Hudson – West Stockbridge railway line

Hudson NY – West Stockbridge MA
Route length:	approx. 55 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Dual track :	-
Society:	CSX Transportation
Legend from Albany 0.0 Hudson NY to New York City 1.9 Hudson Upper NY ? Hudson Junction NY after Niverville Connection ADM 6.8 Claverack NY 14.0 Mellenville NY 17.5 Powder NY of New York City 23.5 Ghent NY Connection to Albany 27.7 Chatham NY (formerly Chatham Four Corners) from Albany to Worcester approx. 37 East Chatham NY approx. 47 Edward's Depot NY from Albany approx. 50.5 State Line to Worcester New York / Massachusetts approx. 55 West Stockbridge MA to Bridgeport

The railway Hudson West Stockbridge is a railway line in New York and Massachusetts ( United States ). It is around 55 kilometers long and connects the cities of Hudson , Claverack , Chatham and West Stockbridge , among others . Most of the normal-gauge line has been closed. In the urban area of ​​Hudson, a short section is operated by CSX Transportation in freight traffic.

history

The Hudson and Berkshire Railroad was founded as early as 1828, the aim of which was to connect the previously hard-to-reach but densely populated Berkshire Valley in western Massachusetts to the Hudson River by rail . The West Stockbridge Railroad was founded in 1831 for the Massachusetts section , which was formally established on April 5, 1836. Construction work on the railway did not begin until 1835. On August 10, 1838, the entire line went into operation. At first it had no connection to other railway lines, but that changed three years later. The Western Railroad had opened a line from Pittsfield in May 1841, which merged into the existing line at the state border. It leased Hudson & Berkshire and ran its trains to Hudson. As early as December 1841, this continuous traffic ended west of Chatham after the Western opened a route from Chatham to Albany. They continued to use the winding and steep route of the Hudson & Berkshire between the state border and Chatham, but only until September 12, 1842, when the Western opened its own route on this section, which was about three kilometers longer, but less steep and larger curve radii as well as a better substructure.

Now the Hudson & Berkshire operated its route alone and leased it in 1843 to the Housatonic Railroad , which had opened a route from Bridgeport to West Stockbridge the previous year. The Housatonic, however, had no interest in taking their trains to Hudson, but instead wanted to advance further north. In 1854 it broke the lease with Hudson & Berkshire, but not with the still existing West Stockbridge Railroad, which owned the section from State Line station to West Stockbridge. The line from West Stockbridge to State Line was only operated as an insignificant branch line and was transferred to the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad (NH) in 1892 with Housatonic , which ceased passenger services in 1928 and closed this section in 1961.

As a result of the failed takeover by Housatonic, Hudson & Berkshire had to file for bankruptcy and was auctioned off. The Western Railroad wanted to get rid of the competition and without further ado bought Hudson & Berkshire on November 21, 1854. For a few years the Hudson trains ran over the old Hudson & Berkshire route to West Stockbridge. However, around 1860 the section from Chatham to State Line, which was parallel to the Western Main Line, was shut down and dismantled. The line between Hudson and Chatham became a western branch line ("Hudson Branch"). In 1870 the Western was part of the Boston and Albany Railroad , which now continues to operate this section. In 1932 or 1933 it stopped passenger traffic on this route. However, there was still passenger traffic between Ghent and Chatham from the direction of New York City, which only ended in the late 1960s. The line between Claverack and Ghent was closed in the early 1960s, and rail traffic between Hudson Junction and Claverack also ended a few years later.

The Boston & Albany had been owned by the New York Central Railroad since 1900 , which also owned the Ghent line to New York City. The section from Hudson to the connection to the ADM works at Hudson Junction and the section from Ghent to Chatham went in 1968 together with New York Central to Penn Central , which shut down the Ghent – ​​Chatham line in the mid-1970s. Now only the section in the urban area of ​​Hudson was operated, from 1976 by Conrail and since 1998 by CSX Transportation .

Route description

The line begins in the Hudson passenger station , where it leads out of the New York City – Albany railway line in a triangle and turns to the southeast. This section is still used in freight traffic to connect the ADM plant east of the city. The route leads south past the buildings of the city and turns northeast at the level of 7th Street. The tracks are in the pavement two blocks from Union Street to Warren Street. After Warren Street, the route makes a generous curve to the east. After the level crossing of Fairview Avenue was the Hudson Junction station, where the Hudson Junction – Niverville railway line, originally built as a railroad but used for many years as an interurban tram and now closed, branches off. The ADM siding begins to the east of the train station and leaves the original route in a southerly direction and leads into the factory premises.

The track-free route, which is disused on the rest of the route, continues in a south-easterly direction to Claverack, where it first turns in a tight curve to the northeast and after about one kilometer in another bend to the east. In the district of Mellenville, which belongs to Claverack, the route leads along State Road 217 again in a northeasterly direction. Behind Mellenville, the route is used for agriculture and is hardly recognizable. The railway embankment was only restored a few kilometers north of the village and now carries a private road for a short stretch to Arch Bridge Road. The embankment now runs in a straight line to a point south of Ghent, where the line from New York City ends here. Ghent train station itself was two kilometers further north in the city. From here the railway line runs alongside State Road 66 until it joins the Worcester – Albany railway in Chatham .

The route from here to the State Line station, which was opened in 1838 and closed in 1860, is almost no longer recognizable today. A map from 1848 shows both routes, which cross twice, namely in front of and behind East Chatham. The routes apparently ran relatively close to one another until the first crossing. The southern intersection, which is marked on the map as level, was apparently just before today's Taconic State Parkway. The line to West Stockbridge now ran north of the main line still in operation today and had its own train station in East Chatham. Shortly thereafter, the lines crossed again, this time the main line crossed the old line to West Stockbridge over a bridge. The railway line now ran south of the main line again and at some distance from it, roughly along today's Interstate 90 . Shortly before State Line, the railway line, which has been closed for over 150 years, can still be seen. It runs at the level of Pond Lane in a north-easterly direction and joins the route of the main line in a tight curve. As far as the State Line station, it ran right next to the main line.

At State Line station, connecting tracks in the direction of Worcester were built in 1841, as the trains had to run over the old line until the new main line was completed. Also from West Stockbridge there were connecting tracks on the main line towards Albany, which could be used to hand over cars to the Housatonic Railroad. The railway line leaves the station southeast and ends a few kilometers further in West Stockbridge. This is where the line met the Bridgeport – West Stockbridge railway , which was being driven from the south , with which it shared a station that was set up as a through station.

passenger traffic

In 1851, when the entire route was still in operation, three pairs of Hudson & Berkshire trains ran from Hudson to West Stockbridge, one of which continued on the Housatonic route to Van Deusenville and connected to Bridgeport.

After the takeover by the Western and the closure of the middle section of the line, five trains ran from Hudson to Chatham in 1868, but only three in the opposite direction. Only one pair of trains ran between State Line and West Stockbridge, and they continued to Van Deusenville. In 1916, after the operators of the existing sections had changed, the Boston & Albany offered four weekday train pairs on the Hudson – Chatham route. The NH also operated the section from State Line to West Stockbridge with four weekday trains, three of which continued to Van Deusenville.

After the First World War, passenger traffic fell sharply, as is customary across the country, due to increasing individual traffic, so that in 1926 the NH only offered a weekday mixed train that ran from State Line via West Stockbridge to Great Barrington. At that time, four pairs of trains continued to run on the Hudson Branch on weekdays. In 1928 passenger traffic on the West Stockbridge Railroad ended, while passenger trains continued to commute from Chatham to Hudson until 1932 or 1933. After this time, only the suburban trains of the New York Central Railroad to New York City ran between Chatham and Ghent, which were only discontinued in the 1960s.

literature

• Ronald D. Karr: The Rail Lines of Southern New England. A Handbook of Railroad History. Branch Line Press, Pepperell, MA 1995. ISBN 0-942147-02-2
• Mike Walker: Comprehensive Railroad Atlas of North America. New England & Maritime Canada. (2nd edition) SPV-Verlag, Dunkirk (GB), 2010. ISBN 1-874745-12-9

Individual evidence

1. ^ W. Williams: Appleton's Railroad and Steamboat Companion. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1848. page 76.