Departing Troy
How about another frame of this awesome scene just as they start pulling south out of town.
CSXT's Troy Industrial Track is a six mile long branch line that connects with the Amtrak controlled Hudson Line just north of the Albany-Rensselaer station at the east end of the Livingston Avenue bridge. The former New York Central route is the last active rail line into the Collar City which at one point in the early 20th century was the fourth wealthiest city in the nation. The city once had lines radiating in four directions serving a grand Union Station downtown.
The four railroads that originally formed the Troy Union Railroad were the Rensselaer and Saratoga (D&H), Troy and Boston (B&M), Troy and Greenbush (NYC) and Schenectady and Troy (NYC). That's how the NYC ended up with half ownership of the TURR, and the others each had one quarter.
This surviving spur began as the Troy and Greenbush Railroad which was chartered in 1845 and opened later that year, connecting Troy south to East Albany (now Rensselaer) on the east side of the Hudson River. It was the last link in an all-rail line between Boston and Buffalo and until bridges were built between Albany and Rensselaer, passengers crossed on ferries while the train went up to Troy, crossed the Hudson River, and came back down to Albany.
The Hudson River Railroad was chartered in 1846 to extend this line south to New York City and the full line opened in 1851. Prior to completion, the Hudson River leased the Troy and Greenbush and all would come into the hands of Cornelius Vanderbilt in 1864 who then three years later combined it with his New York Central Railroad to have the entire New York City to Buffalo route under his control. A decade after that Vanderbilt would gain control over the lines to Chicago uniting the famed 'water level route' under one banner that would grow to be one of the worlds greatest rail systems in the first half of the 20th Century.
The above information is courtesy of this site where you can learn more:
penneyvanderbilt.wordpress.com/2017/04/14/troy-greenbush-...
CSXT is the direct corporate successor of the New York Central by way of Penn Central in 1968, then Conrail in 1976, and CSXT in 1999. Despite occasional fear of the line's demise they continue to serve it three days a week with a local out of South Schenectady that travels via the Carmen Branch and the Hudson Line via West Albany hill and LAB to get to this branch.
CSXT local L020 has 17 cars trailing two ACSES equipped ex Chessie GP40-2s as they air test their train near MP 5 on the branch. Rising at right is the building known locally as The Fortress. Dating from 1902 the original name of the building is the United Waste Manufacturing Company Building, and it was built as a storage facility for wool and cotton shoddy. Today it is home to a high end antiques dealer and to learn more here is a cool blog post I found that is worth a read.
www.brownstoner.com/history/walkabout-troys-fortress-of-s...
Troy, New York
Friday October 25, 2024
Departing Troy
How about another frame of this awesome scene just as they start pulling south out of town.
CSXT's Troy Industrial Track is a six mile long branch line that connects with the Amtrak controlled Hudson Line just north of the Albany-Rensselaer station at the east end of the Livingston Avenue bridge. The former New York Central route is the last active rail line into the Collar City which at one point in the early 20th century was the fourth wealthiest city in the nation. The city once had lines radiating in four directions serving a grand Union Station downtown.
The four railroads that originally formed the Troy Union Railroad were the Rensselaer and Saratoga (D&H), Troy and Boston (B&M), Troy and Greenbush (NYC) and Schenectady and Troy (NYC). That's how the NYC ended up with half ownership of the TURR, and the others each had one quarter.
This surviving spur began as the Troy and Greenbush Railroad which was chartered in 1845 and opened later that year, connecting Troy south to East Albany (now Rensselaer) on the east side of the Hudson River. It was the last link in an all-rail line between Boston and Buffalo and until bridges were built between Albany and Rensselaer, passengers crossed on ferries while the train went up to Troy, crossed the Hudson River, and came back down to Albany.
The Hudson River Railroad was chartered in 1846 to extend this line south to New York City and the full line opened in 1851. Prior to completion, the Hudson River leased the Troy and Greenbush and all would come into the hands of Cornelius Vanderbilt in 1864 who then three years later combined it with his New York Central Railroad to have the entire New York City to Buffalo route under his control. A decade after that Vanderbilt would gain control over the lines to Chicago uniting the famed 'water level route' under one banner that would grow to be one of the worlds greatest rail systems in the first half of the 20th Century.
The above information is courtesy of this site where you can learn more:
penneyvanderbilt.wordpress.com/2017/04/14/troy-greenbush-...
CSXT is the direct corporate successor of the New York Central by way of Penn Central in 1968, then Conrail in 1976, and CSXT in 1999. Despite occasional fear of the line's demise they continue to serve it three days a week with a local out of South Schenectady that travels via the Carmen Branch and the Hudson Line via West Albany hill and LAB to get to this branch.
CSXT local L020 has 17 cars trailing two ACSES equipped ex Chessie GP40-2s as they air test their train near MP 5 on the branch. Rising at right is the building known locally as The Fortress. Dating from 1902 the original name of the building is the United Waste Manufacturing Company Building, and it was built as a storage facility for wool and cotton shoddy. Today it is home to a high end antiques dealer and to learn more here is a cool blog post I found that is worth a read.
www.brownstoner.com/history/walkabout-troys-fortress-of-s...
Troy, New York
Friday October 25, 2024