New York Central Railroad
Encyclopedia
The New York Central Railroad , known simply as the New York Central in its publicity, was a railroad operating in the Northeastern United States. Headquartered in New York, the railroad served most of the Northeast, including extensive trackage in the states of New York
, Pennsylvania
, Ohio
, Michigan
, Indiana
, Illinois
, and Massachusetts
, plus additional trackage in the Canadian provinces of Ontario
and Quebec
.
The railroad primarily connected greater New York
and Boston
in the east with Chicago and St.Louis in the midwest along with the intermediate cities of Albany
, Buffalo
, Cleveland
, Cincinnati
, and Detroit
. The NYC's Grand Central Terminal
in New York City is one of its best known extant landmarks.
In 1968 the NYC merged with its former rival, the Pennsylvania Railroad
, to form Penn Central (the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
joined in 1969). That company went bankrupt in 1970 and was taken over by the federal government and merged into Conrail in 1976. Conrail was broken up in 1998, and portions of its system was transferred to the newly formed New York Central Lines LLC
, a subsidiary leased to and eventually absorbed by CSX and Norfolk Southern
. Those companies' lines included the original New York Central main line, but outside that area it included lines that were never part of the New York Central system. CSX was able to take one of the most important main lines in the nation, which runs from New York City and Boston to Cleveland, Ohio, as part of the Water Level Route, while Norfolk Southern gained the Cleveland, Ohio to Chicago, Illinois portion of the line called the Chicago line.
The famous Water Level Route of the NYC, from New York City to upstate New York
, was the first four-track long-distance railroad in the world.
at Schenectady to the Hudson River
at Albany, providing a way for freight and especially passengers to avoid the extensive and time-consuming locks on the Erie Canal
between Schenectady and Albany. The Mohawk and Hudson opened on September 24, 1831, and changed its name to the Albany and Schenectady Railroad
on April 19, 1847.
The Utica and Schenectady Railroad was chartered April 29, 1833; as the railroad paralleled the Erie Canal
it was prohibited from carrying freight. Revenue service began August 2, 1836, extending the line of the Albany and Schenectady Railroad west from Schenectady along the north side of the Mohawk River
, opposite the Erie Canal, to Utica. On May 7, 1844 the railroad was authorized to carry freight with some restrictions, and on May 12, 1847 the ban was fully dropped, but the company still had to pay the equivalent in canal toll
s to the state.
The Syracuse and Utica Railroad
was chartered May 1, 1836, and similarly had to pay the state for any freight displaced from the canal. The full line opened July 3, 1839, extending the line further to Syracuse via Rome (and further to Auburn via the already-opened Auburn and Syracuse Railroad
). This line was not direct, going out of its way to stay near the Erie Canal and serve Rome, and so the Syracuse and Utica Direct Railroad
was chartered January 26, 1853. Nothing of that line was ever built, though the later West Shore Railroad
, acquired by the NYC in 1885, served the same purpose.
The Auburn and Syracuse Railroad
was chartered May 1, 1834, and opened mostly in 1838, the remaining 4 miles (6 km) opening on June 4, 1839. A month later, with the opening of the Syracuse and Utica Railroad
, this formed a complete line from Albany west via Syracuse to Auburn, about halfway to Geneva. The Auburn and Rochester Railroad
was chartered May 13, 1836, as a further extension via Geneva and Canandaigua to Rochester, opening on November 4, 1841. The two lines merged on August 1, 1850, to form the rather indirect Rochester and Syracuse Railroad
(known later as the Auburn Road). To fix this, the Rochester and Syracuse Direct Railway was chartered and immediately merged into the Rochester and Syracuse Railroad
on August 6, 1850. That line opened June 1, 1853, running much more directly between those two cities, roughly parallel to the Erie Canal.
To the west of Rochester, the Tonawanda Railroad was chartered April 24, 1832, to build from Rochester to Attica. The first section, from Rochester southwest to Batavia, opened May 5, 1837, and the rest of the line to Attica opened on January 8, 1843. The Attica and Buffalo Railroad was chartered in 1836 and opened on November 24, 1842, running from Buffalo
east to Attica. When the Auburn and Rochester Railroad
opened in 1841, there was no connection at Rochester to the Tonawanda Railroad, but with that exception there was now an all-rail line between Buffalo and Albany. On March 19, 1844, the Tonawanda Railroad was authorized to build the connection, and it opened later that year. The Albany and Schenectady Railroad
bought all the baggage, mail
and emigrant cars of the other railroads between Albany and Buffalo on February 17, 1848, and began operating through cars.
On December 7, 1850, the Tonawanda Railroad and Attica and Buffalo Railroad merged to form the Buffalo and Rochester Railroad
. A new direct line opened from Buffalo east to Batavia on April 26, 1852, and the old line between Depew (east of Buffalo) and Attica was sold to the Buffalo and New York City Railroad on November 1. The line was added to the New York and Erie Railroad system and converted to the Erie's 6 foot (1829 mm) broad gauge
.
The Schenectady and Troy Railroad
was chartered in 1836 and opened in 1842, providing another route between the Hudson River and Schenectady, with its Hudson River terminal at Troy.
The Lockport and Niagara Falls Railroad was chartered in 1834 to build from Lockport on the Erie Canal
west to Niagara Falls; it opened in 1838. On December 14, 1850, it was reorganized as the Rochester, Lockport and Niagara Falls Railroad
, and an extension east to Rochester opened on July 1, 1852.
The Buffalo and Lockport Railroad was chartered April 27, 1852, to build a branch of the Rochester, Lockport and Niagara Falls from Lockport towards Buffalo
. It opened in 1854, running from Lockport to Tonawanda
, where it joined the Buffalo and Niagara Falls Railroad
, opened 1837, for the rest of the way to Buffalo.
In addition to the Syracuse and Utica Direct Railroad
, another never-built company, the Mohawk Valley Railroad, was chartered January 21, 1851, and reorganized December 28, 1852, to build a railroad on the south side of the Mohawk River
from Schenectady to Utica, next to the Erie Canal
and opposite the Utica and Schenectady. The West Shore Railroad
was later built on that location.
Albany industrialist and Mohawk Valley Railroad owner Erastus Corning
got the above railroads together into one system, and on March 17, 1853 they agreed to merge. The merger was approved by the state legislature on April 2, and ten of the remaining companies merged to form the New York Central Railroad on May 17, 1853. The following companies were consolidated into this system, including the main line from Albany to Buffalo:
Soon the Buffalo and State Line Railroad and Erie and North East Railroad converted to standard gauge
from 6 foot (1829 mm) broad gauge
and connected directly with the NYC in Buffalo, providing a through route to Erie, Pennsylvania
.
was organized in 1852 and opened in Fall 1853; it was leased to the Rochester, Lockport and Niagara Falls Railroad
, which became part of the NYC, before opening. In 1855 it was merged into the NYC, providing a branch from Rochester north to Charlotte
on Lake Ontario
.
The Buffalo and Niagara Falls Railroad
was also merged into the NYC in 1855. It had been chartered in 1834 and opened in 1837, providing a line between Buffalo
and Niagara Falls
. It was leased to the NYC in 1853.
Also in 1855 came the merger with the Lewiston Railroad, running from Niagara Falls north to Lewiston. It was chartered in 1836 and opened in 1837 without connections to other railroads. In 1854 a southern extension opened to the Buffalo and Niagara Falls Railroad
and the line was leased to the NYC.
The Canandaigua and Niagara Falls Railroad was chartered in 1851. The first stage opened in 1853 from Canandaigua on the Auburn Road west to Batavia on the main line. A continuation west to North Tonawanda opened later that year, and in 1854 a section opened in Niagara Falls connecting it to the Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge
. The NYC bought the company at bankruptcy
in 1858 and reorganized it as the Niagara Bridge and Canandaigua Railroad, merging it into itself in 1890.
The Saratoga and Hudson River Railroad was chartered in 1864 and opened in 1866 as a branch of the NYC from Athens Junction, southeast of Schenectady, southeast and south to Athens
on the west side of the Hudson River
. On September 9, 1867, the company was merged into the NYC, but in 1867 the terminal at Athens burned down and the line was abandoned. In the 1880s the New York, West Shore and Buffalo Railway leased the line and incorporated it into their main line, taken over by the NYC in 1885 as the West Shore Railroad
.
The Troy and Greenbush Railroad was chartered in 1845 and opened later that year, connecting Troy south to East Albany on the east side of the Hudson River
. The Hudson River Railroad was chartered May 12, 1846, to extend this line south to New York City; the full line opened October 3, 1851. Prior to completion, on June 1, the Hudson River leased the Troy and Greenbush.
Cornelius Vanderbilt
obtained control of the Hudson River Railroad in 1864, soon after he bought the parallel New York and Harlem Railroad
.
Along the line of the Hudson River Railroad, the High Line was built in 1934 in New York City as an elevated bypass to the existing street running
trackage on Eleventh Avenue
, at the time called "Death Avenue" due to the large number of accidents involving trains. The elevated section has since been abandoned, and the tunnel to the north, built at the same time, is used only by Amtrak
trains to New York Penn Station (all other trains use the Spuyten Duyvil and Port Morris Railroad to access the New York and Harlem Railroad
). A surviving section of the High Line
, in the Chelsea section of Manhattan, has recently opened as a successful linear park.
In 1867 Vanderbilt acquired control of the NYC, with the help of maneuverings related to the Hudson River Bridge in Albany. On November 1, 1869 he merged the NYC with his Hudson River Railroad into the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad. This extended the system south from Albany along the east bank of the Hudson River
to New York City, with the leased Troy and Greenbush Railroad running from Albany north to Troy.
Vanderbilt's other lines were operated as part of the NYC; these included the New York and Harlem Railroad
, Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway
, Canada Southern Railway
and Michigan Central Railroad
.
The Spuyten Duyvil and Port Morris Railroad was chartered in 1869 and opened in 1871, providing a route on the north side of the Harlem River
for trains along the Hudson River to head southeast to the New York and Harlem Railroad
towards Grand Central Terminal
or the freight facilities at Port Morris. From opening it was leased by the NYC.
The Geneva and Lyons Railroad
was organized in 1877 and opened in 1878, leased by the NYC from opening. This was a north-south connection between Syracuse and Rochester, running from the main line at Lyons
south to the Auburn Road at Geneva. It was merged into the NYC in 1890.
On July 1, 1900, the Boston and Albany Railroad
was leased by the NYC, although it retained a separate identity. In 1914 the name was changed again, forming the modern New York Central Railroad.
The Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway
, also known as the Big Four, was formed on June 30, 1889 by the merger of the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Indianapolis Railway
, the Cincinnati, Indianapolis, St. Louis and Chicago Railway
and the Indianapolis and St. Louis Railway. The following year, the company gained control of the former Indiana Bloomington and Western Railway
. By 1906, the Big Four was itself acquired by the New York Central Railroad.
The generally level topography of the NYC system had a character distinctively different than the mountainous terrain of its arch rival, the Pennsylvania Railroad
. Most of its major routes, including New York to Chicago, followed rivers and had no significant grades other than West Albany Hill. This influenced a great deal about the line that was became known as the Water Level Route, from advertising to locomotive design.
Steam locomotives of the NYC were optimized for speed on that flat raceway of a main line, rather than slow mountain lugging. Famous locomotives of the system included the well-known 4-6-4
Hudsons
, particularly the 1937–38 J-3a's; 4-8-2
World War II–era L-3 and L-4 Mohawks
; and the postwar S-class Niagaras
: fast 4-8-4
locomotives often considered the epitome of their breed by steam locomotive aficionados.
Despite having some of the most modern steam locomotive
s anywhere, NYC's difficult financial position caused it to convert to more economical diesel-electric
power rapidly. All lines east of Cleveland, Ohio were dieselized as of August 7, 1953. Niagaras were all retired by 1956. The last steam was retired in 1957. But, the economics of northeastern railroading became so dire that not even this switch could change things for the better.
The Junction Railroad's Buffalo Belt Line opened in 1871, providing a bypass of Buffalo, New York
to the northeast, as well as a loop route for passenger trains via downtown. The West Shore Railroad
, acquired in 1885, provided a bypass around Rochester, New York
. The Terminal Railway's Gardenville Cutoff, allowing through traffic to bypass Buffalo to the southeast, opened in 1898.
The Schenectady Detour consisted of two connections to the West Shore Railroad
, allowing through trains to bypass the steep grades at Schenectady, New York
. The full project opened in 1902. The Cleveland Short Line Railway
built a bypass of Cleveland, Ohio
, completed in 1912. In 1924, the Alfred H. Smith Memorial Bridge
was constructed as part of the Hudson River Connecting Railroad's Castleton Cut-Off, a 27.5-mile-long freight bypass of the congested West Albany
terminal area and West Albany Hill.
An unrelated realignment was made in the 1910s at Rome, when the Erie Canal
was realigned and widened onto a new alignment south of downtown Rome. The NYC main line was shifted south out of downtown to the south bank of the new canal. A bridge was built southeast of downtown, roughly where the old main line crossed the path of the canal, to keep access to from the southeast. West of downtown, the old main line was abandoned, but a brand new railroad line was built, running north from the NYC main line to the NYC's former Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg Railroad
, allowing all NYC through traffic to bypass Rome.
, begun in 1902, ran from Grand Central Terminal
in New York to LaSalle Street Station
Chicago and was its most famous train, known for its red carpet treatment and first class service. In the mid 1930s most railroad companies were introducing streamliner
locomotives which by design reducing wind resistance and increased speed. And until the New York Central in the 1930s introduced the Commodore Vanderbilt all were diesel-electric locomotives. The Vanderbilt used the more common steam engine. In 1935 the New York Central introduced a second stream engine streamliner based on its experience with the Vanderbilt, the Century, which followed the Water Level Route, could complete the 960.7-mile trip in just 16 hours after its June 15, 1938 streamlining (and did it in 15½ hours for a short period after World War II). Also famous was its Empire State Express
through upstate New York to Buffalo and Cleveland, and Ohio State Limited
from New York to Cincinnati. NYC also provided the Rexall Train of 1936, which toured 47 states to promote the Rexall chain of drug stores.
List of Famous New York Central Trains:
New York to Chicago
The Mercuries- All Mercuries ran between 1936 and 1959
New York to St. Louis
Other Trains
All trains operated out of Grand Central Terminal in New York, Weehawken Terminal in Jersey City, South Station
in Boston, Cincinnati Union Terminal in Cincinnati, Michigan Central Station
in Detroit, St. Louis Union Station
, and LaSalle Street Station in Chicago.
The New York Central, like most other railroads, also operated a fairly extensive network of commuter lines throughout New York and Massachusetts. Residents of Westchester County, New York
, were serviced by the railroad's Hudson, Harlem, and Putnam lines, into Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan (Putnam Division trains required a change at High Bridge, NY), while residents of New Jersey and Rockland County, New York were serviced by the West Shore Line between Jersey City and West Haverstraw, New York: located on the west side of the Hudson River.
(ICC), which severely regulated the rates charged by the railroad, along with continuing competition from automobiles resurfaced. These problems were coupled with even more formidable forms of competition, such as the rapid development of reliable propeller and jet airplane service in the 1950s which began to deprive the NYC of its long-distance passenger trade. The signing of the Interstate Highway Act of 1956 helped create a network of more convenient and efficient roadways for motor vehicle travel throughout the country, enticing many more people to travel by car, as well as haul freight by truck rather than by rail. Additionally, the 1959 opening of the Saint Lawrence Seaway
adversely affected the NYC freight business. Container shipments could now be directly shipped to ports along the Great Lakes, eliminating the railroads' once-lucrative freight hauls between the east and the Midwest.
At the same time, the NYC also carried a substantial tax burden. Federal, state, and local governments, far from providing needed support to passenger rail, viewed rail infrastructure as a ready source for property tax revenues: taxes that were not similarly imposed upon interstate highways. To make matters even worse, most railroads, including the NYC, were also saddled with a World War II–era excise tax of 15% on passenger rail travel, which remained until 1962: 17 years after the end of the war. These factors contributed to the overall weakening of all railroads throughout the United States, leading the New York Central into a slow decline.
in 1954 to Robert Ralph Young
and the Alleghany Corporation he led.
Alleghany Corporation
was a real estate and railroad empire built by the Van Sweringen brothers
of Cleveland
in the 1920's and had notably controlled the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway
(C&O) and the Nickel Plate Road
. It eventually fell under the control of Young and financier Allan Price Kirby during the Great Depression
.
R. R. Young was considered a railroad visionary, but found the failing New York Central in worse shape than he had imagined. Unable to keep his promises, Young was forced to suspend dividend payments in January, 1958. He committed suicide
later that month.
, who had been working with the NYC under Young since 1954. Despite the dismal financial condition of the railroad, Perlman was able to streamline many of the railroad's operations and save the company money. Starting in 1959, Perlman was able to reduce operating deficits by $7.7 million, which nominally raised NYC stock to $1.29 per share, producing dividends of an amount not seen since the end of the war. By 1964, he was able to reduce the NYC long term debt by nearly $100 million, while at the same time reducing passenger deficits from $42 to $24.6 million.
Perlman also enacted several modernization projects throughout the railroad. Most notable was the pioneering use of Centralized Traffic Control (CTC) systems on many of the NYC lines, which reduced the famous four-track mainline to two tracks. Additionally, he oversaw the construction and/or modernization of many hump or classification yards: most notably, the $20-million Selkirk Yard which opened outside of Albany
in 1966. Perlman also experimented with jet train
s, creating a Budd RDC car (the M-497 Black Beetle
) powered by two J47 jet engine
s stripped from a B-36 Peacemaker intercontinental bomber as a potential solution to increasing car and airplane competition. While a technical success, the project did not leave the prototype stage.
Nevertheless, Perlman's cuts resulted in the curtailing of many of the railroad's services. The commuter lines in around New York were particularly affected by this. Between 1958 and 1959, service was suspended on the NYC's Putnam Division in Westchester and Putnam counties. Additionally, the NYC abandoned its ferry service across the Hudson to Weehawken Terminal
in Jersey City. This negatively impacted the railroad's West Shore Line, which ran along the west bank of the Hudson River from Jersey City to Albany, which saw long-distance service to Albany discontinued in 1958 and commuter service between Jersey City and West Haverstraw, New York
terminated in 1959. However, ridding itself of the majority of its commuter service proved impossible due to the heavy patronage of these lines in and around metro New York, which the ICC mandated the railroad still operate, further draining the NYC's resources.
Many long-distance and regional-haul passenger trains were either discontinued or downgraded in service, with coach cars replacing Pullman, parlor, and sleeping cars on routes throughout Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. The Empire Corridor
between Albany and Buffalo saw service greatly reduced with service beyond Buffalo to Niagara Falls
discontinued completely in 1961. On December 3, 1967, most of the great long-distance trains were terminated, including the famed "Twentieth Century Limited". The railroad's extensive branch line service off the Empire Corridor in upstate New York was also gradually discontinued, the last being its Utica Branch between Utica and Lake Placid, in 1965. Many of the railroad's great train stations in Rochester, Schenectady, and Albany were either demolished or abandoned in an effort to raise money and save on operating costs. Despite the savings these cuts created, it was apparent that if the railroad was to become solvent again a more permanent solution was needed.
(PRR), and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
(B&O), in addition to more moderate-size railroads such as the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad (DLW), the Erie Railroad
, the Reading Company
, the Central Railroad of New Jersey
, and the Lehigh Valley Railroad
. Mergers of these railroads seemed a promising way for these companies to streamline operations and reduce the competition. The DL&W and Erie railroads had showed some success when they began merging their operations in 1956, finally leading to the formation of the Erie Lackawanna Railroad in 1960. Other mergers combined the Virginian Railway
, Wabash Railroad
, Nickel Plate Road and several others into the Norfolk and Western Railway
(N&W) system, and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
(B&O), Western Maryland Railroad (WM), and Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) combined with others to form the Chessie System
. Heavy streamlining and reduction in passenger services led to the success of many of these mergers.
Following this trend, the NYC began to look for a potential railroad to merge with as early as the mid 1950s and had originally sought out mergers with the B&O and the NYC-controlled Nickel Plate Road. Unlike the aforementioned mergers, however, a NYC merger proved tricky due to the fact that the railroad still operated a fairly extensive amount of regional and commuter passenger services that were under mandates by the Interstate Commerce Commission to maintain.
It soon became apparent that the only other railroad with enough capital to allow for a potentially successful merger proved to be the NYC's chief rival, the PRR: itself a railroad that still had a large passenger trade. Merger talks between the two roads were discussed as early as 1955; however, this was delayed due to a number of factors: among them, interference by the Interstate Commerce Commission, objections from operating unions, concerns from competing railroads, and the inability of the two companies themselves to formulate a merger plan, thus delaying progress for over a decade. Two major points of contention centered around which railroad should have the majority controlling interest going into the merger. Perlman's cost-cutting during the '50s and '60s put the NYC in a more financially healthy situation than the PRR. Nevertheless, the ICC, with urging by PRR President Stuart Saunders
, wanted the PRR to absorb the NYC. Another point centered around the ICC's wanting to force the bankrupt New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
, better known as the New Haven, into the new system, which it did in 1969, something to which both companies objected. Eventually, both points would ultimately lead to the new Penn Central's demise.
In December, 1967, the New York Central published its last public timetable. The final timetable revealed a drastically truncated passenger schedule in anticipation of its merger with the PRR. Most deluxe long-distance passenger trains ended on December 3, 1967, including the famed 20th Century Limited
. Only those trains which were to be continued after the merger with the PRR were retained, along with the railroad's commuter trains.
, forming the new Pennsylvania New York Central Transportation Company that was eventually renamed the Penn Central Transportation Company, with the NYC's Alfred Perlman as president. Penn Central was quickly saddled with debt when the ICC forced the money-losing New Haven into the railroad in 1969. In addition, unlike the Erie Lackawanna, the merger was handled in a haphazard manner with no formal merger plan implemented. The two companies' competing corporate cultures, union interest, and incompatible operating and computer systems sabotaged any hope for a success. Additionally in an effort to look profitable Perlman authorized the use of the railroad's reserve cash to pay dividends to company stockholders. Nevertheless, on June 21, 1970 Penn Central declared bankruptcy, the largest private bankruptcy in the United States to that time. Under bankruptcy protection many of Penn Central's outstanding debts owed to other railroads were frozen, while debts owed to Penn Central by the other roads were not. This sent a trickle effect throughout the already fragile railroad industry forcing many of the other Northeastern railroads into insolvency, among them the Erie Lackawanna, Boston and Maine, the Central Railroad of New Jersey, the Reading Company, and the Lehigh Valley.
Penn Central marked the last hope of privately funded passenger rail service in the United States. In response to the bankruptcy President Richard Nixon
signed into law the Rail Passenger Service Act of 1970 which formed the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, better known as Amtrak, a nationalized government owned and subsidized railroad. On May 1, 1971 Amtrak assumed the responsibility of most regional and long distance intercity passenger trains in the United States. Amtrak would eventually assume ownership of the Northeast Corridor
, a mostly electrified route between Boston and Washington, D.C. inherited primarily from the PRR and New Haven systems. Penn Central and the other railroads were still obligated to operate their commuter services for the next five years while in bankruptcy, eventually turning them over to the newly formed Conrail in 1976. There was some hope that Penn Central, and the other Northeastern railroads, could be restructured towards profitability once their burdensome passenger deficits were unloaded. However, this was not to be and the railroads never recovered from their respective bankruptcies.
in Massachusetts. Conrail would go on to achieve profitability by the 1990s and was sought by several other large railroads in a continuing trend of mergers eventually having its assets absorbed by CSX and Norfolk Southern.
Conrail, in an effort to streamline its operations, was forced to abandon miles of both NYC and PRR trackage. Nevertheless the majority of the NYC system is still intact and used by both CSX and Amtrak. Among the lines still used is the famed Water Level Route between New York and Chicago, as well as its former Boston & Albany line between these points, the Kankakee Belt Route through Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa, and the West Shore Line between Jersey City and the Albany suburb of Selkirk where the old NYC – now CSX – Selkirk Yard is among the busiest freight yards in the country.
On June 6, 1998, most of Conrail was split between Norfolk Southern and CSX. New York Central Lines LLC
was formed as a subsidiary of Conrail, containing the lines to be operated by CSX; this included the old Water Level Route and many other lines of the New York Central, as well as various lines from other companies. It also assumed the NYC reporting mark
. CSX eventually fully absorbed it, as part of a streamlining of Conrail operations.
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...
, 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...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, and Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, plus additional trackage in the Canadian provinces of Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
and 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....
.
Greater New York
Greater New York or Greater New York City may refer to:* the statistical New York metropolitan area consisting of New York City and surrounding counties of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania...
and Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
in the east with Chicago and St.Louis in the midwest along with the intermediate cities of 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...
, Buffalo
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
, Cleveland
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
, Cincinnati
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
, and Detroit
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
. The NYC's Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal —often incorrectly called Grand Central Station, or shortened to simply Grand Central—is a terminal station at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States...
in New York City is one of its best known extant landmarks.
In 1968 the NYC merged with its former rival, 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....
, to form Penn Central (the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , was a railroad that operated in the northeast United States from 1872 to 1968 which served the states of Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts...
joined in 1969). That company went bankrupt in 1970 and was taken over by the federal government and merged into Conrail in 1976. Conrail was broken up in 1998, and portions of its system was transferred to the newly formed New York Central Lines LLC
New York Central Lines LLC
New York Central Lines LLC was a limited liability company that owned railroad lines in the United States that are owned and operated by CSX Transportation. The company was formed in 1998 to own Conrail lines assigned to CSX in the split of Conrail between CSX and the Norfolk Southern Railway;...
, a subsidiary leased to and eventually absorbed by CSX and Norfolk Southern
Norfolk Southern Railway
The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I railroad in the United States, owned by the Norfolk Southern Corporation. With headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia, the company operates 21,500 route miles in 22 eastern states, the District of Columbia and the province of Ontario, Canada...
. Those companies' lines included the original New York Central main line, but outside that area it included lines that were never part of the New York Central system. CSX was able to take one of the most important main lines in the nation, which runs from New York City and Boston to Cleveland, Ohio, as part of the Water Level Route, while Norfolk Southern gained the Cleveland, Ohio to Chicago, Illinois portion of the line called the Chicago line.
The famous Water Level Route of the NYC, from New York City to upstate New York
Upstate New York
Upstate New York is the region of the U.S. state of New York that is located north of the core of the New York metropolitan area.-Definition:There is no clear or official boundary between Upstate New York and Downstate New York...
, was the first four-track long-distance railroad in the world.
Pre-New York Central: 1826–1853
The oldest part of the NYC was the first permanent railroad in the state of New York and one of the first railroads in the United States. The Mohawk and Hudson Railroad was chartered in 1826 to connect the Mohawk RiverMohawk River
The Mohawk River is a river in the U.S. state of New York. It is the largest tributary of the Hudson River. The Mohawk flows into the Hudson in the Capital District, a few miles north of the city of Albany. The river is named for the Mohawk Nation of the Iroquois Confederacy...
at Schenectady to 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...
at Albany, providing a way for freight and especially passengers to avoid the extensive and time-consuming locks on the Erie Canal
Erie Canal
The Erie Canal is a waterway in New York that runs about from Albany, New York, on the Hudson River to Buffalo, New York, at Lake Erie, completing a navigable water route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. The canal contains 36 locks and encompasses a total elevation differential of...
between Schenectady and Albany. The Mohawk and Hudson opened on September 24, 1831, and changed its name to the Albany and Schenectady Railroad
Albany and Schenectady Railroad
The Albany & Schenectady Railroad, originally the Mohawk & Hudson Railroad, was the first railroad built in the State of New York and one of the first railroads in the United States....
on April 19, 1847.
The Utica and Schenectady Railroad was chartered April 29, 1833; as the railroad paralleled the Erie Canal
Erie Canal
The Erie Canal is a waterway in New York that runs about from Albany, New York, on the Hudson River to Buffalo, New York, at Lake Erie, completing a navigable water route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. The canal contains 36 locks and encompasses a total elevation differential of...
it was prohibited from carrying freight. Revenue service began August 2, 1836, extending the line of the Albany and Schenectady Railroad west from Schenectady along the north side of the Mohawk River
Mohawk River
The Mohawk River is a river in the U.S. state of New York. It is the largest tributary of the Hudson River. The Mohawk flows into the Hudson in the Capital District, a few miles north of the city of Albany. The river is named for the Mohawk Nation of the Iroquois Confederacy...
, opposite the Erie Canal, to Utica. On May 7, 1844 the railroad was authorized to carry freight with some restrictions, and on May 12, 1847 the ban was fully dropped, but the company still had to pay the equivalent in canal toll
Tax
To tax is to impose a financial charge or other levy upon a taxpayer by a state or the functional equivalent of a state such that failure to pay is punishable by law. Taxes are also imposed by many subnational entities...
s to the state.
The Syracuse and Utica Railroad
Syracuse and Utica Railroad
The Syracuse and Utica Railroad was chartered May 1, 1836, and had to pay the state for any freight displaced from the Erie Canal. The full line opened July 3, 1839, extending the line further to Syracuse, New York to Rome, New York...
was chartered May 1, 1836, and similarly had to pay the state for any freight displaced from the canal. The full line opened July 3, 1839, extending the line further to Syracuse via Rome (and further to Auburn via the already-opened Auburn and Syracuse Railroad
Auburn and Syracuse Railroad
The Auburn and Syracuse Railroad was incorporated on May 1, 1834 to provide easy access to and from Syracuse, New York and the Erie Canal. Construction was begun in 1835, however, was delayed during the Panic of 1837...
). This line was not direct, going out of its way to stay near the Erie Canal and serve Rome, and so the Syracuse and Utica Direct Railroad
Syracuse and Utica Direct Railroad
The Syracuse and Utica Direct Railroad, chartered in 1853, a rival company to the Syracuse and Utica Railroad, threatened to build a line from Syracuse, New York to Utica by a more direct route, by way of Vernon. This reduced the total travel time from four hours to three and one-half hours...
was chartered January 26, 1853. Nothing of that line was ever built, though the later West Shore Railroad
West Shore Railroad
The West Shore Railroad was the final name of a railroad from Weehawken, New Jersey, across the Hudson River from New York City, north along the west shore of the river to Albany, New York and then west to Buffalo...
, acquired by the NYC in 1885, served the same purpose.
The Auburn and Syracuse Railroad
Auburn and Syracuse Railroad
The Auburn and Syracuse Railroad was incorporated on May 1, 1834 to provide easy access to and from Syracuse, New York and the Erie Canal. Construction was begun in 1835, however, was delayed during the Panic of 1837...
was chartered May 1, 1834, and opened mostly in 1838, the remaining 4 miles (6 km) opening on June 4, 1839. A month later, with the opening of the Syracuse and Utica Railroad
Syracuse and Utica Railroad
The Syracuse and Utica Railroad was chartered May 1, 1836, and had to pay the state for any freight displaced from the Erie Canal. The full line opened July 3, 1839, extending the line further to Syracuse, New York to Rome, New York...
, this formed a complete line from Albany west via Syracuse to Auburn, about halfway to Geneva. The Auburn and Rochester Railroad
Auburn and Rochester Railroad
-Introduction:The Auburn and Rochester Railroad Company was built to bring Canandaigua access to regional and national markets and sources. Extending southeast from Rochester to Geneva and Canandaigua with a trackage length of 78½ miles, its right-of-way exceeded that of the contemporaneous and...
was chartered May 13, 1836, as a further extension via Geneva and Canandaigua to Rochester, opening on November 4, 1841. The two lines merged on August 1, 1850, to form the rather indirect Rochester and Syracuse Railroad
Rochester and Syracuse Railroad
The Rochester and Syracuse Railroad was incorporated on August 1, 1850 authorizing the consolidation of the Auburn and Rochester Railroad Company and the Auburn and Syracuse Railroad Company...
(known later as the Auburn Road). To fix this, the Rochester and Syracuse Direct Railway was chartered and immediately merged into the Rochester and Syracuse Railroad
Rochester and Syracuse Railroad
The Rochester and Syracuse Railroad was incorporated on August 1, 1850 authorizing the consolidation of the Auburn and Rochester Railroad Company and the Auburn and Syracuse Railroad Company...
on August 6, 1850. That line opened June 1, 1853, running much more directly between those two cities, roughly parallel to the Erie Canal.
To the west of Rochester, the Tonawanda Railroad was chartered April 24, 1832, to build from Rochester to Attica. The first section, from Rochester southwest to Batavia, opened May 5, 1837, and the rest of the line to Attica opened on January 8, 1843. The Attica and Buffalo Railroad was chartered in 1836 and opened on November 24, 1842, running from Buffalo
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
east to Attica. When the Auburn and Rochester Railroad
Auburn and Rochester Railroad
-Introduction:The Auburn and Rochester Railroad Company was built to bring Canandaigua access to regional and national markets and sources. Extending southeast from Rochester to Geneva and Canandaigua with a trackage length of 78½ miles, its right-of-way exceeded that of the contemporaneous and...
opened in 1841, there was no connection at Rochester to the Tonawanda Railroad, but with that exception there was now an all-rail line between Buffalo and Albany. On March 19, 1844, the Tonawanda Railroad was authorized to build the connection, and it opened later that year. The Albany and Schenectady Railroad
Albany and Schenectady Railroad
The Albany & Schenectady Railroad, originally the Mohawk & Hudson Railroad, was the first railroad built in the State of New York and one of the first railroads in the United States....
bought all the baggage, mail
Mail
Mail, or post, is a system for transporting letters and other tangible objects: written documents, typically enclosed in envelopes, and also small packages are delivered to destinations around the world. Anything sent through the postal system is called mail or post.In principle, a postal service...
and emigrant cars of the other railroads between Albany and Buffalo on February 17, 1848, and began operating through cars.
On December 7, 1850, the Tonawanda Railroad and Attica and Buffalo Railroad merged to form the Buffalo and Rochester Railroad
Buffalo and Rochester Railroad
The Buffalo and Rochester Railroad, like many others of its day, was a short line that lasted a short time.-The gist of the idea:Initially, the germ of the idea for this line came from the perceived need for a rail line to serve Steuben and Livingston Counties in New York. Farmers and merchants in...
. A new direct line opened from Buffalo east to Batavia on April 26, 1852, and the old line between Depew (east of Buffalo) and Attica was sold to the Buffalo and New York City Railroad on November 1. The line was added to the New York and Erie Railroad system and converted to the Erie's 6 foot (1829 mm) broad gauge
Broad gauge
Broad-gauge railways use a track gauge greater than the standard gauge of .- List :For list see: List of broad gauges, by gauge and country- History :...
.
The Schenectady and Troy Railroad
Schenectady and Troy Railroad
The Schenectady and Troy Railroad was incorporated May 21, 1836. The stock was divided into five hundred shares at one hundred dollars each. The building of the road began in 1841, and trains began running from Schenectady to Troy, New York in the fall of 1841 . It was constructed by the city of...
was chartered in 1836 and opened in 1842, providing another route between the Hudson River and Schenectady, with its Hudson River terminal at Troy.
The Lockport and Niagara Falls Railroad was chartered in 1834 to build from Lockport on the Erie Canal
Erie Canal
The Erie Canal is a waterway in New York that runs about from Albany, New York, on the Hudson River to Buffalo, New York, at Lake Erie, completing a navigable water route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. The canal contains 36 locks and encompasses a total elevation differential of...
west to Niagara Falls; it opened in 1838. On December 14, 1850, it was reorganized as the Rochester, Lockport and Niagara Falls Railroad
Rochester, Lockport and Niagara Falls Railroad
Incorporated December 14, 1850. This company rebuilt and opened in July 1852, the road originally incorporated April 24, 1834, as the Lockport and Niagara Falls Railroad. The original line was opened in 1838 and sold June 2, 1850. Consolidated into the New York Central Railroad under the act of 1853....
, and an extension east to Rochester opened on July 1, 1852.
The Buffalo and Lockport Railroad was chartered April 27, 1852, to build a branch of the Rochester, Lockport and Niagara Falls from Lockport towards Buffalo
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
. It opened in 1854, running from Lockport to Tonawanda
Tonawanda, New York
Tonawanda may refer to:*Glacial Lake Tonawanda*North Tonawanda, New York, a city in Niagara County, north across Tonawanda Creek from the City and Town*Tonawanda , New York, consisting of the Town of Tonawanda less the Village of Kenmore...
, where it joined the Buffalo and Niagara Falls Railroad
Buffalo and Niagara Falls Railroad
The Buffalo and Niagara Falls Railroad was a part of the New York Central Railroad system, connecting Buffalo, New York to Niagara Falls. It is still used by CSX for freight and Amtrak for passenger service.-History:...
, opened 1837, for the rest of the way to Buffalo.
In addition to the Syracuse and Utica Direct Railroad
Syracuse and Utica Direct Railroad
The Syracuse and Utica Direct Railroad, chartered in 1853, a rival company to the Syracuse and Utica Railroad, threatened to build a line from Syracuse, New York to Utica by a more direct route, by way of Vernon. This reduced the total travel time from four hours to three and one-half hours...
, another never-built company, the Mohawk Valley Railroad, was chartered January 21, 1851, and reorganized December 28, 1852, to build a railroad on the south side of the Mohawk River
Mohawk River
The Mohawk River is a river in the U.S. state of New York. It is the largest tributary of the Hudson River. The Mohawk flows into the Hudson in the Capital District, a few miles north of the city of Albany. The river is named for the Mohawk Nation of the Iroquois Confederacy...
from Schenectady to Utica, next to the Erie Canal
Erie Canal
The Erie Canal is a waterway in New York that runs about from Albany, New York, on the Hudson River to Buffalo, New York, at Lake Erie, completing a navigable water route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. The canal contains 36 locks and encompasses a total elevation differential of...
and opposite the Utica and Schenectady. The West Shore Railroad
West Shore Railroad
The West Shore Railroad was the final name of a railroad from Weehawken, New Jersey, across the Hudson River from New York City, north along the west shore of the river to Albany, New York and then west to Buffalo...
was later built on that location.
Erastus Corning
Erastus Corning I , American businessman and politician, was born in Norwich, Connecticut. Corning moved to Troy, New York at the age of 13 to clerk in the hardware store of an uncle; six years later he moved to Albany, New York, where he joined the mercantile business under James Spencer...
got the above railroads together into one system, and on March 17, 1853 they agreed to merge. The merger was approved by the state legislature on April 2, and ten of the remaining companies merged to form the New York Central Railroad on May 17, 1853. The following companies were consolidated into this system, including the main line from Albany to Buffalo:
- Albany and Schenectady RailroadAlbany and Schenectady RailroadThe Albany & Schenectady Railroad, originally the Mohawk & Hudson Railroad, was the first railroad built in the State of New York and one of the first railroads in the United States....
- Utica and Schenectady Railroad
- Syracuse and Utica RailroadSyracuse and Utica RailroadThe Syracuse and Utica Railroad was chartered May 1, 1836, and had to pay the state for any freight displaced from the Erie Canal. The full line opened July 3, 1839, extending the line further to Syracuse, New York to Rome, New York...
- Rochester and Syracuse RailroadRochester and Syracuse RailroadThe Rochester and Syracuse Railroad was incorporated on August 1, 1850 authorizing the consolidation of the Auburn and Rochester Railroad Company and the Auburn and Syracuse Railroad Company...
- Buffalo and Rochester Railroad
- The Rochester and Syracuse RailroadRochester and Syracuse RailroadThe Rochester and Syracuse Railroad was incorporated on August 1, 1850 authorizing the consolidation of the Auburn and Rochester Railroad Company and the Auburn and Syracuse Railroad Company...
also owned the old alignment via Auburn, Geneva and Canandaigua, known as the "Auburn Road". The Buffalo and Rochester included a branch from Batavia to Attica, part of the main line until 1852. Also included in the merger were three other railroads:
- The Rochester and Syracuse Railroad
- Schenectady and Troy RailroadSchenectady and Troy RailroadThe Schenectady and Troy Railroad was incorporated May 21, 1836. The stock was divided into five hundred shares at one hundred dollars each. The building of the road began in 1841, and trains began running from Schenectady to Troy, New York in the fall of 1841 . It was constructed by the city of...
, a branch from Schenectady east to Troy - Rochester, Lockport and Niagara Falls RailroadRochester, Lockport and Niagara Falls RailroadIncorporated December 14, 1850. This company rebuilt and opened in July 1852, the road originally incorporated April 24, 1834, as the Lockport and Niagara Falls Railroad. The original line was opened in 1838 and sold June 2, 1850. Consolidated into the New York Central Railroad under the act of 1853....
, a major branch from Rochester west to Niagara Falls - Buffalo and Lockport Railroad, a branch from the Rochester, Lockport and Niagara Falls at Lockport south to BuffaloBuffalo, New YorkBuffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
via trackage rightsTrackage rightsTrackage 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....
on the Buffalo and Niagara Falls RailroadBuffalo and Niagara Falls RailroadThe Buffalo and Niagara Falls Railroad was a part of the New York Central Railroad system, connecting Buffalo, New York to Niagara Falls. It is still used by CSX for freight and Amtrak for passenger service.-History:...
from TonawandaTonawanda, New YorkTonawanda may refer to:*Glacial Lake Tonawanda*North Tonawanda, New York, a city in Niagara County, north across Tonawanda Creek from the City and Town*Tonawanda , New York, consisting of the Town of Tonawanda less the Village of Kenmore...
- As well as two that had not built any road, and never would:
- Mohawk Valley Railroad
- Syracuse and Utica Direct RailroadSyracuse and Utica Direct RailroadThe Syracuse and Utica Direct Railroad, chartered in 1853, a rival company to the Syracuse and Utica Railroad, threatened to build a line from Syracuse, New York to Utica by a more direct route, by way of Vernon. This reduced the total travel time from four hours to three and one-half hours...
Soon the Buffalo and State Line Railroad and Erie and North East Railroad converted to standard gauge
Standard gauge
The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
from 6 foot (1829 mm) broad gauge
Broad gauge
Broad-gauge railways use a track gauge greater than the standard gauge of .- List :For list see: List of broad gauges, by gauge and country- History :...
and connected directly with the NYC in Buffalo, providing a through route to Erie, Pennsylvania
Erie, Pennsylvania
Erie is a city located in northwestern Pennsylvania in the United States. Named for the lake and the Native American tribe that resided along its southern shore, Erie is the state's fourth-largest city , with a population of 102,000...
.
Erastus Corning years: 1853–1867
The Rochester and Lake Ontario RailroadRochester and Lake Ontario Railroad
The Rochester and Lake Ontario Railroad was incorporated May 17, 1852; it was merged September 30, 1855, into the New York Central Railroad....
was organized in 1852 and opened in Fall 1853; it was leased to the Rochester, Lockport and Niagara Falls Railroad
Rochester, Lockport and Niagara Falls Railroad
Incorporated December 14, 1850. This company rebuilt and opened in July 1852, the road originally incorporated April 24, 1834, as the Lockport and Niagara Falls Railroad. The original line was opened in 1838 and sold June 2, 1850. Consolidated into the New York Central Railroad under the act of 1853....
, which became part of the NYC, before opening. In 1855 it was merged into the NYC, providing a branch from Rochester north to Charlotte
Charlotte, New York
Charlotte is a town in Chautauqua County, New York, United States. As of the 2000 census, the town population was 1,713.The Town of Charlotte is centrally located in the county, north of Jamestown and south of Dunkirk.- History :...
on Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south by the American state of New York. Ontario, Canada's most populous province, was named for the lake. In the Wyandot language, ontarío means...
.
The Buffalo and Niagara Falls Railroad
Buffalo and Niagara Falls Railroad
The Buffalo and Niagara Falls Railroad was a part of the New York Central Railroad system, connecting Buffalo, New York to Niagara Falls. It is still used by CSX for freight and Amtrak for passenger service.-History:...
was also merged into the NYC in 1855. It had been chartered in 1834 and opened in 1837, providing a line between Buffalo
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
and Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls, New York
Niagara Falls is a city in Niagara County, New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 50,193, down from the 55,593 recorded in the 2000 census. It is across the Niagara River from Niagara Falls, Ontario , both named after the famed Niagara Falls which they...
. It was leased to the NYC in 1853.
Also in 1855 came the merger with the Lewiston Railroad, running from Niagara Falls north to Lewiston. It was chartered in 1836 and opened in 1837 without connections to other railroads. In 1854 a southern extension opened to the Buffalo and Niagara Falls Railroad
Buffalo and Niagara Falls Railroad
The Buffalo and Niagara Falls Railroad was a part of the New York Central Railroad system, connecting Buffalo, New York to Niagara Falls. It is still used by CSX for freight and Amtrak for passenger service.-History:...
and the line was leased to the NYC.
The Canandaigua and Niagara Falls Railroad was chartered in 1851. The first stage opened in 1853 from Canandaigua on the Auburn Road west to Batavia on the main line. A continuation west to North Tonawanda opened later that year, and in 1854 a section opened in Niagara Falls connecting it to the Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge
Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge
The Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge was the world's first working railway suspension bridge. It spanned and stood downstream of Niagara Falls from 1855 to 1897...
. The NYC bought the company at bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
in 1858 and reorganized it as the Niagara Bridge and Canandaigua Railroad, merging it into itself in 1890.
The Saratoga and Hudson River Railroad was chartered in 1864 and opened in 1866 as a branch of the NYC from Athens Junction, southeast of Schenectady, southeast and south to Athens
Athens, New York
Athens, New York can refer to:* Athens , New York* Athens , New York...
on the west side of 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...
. On September 9, 1867, the company was merged into the NYC, but in 1867 the terminal at Athens burned down and the line was abandoned. In the 1880s the New York, West Shore and Buffalo Railway leased the line and incorporated it into their main line, taken over by the NYC in 1885 as the West Shore Railroad
West Shore Railroad
The West Shore Railroad was the final name of a railroad from Weehawken, New Jersey, across the Hudson River from New York City, north along the west shore of the river to Albany, New York and then west to Buffalo...
.
The Hudson River Railroad
- See West Side LineWest Side Line (NYCRR)The West Side Line, also called the West Side Freight Line, is a railroad line on the west side of the New York City borough of Manhattan. North of Penn Station, from 34th Street, the line is used by Amtrak passenger service heading north via Albany to Toronto, Montreal and Chicago...
for details on the section in ManhattanManhattanManhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
and Hudson LineHudson Line (Metro-North)Metro-North Railroad's Hudson Line is a commuter rail line running north from New York City along the east shore of the Hudson River. Metro-North service ends at Poughkeepsie, with Amtrak's Empire Corridor trains continuing north to and beyond Albany...
for current Metro-North RailroadMetro-North RailroadThe Metro-North Commuter Railroad , trading as MTA Metro-North Railroad, or, more commonly, Metro-North, is a suburban commuter rail service that is run and managed by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority , an authority of New York State. It is the busiest commuter railroad in the United...
operations south of Poughkeepsie.
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 Hudson River Railroad was chartered May 12, 1846, to extend this line south to New York City; the full line opened October 3, 1851. Prior to completion, on June 1, the Hudson River leased the Troy and Greenbush.
Cornelius Vanderbilt
Cornelius Vanderbilt
Cornelius Vanderbilt , also known by the sobriquet Commodore, was an American entrepreneur who built his wealth in shipping and railroads. He was also the patriarch of the Vanderbilt family and one of the richest Americans in history...
obtained control of the Hudson River Railroad in 1864, soon after he bought the parallel New York and Harlem Railroad
New York and Harlem Railroad
The New York and Harlem Railroad was one of the first railroads in the United States, and possibly also the world's first street railway. Designed by John Stephenson, it was opened in stages between 1832 and 1852 between Lower Manhattan to and beyond Harlem...
.
Along the line of the Hudson River Railroad, the High Line was built in 1934 in New York City as an elevated bypass to the existing street running
Street running
On-street running or street running is when a railroad track or tramway track runs directly along city streets, without any separation. The rails are embedded in the road....
trackage on Eleventh Avenue
Eleventh Avenue (Manhattan)
Eleventh Avenue is a north-south thoroughfare on the far West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City, not far from the Hudson River. It carries downtown traffic only, south of West 44th Street, and two-way traffic north of it....
, at the time called "Death Avenue" due to the large number of accidents involving trains. The elevated section has since been abandoned, and the tunnel to the north, built at the same time, is used only by Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
trains to New York Penn Station (all other trains use the Spuyten Duyvil and Port Morris Railroad to access the New York and Harlem Railroad
New York and Harlem Railroad
The New York and Harlem Railroad was one of the first railroads in the United States, and possibly also the world's first street railway. Designed by John Stephenson, it was opened in stages between 1832 and 1852 between Lower Manhattan to and beyond Harlem...
). A surviving section of the High Line
High Line
The High Line is a New York City linear park built on a section of the former elevated freight railroad spur called the West Side Line, which runs along the lower west side of Manhattan; it has been redesigned and planted as an aerial greenway...
, in the Chelsea section of Manhattan, has recently opened as a successful linear park.
Vanderbilt years: 1867–1954
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...
to New York City, with the leased Troy and Greenbush Railroad running from Albany north to Troy.
Vanderbilt's other lines were operated as part of the NYC; these included the New York and Harlem Railroad
New York and Harlem Railroad
The New York and Harlem Railroad was one of the first railroads in the United States, and possibly also the world's first street railway. Designed by John Stephenson, it was opened in stages between 1832 and 1852 between Lower Manhattan to and beyond Harlem...
, Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway
Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway
The Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, sometimes referred to as the Lake Shore, was a major part of the New York Central Railroad's Water Level Route from Buffalo, NY to Chicago, primarily along the south shore of Lake Erie and across northern Indiana...
, Canada Southern Railway
Canada Southern Railway
The Canada Southern Railway was a railway in southern Ontario, Canada, founded on February 28, 1868 as the Erie and Niagara Extension Railway. It adopted the Canada Southern Railway name on December 24, 1869. In 1904 the railway was leased to the Michigan Central Railroad for 99 years; in 1929 it...
and Michigan Central Railroad
Michigan Central Railroad
The Michigan Central Railroad was originally incorporated in 1846 to establish rail service between Detroit, Michigan and St. Joseph, Michigan. The railroad later operated in the states of Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois in the United States, and the province of Ontario in Canada...
.
The Spuyten Duyvil and Port Morris Railroad was chartered in 1869 and opened in 1871, providing a route on the north side of the Harlem River
Harlem River
The Harlem River is a navigable tidal strait in New York City, USA that flows 8 miles between the Hudson River and the East River, separating the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx...
for trains along the Hudson River to head southeast to the New York and Harlem Railroad
New York and Harlem Railroad
The New York and Harlem Railroad was one of the first railroads in the United States, and possibly also the world's first street railway. Designed by John Stephenson, it was opened in stages between 1832 and 1852 between Lower Manhattan to and beyond Harlem...
towards Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal —often incorrectly called Grand Central Station, or shortened to simply Grand Central—is a terminal station at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States...
or the freight facilities at Port Morris. From opening it was leased by the NYC.
The Geneva and Lyons Railroad
Geneva and Lyons Railroad
The Geneva and Lyons Railroad was organized in 1877 and opened in 1878, leased by the New York Central from opening. This was a north-south railroad between Syracuse and Rochester, running from the main line at Lyons south to the Auburn Road at Geneva. It was merged into the New York Central in...
was organized in 1877 and opened in 1878, leased by the NYC from opening. This was a north-south connection between Syracuse and Rochester, running from the main line at Lyons
Lyons, New York
Lyons, New York may refer to either of two places in Wayne County, New York, USA:* Lyons , New York* Lyons , New York...
south to the Auburn Road at Geneva. It was merged into the NYC in 1890.
Boston and Albany Railroad
The Boston and Albany Railroad was a railroad connecting Boston, Massachusetts to Albany, New York, later becoming part of the New York Central Railroad system, Conrail and CSX. The line is used by CSX for freight...
was leased by the NYC, although it retained a separate identity. In 1914 the name was changed again, forming the modern New York Central Railroad.
The Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway
Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway
The Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway, also known as the Big Four Railroad and commonly abbreviated CCC&StL, was a railroad company in the Midwestern United States....
, also known as the Big Four, was formed on June 30, 1889 by the merger of the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Indianapolis Railway
Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Indianapolis Railway
The Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Indianapolis Railway was formed from the merger of the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad with the Bellefontaine Railway in 1868...
, the Cincinnati, Indianapolis, St. Louis and Chicago Railway
Cincinnati, Indianapolis, St. Louis and Chicago Railway
The Cincinnati, Indianapolis, St. Louis and Chicago Railway is a historic railroad in the United States.The CISL&C resulted from the 1880 corporate restructuring of the bankrupt Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Lafayette Railroad...
and the Indianapolis and St. Louis Railway. The following year, the company gained control of the former Indiana Bloomington and Western Railway
Indiana Bloomington and Western Railway
The Indiana, Bloomington and Western Railway was a railroad that once operated in Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio.Its immediate predecessor, the Indianapolis, Bloomington and Western Railway, was formed on July 20, 1869, from the merger of the Indianapolis, Crawfordsville and Danville Railroad with the...
. By 1906, the Big Four was itself acquired by the New York Central Railroad.
The generally level topography of the NYC system had a character distinctively different than the mountainous terrain of its arch rival, 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....
. Most of its major routes, including New York to Chicago, followed rivers and had no significant grades other than West Albany Hill. This influenced a great deal about the line that was became known as the Water Level Route, from advertising to locomotive design.
Steam locomotives of the NYC were optimized for speed on that flat raceway of a main line, rather than slow mountain lugging. Famous locomotives of the system included the well-known 4-6-4
4-6-4
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-6-4 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles , six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and four trailing wheels on two axles .Other equivalent classifications are:UIC classification:...
Hudsons
NYC Hudson
Hudson was the name given to the 4-6-4 steam locomotive wheel arrangement by the New York Central Railroad which was the first to use locomotives of this type in North America.-History:...
, particularly the 1937–38 J-3a's; 4-8-2
4-8-2
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-8-2 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles , eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and two trailing wheels on one axle...
World War II–era L-3 and L-4 Mohawks
NYC Mohawk
The New York Central Railroad called the 4-8-2 type of steam locomotive the Mohawk type. It was known as the Mountain type on other roads, but the mighty New York Central didn't see the name to be fitting on its famous Water Level Route, so it instead picked the name of one of those rivers its...
; and the postwar S-class Niagaras
NYC Niagara
The New York Central Railroad Niagara was a type of steam locomotive named after the Niagara River and Falls.They were express mixed traffic locomotives with a wheel arrangement of 4-8-4 in the Whyte notation....
: fast 4-8-4
4-8-4
Under the Whyte notation classification of steam locomotives, 4-8-4 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles , eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and four trailing wheels on two axles .Other equivalent classifications are:UIC classification: 2D2...
locomotives often considered the epitome of their breed by steam locomotive aficionados.
Despite having some of the most modern steam locomotive
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
s anywhere, NYC's difficult financial position caused it to convert to more economical diesel-electric
Diesel locomotive
A diesel locomotive is a type of railroad locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine, a reciprocating engine operating on the Diesel cycle as invented by Dr. Rudolf Diesel...
power rapidly. All lines east of Cleveland, Ohio were dieselized as of August 7, 1953. Niagaras were all retired by 1956. The last steam was retired in 1957. But, the economics of northeastern railroading became so dire that not even this switch could change things for the better.
Bypasses
A number of bypasses and cutoffs were built around congested areas.The Junction Railroad's Buffalo Belt Line opened in 1871, providing a bypass of Buffalo, New York
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
to the northeast, as well as a loop route for passenger trains via downtown. The West Shore Railroad
West Shore Railroad
The West Shore Railroad was the final name of a railroad from Weehawken, New Jersey, across the Hudson River from New York City, north along the west shore of the river to Albany, New York and then west to Buffalo...
, acquired in 1885, provided a bypass around Rochester, New York
Rochester, New York
Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...
. The Terminal Railway's Gardenville Cutoff, allowing through traffic to bypass Buffalo to the southeast, opened in 1898.
The Schenectady Detour consisted of two connections to the West Shore Railroad
West Shore Railroad
The West Shore Railroad was the final name of a railroad from Weehawken, New Jersey, across the Hudson River from New York City, north along the west shore of the river to Albany, New York and then west to Buffalo...
, allowing through trains to bypass the steep grades at Schenectady, New York
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...
. The full project opened in 1902. The Cleveland Short Line Railway
Cleveland Short Line Railway
The Cleveland Short Line Railway was a freight bypass around southern Cleveland, Ohio on the New York Central Railroad's Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway system. It is now owned and used by CSX.-History:...
built a bypass of Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
, completed in 1912. In 1924, the Alfred H. Smith Memorial Bridge
Alfred H. Smith Memorial Bridge
The Alfred H. Smith Memorial Bridge is a railroad bridge spanning the Hudson River at Castleton-on-Hudson and Selkirk, New York in the United States....
was constructed as part of the Hudson River Connecting Railroad's Castleton Cut-Off, a 27.5-mile-long freight bypass of the congested West Albany
West Albany, New York
West Albany is a hamlet in the town of Colonie, Albany County, New York. Parts of the neighboring city of Albany around Watervliet Avenue Extension and Industrial Park Road are also considered part of West Albany and includes the majority of the West Albany Rail Yard...
terminal area and West Albany Hill.
An unrelated realignment was made in the 1910s at Rome, when the Erie Canal
Erie Canal
The Erie Canal is a waterway in New York that runs about from Albany, New York, on the Hudson River to Buffalo, New York, at Lake Erie, completing a navigable water route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. The canal contains 36 locks and encompasses a total elevation differential of...
was realigned and widened onto a new alignment south of downtown Rome. The NYC main line was shifted south out of downtown to the south bank of the new canal. A bridge was built southeast of downtown, roughly where the old main line crossed the path of the canal, to keep access to from the southeast. West of downtown, the old main line was abandoned, but a brand new railroad line was built, running north from the NYC main line to the NYC's former Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg Railroad
Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg Railroad
The Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg Railroad, commonly known as The Hojack Line, operated along the south shore of Lake Ontario, from Niagara Falls, New York to Oswego, New York. Different segments of the line were abandoned at different times...
, allowing all NYC through traffic to bypass Rome.
Trains
For two-thirds of the twentieth century, the New York Central was known to have some of the most famous trains in the United States. Its 20th Century Limited20th Century Limited
The 20th Century Limited was an express passenger train operated by the New York Central Railroad from 1902 to 1967, during which time it would become known as a "National Institution" and the "Most Famous Train in the World". In the year of its last run, The New York Times said that it "...was...
, begun in 1902, ran from Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal —often incorrectly called Grand Central Station, or shortened to simply Grand Central—is a terminal station at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States...
in New York to LaSalle Street Station
LaSalle Street Station
LaSalle Street Station is a commuter rail terminal at 414 S. LaSalle Street in downtown Chicago, Illinois, serving Metra's Rock Island District. It was a major intercity rail terminal for the New York Central Railroad until 1968 and the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad until 1978. The...
Chicago and was its most famous train, known for its red carpet treatment and first class service. In the mid 1930s most railroad companies were introducing streamliner
Streamliner
A streamliner is a vehicle incorporating streamlining in a shape providing reduced air resistance. The term is applied to high-speed railway trainsets of the 1930s to 1950s, and to their successor "bullet trains". Less commonly, the term is applied to fully faired recumbent bicycles...
locomotives which by design reducing wind resistance and increased speed. And until the New York Central in the 1930s introduced the Commodore Vanderbilt all were diesel-electric locomotives. The Vanderbilt used the more common steam engine. In 1935 the New York Central introduced a second stream engine streamliner based on its experience with the Vanderbilt, the Century, which followed the Water Level Route, could complete the 960.7-mile trip in just 16 hours after its June 15, 1938 streamlining (and did it in 15½ hours for a short period after World War II). Also famous was its Empire State Express
Empire State Express
The Empire State Express was one of the named passenger trains and onetime flagship of the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad...
through upstate New York to Buffalo and Cleveland, and Ohio State Limited
Ohio State Limited
The Ohio State Limited was a named passenger train of the New York Central Railroad, which either started or terminated at Grand Central Terminal in the heart of New York City to or from the Cincinnati Union Terminal. The Ohio State Limited was the Central's answer to the Pennsylvania Railroad's...
from New York to Cincinnati. NYC also provided the Rexall Train of 1936, which toured 47 states to promote the Rexall chain of drug stores.
List of Famous New York Central Trains:
New York to Chicago
- 20th Century Limited20th Century LimitedThe 20th Century Limited was an express passenger train operated by the New York Central Railroad from 1902 to 1967, during which time it would become known as a "National Institution" and the "Most Famous Train in the World". In the year of its last run, The New York Times said that it "...was...
: New York to Chicago (limited stops) via the Water Level Route 1902–1967 - Commodore Vanderbilt: New York–Chicago (a few more stops) via the Water Level Route
- Lake Shore LimitedLake Shore Limited (NYC train)The Lake Shore Limited was a passenger train service operated by the New York Central Railroad between New York City and Chicago, Illinois, from 1897 to 1956. Separate sections linked to Boston and St. Louis. The Lake Shore Limited was the New York Central's first luxury passenger train, and paved...
: New York–Chicago via Cleveland with branch service to Boston and St. Louis 1896–1956, 1971–Present (Reinstated and combined with New England States by Amtrak in 1971) - Chicagoan: New York–Chicago
- Pacemaker: New York–Chicago all-coach train via Cleveland
- Wolverine: New York-Chicago via southern Ontario and Detroit
The Mercuries- All Mercuries ran between 1936 and 1959
- Chicago Mercury: Chicago-Detroit
- Cincinnati Mercury: Cleveland-Cincinnati
- Cleveland Mercury: Detroit-Cleveland
- Detroit Mercury: Cleveland-Detroit
New York to St. Louis
- Knickerbocker: New York–St. Louis
- Southwestern Limited: New York–St. Louis
Other Trains
- Empire State ExpressEmpire State ExpressThe Empire State Express was one of the named passenger trains and onetime flagship of the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad...
: New York-Buffalo and Cleveland via the Empire Corridor 1891–Present (Retained by Penn Central and Amtrak but renamed Empire ServiceEmpire ServiceEmpire Service could refer to* Empire Service — a train service in New York State* BBC Empire Service — a radio service, the forerunner to the BBC World Service. - a cargo ship....
by Amtrak, which operates from New York to Niagara Falls, NY) - Ohio State LimitedOhio State LimitedThe Ohio State Limited was a named passenger train of the New York Central Railroad, which either started or terminated at Grand Central Terminal in the heart of New York City to or from the Cincinnati Union Terminal. The Ohio State Limited was the Central's answer to the Pennsylvania Railroad's...
: New York-Cincinnati via Empire Corridor - XplorerXplorerXplorer may refer to:* Xplorer , a New York Central Railroad passenger train in Ohio introduced in 1956* CountryLink Xplorer, a passenger train in Australia introduced in 1993* xplorer², a Windows file manager...
: Cleveland-Cincinnati 1958–1960 (Special experimental lightweight train) - Cleveland Limited: New York–Cleveland
- Detroiter: New York–Detroit
- James Whitcomb RileyJames Whitcomb Riley (train)The James Whitcomb Riley was a passenger train operated by the New York Central between Chicago, Illinois and Cincinnati, Ohio via Indianapolis, Indiana...
: Chicago-Cincinnati - Michigan: Chicago-Detroit
- Motor City Special: Chicago-Detroit
- New England StatesNew England StatesThe New England States was a passenger train operated by the New York Central Railroad and its successor Penn Central over the Water Level Route between Chicago and points east. The New York Central introduced the New England States on June 15, 1938, coinciding with the relaunch of the Twentieth...
: Boston-Chicago via the Water Level Route 1938–1971 (Retained by Penn Central and, for Amtrak, combined with reinstated Lake Shore Limited) - Twilight Limited: Chicago-Detroit
All trains operated out of Grand Central Terminal in New York, Weehawken Terminal in Jersey City, South Station
South Station
South Station, New England's second-largest transportation center , located at the intersection of Atlantic Avenue and Summer Street in Dewey Square, Boston, Massachusetts, is the largest train station and intercity bus terminal in Greater Boston, a prominent train station in the northeastern...
in Boston, Cincinnati Union Terminal in Cincinnati, Michigan Central Station
Michigan Central Station
Michigan Central Station , built in mid-1912 through 1913 for the Michigan Central Railroad, was Detroit, Michigan's passenger rail depot from its opening in 1913 after the previous Michigan Central Station burned, until the cessation of Amtrak service on January 6, 1988...
in Detroit, St. Louis Union Station
St. Louis Union Station
St. Louis Union Station, a National Historic Landmark, is a passenger train terminal in St. Louis, Missouri. Once the world's largest and busiest train station, it was converted in the early 1980s into a luxury hotel, shopping center, and entertainment complex...
, and LaSalle Street Station in Chicago.
The New York Central, like most other railroads, also operated a fairly extensive network of commuter lines throughout New York and Massachusetts. Residents of Westchester County, New York
Westchester County, New York
Westchester County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. Westchester covers an area of and has a population of 949,113 according to the 2010 Census, residing in 45 municipalities...
, were serviced by the railroad's Hudson, Harlem, and Putnam lines, into Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan (Putnam Division trains required a change at High Bridge, NY), while residents of New Jersey and Rockland County, New York were serviced by the West Shore Line between Jersey City and West Haverstraw, New York: located on the west side of the Hudson River.
Decline
The New York Central, as with most other U.S. railroads, began a precipitous decline once the Second World War ended. Problems that plagued the railroad industry since before the war, such as over-regulation by the Interstate Commerce CommissionInterstate Commerce Commission
The Interstate Commerce Commission was a regulatory body in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads to ensure fair rates, to eliminate rate discrimination, and to regulate other aspects of common carriers, including...
(ICC), which severely regulated the rates charged by the railroad, along with continuing competition from automobiles resurfaced. These problems were coupled with even more formidable forms of competition, such as the rapid development of reliable propeller and jet airplane service in the 1950s which began to deprive the NYC of its long-distance passenger trade. The signing of the Interstate Highway Act of 1956 helped create a network of more convenient and efficient roadways for motor vehicle travel throughout the country, enticing many more people to travel by car, as well as haul freight by truck rather than by rail. Additionally, the 1959 opening of the Saint Lawrence Seaway
Saint Lawrence Seaway
The Saint Lawrence Seaway , , is the common name for a system of locks, canals and channels that permits ocean-going vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the North American Great Lakes, as far as Lake Superior. Legally it extends from Montreal to Lake Erie, including the Welland Canal...
adversely affected the NYC freight business. Container shipments could now be directly shipped to ports along the Great Lakes, eliminating the railroads' once-lucrative freight hauls between the east and the Midwest.
At the same time, the NYC also carried a substantial tax burden. Federal, state, and local governments, far from providing needed support to passenger rail, viewed rail infrastructure as a ready source for property tax revenues: taxes that were not similarly imposed upon interstate highways. To make matters even worse, most railroads, including the NYC, were also saddled with a World War II–era excise tax of 15% on passenger rail travel, which remained until 1962: 17 years after the end of the war. These factors contributed to the overall weakening of all railroads throughout the United States, leading the New York Central into a slow decline.
Robert R. Young 1954–1958
In June 1954, management of the New York Central System lost a proxy fightProxy fight
A proxy fight or proxy battle is an event that may occur when a corporation's stockholders develop opposition to some aspect of the corporate governance, often focusing on directorial and management positions. Corporate activists may attempt to persuade shareholders to use their proxy votes A proxy...
in 1954 to Robert Ralph Young
Robert R. Young
Robert Ralph Young was a United States financier and industrialist. He is best-known for leading the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway and New York Central Railroad during and after World War II. He was a brother-in-law of the famous western painter Georgia O'Keeffe.Because of his initials, R.R...
and the Alleghany Corporation he led.
Alleghany Corporation
Alleghany Corp.
Alleghany Corporation is an investment holding company originally created by the railroad entrepreneurs Oris and Mantis Van Sweringen as a holding company for their railroad interests...
was a real estate and railroad empire built by the Van Sweringen brothers
Van Sweringen brothers
Oris Paxton Van Sweringen and Mantis James Van Sweringen were brothers who became railroad barons in order to develop Shaker Heights, Ohio. They are better known as O.P. Van Sweringen and M.J. Van Sweringen, or by their collective nickname, the Vans...
of Cleveland
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
in the 1920's and had notably controlled the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway
The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was a Class I railroad formed in 1869 in Virginia from several smaller Virginia railroads begun in the 19th century. Led by industrialist Collis P...
(C&O) and the Nickel Plate Road
New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad
The New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad , abbreviated NYC&St.L, was a railroad that operated in the mid-central United States. Commonly referred to as the Nickel Plate Road, the railroad served a large area, including trackage in the states of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois...
. It eventually fell under the control of Young and financier Allan Price Kirby during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
.
R. R. Young was considered a railroad visionary, but found the failing New York Central in worse shape than he had imagined. Unable to keep his promises, Young was forced to suspend dividend payments in January, 1958. He committed suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
later that month.
Alfred E. Perlman 1958–1968
After his suicide, Young's role in NYC management was assumed by Alfred E. PerlmanAlfred E. Perlman
Alfred Edward Perlman was a railroad executive, having served as president of the Penn Central Transportation Company, and its predecessor, the New York Central Railroad.- Career :...
, who had been working with the NYC under Young since 1954. Despite the dismal financial condition of the railroad, Perlman was able to streamline many of the railroad's operations and save the company money. Starting in 1959, Perlman was able to reduce operating deficits by $7.7 million, which nominally raised NYC stock to $1.29 per share, producing dividends of an amount not seen since the end of the war. By 1964, he was able to reduce the NYC long term debt by nearly $100 million, while at the same time reducing passenger deficits from $42 to $24.6 million.
Perlman also enacted several modernization projects throughout the railroad. Most notable was the pioneering use of Centralized Traffic Control (CTC) systems on many of the NYC lines, which reduced the famous four-track mainline to two tracks. Additionally, he oversaw the construction and/or modernization of many hump or classification yards: most notably, the $20-million Selkirk Yard which opened outside of 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...
in 1966. Perlman also experimented with jet train
Turbojet train
A turbojet train is a train powered by turbojet engines. Like a jet aircraft, but unlike a gas turbine locomotive, the train is propelled by the jet thrust of the engines, rather than by by its wheels....
s, creating a Budd RDC car (the M-497 Black Beetle
M-497 Black Beetle
The M-497 was an experimental jet-powered locomotive test bed of the New York Central Railroad corporation, developed and tested in 1966 in the United States of America...
) powered by two J47 jet engine
Jet engine
A jet engine is a reaction engine that discharges a fast moving jet to generate thrust by jet propulsion and in accordance with Newton's laws of motion. This broad definition of jet engines includes turbojets, turbofans, rockets, ramjets, pulse jets...
s stripped from a B-36 Peacemaker intercontinental bomber as a potential solution to increasing car and airplane competition. While a technical success, the project did not leave the prototype stage.
Nevertheless, Perlman's cuts resulted in the curtailing of many of the railroad's services. The commuter lines in around New York were particularly affected by this. Between 1958 and 1959, service was suspended on the NYC's Putnam Division in Westchester and Putnam counties. Additionally, the NYC abandoned its ferry service across the Hudson to Weehawken Terminal
Weehawken Terminal
Weehawken Terminal was the waterfront intermodal terminal on the North River in Weehawken, New Jersey for the New York Central Railroad's West Shore Railroad division. It opened in 1884 and closed in 1959. The complex contained five ferry slips, sixteen passenger train tracks, car float...
in Jersey City. This negatively impacted the railroad's West Shore Line, which ran along the west bank of the Hudson River from Jersey City to Albany, which saw long-distance service to Albany discontinued in 1958 and commuter service between Jersey City and West Haverstraw, New York
West Haverstraw, New York
West Haverstraw is a village in the Town of Haverstraw Rockland County, New York, United States located northwest of the Village of Haverstraw; east of Thiells; south of the Hamlet of Stony Point and west of the Hudson River. The population was 10,295 at the 2000 census...
terminated in 1959. However, ridding itself of the majority of its commuter service proved impossible due to the heavy patronage of these lines in and around metro New York, which the ICC mandated the railroad still operate, further draining the NYC's resources.
Many long-distance and regional-haul passenger trains were either discontinued or downgraded in service, with coach cars replacing Pullman, parlor, and sleeping cars on routes throughout Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. The Empire Corridor
Empire Corridor
The Empire Corridor is a term used to refer to the approximately corridor between Niagara Falls and New York City, including the cities of Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Utica, Schenectady and Albany. The Empire Service and Maple Leaf serve the entire length of this corridor, and the Maple Leaf...
between Albany and Buffalo saw service greatly reduced with service beyond Buffalo to Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls
The Niagara Falls, located on the Niagara River draining Lake Erie into Lake Ontario, is the collective name for the Horseshoe Falls and the adjacent American Falls along with the comparatively small Bridal Veil Falls, which combined form the highest flow rate of any waterfalls in the world and has...
discontinued completely in 1961. On December 3, 1967, most of the great long-distance trains were terminated, including the famed "Twentieth Century Limited". The railroad's extensive branch line service off the Empire Corridor in upstate New York was also gradually discontinued, the last being its Utica Branch between Utica and Lake Placid, in 1965. Many of the railroad's great train stations in Rochester, Schenectady, and Albany were either demolished or abandoned in an effort to raise money and save on operating costs. Despite the savings these cuts created, it was apparent that if the railroad was to become solvent again a more permanent solution was needed.
Merger with the Pennsylvania Railroad
One problem that many of the Northeastern railroads faced was the fact that the railroad market was saturated for the dwindling rail traffic that remained. The NYC had to compete with its two biggest rivals: the Pennsylvania RailroadPennsylvania 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....
(PRR), and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was one of the oldest railroads in the United States and the first common carrier railroad. It came into being mostly because the city of Baltimore wanted to compete with the newly constructed Erie Canal and another canal being proposed by Pennsylvania, which...
(B&O), in addition to more moderate-size railroads such as the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad (DLW), the Erie Railroad
Erie Railroad
The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in New York State, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, originally connecting New York City with Lake Erie...
, the Reading Company
Reading Company
The Reading Company , usually called the Reading Railroad, officially the Philadelphia and Reading Rail Road and then the Philadelphia and Reading Railway until 1924, operated in southeast Pennsylvania and neighboring states...
, the Central Railroad of New Jersey
Central Railroad of New Jersey
The Central Railroad of New Jersey , commonly known as the Jersey Central Lines or CNJ, was a Class I railroad with origins in the 1830s, lasting until 1976 when it was absorbed into Conrail with the other bankrupt railroads of the Northeastern United States...
, and the Lehigh Valley Railroad
Lehigh Valley Railroad
The Lehigh Valley Railroad was one of a number of railroads built in the northeastern United States primarily to haul anthracite coal.It was authorized April 21, 1846 in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and incorporated September 20, 1847 as the Delaware, Lehigh, Schuylkill and Susquehanna Railroad...
. Mergers of these railroads seemed a promising way for these companies to streamline operations and reduce the competition. The DL&W and Erie railroads had showed some success when they began merging their operations in 1956, finally leading to the formation of the Erie Lackawanna Railroad in 1960. Other mergers combined the Virginian Railway
Virginian Railway
The Virginian Railway was a Class I railroad located in Virginia and West Virginia in the United States. The VGN was created to transport high quality "smokeless" bituminous coal from southern West Virginia to port at Hampton Roads....
, Wabash Railroad
Wabash Railroad
The Wabash Railroad was a Class I railroad that operated in the mid-central United States. It served a large area, including trackage in the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri and Ontario. Its primary connections included Chicago, Illinois, Kansas City, Missouri, Detroit,...
, Nickel Plate Road and several others into the 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....
(N&W) system, and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was one of the oldest railroads in the United States and the first common carrier railroad. It came into being mostly because the city of Baltimore wanted to compete with the newly constructed Erie Canal and another canal being proposed by Pennsylvania, which...
(B&O), Western Maryland Railroad (WM), and Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) combined with others to form the Chessie System
Chessie System
Chessie System, Inc. was a holding company that owned the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway , the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad , the Western Maryland Railway , and several smaller carriers. It was incorporated in Virginia on February 26, 1973, and it acquired the C&O on June 15...
. Heavy streamlining and reduction in passenger services led to the success of many of these mergers.
Following this trend, the NYC began to look for a potential railroad to merge with as early as the mid 1950s and had originally sought out mergers with the B&O and the NYC-controlled Nickel Plate Road. Unlike the aforementioned mergers, however, a NYC merger proved tricky due to the fact that the railroad still operated a fairly extensive amount of regional and commuter passenger services that were under mandates by the Interstate Commerce Commission to maintain.
It soon became apparent that the only other railroad with enough capital to allow for a potentially successful merger proved to be the NYC's chief rival, the PRR: itself a railroad that still had a large passenger trade. Merger talks between the two roads were discussed as early as 1955; however, this was delayed due to a number of factors: among them, interference by the Interstate Commerce Commission, objections from operating unions, concerns from competing railroads, and the inability of the two companies themselves to formulate a merger plan, thus delaying progress for over a decade. Two major points of contention centered around which railroad should have the majority controlling interest going into the merger. Perlman's cost-cutting during the '50s and '60s put the NYC in a more financially healthy situation than the PRR. Nevertheless, the ICC, with urging by PRR President Stuart Saunders
Stuart Saunders
Stuart Lucas Saunders was an Australian cricket player, who played for the Tasmanian Tigers. He was a Right-handed batsman and right arm leg break bowler who represented Tasmania from 1979 until 1989.-External links:...
, wanted the PRR to absorb the NYC. Another point centered around the ICC's wanting to force the bankrupt New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , was a railroad that operated in the northeast United States from 1872 to 1968 which served the states of Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts...
, better known as the New Haven, into the new system, which it did in 1969, something to which both companies objected. Eventually, both points would ultimately lead to the new Penn Central's demise.
In December, 1967, the New York Central published its last public timetable. The final timetable revealed a drastically truncated passenger schedule in anticipation of its merger with the PRR. Most deluxe long-distance passenger trains ended on December 3, 1967, including the famed 20th Century Limited
20th Century Limited
The 20th Century Limited was an express passenger train operated by the New York Central Railroad from 1902 to 1967, during which time it would become known as a "National Institution" and the "Most Famous Train in the World". In the year of its last run, The New York Times said that it "...was...
. Only those trains which were to be continued after the merger with the PRR were retained, along with the railroad's commuter trains.
Penn Central 1968–1976
On February 1, 1968, the New York Central was absorbed by the Pennsylvania RailroadPennsylvania 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....
, forming the new Pennsylvania New York Central Transportation Company that was eventually renamed the Penn Central Transportation Company, with the NYC's Alfred Perlman as president. Penn Central was quickly saddled with debt when the ICC forced the money-losing New Haven into the railroad in 1969. In addition, unlike the Erie Lackawanna, the merger was handled in a haphazard manner with no formal merger plan implemented. The two companies' competing corporate cultures, union interest, and incompatible operating and computer systems sabotaged any hope for a success. Additionally in an effort to look profitable Perlman authorized the use of the railroad's reserve cash to pay dividends to company stockholders. Nevertheless, on June 21, 1970 Penn Central declared bankruptcy, the largest private bankruptcy in the United States to that time. Under bankruptcy protection many of Penn Central's outstanding debts owed to other railroads were frozen, while debts owed to Penn Central by the other roads were not. This sent a trickle effect throughout the already fragile railroad industry forcing many of the other Northeastern railroads into insolvency, among them the Erie Lackawanna, Boston and Maine, the Central Railroad of New Jersey, the Reading Company, and the Lehigh Valley.
Penn Central marked the last hope of privately funded passenger rail service in the United States. In response to the bankruptcy President Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
signed into law the Rail Passenger Service Act of 1970 which formed the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, better known as Amtrak, a nationalized government owned and subsidized railroad. On May 1, 1971 Amtrak assumed the responsibility of most regional and long distance intercity passenger trains in the United States. Amtrak would eventually assume ownership of the Northeast Corridor
Northeast Corridor
The Northeast Corridor is a fully electrified railway line owned primarily by Amtrak serving the Northeast megalopolis of the United States from Boston in the north, via New York to Washington, D.C. in the south, with branches serving other cities...
, a mostly electrified route between Boston and Washington, D.C. inherited primarily from the PRR and New Haven systems. Penn Central and the other railroads were still obligated to operate their commuter services for the next five years while in bankruptcy, eventually turning them over to the newly formed Conrail in 1976. There was some hope that Penn Central, and the other Northeastern railroads, could be restructured towards profitability once their burdensome passenger deficits were unloaded. However, this was not to be and the railroads never recovered from their respective bankruptcies.
Conrail and CSX 1976–present
Conrail, officially the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was created by the U.S. Government to salvage Penn Central, and the other bankrupt railroads freight business, beginning its operations on April 1, 1976. As mentioned, Conrail assumed control of Penn Central's commuter lines throughout the Lower Hudson Valley of New York, Connecticut, and in and around Boston. In 1983 these commuter services would be turned over to the state funded Metro North Railroad in New York and Connecticut, and Massachusetts Bay Transportation AuthorityMassachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, often referred to as the MBTA or simply The T, is the public operator of most bus, subway, commuter rail and ferry systems in the greater Boston, Massachusetts, area. Officially a "body politic and corporate, and a political subdivision" of the...
in Massachusetts. Conrail would go on to achieve profitability by the 1990s and was sought by several other large railroads in a continuing trend of mergers eventually having its assets absorbed by CSX and Norfolk Southern.
Conrail, in an effort to streamline its operations, was forced to abandon miles of both NYC and PRR trackage. Nevertheless the majority of the NYC system is still intact and used by both CSX and Amtrak. Among the lines still used is the famed Water Level Route between New York and Chicago, as well as its former Boston & Albany line between these points, the Kankakee Belt Route through Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa, and the West Shore Line between Jersey City and the Albany suburb of Selkirk where the old NYC – now CSX – Selkirk Yard is among the busiest freight yards in the country.
On June 6, 1998, most of Conrail was split between Norfolk Southern and CSX. New York Central Lines LLC
New York Central Lines LLC
New York Central Lines LLC was a limited liability company that owned railroad lines in the United States that are owned and operated by CSX Transportation. The company was formed in 1998 to own Conrail lines assigned to CSX in the split of Conrail between CSX and the Norfolk Southern Railway;...
was formed as a subsidiary of Conrail, containing the lines to be operated by CSX; this included the old Water Level Route and many other lines of the New York Central, as well as various lines from other companies. It also assumed the NYC reporting mark
Reporting mark
A reporting mark is a two-, three-, or four-letter alphabetic code used to identify owners or lessees of rolling stock and other equipment used on the North American railroad network. The marks are stenciled on each piece of equipment, along with a one-to-six-digit number, which together uniquely...
. CSX eventually fully absorbed it, as part of a streamlining of Conrail operations.
See also
- 20th Century Limited20th Century LimitedThe 20th Century Limited was an express passenger train operated by the New York Central Railroad from 1902 to 1967, during which time it would become known as a "National Institution" and the "Most Famous Train in the World". In the year of its last run, The New York Times said that it "...was...
- Empire State ExpressEmpire State ExpressThe Empire State Express was one of the named passenger trains and onetime flagship of the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad...
- Merchants DespatchMerchants DespatchThe Merchants Despatch Transportation Company was established in 1857 or 1858 by the American Express Company of New York...
- David L. GunnDavid L. GunnDavid L. Gunn is a transportation system administrator who has headed several significant railroads and transit systems in North America....
- Kankakee Belt RouteKankakee Belt RouteThe Kankakee Belt Route is the nickname for the Illinois Division of the New York Central Railroad, which extended from South Bend, Indiana, through Kankakee, Illinois, and westward to Zearing, Illinois....
- Ohio State LimitedOhio State LimitedThe Ohio State Limited was a named passenger train of the New York Central Railroad, which either started or terminated at Grand Central Terminal in the heart of New York City to or from the Cincinnati Union Terminal. The Ohio State Limited was the Central's answer to the Pennsylvania Railroad's...
- Xplorer
- New York Central Railroad Museum
- New York Central Tugboat 13New York Central Tugboat 13New York Central Railroad Tugboat No. 13 is a railroad tug boat built in 1887 in Camden, New Jersey by John A. Dialogue and Sons.It is currently undergoing extensive renovation at Garpo Marine in Tottenville, Staten Island....