New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway

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New York, Susquehanna and Western
Reporting marks	NYSW
Locale	New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania
Dates of operation	1881 – present
Track gauge	4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm) (standard gauge)
Headquarters	Cooperstown, New York

The New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway (NYS&W), also known as the Susie-Q, or simply The Susquehanna, is an American freight railway operating over 500 miles (800 km) of track in the northeastern U.S. states of New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.^[1] It was formed in 1881 from the merger of several smaller railroads. Passenger service, including commuter service from Northern New Jersey to New York City, was offered until 1966.

The railroad was purchased by the Delaware Otsego Corporation in 1980,^[2] and became a regional player during the 1980s in the intermodal freight transport business. This saw the railroad hauling containers including Sealand and Hanjin units as part of a land bridge with Delaware and Hudson and CSX railroads. After losing the intermodal traffic in the late 1990s to CSX and Norfolk Southern (as a result of the Conrail breakup), the freight operations continue into the 21st Century with contracts to haul commercial waste and other materials.

Contents 1 Route 1.1 Southern division 1.1.1 Route Through New Jersey 1.1.2 Route Through NY and PA 1.2 Northern division 2 History 2.1 Initial construction 2.2 Aftermath of the Panic of 1873 2.3 Full control to Erie control 2.4 Enter the twentieth century 2.5 The Great Depression 2.6 Post-reorganization 2.7 Dieselization and World War II 2.8 The 1950s and 1960s 2.9 Near abandonment 2.10 Early 1980s 2.11 Late 1980s rebirth 2.12 1990s 3 NYS&W in the early 21st century 3.1 Aging locomotive fleet 4 Miscellany 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Route

The railroad is separated into two divisions at Binghamton - northern and southern.

[edit] Southern division

[edit] Route Through New Jersey

The line travels westward on its original alignment from the eastern terminus in North Bergen, New Jersey through Bergen, Passaic and Sussex counties in the northern part of the state. The beginning of the line is contained within a highly urban area and gradually enters more suburban surroundings as the line travels westward. Much elevation is gained as the line reaches its peak at Stockholm, which is the highest point on rails in New Jersey at 1013 feet (309 m). From here the line travels downhill, traversing Sparta Mountain as it enters the valley below. The railroad makes an abrupt northeastern turn at Sparta Junction as it switches to use the former right of way of the Lehigh & Hudson River Railway. From Sparta to just past the state line, the former L&HR tracks are owned by the NYS&W.

[edit] Route Through NY and PA

Upon crossing the New York State Line at Warwick, the railway continues over Norfolk Southern trackage rights through Orange County, New York. The line again changes at Campbell Hall to use the former Erie Railroad Tier Line towards Binghamton. This line is shared by the Metro-North Railroad until Port Jervis, the end of the Metro North line. Shortly after reaching Port Jervis, the tracks cross the Delaware River to enter Pennsylvania at Mill Rift. From there, the rails follow the Delaware River, hugging the contours of the land. The tracks cross back into New York from Lackawaxen. Back in New York, the tracks pass through the towns of Callicoon, Hancock, and Deposit. At Deposit, the right of way begins following the Susquehanna River southward, dipping into Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania. Along the 15 mi (25 km) in Pennsylvania the line crosses over the historic Starrucca Viaduct before swinging northward once more towards Binghamton.

[edit] Northern division

Approximately 9 mi (14.5 km) north of Binghamton, at Chenango Forks, the line branches. Two lines lead to the railroad's two northernmost termini in Syracuse and Utica, New York. The western branch passes through the towns of Marathon, Cortland, Homer and Jamesville on the way to Syracuse. On its way to Utica, the eastern branch passes through Norwich, Earlville and Richfield Junction.

[edit] History

[edit] Initial construction

At the end of the civil war, railroads in the United States expanded rapidly. The city of Paterson, New Jersey had seen considerable growth of its iron mills and manufacturing plants due to the war effort, and needed to obtain raw materials for these factories in the most economical means of the time: the railroad. The existing Morris Canal was slow and was shut down in winter due to ice. The Hoboken, Ridgefield and Paterson Railroad was chartered in 1866 to connect Paterson with the ports along the Hudson River at Hoboken. At the same time, Dewitt C. Littlejohn of Oswego, New York had gained power in the New York State Legislature and wanted to afford Oswego the growth possible by a rail connection to a major port. Littlejohn organized the New York and Oswego Midland Railroad (NY&OM), a route traversing much of New York State on its way to New York City. The next year saw more roads sprouting up between these points, with the New Jersey Western Railway (NJW) working westward from Paterson, and the Sussex Valley Railroad laying track from the New York state line at Hanford, New Jersey south to the Delaware Water Gap. The New Jersey Western was the most profitable of the roads and, led by Cornelius Wortendyke, began operating at Hawthorne in 1869. Later that year, Wortendyke signed an agreement with Dewitt Littlejohn to give the NY&OM trackage rights over the NJW to reach New York City. This agreement was pivotal, as the two roads would soon see themselves merged in 1870 to form the New Jersey Midland Railway (NJM). A leasing arrangement was set up, and work began on finishing the main line. By 1872 the line was complete from Hackensack to Hanford. Engine shops were located at Newfoundland. While the NY&OM ended some 14.5 miles north at Middletown, New York, it leased a small railroad called the Middletown, Unionville and Water Gap Railroad (MU&WG) which connected it to the NJM. The MU&WG was a branch line, and fed into the Erie Railroad. By the summer of 1872 the line was complete to Jersey City.

[edit] Aftermath of the Panic of 1873

Soon however, the Panic of 1873 saw the NY&OM go into receivership, and freight traffic detoured to the Erie at Middletown. James McCulloh and Garret Hobart took ownership of the broken railroad in 1875, and after half a decade of bondholder hearings, it was reorganized as the Midland Railway of New Jersey in 1880. Subsequently, the NY&OM went through similar proceedings and emerged as the New York, Ontario and Western Railroad.

Shortly after the panic subsided, The New York and Scranton Construction Company was founded by entrepreneurs from both of those cities to create rail routes from New York to the coal-rich Wyoming Valley in Pennsylvania. Coal was the fuel of the industrial revolution and it needed to be transported from the Pennsylvania mines to New York City and beyond. At least four railroads were chartered to build inland routes. These roads were then, after consideration, merged with the Midland Railway of New Jersey to form the New York, Susquehanna and Western in 1881. Taking into account the massive project of building a railroad across the Pocono Mountains into the Scranton-area coal mines, it was decided to let the then-extant Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (DL&W, or simply Lackawanna) handle coal traffic from the mines to an interchange about halfway to New York at Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, from whence it traveled over the NYS&W to port. In addition, passenger service between the growing Stroudsburg and New York City began in the fall of 1882, continuing until 1941.

[edit] Full control to Erie control

The Susquehanna was soon paying the DL&W and Pennsylvania Railroad substantial fees for hauling coal from inland Pennsylvania. In 1892, the management decided that the NYS&W should own the entire railroad from coal fields to port. The Susquehanna began buying oceanfront property at Edgewater, New Jersey to build docks for coal shipment. The more difficult task lay westward: building a line from Stroudsburg, PA to Wilkes-Barre — the Wilkes-Barre and Eastern Railroad. By 1896 both projects were completed and the railroad began to build north of Wilkes-Barre to Scranton and beyond. Meanwhile, the larger railroads were not ignoring this rapid expansion. J.P. Morgan, acting on behalf of the Erie Railroad, began acquiring Susquehanna stock in 1898. This continued until the Erie was a majority owner and began operating the railroad in July of 1898.^[3]

[edit] Enter the twentieth century

World War I affected the Susquehanna heavily, as the USRA nationalized all railroads between 1918 and 1920. When the railroad regained control of its lines it saw former leased Erie locomotives, especially the famous “Russian” Decapods, as the motive power throughout the railroad. The Erie continued to equip the Susquehanna well, replacing aging equipment with new, state-of-the-art locomotives and rolling stock.

[edit] The Great Depression

Beyond the loss in revenue from The Great Depression, the railroad was struck a further blow by flooding in 1936, requiring costly repair of track and equipment. In 1937, a pair of mortgage bonds the railroad had taken out came due, and the railroad could not afford repayment. The railroad filed for federal reorganization due to bankruptcy on 1937-06-01.

[edit] Post-reorganization

Under new court-appointed trustee Walter Kidde, the first act was to terminate the lease of the money-losing Wilkes-Barre and Eastern branch. Coal sales had been losing out to oil and gas since the 1930s and the branch’s losses were covered by the NYS&W as part of the lease agreement. The spring of 1938 saw a one-third reduction in commuter trains from Butler to Susquehanna Transfer, with additional runs cut that summer.

In 1940 the railroad severed the last of its ties with the Erie as it began working with the New York, Ontario and Western Railroad, sharing office facilities and shops at Middletown. These shops were already working to refurbish the ex-Erie locomotives which were now the heart of the Susquehanna fleet. Now that the railroad was standing on its own again, Kidde began the task of creating a new identity for it. He ordered ACF LRVs (see right) for use in the “Streamliner” rapid transit between Paterson and New York. These would augment the transit service already provided by ex-Erie Brill railcars. All service to Pennsylvania was dropped in 1941 with the abandonment of the Hainesburg-Stroudsburg line.

[edit] Dieselization and World War II

The newly-reinvigorated railroad was able to purchase new ALCO RS-1 and S-2 diesel locomotives to replace aging steam power. Business picked up as the war broke out, though the railroad remained under court supervision. Kidde died in 1943 and Henry K. Norton, who had been an executive under Kidde, was appointed to replace him. Under Norton the railroad saw the purchase of more ACF cars and more diesel locomotives. Indeed, by the end of the war the railroad had declared itself fully dieselized —– the first Class I railroad to achieve this in the U.S.

Norton also brokered the trading-in of the ACF cars for purchase of the railroad’s first Budd RDC cars by 1950. The first ACF unit, #1001, was destroyed when its engine caught fire. After this incident, Norton decided to not take any chances on the streamliners and decided to obtain more robust RDCs.

[edit] The 1950s and 1960s

The decade opened with a bright outlook for the Susquehanna; the last diesels on order were received, new stainless steel passenger coaches had been purchased in 1951 to match the look of the RDCs, and the railroad was declared fully reorganized by the courts in 1953. However, the recession of 1957 spelled the beginning of a new era for NYS&W. The Ontario and Western succumbed to the down turned economy and was torn up that same year. The Susquehanna, desperate to avoid the same fate, began liquidating assets. The stainless steel rolling stock was sold off, and the little-used Hanford branch was abandoned. The nearby Lehigh and New England Railroad folded in 1961, and the pressure mounted for the Susquehanna. In 1962 with the L&NE gone, the track was cut back to Sparta Junction.

Irving Maidman, a real-estate developer, bought control of the railroad and immediately secured a government grant for three new EMD GP18s. The older diesels were in disrepair and Maidman decided to cut back on maintenance to cut costs. The most drastic measure was realized on 30 June 1966, when the final commuter train operated between Butler and New York. The railroad was now solely dependent on freight revenue. In 1968 the NYS&W continued to shrink, when the line was embargoed west of Oakridge, NJ (part of Jefferson, NJ) thereby cutting off the L&HR freight interchange at Sparta.

[edit] Near abandonment

In 1971 a large rainstorm washed out the line at Smoke Rise (in Butler, NJ), cutting off the railroad’s vital connection with the Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ) at Green Pond junction (just west of Butler in West Milford), as well as to any further trackage. Soon after the washout, the CNJ abandoned its branch to the Susquehanna. The washout was never repaired, as there were no customers west of Butler at the time. In 1976 the NYSW was again in court over failure to pay New Jersey state taxes. The courts ordered the railroad to continue to operate while a feasibility study was conducted to see whether the line should continue operation or abandoned.

[edit] Early 1980s

In the early half of 1980 the courts accepted a bid for the railroad by the Delaware Otsego Corporation, headed by Walter Rich. On 1980-09-01, DO took control and the railroad was saved from abandonment.

On 1982-04-02, the railroad assumed operations of the former Lackawanna Railroad's Syracuse and Utica branches after acquiring them from Conrail. However, Conrail retained trackage all the way into Syracuse. The main route was the Utica branch, where it connected with Conrail. These new New York State rail lines were dubbed the "Northern Division". The disconnected original NYS&W main in New Jersey was dubbed the "Southern Division".

As part of the purchase of the Northern Division lines, NYS&W also purchased a portion of the former Lehigh and Hudson River Railway (L&HR), from Franklin, NJ to the New York state line at Vernon, New Jersey/Warwick, New York. Three years later, they completed the purchase of the remaining L&HR in New Jersey by acquiring the portion from Sparta to Franklin. In mid-1985 the NYS&W began an isolated service from Warwick to Sparta on this newly acquired line. They would receive cars from Conrail in Warwick and deliver them to customers in Sparta.^[4]

Seeking to link their two operations, The Susquehanna Southern Division was extended north to Binghamton, New York via Conrail haulage rights and procurement of additional existing track. The haulage agreement with Conrail was for the Susquehanna's regular manifest trains (consisting of boxcars, tanker cars, and other common freight cars). Now along with the manifest trains, Conrail crews began to operate Susquehanna stack trains over their lines.

[edit] Late 1980s rebirth

As part of the Conrail haulage agreement, Susquehanna locomotives would be needed to help power the longer and more frequent trains. Five ex-New York Central/Penn Central/Conrail ALCO C430 locomotives were purchased for this new service, along with former Burlington Northern Railroad SD45s and F45s.

During 1984-1985 the Sea-Land container company entered into an agreement with the NYS&W to use the rail yard in Little Ferry as an intermodal container facility. Sea-Land rejected an offer from Conrail to share a previously-owned facility.

Already upset over losing the Sea-Land business to the NYS&W, Conrail wanted to cancel the haulage agreement altogether, and renegotiate their rates with the smaller railroad. This left the NYS&W with the choice of renegotiating the rates at a higher cost than before, or rebuilding the line west of Butler. This line was washed out and unused since 1971. Rebuilding would lead to the negotiation of cheaper trackage rights with Conrail instead of haulage rights. Trackage rights would allow NYS&W crews to operate the trains as actual NYS&W train movements over Conrail track, rather than as part of a Conrail train. Rebuilding would be a costly measure, and Conrail never thought the smaller railroad would actually do it. However in late 1985, the NYS&W announced that they would rebuild the line to Sparta, NJ. There it would join with the recently-purchased portion of the Lehigh and Hudson River Railway. Work began in the spring of 1986, and was mostly completed by October of that year. There was now a competitor in the northeast for Conrail's business for the first time since its inception a decade before.

Four new GE Dash 8-40B locomotives were leased in 1988, the same year the Delaware & Hudson Railway was placed into receivership by Guilford Transportation Industries. With NYS&W declared as the designated operator of the D&H, the railroad found itself somewhat short on motive power. Then, two of the ALCO C430 locomotives (3002 and 3004) were wrecked within two weeks of one another after derailing on icy grade crossings.^[5][6] Justified by the new added trackage and the loss of the two ALCOs, additional Dash 8-40B engines were purchased, financed by CSX Corp.

[edit] 1990s

In 1990, CP Rail purchased the D&H, and the CSX-financed Dash 8-40B engines were returned. Also around this time, the NYS&W ordered a new Mikado-type 2-8-2 steam locomotive from the Tangshan Locomotive and Rolling Stock Works in China. The locomotive was built and placed on a Norwegian cargo ship bound for America. However, the ship sank in the Bay of Bengal, and the locomotive was lost. In late December 1992, the railroad completed the purchase of a similar locomotive from the Valley Railroad in Essex, Connecticut. This unit, known as #142, or "The 142," was also built at Tangshan, in 1988.

In 1994 Onondaga County, New York purchased the former DL&W line into Syracuse, with the proviso that the NYS&W operate RDC service in Syracuse between Syracuse University, Armory Square, and the Carousel Mall with the option for further routes. This deal went through, and OnTrack service was created. A deal to purchase the ex-DL&W station at Armory square could be not resolved, and a new station was built right next door. With operations on this new segment, the Syracuse branch was rehabilitated and the Conrail interchange relocated. Regular steam excursions were offered and RDCs refurbished for OnTrack use. Intermodal trains rolled beyond Binghamton to Syracuse for interchange with Conrail. In 1995, the railroad purchased two former CB&Q/BN EMD E9 units for passenger excursion service, and brand new EMD SD70Ms for freight service. After a few years, regular excursions were halted for the most part, with #142 going into intermittent storage at the Utica shops.

[edit] NYS&W in the early 21st century

In 1999, CSX and Norfolk Southern split up Conrail between themselves, with the two railroads taking away all of NYS&W’s intermodal business. As a result, the Susquehanna spent the next few years relying on its original local customer base for revenue freight, in addition to hosting detour and overflow traffic from CSX. Afterward, the railroad acquired contracts hauling construction debris westward from Little Ferry. These are, as of late 2006, the bulk of the long-haul operations on the railway. The rest of the operations deal with servicing the remaining customers along the line and its branches. There are two designations for the main line trains that link the two divisions, SU-99 (westbound from Little Ferry to Binghamton) and SU-100 which is the reverse eastbound.^[7]

The railroad has frequently hosted detour trains from other railroads since the Delaware Otsego era, including D&H detours on the Utica branch to CSX detours on the whole system between Syracuse and New Jersey. The line acted as an overflow route during the congestion following the Conrail breakup, and hosts regular CSX detours during maintenance on CSX's ex-NYC river line. More recent D&H (CPR) detours have been hosted as well. In February 2007 the NYS&W Railway announced it will abandon a section of its Utica Branch.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Aging locomotive fleet

At the turn of the century the NYS&W found itself with motive power concerns. The SD70Ms were leased to the Indiana & Ohio in 2001, and the leases on the Dash 8 locomotives would be up within two years. The last remaining C430s (3000 and 3006) were removed from service or needed repairs, and were sold to the Livonia, Avon, and Lakeville RR Corp. The railroad began to acquire used locomotives as it could afford them. Four former Union Pacific/Southern Pacific/D&RGW tunnel motor type locomotives were purchased. The remaining Dash 8-40Bs were off lease in 2003 and were stored before they were shipped to the Providence and Worcester Railroad the following year. ALCO/MLW C636 and M636 locomotives were first leased and then purchased from Cartier Mining in Québec. Additional locomotives were scrapped, salvaged, and rebuilt as management saw fit. F45 3636 was rebuilt and returned to service early in 2006. Ex-P&W GEs were leased, and then purchased. A former NS EMD GP40 was also purchased, the railroad's second GP40. The current roster is an amalgamation of GE, EMD, and ALCO units. Some units in active service are routinely experiencing mechanical failures. As of September 2006, several locomotives are being rebuilt and/or refurbished.

[edit] Miscellany

• The railroad numbers all locomotives according to horsepower, and even numbers are assigned to MU-equipped units. Examples include the 1800 horsepower GP-18's, which are numbered 1800, 1802 and 1804. The RDCs (numbered M1 to M5) and the 142 steam locomotive are exceptions.
• The NYS&W was one of the background railroads in the movie The Station Agent. The Morristown and Erie Railway is the other railroad.
• The NYS&W's main line reaches the highest point of any railroad in New Jersey, 1013 ft above sea level.
• The Paulinskill Valley Trail is a Rails to trails NJ trail, following the former right-of-way for 26 mi (42 km).
• The railroad has connections with three Class I railroads.
  • CSX in Syracuse, New York and North Bergen, New Jersey
  • Norfolk Southern in Binghamton, New York and the Passaic Junction rail yard in Saddle Brook, New Jersey
  • Canadian Pacific Railway in Binghamton, New York

[edit] See also

• Delaware Otsego Corporation - Parent Company for NYS&W
• Susquehanna Transfer (NYS&W station)

[edit] References

• Maywood Station Historical Committee - A station on the mainline in New Jersey
• George Povall (1986). The New Susquehanna Great Spots for Shots. 
• Krause, John and Crist, Ed (1991). Susquehanna: New York Susquehanna & Western RR. Carstens Publications. ISBN 0-911868-38-0. 
• Ontario & Western Railway Historical Society
• NYS&W Technical & Historical Society

[edit] External links

• NYS&W Web Site — Official Corporate Site
• Syracuse OnTrack — Rapid transit with NYS&W RDCs
• Railfan.net NYS&W Site
• Railroad.net NYS&W forum
• The New Jersey Midland Railway — NYS&W Early History
• Details operations at Hanford
• Photographs of the Northern Division
• Historical Photographs

Current (operating) Class I railroads of North America
United States: AMTK, BNSF, CSXT, GTW, KCS, NS, SOO, UP - Canada: CN, CP, VIA - Mexico: FXE, TFM, KCSM See also: List of USA/Canada/Mexico Class I Railroads, List of USA/Canadian Class II Railroads, Class III railroad, Class 2 Railroads in Canada, Short-line railroad, List of United States railroads, List of Canadian railroads, list of Mexican railroads