I live just north of Albany NY, and a line runs north through Watervliet, Cohoes, Waterford… Does anybody know much about these trains. Where they go mostly, what they carry? I see sometimes they are CP, and sometimes they are NS. NS seems to carry mostly JB Hunt trailers, and some tank cars. They seem pretty busy, every couple hours I can hear the Horns blow as they pass through the city of Cohoes. They pass approx. six crossoing in residential area, blow the horn at each crossing. I live about a mile from the tracks, and I can hear them all day.
I’m guessing that is the CP ex-Delaware & Hudson railroad line. It goes up to Canada, ending up in Montreal, IIRC. I don’t know much about that line, except that Guilford once bought the D&H, failed to return it to profitability, and eventually sold it to CP.
TrainManTy is right - it is the former Delaware & Hudson main line. The main loco shop - which was a kind of a Mecca for railfans for most of the 20th century, for a variety of reasons - used to be a little south of you, at Colonie, along with a small yard. The D&H’s headquarters was in Albany (I interviewed with them there for an entry-level engineering position a long time ago). The main yard is a little north of you, at Mechanicsville. There is at least 1 book on the D&H, plus probably a ton of websites, magazines, etc.
The NS trains are probably run-throughs over the recently designated “Patriot Route” (?) with Pan Am Railways (formerly Guilford’s Springfield Terminal Rwy., before that the Boston & Maine). At “Mickeyville” they go onto the B&M line east through Massachusetts through the Hoosac Tunnel towards Boston.
See the Railroad Atlas of North America for this area by Steam Powered Video, or an old railroad map - or even a current USGS topographical map - if you want to know more. A local library or historical society could probably provide a lot of info, too.
- Paul North.
And the traffic isn’t going to drop any time soon, either. Paul’s right that some of it is run-throughs from or to the old B&M main – but a lot of it (and increasing) is run-throughs from NS from the southeast to and from Montreal and Atlantic Canada. Montreal is a big container port, and is well-served by rail; Halifax is also a container port, though it’s a surprising distance by rail. Halifax is a lot closer to Europe than any of the US east coast ports, and Montreal is noticeably closer. Montreal is also a major market area, all by itself! I seem to recall seeing somewhere that CP was upgrading the line, too; it’s single track and kind of short on passing sidings…
Link to the archived “News Release” dated May 15, 2008, captioned as “Pan Am Railways and Norfolk Southern Create the Patriot Corridor to Improve Rail Service and Expand Capacity in New York and New England”, from Norfolk Southern for the “Patriot Route” = “Pan Am Southern” joint venture (!) for the 155 miles from Mechanicville, NY, to Ayer, Mass.:
http://www.nscorp.com/nscportal/nscorp/Media/News%20Releases/2008/news051508_2.html
- Paul North.
I remember growing up that the D&H used to come right into Green Island. We had the Ford motor plant that made radiator cores, used to be shipped out by rail I guess. Also, there was an old round house, and an engine house hrer in Green Island. The engine house (4 door) still stands today, but the round house was torn down about twenty or more years ago. Now on the site is a scrap yard. however, no train traffic through here. I also see sometimes that the NS northbound train waiting on a siding down in Watervliet, next thing you know the CP southbound comes through, then the NS proceeds on north bound. I seem to hear the train traffic about every two to three hours or so all day long. Do they mostly send the trains from Albany/ or Selkirk up to mechanicville before heading farther North?
Interesting - thanks for posting this !
I’ve been wondering when Halifax would attract some commercial interest. At the risk of me sounding like the proverbial broken (scratched) record - John G. Kneiling used to tout it as the best Atlantic coast container port for European traffic, because it is pretty large - several “basins” that are a couple miles long each, naturally very deep water (200+ ft.?) without any of the costs of dredging, ice-free (unlike the St. Lawrence Seaway to Montreal, as a passenger cruise ship found out the hard way just a couple of weeks ago), and almost directly on the Atlantic Ocean - no long slow trip up a river estuary that is subject to delays from tidal levels is needed.
Halifax is concededly a lot farther by rail than Montreal, but the train ought to be able to go at least as fast as a ship over the same distance, right ? VIA Rail Canada’s Ocean operates (still 6 days a week ?) over that same route, so decent speeds are possible - and CN just bought back some of the lines out that way that it had sold off about a decade ago. So with some commitment to faster and more frequent operations, a good intermodal route is possible there. Plus, depending on it
Well, you could always take a few minutes to park, walk up to the NS train’s locos (as long as you can do so on public and/ or safe ground - definitely not on the tracks, though) and see if you can ask the crew. Most railroads require at least 1 of the crew members to be “on the ground” to inspect a passing train (i.e., the CP southbound) as it goes by, so that might be your opportunity to chat with them.
Trains going north to Mechanicville from either Albany or Selkirk could be going either to Montreal, Boston by way of Hoosac Tunnel, or possibly even in some other direction. Generally, there wouldn’t be much point in going to M-ville unless they were going to go further north - but there are always exceptions to rules like that - depends on local customs and peculiar arrangements.
Trains from Selkirk to Boston would more likely go pretty much due east, though, via the NYC’s Boston & Albany line through Chatham (my aunt lives near there, and my cousin & his family nearby, within earshot of that line), over Washington Hill, State Line, Pittsfield, etc.
- Paul North.