Frank's Photography Site

Southern Tier (NY) rail views - October, 2013

This is part three of a 3-part series of photos I took from October 17-19, 2013.
The first picture was taken across the river west of Endicott, NY from the small boat launch area on the south side
of the Valley View Drive (962J) bridge. A Norfolk Southern freight was heading east on the old Erie main,
and I tried to snap it just as the front loco came into the cleared area under the bridge.
Here you see 8042 in the lead, followed by a second engine. It was a good-sized freight run (lengthwise)
and many of the cars may have been fracking sand, according to Henry Sommers (with whom I was meeting at the time).

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The next few photos were taken between Nineveh and Afton (NY), where a train was stopped on the old D&H line.
This was looking through the trees along Route 7. Engine 9359 was in the lead, followed by two other engines.
The train was only a couple dozen cars long, mostly container cars.

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Nearing the end of the train (looking east), we get a view of the bridge (just west of Afton)
where the ROW crosses over Route 7 and then runs a bit set back from the south side of the highway.

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I took a ride up to Norwich (NY) next, to see what had changed since the last time I visited that city 10 years earlier.
The ex-DL&W (later Conrail, then Susquehanna) Chenango Forks - Utica line has been out of service from Chenango Forks
to Sherburne after being damaged from major floods in 2006. After the flood, about 40 miles of track was closed.
It will be restored "at some point", but is still out of service. I had heard that the Hale Street crossing had been
"paved over" a while back, so here's a photo of that, on the south side of town (looking south).

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Looking north from the Hale Street crossing (same location as the previous photo).

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Next I visited the Norwich High School area, which was once the site of the NYO&W yard, shops and roundhouse,
until the area was redeveloped some time after abandonment of the line in 1957. Here are two photos of that area today.

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I made sure to check the status of the NYO&W bridge abutments, which I had visited in the 1980's when I lived
in the area, but had never photographed at the time. These are located off the southeast end of the HS grounds.
Here are three photos of the west bridge abutment along the Chenango River. The Hale Street bridge is just ahead (south).

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Looking north at the west abutment, and in the second photo you can see that there are still a few bolts in place.

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You can also see the concrete work of the east abutment as you look across the river, towards an undeveloped area.

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At East Main Street between Midland and West Midland Drive, once the location of the NYO&W passenger station which
burned down in 1980, you can still see the cleared ROW with a power line running along it, the same as it has been for decades.
I'm looking north across East Main Street, and I remember that there was a small gas station where I'm standing, back in the 1980's.

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Further south on West Midland Drive, the old NYO&W freight station is still standing, but has been modified for other uses.

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Now we're back along the old DL&W ROW south of East Main Street. In the 1980's there were more tracks here.
Today, it's mostly a parking area. The freight station still stands, but has been remodeled and re-purposed.

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Here's a photo I took from the same location in October 1980, when it was still Conrail territory:

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Now we are approaching East Main Street from the south. I remember the little red shop being "Casey Jones Photo" in the 1980's.

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Now here are three views of the old brick DL&W station itself, still in use as a city office for many years.

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I didn't have more time (once again) to seek out more relics (especially of the NYO&W), so had to jump further south
for now. In Greene, NY, the DL&W station is still in great shape and owned by a business. You can definitely see that
the ROW is out of service through here, although some of the grass surrounding the station has been kept nicely trimmed.

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Here's looking north from the station grounds, across Route 206.

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The last opportunity I had for rail photos on this trip was of the old D&H high bridge at Harpursville, NY.
This bridge crosses above Route 235 just north of the junction with Route 7. There was some equipment here as well,
and the current owner (Canadian Pacific) is actively maintaining the bridge, due to it being an active and important line.
In the next to last photo you can see the new plates and bolts which have been very recently replaced near the base.

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Thanks for visiting !

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