springs. Local cars ran between downtown Ballston Spa and Ballston Junction. The Saratoga Traction Company completed its line to Ballston Spa in 1899. This company was a combination of the electric line to Saratoga Lake and the old Union Electric Railway which ran from Saratoga to Geyser (a park about 2 miles south of Saratoga Springs). Just after the turn of the century there were 36 trips a day between Ballston Spa and Saratoga Springs.

Consolidation with the Schenectady Railway between Saratoga Springs and Ballston Spa was made as an economy move. This eliminated duplicate parallel lines. When the Schenectady Railway extended to Saratoga on the third and fourth D&H tracks, a connection was made with the Hudson Valley at Bath Street and Front Street. In 1911, this connection was made more convenient when the Schenectady tracks were shifted from Washington Street to Front Street. By 1915, the tracks between Ballston Junction and Geyser's had been abandoned and all Hudson Valley cars followed the D&H between Ballston Spa and Saratoga Springs.

Abandonment of the Hudson Valley Railway began in 1925 when the line between Ballston Spa and Mechanicville was discontinued. The entire Hudson Valley was out of business by 1929.

The Eastern New York Railroad (its best-known name) was an electric railroad which operated between Ballston Spa and Middle Grove. It carried both freight and passengers until being discontinued in 1929. It was chartered as the Ballston Terminal Railroad in 1896. By 1898 seven miles of track were in operation. It was completed to Middle Grove, a distance of 12 miles, by 1902. Plans to extend to Gloversville, Johnstown and/or Amsterdam never materialized.

In 1906 the Ballston Terminal went into receivership and emerged as the Eastern New York Railroad. A 1918 reorganization resulted in a new name - Kaydeross Railroad. Most of its tonnage came from car loads to and from the mills along the banks of the Kayderosseras Creek. Except for the villages along the route, it was a very rural area. Passenger service never became extensive. The road only owned three passenger cars and no bus replaced the trolleys when they were abandoned. The powerhouse and carbarn were at Factory Village. It had a track connection with the D&H in Ballston Spa where it also interchanged passengers with both the Hudson Valley and the Schenectady Railway.

Many post cards depicting trolley scenes in and around Ballston Spa were made. This is because Ballston Spa was home to one of the most famous post card photographers - J. S. Wooley. One of his subjects was an old man who ran a candy stand at the end of the Hudson Valley branch to Kaydeross Park. The old man, called "Pop", was also a musician who had a pet pig and appeared in several post cards.

Attorney Saul Balmuth sent me a Xerox of a share of stock in the Kaydeross Railroad Corporation. It was issued in 1918 and shows that in 1932 $16.67 was paid on account in the liquidation procedure.

Ballston Spa station on an old postrcard when interurbans stopped there too.

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NYO&W WebTrain
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Railroads On The Rebound

Over the last 50+ years, railroads have changed a lot. Now they are about to change again.

It is all about a combination of economic factors and climate factors.

Since 1950 , railroads have consolidated. Freight moved from a "box car mentality" to a "unit train,mentality". Passenger went from a robust business to a "caretaker" arrangement called AMTRAK. This happened as everybody could drive for free on the Interstate Highway System or fly on an airline system where the government subsidized both airlines and airports. In the meantime, railroad express and railroad post offices went "down the tubes". The old Post Office Department and the Railway Express Agency could not adjust to the new way. UPS and Fex Ex could.

Carbon Calculator
What's the most environmentally-friendly way to transport goods? The answer is freight rail. The EPA estimates that every ton-mile of freight that moves by rail instead of by highway reduces greenhouse emissions by two-thirds. But what does that really mean? Our easy-to-use carbon calculator will estimate the amount of carbon dioxide that can be prevented from entering our environment just by using freight rail instead of trucks. We'll even tell you how many seedlings you'd need to plant to have the same effect.

The Richfield Springs branch of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railway extended through Bridgewater, where it connected with the Unadilla Valley Railroad, a shortline that served Edmeston and New Berlin to Richfield Springs on Canadarago Lake, once a rather fashionable resort. Here, from 1905 until 1940, the DL&W had a passenger and freight connection with the Southern New York Railway, an interurban to Oneonta. Milk and light freight were the chief sources of revenue on this branch. Delaware Otsego subsidiary Central New York Railroad acquired this branch from Richfield Jct. to Richfield Springs, 22 miles, in 1973. Enginehouse was at Richfield Springs. Became part of NYS&W northern division after NYS&W bought the DL&W Syracuse & Utica branches from Conrail in 1982. Traffic on line gradually dropped off. Line east from Bridgewater embargoed in 1990. Abandoned and track removed in 1995, westerly 2-3 miles left in place for stone trains. In 2009: This old railroad is now owned by the Utica, Chenango and Susquehanna Valley LLC in Richfield Springs. They also own the 1930 Newark Milk and Cream Company creamery in South Columbia.

Mechanicville Bridge over Hudson River 1921

Hudson River Bridge to Mechanicville in 1921

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Rail Town: Mechanicville

The first steam train pulled into Mechanicville in 1835 at 15 miles an hour. Farmers from the surrounding area drove their wagons to see it. The Rensselaer and Saratoga was chartered in 1832. The merchants and citizens who led the drive for a railroad were led by Richard P. Hart who had made a lot of money in the stage business until forced out when the Champlain Canal opened. Its path was from Troy, via Waterford and Mechanicville to Ballston.

The Schenectady and Mechanicville Railroad was chartered in 1867. It was owned and operated by the Delaware & Hudson Canal Company.

Joseph Hillman of Troy interested a number of Methodist laymen to purchase a site for and arrange accommodations for a Camp Meeting. Round Lake was chosen and purchased in 1868. An agreement with the Rensselaer and Saratoga Railroad Company called for a passenger station and trains to stop twice a day except Sunday. On September 1, 1868, 8000 people attended the first Camp Meeting.

The Hoosac Tunnel opened in 1875 and the line to Rotterdam Junction was completed by 1885. What is now the Boston & Maine was an outgrowth of the Boston, Hoosac Tunnel & Western Railway Co. organized in 1877 to construct 32 miles to the Vermont border. The B&M obtained this line in 1900.

In 1880 the Saratoga Lake R.R. was formed to provide transportation between Mechanicville and the east shore of Saratoga Lake. There was a spur to Schuylerville. In 1882 it was leased to the Hoosac Tunnel & Western R.R. which, in turn, joined the Fitchburg Railroad and later the Boston & Maine.

The B&M had a branch from Schuylerville to Saratoga. This was originally the Saratoga Lake Railroad which had been chartered in 1880. Eight trains a day once ran on it. The depot was closed in 1928 and passenger service ended in 1931. From 1945 to 1957 this line was operated by the short line Saratoga & Schuylerville.

In 1883 the Stillwater and Mechanicville Steel Railway built a standard gauge track for almost four miles and began operation with horse-drawn cars. In 1893, it was electrified and handled both freight and passenger traffic. It later became part of the 120-mile network which extended from Troy to Warrensburg. The Hudson Valley Railway lasted until 1928.

Stillwater was the location of the railway's barns and car shops as well as its power house. Later on, the D&H built a powerhouse at Mechanicville. Eventually power was supplied by the Adirondack Power and Light Co. The interurban ran on 625 volt direct current supplied to the cars by two overhead copper wires.

In 1898 a branch of the Stillwater and Mechanicville Electric Railway was opened from Mechanicville to Waterford. This line roughly paralleled the D&H and went as far south as Broad and 3rd Street in Waterford where it connected with the United Traction Company.

Another branch extended from Main Street and Park Avenue to Round Lake, Ballston Spa and Saratoga Springs. It ran out Park Avenue and across the freight yard on a combination of trestles and culverts. It then followed the Anthony Kill valley. The branch connected with the Schenectady Railway Company at Ballston Spa and at Saratoga. Saratoga refused permission for tracks to cross Broadway until 1915. Permission was secured after agreement to construct a showplace terminal in 1915-1916.

In 1901 the Stillwater and Mechanicville Street Railway became part of the newly-created Hudson Valley Railway. Stillwater & Mechanicville stockholders received two shares of the new company for each of their old shares. The new interurban extended from Waterford to Warrensburg. At its height, 35 cars passed through Mechanicville each day running between Troy and Glens Falls. This was almost twice the number of D&H trains. Troy was an hour away while Glens Falls was almost two hours distant.

Standard gauge construction allowed connections with steam railroads. Several industries received carload shipments and the line had an electric locomotive, as well as several freight motors. Mail and express service were important. Main line rail was between 60 and 80 pounds.

The D&H had competed vigorously with the Hudson Valley. Fare cuts were common as well as refusals to allow track crossings. Finally, in 1906, the D&H bought the Hudson Valley through its United Traction Company subsidiary. Leonor F. Loree served as Hudson Valley president from 1907 until abandonment in 1928. He continued to serve the D&H until 1938. Throughout this period, the D&H and United Traction Company supplied assistance, advice and improvements.

Mechanicville developed one of the largest freight yards in the eastern United States. It was important because it was a junction between the Delaware & Hudson, a north-south carrier; and the Boston & Maine (an east-west carrier). The D&H ran basically from Pennsylvania to Canada and needed the B&M for a Boston connection. The B&M hauled out of New England so it required western connections. The first railroad station was built in 1852 on Park Avenue and replaced an 1836 barn.

The D&H yard was 2.7 miles long and could hold 1475 cars. At Mechanicville West, joint trackage with the B&M starts. The D&H track through Elnora to Glenville Junction was built in conjunction with the Boston, Hoosac Tunnel & Western.

The B&M made extensive additions at Mechanicville in 1913. There was a 23-stall engine house, a locomotive and blacksmith shop, storehouses, freight transfer and cattle pens. The B&M hump yard with a car-retarding system opened in 1927. 700 loaded cars per day were handled each way. Engineless cars were shunted over a hill and automatically sent to one of 32 classification tracks where trains were made up.

With the exception of a 1973 excursion, D&H steam locomotives last rolled through Mechanicville in 1953. Their soft coal soot no longer soils backyard clotheslines but their distinctive sound can no longer be heard climbing the grades leaving town. The first diesel in Mechanicville was a B&M around 1942. B&M steam was out by 1948.

The 1970 population of Mechanicville was 6,500; up from 4,700 in 1910. It is located 13 miles from Troy, 19 miles from Albany and 19 miles from Saratoga Springs. It was established as a village in 1859 and a city in 1915. It was located on the Revolutionary War trail from Albany (Fort Orange) to Canada. Industry has included thread, shirts, sash and blinds, and knitting mills.

The Hudson River water developed power for the electric railroads of Troy and Albany, for the General Electric Company in Schenectady, and for what was once the greatest book paper mill in the world. Like many towns in the Hudson Valley, brickmaking was an important industry.

The first frictionless match was made in Mechanicville. The area was an important part of the Indian hunting grounds. There is a monument to Col. Elmer E. Ellsworth, first Civil War Union officer killed at Alexandria, VA as he hauled down a secessionist flag. The American Revolution saw Generals Gates, Arnold, Schuyler, Knox and the British General Burgoyne march through the area.

The old passenger station on Davenport Square, built in 1884, now houses a gymnastics school. It was owned by the D&H, but the B&M also used it.

Mechanicville is also a terminal on the Barge Canal (1916) which replaced the Champlain Canal (1825) and the Stillwater-Mechanicville Canal (1800).

The underpass built in 1871 under the D&H tracks at Dutch Gap replaced a grade crossing which had claimed many fatalities since being built in 1834.

During the 1920's, the Hudson Valley Railway's traffic and revenue (both passenger and freight) began to decline. The firm cut those costs it could and had to resort to fare increases and service cuts. Mechanicville strongly protested. Merchant's began a motorized service to Troy. More and more automobiles were registered each year. It should be noted that trolley lines had to pay for paving if their tracks ran on the streets. As auto traffic increased, these costs increased (the trolley was subsidizing the auto). To cut costs, the HVR abandoned several city lines in Glens Falls and single-tracked the line through Mechanicville.

The first interurban section to be abandoned (in 1925) was the Ballston Spa-Mechanicville line. This was a relatively long line through an area of low population density. The Kaydeross branch and the Saratoga belt line were also abandoned at the same time. Lines north of Stillwater went next. Finally in 1928 the entire interurban gave up.

Many presidents and presidential candidates have spoken in Mechanicville - usually while passing through to Saratoga. General Grant's funeral train passed through a spiral arch at Park Avenue erected by the village.


Mechanicville Station (old postcard)	D&H freight yard at Mechanicville (old postcard)

Hojack Swing Bridge at Charlotte on the Genesee River from a postcard found in St Joseph, Michigan)

In the early 1870's, the Lake Ontario Shore Railroad had been built from Oswego along the shore of Lake Ontario to the Niagara River (Suspension Bridge). It bypassed Rochester, had no manufacturing industries and first became part of the Rome, Watertown & Ogdensburgh which was acquired by the New York Central.

Timeline of Railroads in the Adirondacks

See the Railroads of the Adirondacks too!!!

New York State Rail Routes

This is intended to be a comprehensive listing of every bit of railbed ever graded in New York State. The data is published in ESRI's 'shapefile' format.

One way to view this data is to use NASA's WorldWind. It's a 50MB download, runs on Windows, requires 3D hardware, and a broadband connection. The shapefile support is brand new and you need to install shapefiles manually.

#New York State	by campross
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Whiteface Mountain at Lake Placid, New York

See another "Alphabet Route" that used the Ontario & Western to connect Maybrook to the DL&W and others.

Head End
Railway Express and Railway Post Office

On passenger trains, railroads operated lots of equipment other than sleepers, coaches, dining cars, etc. This equipment was generally called 'head-end' equipment, these 'freight' cars were at one time plentiful and highly profitable for the railroads. In the heyday of passenger service, these industries were a big part of the railroad's operations, and got serious attention.
We have text and pictures not found elsewhere on the Web.

What ever happened to my Penn Central stock? Penn Central gobbled up the stock of New York Central, Pennsylvania and New Haven Railroads. But what ever happened to the company and the stock? Is it worth anything? Ever hear of American Premier Underwriters?
	The New York Central Railroad See some historic photographs of the New York Central Railroad. First-generation diesels! Passenger and freight runs. Much more!

Railroads and Snow

See some historic photographs of the railroads in snow. Rotary plows in snow! Great stories of railroad action in Winter!

Buried Treasure

The Albany County Clerk has a New Archive of Albany Photos of the 1930s & ‘40s. Right now, there is a brief show online, but eventually they will have 2,300 images online. Until they establish a system of granting permission to use the images, you can use this link. The photos will be searchable by keyword. They are hoping to link with a vendor who can provide archival quality photographs at a modest charge.

No, the picture above is not one of them. I got it when I was consulting for AC Delco.

Click here or on picture above to see.

Railways/Trains Of The World	by kcjones
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Google Earth© Consultants Google Earth© streams the world over wired and wireless networks enabling users to virtually go anywhere on the planet and see places in photographic detail. This is not like any map you have ever seen. This is a 3D model of the real world, based on real satellite images combined with maps, guides to restaurants, hotels, entertainment, businesses and more. You can zoom from space to street level instantly and then pan or jump from place to place, city to city, even country to country. Google Earth© is a tool that could be useful in your business. If you have a travel agency or real estate business, there are many applications. Google Earth© presentations can be done on your computer or be sent to a prospective client. U Buy Vacations can help you prepare presentations in Google Earth©. We offer professional consulting in creating Google Earth© applications. Contact us today! See some examples of our work If you have "GOOGLE EARTH©" installed on your computer, you can "fly" these routes with these "PLACEMARKs" The West Shore of the New York Central The New York Central along the Hudson River The New York Central Adirondack Division to Lake Placid Troy & Schenectady Railroad New York Central Catskill Mountain Branch