North Pownal – Rotterdam Junction railway line
The North Pownal – Rotterdam Junction railway is a railway line in Vermont and New York ( United States ). It is about 90 kilometers long and connects, among others, the cities of Pownal (Vermont) , Johnsonville (New York) and Scotia (New York) . The route is largely owned by Pan Am Railways . Only the section from Mechanicville to the junction shortly after Elnora belongs to the Canadian Pacific Railway , but the Pan Am Railways trains are allowed to use the section. Both companies operate exclusively freight traffic on the route. Since 1980, the trains between Hoosick and Johnsonville have only used the parallel Greenfield – Troy line .
history
construction
After the Hoosac Tunnel was completed in 1875 , trains from Boston to the Great Lakes could travel without major detours. However, the Troy and Boston Railroad , whose main line ran through the tunnel, had built their route so that trains had to pass through Troy to go west. The Boston, Hoosac Tunnel and Western Railway (BHT & W) was therefore founded in 1877 with the aim of building a link from the Hoosac Tunnel to the main lines of the West Shore Railroad and the New York Central Railroad , which led towards Syracuse and Buffalo. The junction for these routes was established west of Scotia on the Mohawk River , on both banks of which the routes to Syracuse ran. Later a settlement was established here, named after the junction of Rotterdam Junction . Construction began immediately and the line went into operation on January 1, 1879. Between Eagle Bridge and a point west of Schaghticoke , the route of the Albany – Eagle Bridge railway line, which was closed in 1859, could be used, so that hardly any route work was necessary on this section. The Troy & Boston objected to the construction of the route because they feared strong competition, which was rejected in court.
Competitive situation
In the meantime, Troy & Boston had started to double-track their line. The BHT & W built a second track on the Vermont section directly next to the Troy & Boston line, which ended at the Massachusetts border and was connected in 1880 with the second line track completed by Boston. The Troy & Boston line was thus double-tracked from Greenfield (Massachusetts) to North Pownal, but the second track belonged to BHT & W from the border between Massachusetts and Vermont to North Pownal. The competition between the two companies for traffic to the west was characterized by numerous lawsuits and disputes, and neither of the two railways could assert itself against the other. Nevertheless, the line from Johnsonville to Rotterdam Junction has also been expanded to two tracks. In 1887 this dispute ended with the Fitchburg Railroad buying both routes. Now the trains ran the two routes between North Pownal and Johnsonville, some of which were adjacent to one another, in one-way traffic. From 1900 the Boston and Maine Railroad was in charge of the operation, which the Fitchburg had bought.
Further operation
The section between Mechanicville and the junction west of Elnora was soon sold to the Delaware and Hudson Railway , but the Boston & Maine continued to grant joint use rights. On the other hand, the Delaware & Hudson acquired a right of use for the section between Eagle Bridge and Mechanicville. The through traffic from Boston towards Syracuse and Buffalo on the route was never particularly extensive, so that passenger traffic between Mechanicville and Rotterdam Junction and around 1938 between Johnsonville and Mechanicville was stopped as early as the early 1920s. Passenger trains ran on the rest of the route until January 1958. The second track was largely dismantled, only the sections from the former Reynolds stop on Old Schaghticoke Road over the Hudson River to Stillwater Junction and from Elnora to the junction of the Delaware & Hudson line to Ballston Spa have remained double-tracked to this day. In 1980 one-way traffic also ended and the route described here between Hoosick and Johnsonville was closed. All trains on this section now only used the (single-track) parallel line of the former Troy & Boston. The railway company, now operating under the name Pan Am Railways , continues to operate the remainder of the route in freight traffic, the section from Mechanicville to the junction behind Elnora is now owned by the Canadian Pacific Railway , but Pan Am Railways still has the right of use that has existed for decades with the respective predecessor companies admits.
Route description
The line begins north of North Pownal Station in Vermont, where it branches off the Greenfield – Troy line. It first crosses the state border to New York and twice the Hoosic River , the course of which it will follow to Schaghticoke. In Hoosick, the operating track changes to the parallel line. The railway line described here is shut down as far as Johnsonville. It leads along the river to the Eagle Bridge junction and on to Johnsonville, crossing under the parallel route. The two routes separate to Johnsonville and the route to Rotterdam Junction leaves the river valley a few kilometers later to cross the Hudson River shortly before Mechanicville. The section of the route that belongs to the Canadian Pacific begins at the Mechanicville junction. The route now leads in a south-westerly direction until shortly before Schenectady , where a connecting route to the main route of the Canadian Pacific turns. North past the city, through Scotia, the route continues parallel to the Mohawk River, which it crosses behind Scotia. Shortly thereafter, the Rotterdam Junction junction is reached, where a larger Boston & Maine depot used to be located. Here the trains change over a short connection to the main line of CSX Transportation in the direction of Syracuse.
Sources and further information
- Individual evidence
- ↑ Mike Walker: Comprehensive Railroad Atlas of North America. New England & Maritime Canada. SPV-Verlag, Dunkirk (GB), 2010.
- literature
- Robert C. Jones: Railroads of Vermont, Volume II. New England Press Inc., Shelburne, VT 1993. ISBN 978-1881535027 .
- Ronald D. Karr: The Rail Lines of Southern New England. Branch Line Press, Pepperell, MA 1995, ISBN 0-942147-02-2 .