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New Haven RR meets NY&NE Railroad at Newington Junction

Connecticut Railroad Stations

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Circus Trains: The Second Greatest Show On Earth

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A New Hudson Bridge, Revived Beacon Line, HYPERLOOP and More

The Maybrook Line was a line of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad which connected with its Waterbury Branch in Derby, Connecticut, and its Maybrook Yard in Maybrook, New York, where it interchanged with other carriers.

If one looks at the most popular Pages on our WebSite, over half directly reference the Maybrook Line. Lot’s of folks have an interest in it. The “Maybrook Line” was important to New England before the advent of Penn Central and before the Poughkeepsie Bridge burned. This piece of the railroad carried freight from Maybrook Yard, across the Poughkeepsie Bridge to Hopewell Junction where it joined a line from Beacon. The railroad then went to Brewster, then Danbury, and finally to Cedar Hill Yard in New Haven.

WHY and How To Fix The “MAYBROOK LINE”?

Container port/intermodal facility/rail bridge

The construction of a railroad bridge between New Hamburg and Marlboro is likely the least expensive place to build a Hudson River crossing between Manhattan and Albany. The stone for ramps, sand and gravel for concrete and a steel beam assembly and storage area would be right on sight. All materials and equipment could be transported by barge or boat. The bridge itself would have only four or five piers (the most costly part to build) since the Hudson River is about the same width as it is in Poughkeepsie.

The Hudson River component connects Dutchess, Ulster and Orange counties to the world economy (finished goods, spare parts, components parts, raw materials, food stuffs) and the railroad and interstate road components connect these NY counties to the rest of North America (US, Mexico, Canada).

With the container port/intermodal facility/rail bridge, the flow in and out of raw materials, spare parts, partially finished goods, foodstuffs and components will allow for new industries and businesses to locate near this facility and add to the tax base of these three NY counties: Dutchess, Ulster and Orange counties.

Although the Dutchess County Airport is a tiny regional airport with a 5,000 foot runway, it has some big potential. The airport land extends a mile Northeast of the present runway end at New Hackensack Road and borders on the former New Haven Maybrook Line/Dutchess Rail Trail. As the NY Air National Guard gets crowded out by international air traffic at Stewart International Airport their operation could be moved over to Dutchess Airport without disrupting the lives of the guard members and their families through forced relocation.

Beacon itself is exploding with “developer” activity, and it needs a trolley or light rail for the city only to transform back into a pedestrian oriented city.

Other activities include: Solidization of rail links in Connecticut to handle increased traffic; a possible HYPERLINK for improved service along the Beacon Line and in/out of New York City

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Shown above is the Sheffield Farms Creamery at Bloomville. Other creameries on the New York Central’s Catskill Mountain Branch are listed below:Cold Spring Creamery, between Halcottville and Roxbury, Delaware Valley Creamery, between Roxbury and Grand Gorge
Dairymen’s League Creamery, between Hobart and South Kortright Dairymen’s League Creamery, begtween Kortright Station and East Meredith.

A feature article is about milk trains in New York State..

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Commuters, Car Culture and the Jenny Plan

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Metro-North Railroad

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Brewster was the location of a big Bordon creamery. Brewster was on the New York Central Harlem Division and the New Haven Railroad.
An old postcard purchased from Charlie Gunn.
Brewster is also the birthplace of noted blogger Penney Vanderbilt

The story of Elsie the Borden Cow. Too bad we don’t see her as much anymore. At least the Laughing Cow from France is still popular.

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Head End Railroad Equipment: Railway Post Offices; Express

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Shown above is the Ft Lauderdale, Florida station with lots of milk cans around.

The West Shore milk train would have run along the Mohawk Valley from Utica via Frankfort to South Schenectady, then over the Carman Connection to Tower 7 and into Rensselaer.

That train was still running on the West Shore into the 1940’s, but it was combined at Rensselaer with other trains in later years when heavier power permitted longer trains. They served creameries on the West Shore west of Albany. Also, I don’t think any of the milk on the West Shore River Division south of Kenwood went via Albany. It moved to Weehawken in Train 28, which connected at Kingston with U&D Train 28 (later CMB 528). The D&H ran three milk trains to the NYC at Albany. One came from Rouses Point, one made loop from Green Island via Troy and B&M to Eagle Bridge, then Whitehall and direct to Albany. The third came north from Binghamton to Albany. NYC consolidated all of that traffic plus its own trains and took it to New York City.

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Chicago Union Station in 1939

Chicago Railroads WebSite

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New Haven Railroad Bar Car V XI-GBC a.k.a. Five Eleven Gentlemen’s Bar Car

Connecticut Railfan

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D&H No. 500 was built by Pullman in 1917 for D&H president L.F. Loree. The interior, of Cuban mahogany and West Indian satinwood, will accomodate 10 in two staterooms, one drawing room, dining room and observation end. During the winter of 1967 it was renovated at the Colonie, N.Y. shops, painted berry red and the interior redecorated in an early 19th Century motif with blue brocade drapes and gold fringe trim. March 1967.
Photo by Jim Shaughnessy

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Oneonta Roundhouse: once the largest roundhouse in the World

“This roundhouse was built in 1906 on a large piece of property which extended from Fonda Avenue to Richard’s Crossing, approximately 350 acres, “thereby bestowing upon Oneonta the distinction of hosting the largest roundhouse in the world, a claim that went unchallenged for over a quarter of century.” (From The Oneonta Roundhouse by Jim Loudon) The roundhouse itself was over 400 feet in diameter with a 75 foot turntable. There were 52 stalls and it said to be the largest roundhouse in the world. The economic climate of Oneonta benefitted greatly from the usage of this facility. In 1924 a new turntable, 105 feet long, was installed to accommodate the longest locomotives. When the use of steam power gave way to diesel power, the activity began to diminish. In 1954 the demolition of the structure started and 36 stalls were gone. The others were rented to companies for storage. In 1993 the rest of the roundhouse was demolished.”

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Cooperstown Train Station……Now a private residence, once served the Delaware & Hudson. Read more about Cooperstown. Other interesting Railway Stations

See More on the Delaware & Hudson Railway

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Lehigh Valley Railroad

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Presidents of the D&H….the best?
From a railfans standpoint, C.B. Sterzing would win hands down. He did the most to promote the D&H and its employees through a trying period of bankruptcy surrounding the railroad with the downfall of PC and others. He fought strongly for the D&H to remain independent. He stepped on quite a few toes in high places to keep the D&H afloat and this ultimately caused his removal.
L.F. Loree was the ultimate tough manager who it ended up had a soft side. His brash demeanor and no nonsense approach to the running of the railroad was offset by his efforts to keep “the men” working during the depression years by keeping the railroad in tip top shape. Noted for his introduction of welded rail in 1933, razor straight ballast edges and who could forget his favorite automatic stoker, the strong back of a fireman with a coal scoop).

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New York Central Adirondack Railroads

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Sheffield Farms Creamery in Seward on abandoned Cherry Valley Branch in 1913

Find out more about

milk trains in Central New York

The Cherry Valley Branch began in 1860 as the Cherry Valley & Sprakers RR. In 1864 it became CV & Mohawk River RR; then in 1869 CV, Sharon & Albany RR. Finally in 1908 the D&H bought it. The Cherry Valley Branch: August 17 1956 Last run. Find out more history of the Cherry Valley branch. Photo courtesy of New York State Archives. Education Dept. Division of Visual Instruction.

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Abandoned Railroads Overview

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Prior to 1980, Oneonta was the main yard for the D&H. Every train that operated on the original D&H came through Oneonta. Oneonta was the throat of the railroad. Trains to and from Wilkes Barre, Buttonwood and the Penn Division all came to Oneonta for classification. Trains for Mechanicville and Kenwood came there as well. The yard had a southbound receiving, classification yard, and advanced yard. Trains were received in the receiving yard, then sent over the hump to the classification yard and then moved to the advanced yard where the trains were made up. The advanced yard was as far south a Glens Bridge Road. There were almost 100 miles of track in the Oneonta yard. There was also a northbound receiving and classification yard as well as several smaller yards inside. Oneonta was the main car-shop for the railroad. The Diesel shop was at Fonda Avenue. The main brake, wheel, boxcar, and paint shops were at Oneonta. After dieselization the round house was no longer a vital part of the road.

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What Freight Railroads Serve Connecticut?

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Tahawus: Railroad To A Mine. Does It Have A Future?

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ALL ABOUT TROOP TRAINS

(Photo clipped from an old New York Central Headlight)

Big job looms, the New York Central is ready. Start of the Korean War in 1950. The New York Central Railroad had what it takes to move the military.

Did you know???

Between December, 1941 and June, 1945; US railroads carried almost 44 million armed services personnel; as well as 70% of the nation’s freight.

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Read the Full Story On Troop Trains!

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The DL&W Railway

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The Erie-Lackawanna Railroad

Includes the Lackawanna Cutoff

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Joint Winter Olympics

A news story stated that Montreal and Lake Placid officials met to consider a joint bid for the Winter Olympics. This could be great news for more railroads! Provides access to a wealth of railroad history information published over many years about the New York Central and about Montreal railroads.
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What If No Penn Central Merger?

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Cedar Hill Yard

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Tunnels and Bridges

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Robert Moses, An Unusual Man

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If you guessed from the picture above that it had something to do with doctors and medicine, your wrong. Simply stated it is all about getting railroad freight around Chicago instead of going through Chicago (with the resulting delays and pollution). It is the “CHICAGO BYPASS“

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Union Pacific Big Boy at Chicago Rail Fair

Union Pacific — the railroad established by Congress and Abraham Lincoln to span the continent

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The New Haven’s Maybrook Line and Connections

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The Monon Railroad (Chicago,Indianapolis & Louisville Railway)

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Scale Model Railroading

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The Housatonic Railroad Between Connecticut and Massachusetts

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Welcome to CONRAIL

The break-up of Conrail to CSX and Norfolk Southern is just really a continuation of a drama that has gone on for about the last 80 years.We have a VERY COMPLETE analysis of what companies made it to Conrail and what didn’t?

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Boat Train London to Amsterdam

Looking up at the TV monitor in London’s Liverpool Street Station, I see my train listed with its destination as simply “continent”. There is a good size crowd waiting to board. Its a summer holiday weekend in Great Britain and loud speakers have already announced that the channel ferry is completely booked. My ticket on the boat train is first class so a porter helps us find reserved seats with a table. The sixteen cars are mostly reserved since an additional section, known as the relief boat train, has left twenty minutes earlier with all unreserved coaches (carriages).

The boat train pulls out ten minutes late, but the big English road electric doesn’t waste any time. Its near the end of the commuter rush hour but we seem to own the road. Its four track, all electric, heading northeast from London.

London is like Chicago with a ring of numerous rail stations surrounding the city. Trains from King’s Cross go to Aberdeen, Leeds, York and Edinburgh. Euston departures are for Birmingham, Coventry and Lancaster. Paddington trains go to Bath, Bristol and Plymouth. St. Pancras is the right station for Derby, Sheffield and Nottingham. Liverpool Street trains go to Yarmouth, Norwich and other coast towns (but not Liverpool which is reached through Euston). Numerous other stations like Victoria and Elephant & Castle serve the regional commuter lines.

Rural England is covered by numerous double track rail highways. From London, it is easy to explore Britain in comfort with high-speed trains. The cars are spacious with comfortable seats and large picture windows. There is also a comprehensive suburban service covering all of London. Trains serve Gatwick airport and the docks in Southampton where ocean liners dock. Most train service by British Rail in the London area is known as “Network SouthEast” except for one line known as Docklands Light Railway. If regular rail isn’t enough, there is plenty of tourist activity. The Bluebell Railway in Sussex and the Kent & East Sussex Steam Railway are two near London.

The London Underground (“Tubes”) is a great way to move around the city. It will get you to all parts of central and greater London and also interconnects London mainline stations. There is direct service to Heathrow airport. Note that when England has a heat wave that the Tubes are NOT air-conditioned, however the windows really open. Also, rush hour CAN delay trains.

A “Travelcard” which costs less than $4.00/day allows the rider unlimited use of the Underground, suburban trains and busses. It is ideal for sightseeing and covers approximately a 12 mile radius of central London.

Most of our traveling was on the Underground. Our hotel was in Hamstead off the Northern line just beyond Camden Town. Lines intersect frequently and changing trains is easy. The result is that almost any place in London is easy to get to. Unlike New York City, there are no barren spots not served by public transportation. Stations have electronic signs that tell how many minutes to the next train.

One BritRail suburban train we took was between London Bridge and Charing Cross (about two miles). The coach (“carriage”) was about 40 years old and had separate doors for each compartment.

Our boat train ran express to Harwich. We then got off the train and boarded a ferry. Ferry service runs twice a day from Harwich to Hook of Holland. One ferry is British and the other Dutch. Our’s was Dutch and had a “duty-free” shop which the British does not. It was bigger and more luxurious than a cruise ship I had gone to Nassau on. Look for this service to disappear when the “Chunnel” goes from England to France in the 1990’s. We landed at Hook of Holland the next morning.

Holland trains pull right up to dockside. We departed exactly on schedule and arrived in Amsterdam exactly on time. The train first makes a backward movement to Rotterdam, then reverses.

First class coaches versus second class coaches is a big thing in Holland. You can even read the number on the outside of the cars. The conductor moved several students briskly out of our car when he found they didn’t have first class tickets and were not able to ante up the price difference.

Amsterdam’s Central Station is a huge, old station with a train shed. It has two restaurants, numerous snack bars, newstands, shops and even a bike rental in the basement.

There is a subway in Amsterdam called the “Metro”, but most public transportation is by “tram”. They look like Boston’s’ Green Line and move rapidly throughout the city. Their tracks are in the center of the roads with only taxis allowed to use that portion of the street. Similar trams operate in Rotterdam and Den Hague. Fares are sort of on the honor system. Tickets may be purchased as a single day pass, a multi-day pass or by buying a “strip card” for roughly $4.00. Everytime you enter a tram you are supposed to punch the card yourself. If your trip goes into extra zones, you punch the ticket again. There are machines at each entrance to punch your ticket. Some trams were so crowded that I could not get to the machine to punch my ticket.

Some tram routes are actually interurbans. The road north from Den Hague is two lane with the interurban running alongside on a grassy route. It reminded me of old pictures of the Albany – Schenectady route. Too bad we got modern and ripped that route up. We stopped at Madurodam which is a stop any model buff should make every attempt to visit. Not only is there a model railroad and a model transit system, but there is a whole model country! Madurodam is a historically correct reproduction of an average Dutch city and its surroundings, everything to a scale of 1:25.

The Dutch national rail service carries more than half a million passengers every day. For the exceptionally busy commuter service in North Holland, there are double-decker trains. Postal mail trains operate frequently. “Sprinter” trains are used on short distance routes; they resemble our “Turbos”.

Equipment was mostly modern. Some trains are of a self-propelled electric variety while others are hauled by modern electric locomotives. However, one electric locomotive in the Central Station looked just like a New Haven EP-3.

Airport connections from downtown Amsterdam only take twenty minutes. The station stop is in the basement of the airline terminal building and push carts for luggage are conveniently located right on the platform.

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Isn’t it amazing how much we all remember (and have forgotten about the NY Central)? 40 plus years? OMG, we rode parlors to Chatham and sleepers to the Adirondacks. Geez, we remember a lot. Why is all this stuff gone? Why did we have a PC and a Conrail.

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WHY and How To Fix The “MAYBROOK LINE”?

Container port/intermodal facility/rail bridge

Brewster was the location of a big Bordon creamery. Brewster was on the New York Central Harlem Division and the New Haven Railroad. An old postcard purchased from Charlie Gunn. Brewster is also the birthplace of noted blogger Penney Vanderbilt

The story of Elsie the Borden Cow. Too bad we don’t see her as much anymore. At least the Laughing Cow from France is still popular.

Head End Railroad Equipment: Railway Post Offices; Express

Shown above is the Ft Lauderdale, Florida station with lots of milk cans around.

The West Shore milk train would have run along the Mohawk Valley from Utica via Frankfort to South Schenectady, then over the Carman Connection to Tower 7 and into Rensselaer.

Oneonta Roundhouse: once the largest roundhouse in the World

See More on the Delaware & Hudson Railway

Sheffield Farms Creamery in Seward on abandoned Cherry Valley Branch in 1913

Abandoned Railroads Overview

Tahawus: Railroad To A Mine. Does It Have A Future?

Big job looms, the New York Central is ready. Start of the Korean War in 1950. The New York Central Railroad had what it takes to move the military.

Did you know???

Between December, 1941 and June, 1945; US railroads carried almost 44 million armed services personnel; as well as 70% of the nation’s freight.

Robert Moses, An Unusual Man

If you guessed from the picture above that it had something to do with doctors and medicine, your wrong. Simply stated it is all about getting railroad freight around Chicago instead of going through Chicago (with the resulting delays and pollution). It is the “CHICAGO BYPASS“

Union Pacific — the railroad established by Congress and Abraham Lincoln to span the continent

The Monon Railroad (Chicago,Indianapolis & Louisville Railway)

Boat Train London to Amsterdam

>>>DL&W Railroad, Erie Lackawanna and Lackawanna Cutoff

Brewster was the location of a big Bordon creamery. Brewster was on the New York Central Harlem Division and the New Haven Railroad.
An old postcard purchased from Charlie Gunn.
Brewster is also the birthplace of noted blogger Penney Vanderbilt