Delaware and Hudson Railway
Encyclopedia
The Delaware and Hudson Railway is a railroad that operates in the northeastern United States
. Since 1991 it has been a subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway
, although CPR has assumed all operations and the D&H does not maintain any locomotives or rolling stock.
It was formerly an important bridge line
, connecting New York with Montreal
, Quebec
. The company started out as the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, which built a canal running from Kingston, New York
on the Hudson River
southwest to Port Jervis, New York
on the Delaware River
and beyond to the anthracite coal fields at Carbondale, Pennsylvania
. The canal company later built a railroad, one of the first railroads in the United States, known as the Delaware and Hudson Company and subsequently the Delaware and Hudson Railroad until 1968.
The D&H has called itself "America's oldest continually operated transportation company".
In the early 1820s, Philadelphia merchant William Wurts, who had explored the sparsely settled regions of Northeastern Pennsylvania
, realized the value of the extensive anthracite deposits. He interested his brothers in the idea of building a canal
to make it easier to transport it to New York City, which was feeling the effect of import restrictions on British bituminous coal
which it had been relying on.
The Delaware and Hudson Canal Company was chartered by separate laws in the states of New York
and Pennsylvania
in 1823, allowing William Wurts and his brother Maurice to construct the Delaware and Hudson Canal
. In January 1825, its public stock offering following a demonstration of anthracite heating in a Wall Street coffeehouse raised a million dollars.
Ground was broken on July 13, 1825, and the canal was opened to navigation in October 1828. It began at Rondout Creek
at the location known as Creeklocks, between Kingston
(where the creek fed into the Hudson River
) and Rosendale
. From there it proceeded southwest alongside Rondout Creek to Ellenville
, continuing through the valley of the Sandburg Creek, Homowack Kill, Basher Kill and Neversink River
to Port Jervis
on the Delaware River
. From there the canal ran northwest on the New York side of the Delaware River, crossing into Pennsylvania on Roebling's Delaware Aqueduct
at Lackawaxen and running on the north bank of the Lackawaxen River
to Honesdale
.
To get the anthracite from the Wurts' mine in the Moosic Mountains
near Carbondale
to the canal at Honesdale, the canal company built the Delaware and Hudson Gravity Railroad
. The state of Pennsylvania authorized its construction on April 8, 1826. On August 8, 1829, the D&H's first locomotive
, the Stourbridge Lion
, made history as the first locomotive to run on rails in the United States. Westward extensions of the railroad opened to new mines at Archbald
in 1843, Valley Junction in 1858, Providence in 1860 and Scranton
in 1863. Passenger service began west of Carbondale in 1860.
The canal was a successful enterprise for many of its early years, but the company's management realized that railroads were the future of transportation, and began investing in stock and trackage. In 1898 the canal carried its last loads of coal and was drained and sold. The next year the company dropped the "Canal" from its name. The remaining fragments of the canal were designated a National Historic Landmark
in 1968.
north into New York, chartered in 1864, leased by the Erie Railway in 1869 and opened in 1872. This was a branch of the Erie Railway, running south from the main line at Lanesboro
to Carbondale. Also built as part of this line was a continuation from the other side of the D&H's gravity railroad at Honesdale
southeast to the Erie's Pennsylvania Coal Company railroad at Hawley
. The Jefferson Railroad (and through it the Erie) obtained trackage rights
over the D&H between its two sections, and the D&H obtained trackage rights to Lanesboro.
The other part of the main line was the Albany and Susquehanna Railroad
, which the D&H leased on February 24, 1870, and the connecting Lackawanna and Susquehanna Railroad, chartered in 1867 and opened in 1872. The Albany and Susquehanna provided a line from Albany
southwest to Binghamton
, while the Lackawanna and Susquehanna split from that line at Nineveh
, running south to the Jefferson Railroad at Lanesboro. Also leased in 1870 was the Schenectady and Susquehanna Railroad
, connecting the Albany and Susquehanna at Duanesburg
to Schenectady
, opened in 1872 (reorganized as the Schenectady and Duanesburgh Railroad in 1873).
On March 1, 1871 the D&H leased the Rensselaer and Saratoga Railroad Company, which, along with its leased lines, provided a network stretching north from Albany and Schenectady to Saratoga Springs
, and continuing northeast to Rutland, Vermont, as well as an eastern route to Rutland via trackage rights
over the Troy and Boston Railroad
west of Eagle Bridge
. The D&H also obtained a 1/4 interest in the Troy Union Railroad from this lease.
On March 1, 1873 the D&H got the New York and Canada Railroad chartered as a merger of the Whitehall and Plattsburgh Railroad and Montreal and Plattsburg Railroad, which had been owned by the Rutland Railroad
. This provided an extension north from Whitehall
to the border with Quebec
, completed in 1875; a branch opened in 1876 to Rouses Point
. Lines of the Grand Trunk Railway
continued each of the two branches north to Montreal
.
The D&H obtained trackage rights
over the Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad in 1886, extending the main line southwest from Scranton
to Wilkes-Barre
.
On July 11, 1889 the D&H bought the Adirondack Railway
, a long branch line heading north from Saratoga Springs
along the Hudson River
.
The canal was last used on November 5, 1891, and the gravity railroad closed January 3, 1899. On April 28, 1899 the name was changed to the Delaware and Hudson Company to reflect the lack of a canal, which was sold in June of that year. Between Port Jackson and Ellenville
, the right-of-way
for the canal was used by the Ellenville and Kingston Railroad, a branch of the New York, Ontario and Western Railway
, chartered in 1901 and opened in 1902.
In 1903 the D&H organized the Chateaugay and Lake Placid Railway as a consolidation of the Chateaugay Railroad, Chateaugay Railway and Saranac and Lake Placid Railway. In conjunction with the Plattsburgh and Dannemora Railroad, which had been leased by the Chateaugay Railroad, this formed a long branch from Plattsburgh
west and south to Lake Placid
.
In 1906 the D&H bought the Quebec Southern Railway and South Shore Railway, merging them into the Quebec, Montreal and Southern Railway. This line ran from St. Lambert
, a suburb of Montreal, northeast to Fortierville, most of the way to Quebec City
. The D&H sold that line to the Canadian National Railway
in 1929.
The D&H incorporated the Napierville Junction Railway in 1906 to continue the line north from Rouses Point
to St. Constant Junction near Montreal
, Quebec
, from which the D&H obtained trackage rights
over the Grand Trunk Railway
to Montreal. This line opened in 1907, forming part of the shortest route between New York City
and Montreal.
In 1912 the D&H and the Pennsylvania Railroad
incorporated the Wilkes-Barre Connecting Railroad, creating an interchange between the two lines at Hanover Township, PA
, thus avoiding going through downtown Wilkes-Barre
. Opened in 1915, it runs north 6.65 miles to the D&H mainline at Hudson crossing the Susquehanna River
twice.
On April 1, 1930 the property of the Delaware and Hudson Company was transferred to the Delaware and Hudson Railroad, incorporated December 1, 1928.
In 1938 the D&H started to act as a bridge line
, carrying large amounts of freight between other connecting lines.
owned by Norfolk and Western Railway
that also owned the Erie Lackawanna Railroad. Following the bankruptcy of numerous northeastern U.S. railroads in the 1970s, including D&H and E-L, N&W lost control of Dereco stock. E-L was placed in the federal government's nascent Consolidated Rail Corporation
(Conrail), while D&H was again made an independent railroad. In 1980 Conrail sold the former DL&W Mainline from Binghamton to Scranton to the D&H; this allowed the D&H to abandon their famed Penn Division between Carbondale, PA and the connection with the ex Erie/EL at Jefferson Junction. The reason the D&H was left out of Conrail was to maintain a semblance of competition in the northeast. While the success of this move has often been discredited since the D&H was simply too small to ever compete with all of the markets served by Conrail the railroad was able to double in size by being granted trackage rights over Conrail reaching Binghamton, Newark, Philadelphia, Buffalo, and Washington, D.C. The remainder of the Penn Division from Lanesboro to Nineveh, NY was later abandoned after the Belden Hill tunnel was enlarged in 1986.
In 1984, Guilford Rail System purchased the D&H as part of a plan to operate a larger regional railroad from Maine
and New Brunswick
in the east, to New York
and the Midwest in the west, Montreal
in the north, and the Philadelphia/Washington DC area in the south. For only $500,000, Guilford purchased the entire railroad, lock, stock and barrel. The price tag reflected the horrid financial shape and the condition of the physical plant. At the time of the purchase, the D&H had little freight traffic, relying on Federal and State money to keep operating. Plans for expanded service did not come to fruition, and Guilford declared the D&H bankrupt
in 1988, abandoning its operation. Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania
, purchased the line south of Carbondale to Scranton
and serves a growing number of industries in the valley under the auspices of designated-operator Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad
.
With the D&H in limbo, the federal government appointed the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway
to operate the D&H under subsidy until such time as a buyer could be found. Guilford claimed that the D&H had assets of $70M at the time of the bankruptcy. In 1991, the Canadian Pacific Railway
purchased the D&H for $25M to give the transcontinental system a connection between Montreal and the New York City metropolitan area.
Under CPR, the condition of the D&H trackage was upgraded significantly (much excess track was removed), although for a time the D&H was again in limbo as CPR placed it and other money-losing trackage in the eastern U.S. and Canada into a separate operating company named St. Lawrence and Hudson Railway
, between 1996 and 2000. The D&H is, and has been, a difficult money-making venture for some time. Constructed as a coal hauling route, when that business declined it proved difficult to turn a profit. It operates in some of the most rural areas of New York State, and very few industrial customers between Binghamton and Rouses Point remain. The railroad's current prognosis is arguably better than it has been in a long time. Along with the NYC connection, haulage agreements with other railroads are greatly increasing traffic. Recently, CP has started using their new high power AC
traction locomotives on the line, instead of their aging SD40-2
models. This is an indication of the increasing importance of reliable service. There are also major signal and track projects underway to modernize the D&H.
Nicknamed "The Bridge Line to New England," or just "The Bridge Line," the D&H has several unique spots in North American railroading history.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Since 1991 it has been a subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
, although CPR has assumed all operations and the D&H does not maintain any locomotives or rolling stock.
It was formerly an important bridge line
Bridge line
A bridge line or bridge route is a rail carrier tasked primarily with moving traffic from one major carrier to another . Bridge lines often were located between two major cities, connecting rail carriers that served those cities and interchanging their cars...
, connecting New York with Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
. The company started out as the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, which built a canal running from Kingston, New York
Kingston, New York
Kingston is a city in and the county seat of Ulster County, New York, USA. It is north of New York City and south of Albany. It became New York's first capital in 1777, and was burned by the British Oct. 16, 1777, after the Battles of Saratoga...
on the Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
southwest to Port Jervis, New York
Port Jervis, New York
Port Jervis is a city on the Delaware River in western Orange County, New York, with a population of 8,860 at the 2000 census. The communities of Deerpark, Huguenot, Sparrowbush, and Greenville are adjacent to Port Jervis, and the towns of Montague, New Jersey and Matamoras, Pennsylvania face the...
on the Delaware River
Delaware River
The Delaware River is a major river on the Atlantic coast of the United States.A Dutch expedition led by Henry Hudson in 1609 first mapped the river. The river was christened the South River in the New Netherland colony that followed, in contrast to the North River, as the Hudson River was then...
and beyond to the anthracite coal fields at Carbondale, Pennsylvania
Carbondale, Pennsylvania
Carbondale is a city in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. Carbondale is located approximately 15 miles due northeast of the city of Scranton in Northeastern Pennsylvania...
. The canal company later built a railroad, one of the first railroads in the United States, known as the Delaware and Hudson Company and subsequently the Delaware and Hudson Railroad until 1968.
The D&H has called itself "America's oldest continually operated transportation company".
Delaware and Hudson Canal Company
In the early 1820s, Philadelphia merchant William Wurts, who had explored the sparsely settled regions of Northeastern Pennsylvania
Northeastern Pennsylvania
Northeastern Pennsylvania is a geographic region of Pennsylvania that includes the Pocono Mountains, the Endless Mountains and the industrial cities of Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Pittston, Hazleton and Carbondale....
, realized the value of the extensive anthracite deposits. He interested his brothers in the idea of building a canal
Canal
Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...
to make it easier to transport it to New York City, which was feeling the effect of import restrictions on British bituminous coal
Bituminous coal
Bituminous coal or black coal is a relatively soft coal containing a tarlike substance called bitumen. It is of higher quality than lignite coal but of poorer quality than Anthracite...
which it had been relying on.
The Delaware and Hudson Canal Company was chartered by separate laws in the states of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
in 1823, allowing William Wurts and his brother Maurice to construct the Delaware and Hudson Canal
Delaware and Hudson Canal
The Delaware and Hudson Canal was the first venture of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, which later developed the Delaware and Hudson Railway...
. In January 1825, its public stock offering following a demonstration of anthracite heating in a Wall Street coffeehouse raised a million dollars.
Ground was broken on July 13, 1825, and the canal was opened to navigation in October 1828. It began at Rondout Creek
Rondout Creek
Rondout Creek is a tributary of the Hudson River in Ulster and Sullivan counties, New York, USA. It rises on Rocky Mountain in the eastern Catskills, flows south into Rondout Reservoir, part of New York City's water supply network, then into the valley between the Catskills and the Shawangunk...
at the location known as Creeklocks, between Kingston
Kingston, New York
Kingston is a city in and the county seat of Ulster County, New York, USA. It is north of New York City and south of Albany. It became New York's first capital in 1777, and was burned by the British Oct. 16, 1777, after the Battles of Saratoga...
(where the creek fed into the Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
) and Rosendale
Rosendale, New York
Rosendale is a town in the center of Ulster County, New York, United States. It once contained a village of the same name, which was dissolved through a vote. The population was 6,075 at the 2010 census.- History :...
. From there it proceeded southwest alongside Rondout Creek to Ellenville
Ellenville, New York
Ellenville is a village in Ulster County, New York, United States. The population was 4,135 at the 2010 census. The postal ZIP code is 12428. The telephone exchange is predominantly 647 and an overlaid 210 in the 845 area code.- Geography :...
, continuing through the valley of the Sandburg Creek, Homowack Kill, Basher Kill and Neversink River
Neversink River
The Neversink River is a tributary of the Delaware River in southeastern New York in the United States...
to Port Jervis
Port Jervis, New York
Port Jervis is a city on the Delaware River in western Orange County, New York, with a population of 8,860 at the 2000 census. The communities of Deerpark, Huguenot, Sparrowbush, and Greenville are adjacent to Port Jervis, and the towns of Montague, New Jersey and Matamoras, Pennsylvania face the...
on the Delaware River
Delaware River
The Delaware River is a major river on the Atlantic coast of the United States.A Dutch expedition led by Henry Hudson in 1609 first mapped the river. The river was christened the South River in the New Netherland colony that followed, in contrast to the North River, as the Hudson River was then...
. From there the canal ran northwest on the New York side of the Delaware River, crossing into Pennsylvania on Roebling's Delaware Aqueduct
Roebling's Delaware Aqueduct
-External links:...
at Lackawaxen and running on the north bank of the Lackawaxen River
Lackawaxen River
The Lackawaxen River is a tributary of the Delaware River in northeastern Pennsylvania in the United States. The river flows through a largely rural area in the northern Pocono Mountains, draining an area of approximately ....
to Honesdale
Honesdale, Pennsylvania
Honesdale is a borough in and the county seat of Wayne County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located northeast of Scranton. The population was 4,874 at the 2000 census....
.
To get the anthracite from the Wurts' mine in the Moosic Mountains
Moosic Mountains
Moosic Mountains is a range in Jefferson Township, Pennsylvania which extends above sea level. Its highest point is Pocono Plateau, ranking 27th highest in Pennsylvania....
near Carbondale
Carbondale, Pennsylvania
Carbondale is a city in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. Carbondale is located approximately 15 miles due northeast of the city of Scranton in Northeastern Pennsylvania...
to the canal at Honesdale, the canal company built the Delaware and Hudson Gravity Railroad
Delaware and Hudson Gravity Railroad
The Delaware and Hudson Canal Company Gravity Railroad was a historic gravity railroad in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania....
. The state of Pennsylvania authorized its construction on April 8, 1826. On August 8, 1829, the D&H's first locomotive
Locomotive
A locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...
, the Stourbridge Lion
Stourbridge Lion
The Stourbridge Lion was a railroad steam locomotive. It was not only the first locomotive to be operated in the United States, it was also one of the first locomotives to operate outside of England, where it was manufactured in 1828....
, made history as the first locomotive to run on rails in the United States. Westward extensions of the railroad opened to new mines at Archbald
Archbald, Pennsylvania
Archbald is a borough in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is named for James Archbald, who was the first mayor of Carbondale, Pennsylvania. Before being re-named in Mr. Archbald's honor, the name of the settlement was White Oak Run. The vast majority of the settlers were Irish...
in 1843, Valley Junction in 1858, Providence in 1860 and Scranton
Scranton, Pennsylvania
Scranton is a city in the northeastern part of Pennsylvania, United States. It is the county seat of Lackawanna County and the largest principal city in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area. Scranton had a population of 76,089 in 2010, according to the U.S...
in 1863. Passenger service began west of Carbondale in 1860.
The canal was a successful enterprise for many of its early years, but the company's management realized that railroads were the future of transportation, and began investing in stock and trackage. In 1898 the canal carried its last loads of coal and was drained and sold. The next year the company dropped the "Canal" from its name. The remaining fragments of the canal were designated a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
in 1968.
Delaware and Hudson Company
As railroads grew in popularity, the canal company recognized the importance of replacing the canal with a railroad. The first step of this was the Jefferson Railroad, a line from CarbondaleCarbondale, Pennsylvania
Carbondale is a city in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. Carbondale is located approximately 15 miles due northeast of the city of Scranton in Northeastern Pennsylvania...
north into New York, chartered in 1864, leased by the Erie Railway in 1869 and opened in 1872. This was a branch of the Erie Railway, running south from the main line at Lanesboro
Lanesboro, Pennsylvania
Lanesboro is a borough in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 588 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Lanesboro is located at ....
to Carbondale. Also built as part of this line was a continuation from the other side of the D&H's gravity railroad at Honesdale
Honesdale, Pennsylvania
Honesdale is a borough in and the county seat of Wayne County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located northeast of Scranton. The population was 4,874 at the 2000 census....
southeast to the Erie's Pennsylvania Coal Company railroad at Hawley
Hawley, Pennsylvania
Hawley is a borough in Wayne County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,211 at the 2010 census.- History :The borough was named for Irad Hawley, first president of the Pennsylvania Coal Company. Early industry centered around the transportation and support of nearby coal mining...
. The Jefferson Railroad (and through it the Erie) obtained trackage rights
Trackage rights
Trackage rights , running rights or running powers is an agreement whereby a railway company has the right to run its trains on tracks owned by another railway company....
over the D&H between its two sections, and the D&H obtained trackage rights to Lanesboro.
The other part of the main line was the Albany and Susquehanna Railroad
Albany and Susquehanna Railroad
The Albany and Susquehanna Railroad was a railroad running from Albany to Binghamton, operating 1851 to 1870-History:Construction began on April 19, 1851 from Albany to Schoharie Junction, New York, a distance of 35 miles . This phase was completed in 1863...
, which the D&H leased on February 24, 1870, and the connecting Lackawanna and Susquehanna Railroad, chartered in 1867 and opened in 1872. The Albany and Susquehanna provided a line from Albany
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
southwest to Binghamton
Binghamton, New York
Binghamton is a city in the Southern Tier of New York in the United States. It is near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the confluence of the Susquehanna and Chenango Rivers...
, while the Lackawanna and Susquehanna split from that line at Nineveh
Nineveh, New York
Nineveh is an unincorporated hamlet with about 50 homes on the banks of the Susquehanna River in New York. It is part of the Town of Colesville, Binghamton metropolitan area in eastern Broome county. Nineveh is located on the USGS Afton quadrangle at an elevation of about 960 feet...
, running south to the Jefferson Railroad at Lanesboro. Also leased in 1870 was the Schenectady and Susquehanna Railroad
Schenectady and Susquehanna Railroad
The Schenectady and Duanesburgh Railroad, incorporated in July 1873, was a predecessor of the Delaware and Hudson Railway that owned the line between the Saratoga and Schenectady Railroad at Schenectady and the Albany and Susquehanna Railroad at Delanson...
, connecting the Albany and Susquehanna at Duanesburg
Duanesburg, New York
Duanesburg is a town in Schenectady County, New York, USA. The population was 5,808 at the 2000 census. Duanesburg is named for James Duane, who held most of it as an original land grant. The town is in the western part of the county.-History:...
to Schenectady
Schenectady, New York
Schenectady is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 66,135...
, opened in 1872 (reorganized as the Schenectady and Duanesburgh Railroad in 1873).
On March 1, 1871 the D&H leased the Rensselaer and Saratoga Railroad Company, which, along with its leased lines, provided a network stretching north from Albany and Schenectady to Saratoga Springs
Saratoga Springs, New York
Saratoga Springs, also known as simply Saratoga, is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 26,586 at the 2010 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area. While the word "Saratoga" is known to be a corruption of a Native American name, ...
, and continuing northeast to Rutland, Vermont, as well as an eastern route to Rutland via trackage rights
Trackage rights
Trackage rights , running rights or running powers is an agreement whereby a railway company has the right to run its trains on tracks owned by another railway company....
over the Troy and Boston Railroad
Troy and Boston Railroad
The Troy and Boston Railroad was chartered April 4, 1848 and organized November 22, 1849. It completed a railroad from Troy, New York to the Vermont state line in 1852. This was also the main track of the Troy and Rutland Railroad, Rutland and Washington Railroad, and the Rutland Railway...
west of Eagle Bridge
Eagle Bridge, New York
Eagle Bridge is an unincorporated community in Rensselaer County, New York, United States. It was served by the Rutland and Washington Railroad.Eagle Bridge is also the name used by the United States Postal Service to identify ZIP code 12057...
. The D&H also obtained a 1/4 interest in the Troy Union Railroad from this lease.
On March 1, 1873 the D&H got the New York and Canada Railroad chartered as a merger of the Whitehall and Plattsburgh Railroad and Montreal and Plattsburg Railroad, which had been owned by the Rutland Railroad
Rutland Railroad
The Rutland Railway was a small railroad in the northeastern United States, primarily in the state of Vermont but extending into the state of New York. The earliest ancestor of the Rutland, the Rutland & Burlington Railroad, was chartered in 1843 by the state of Vermont to build between Rutland...
. This provided an extension north from Whitehall
Whitehall (town), New York
Whitehall is a town in Washington County, New York, United States. It is part of the Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town population was 4,035 at the 2000 census.The Town of Whitehall contains a village also named Whitehall.- History :...
to the border with Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, completed in 1875; a branch opened in 1876 to Rouses Point
Rouses Point, New York
Rouses Point is a village in Clinton County, New York, United States, along the 45th parallel. The population was 2,209 at the 2010 census. The village is named after Jacques Rouse, an early settler....
. Lines of the Grand Trunk Railway
Grand Trunk Railway
The Grand Trunk Railway was a railway system which operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario, as well as the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The railway was operated from headquarters in Montreal, Quebec; however, corporate...
continued each of the two branches north to Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
.
The D&H obtained trackage rights
Trackage rights
Trackage rights , running rights or running powers is an agreement whereby a railway company has the right to run its trains on tracks owned by another railway company....
over the Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad in 1886, extending the main line southwest from Scranton
Scranton, Pennsylvania
Scranton is a city in the northeastern part of Pennsylvania, United States. It is the county seat of Lackawanna County and the largest principal city in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area. Scranton had a population of 76,089 in 2010, according to the U.S...
to Wilkes-Barre
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Wilkes-Barre is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, the county seat of Luzerne County. It is at the center of the Wyoming Valley area and is one of the principal cities in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area, which had a population of 563,631 as of the 2010 Census...
.
On July 11, 1889 the D&H bought the Adirondack Railway
Adirondack Railway
The Adirondack Railway was a railroad that connected Saratoga Springs to North Creek, New York. Built by Dr. Thomas Clark Durant, vice-president of the Union Pacific Railroad, it was started in 1864 and completed in 1871 by the Adirondack Company. After Durant's death, it was taken over by his...
, a long branch line heading north from Saratoga Springs
Saratoga Springs, New York
Saratoga Springs, also known as simply Saratoga, is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 26,586 at the 2010 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area. While the word "Saratoga" is known to be a corruption of a Native American name, ...
along the Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
.
The canal was last used on November 5, 1891, and the gravity railroad closed January 3, 1899. On April 28, 1899 the name was changed to the Delaware and Hudson Company to reflect the lack of a canal, which was sold in June of that year. Between Port Jackson and Ellenville
Ellenville, New York
Ellenville is a village in Ulster County, New York, United States. The population was 4,135 at the 2010 census. The postal ZIP code is 12428. The telephone exchange is predominantly 647 and an overlaid 210 in the 845 area code.- Geography :...
, the right-of-way
Right-of-way (railroad)
A right-of-way is a strip of land that is granted, through an easement or other mechanism, for transportation purposes, such as for a trail, driveway, rail line or highway. A right-of-way is reserved for the purposes of maintenance or expansion of existing services with the right-of-way...
for the canal was used by the Ellenville and Kingston Railroad, a branch of the New York, Ontario and Western Railway
New York, Ontario and Western Railway
The New York, Ontario and Western Railway, more commonly known as the O&W or NYO&W, was a regional railroad with origins in 1868, lasting until March 29, 1957 when it was ordered liquidated by a US bankruptcy judge. The O&W holds the distinction of being the first major U.S...
, chartered in 1901 and opened in 1902.
In 1903 the D&H organized the Chateaugay and Lake Placid Railway as a consolidation of the Chateaugay Railroad, Chateaugay Railway and Saranac and Lake Placid Railway. In conjunction with the Plattsburgh and Dannemora Railroad, which had been leased by the Chateaugay Railroad, this formed a long branch from Plattsburgh
Plattsburgh (city), New York
Plattsburgh is a city in and county seat of Clinton County, New York, United States. The population was 19,989 at the 2010 census. The population of the unincorporated areas within the Town of Plattsburgh was 11,870 as of the 2010 census; making the population for the immediate, urban Plattsburgh,...
west and south to Lake Placid
Lake Placid, New York
Lake Placid is a village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, United States. As of the 2000 census, the village had a population of 2,638....
.
In 1906 the D&H bought the Quebec Southern Railway and South Shore Railway, merging them into the Quebec, Montreal and Southern Railway. This line ran from St. Lambert
Saint-Lambert, Quebec
Saint-Lambert is a Canadian city in the province of Quebec located opposite Montreal on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River. Saint-Lambert was named for either the early French Canadian hunter Lambert Closse or for Roman Catholic Bishop Lambert of Maastricht...
, a suburb of Montreal, northeast to Fortierville, most of the way to Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
. The D&H sold that line to the Canadian National Railway
Canadian National Railway
The Canadian National Railway Company is a Canadian Class I railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. CN's slogan is "North America's Railroad"....
in 1929.
The D&H incorporated the Napierville Junction Railway in 1906 to continue the line north from Rouses Point
Rouses Point, New York
Rouses Point is a village in Clinton County, New York, United States, along the 45th parallel. The population was 2,209 at the 2010 census. The village is named after Jacques Rouse, an early settler....
to St. Constant Junction near Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, from which the D&H obtained trackage rights
Trackage rights
Trackage rights , running rights or running powers is an agreement whereby a railway company has the right to run its trains on tracks owned by another railway company....
over the Grand Trunk Railway
Grand Trunk Railway
The Grand Trunk Railway was a railway system which operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario, as well as the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The railway was operated from headquarters in Montreal, Quebec; however, corporate...
to Montreal. This line opened in 1907, forming part of the shortest route between New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and Montreal.
In 1912 the D&H and the Pennsylvania Railroad
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
incorporated the Wilkes-Barre Connecting Railroad, creating an interchange between the two lines at Hanover Township, PA
Hanover Township, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania
Hanover Township is a township in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 11,488 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of , of which of it is land and is water. The Susquehanna River drains it and...
, thus avoiding going through downtown Wilkes-Barre
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Wilkes-Barre is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, the county seat of Luzerne County. It is at the center of the Wyoming Valley area and is one of the principal cities in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area, which had a population of 563,631 as of the 2010 Census...
. Opened in 1915, it runs north 6.65 miles to the D&H mainline at Hudson crossing the Susquehanna River
Susquehanna River
The Susquehanna River is a river located in the northeastern United States. At long, it is the longest river on the American east coast that drains into the Atlantic Ocean, and with its watershed it is the 16th largest river in the United States, and the longest river in the continental United...
twice.
On April 1, 1930 the property of the Delaware and Hudson Company was transferred to the Delaware and Hudson Railroad, incorporated December 1, 1928.
In 1938 the D&H started to act as a bridge line
Bridge line
A bridge line or bridge route is a rail carrier tasked primarily with moving traffic from one major carrier to another . Bridge lines often were located between two major cities, connecting rail carriers that served those cities and interchanging their cars...
, carrying large amounts of freight between other connecting lines.
Delaware and Hudson Railway
In 1968 the company was reorganized as the Delaware and Hudson Railway, and was bought by Dereco, a holding companyHolding company
A holding company is a company or firm that owns other companies' outstanding stock. It usually refers to a company which does not produce goods or services itself; rather, its purpose is to own shares of other companies. Holding companies allow the reduction of risk for the owners and can allow...
owned by Norfolk and Western Railway
Norfolk and Western Railway
The Norfolk and Western Railway , a US class I railroad, was formed by more than 200 railroad mergers between 1838 and 1982. It had headquarters in Roanoke, Virginia for most of its 150 year existence....
that also owned the Erie Lackawanna Railroad. Following the bankruptcy of numerous northeastern U.S. railroads in the 1970s, including D&H and E-L, N&W lost control of Dereco stock. E-L was placed in the federal government's nascent Consolidated Rail Corporation
Consolidated Rail Corporation
The Consolidated Rail Corporation, commonly known as Conrail , was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeast U.S. between 1976 and 1999. The federal government created it to take over the potentially profitable lines of bankrupt carriers, including the Penn Central Transportation Company and...
(Conrail), while D&H was again made an independent railroad. In 1980 Conrail sold the former DL&W Mainline from Binghamton to Scranton to the D&H; this allowed the D&H to abandon their famed Penn Division between Carbondale, PA and the connection with the ex Erie/EL at Jefferson Junction. The reason the D&H was left out of Conrail was to maintain a semblance of competition in the northeast. While the success of this move has often been discredited since the D&H was simply too small to ever compete with all of the markets served by Conrail the railroad was able to double in size by being granted trackage rights over Conrail reaching Binghamton, Newark, Philadelphia, Buffalo, and Washington, D.C. The remainder of the Penn Division from Lanesboro to Nineveh, NY was later abandoned after the Belden Hill tunnel was enlarged in 1986.
In 1984, Guilford Rail System purchased the D&H as part of a plan to operate a larger regional railroad from Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
and New Brunswick
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
in the east, to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and the Midwest in the west, Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
in the north, and the Philadelphia/Washington DC area in the south. For only $500,000, Guilford purchased the entire railroad, lock, stock and barrel. The price tag reflected the horrid financial shape and the condition of the physical plant. At the time of the purchase, the D&H had little freight traffic, relying on Federal and State money to keep operating. Plans for expanded service did not come to fruition, and Guilford declared the D&H bankrupt
Bankruptcy in the United States
Bankruptcy in the United States is governed under the United States Constitution which authorizes Congress to enact "uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States." Congress has exercised this authority several times since 1801, most recently by adopting the Bankruptcy...
in 1988, abandoning its operation. Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania
Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania
As of the census of 2000, there were 213,295 people, 86,218 households, and 55,783 families residing in the county. The population density was 465 people per square mile . There were 95,362 housing units at an average density of 208 per square mile...
, purchased the line south of Carbondale to Scranton
Scranton, Pennsylvania
Scranton is a city in the northeastern part of Pennsylvania, United States. It is the county seat of Lackawanna County and the largest principal city in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area. Scranton had a population of 76,089 in 2010, according to the U.S...
and serves a growing number of industries in the valley under the auspices of designated-operator Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad
Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad
The Delaware–Lackawanna Railroad is a shortline railroad operating in Pennsylvania.The DL began service in August 1993 and is the designated operator for 85 miles of trackage in Lackawanna and Monroe Counties. It is a subsidiary of holding company Genesee Valley Transportation Company, Inc...
.
With the D&H in limbo, the federal government appointed the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway
New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway
The New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway , also known as the Susie-Q, or simply the Susquehanna, is a Class II American freight railway operating over 500 miles of track in the northeastern states of New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. It was formed in 1881 from the merger of several...
to operate the D&H under subsidy until such time as a buyer could be found. Guilford claimed that the D&H had assets of $70M at the time of the bankruptcy. In 1991, the Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
purchased the D&H for $25M to give the transcontinental system a connection between Montreal and the New York City metropolitan area.
Under CPR, the condition of the D&H trackage was upgraded significantly (much excess track was removed), although for a time the D&H was again in limbo as CPR placed it and other money-losing trackage in the eastern U.S. and Canada into a separate operating company named St. Lawrence and Hudson Railway
St. Lawrence and Hudson Railway
The St. Lawrence and Hudson Railway was a wholly owned subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway.The SL&H arose out of a corporate reorganization at CPR that was announced on November 21, 1995...
, between 1996 and 2000. The D&H is, and has been, a difficult money-making venture for some time. Constructed as a coal hauling route, when that business declined it proved difficult to turn a profit. It operates in some of the most rural areas of New York State, and very few industrial customers between Binghamton and Rouses Point remain. The railroad's current prognosis is arguably better than it has been in a long time. Along with the NYC connection, haulage agreements with other railroads are greatly increasing traffic. Recently, CP has started using their new high power AC
Alternating current
In alternating current the movement of electric charge periodically reverses direction. In direct current , the flow of electric charge is only in one direction....
traction locomotives on the line, instead of their aging SD40-2
EMD SD40-2
The EMD SD40-2 is a C-C locomotive produced by EMD from 1972 to 1989.The SD40-2 was first introduced in January 1972 as the mid-range offering in EMD's six-axle "Dash-2" series, competing against the GE U30C and the MLW M630...
models. This is an indication of the increasing importance of reliable service. There are also major signal and track projects underway to modernize the D&H.
Nicknamed "The Bridge Line to New England," or just "The Bridge Line," the D&H has several unique spots in North American railroading history.
Branches
- Baltimore Coal and Union Railroad
- Northern Coal and Iron Company
- Plymouth and Wilkes-Barre Railroad and Bridge
- Oak Point LinkOak Point LinkThe Oak Point Link is a long railroad line in the Bronx, New York City, USA, along the east bank of the Harlem River. It connects the Metro-North Railroad's Hudson Line with the Harlem River Yard and the CSX Transportation Oak Point Yard at the north end of the Hell Gate Bridge.The line,...
Company officers
The presidents of the railway were as follows:- Philip HonePhilip HonePhilip Hone was Mayor of New York from 1826 to 1827. He was most notable for a detailed diary he kept from 1828 until the time of his death in 1851. His recorded diary is said to be the most extensive and detailed of his time in 19th century America.Son of a German immigrant carpenter, Hone became...
- 1825-1826 - John Bolton - 1826-1831
- John Wurtz - 1831-1854
- George Talbot Olyphant - 1858-1869
- Thomas DicksonThomas Dickson (industrialist)Thomas Dickson was an American industrialist who manufactured steam engines, boilers and locomotives, as well as the President of the Delaware and Hudson Railroad....
- 1869-1884 - Robert M. Olyphant - 1884-1903
- David Wilcox - 1903-1907
- Leonor F. LoreeLeonor F. LoreeLeonor Fresnel Loree was an executive of railroads in the United States.*Baltimore and Ohio Railroad: president 1901 - 1904*Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad president - 1904...
- 1907-1938 - Joseph H. Nuelle - 1941-1954
- William White - 1954-1967
- John P. Hiltz, Jr. - 1967
- Frederick C. Dumaine, Jr. - 1967-1968
- Frank Wells McCabe - 1969
- John P. Fishwick - 1968-1970
- Gregory W. Maxwell - 1963-1972
- Carl B. Sterzing, Jr. - 1972-1977
- Selig Altschul - 1977
- Charles E. Bertrand - 1974-1978
- Kent Shoemaker - 1978-1982
- David Fink - 1984-1991
See also
- 1834 New York & Erie RR map - Includes a good route-map of the canal
- Delaware & Hudson Rail-Trail
- Lacolle railway stationLacolle railway stationLacolle railway station is a railway station located in Lacolle, Quebec. Its address is 21 rue Ste-Marie adjacent to the Canadian Pacific Railway Lacolle Subdivision...
External links
- The Delaware and Hudson Historical Society
- D & H Canal Historical Society
- The Carbondale Historical Society, and D&H Transportation Museum
- The Delaware and Hudson 4-8-4s
- The Delaware and Hudson 4-6-6-4s
- Delaware and Hudson Virtual Museum - thousands of D&H photos
- Surviving D&H Alcos, Baldwins, and GEs
- Photographs of the now demolished D&H Colonie Shops
- One of the four Alco PAs, now owned by Doyle McCormick of 4449 fame