Hello all. I wasn’t online yesterday so I don’t know if anyone mentioned it, so I will just in case. March 29 was the fiftieth anniversary of the complete shutdown of the New York, Ontario & Western. I mention this not just because I am in the historical society, but because it is a significant piece of railroad history. Its still an interesting tale of a railroad that most say should never have existed to begin with but did its best to survive for many years.
Ray did mention it in his daily event log here-
Great website…a fascinating tale…and the diesel paint scheme is one of my favorites…
Yup…that’s our group. And we really do try to keep the history alive.
The Old & Weary figured into life around Hancock (more specifically Cadosia), NY in it’s heyday, and in some ways still does. A camp I’ve stayed at uses part of the ROW for it’s access road, and passes one of footers for the Scranton Division bridge out of Cadosia that still stands. NYS 17 also runs on part of the ROW. Some careful looking will find the Hawks Mountain tunnel, although it’s closed up, and likely collapsed inside, too. The foundations for the bridge across the Delaware River, headed for Starlight, are still visible as well.
I was six when the Old Woman closed up, and didn’t learn about it until many years later, but it’s still a legendary road.
I don’t know too much about the O&W, but I stumbled across this article some time ago and found it to be quite interesting.
http://www.bearsystems.com/RailRoads/Ontario&Western.htm