The Ulster and Delaware Railroad (U&D) was a railroad located in the state of New York. It was often advertised as "The Only All-Rail Route to the Catskill Mountains." At its greatest extent, the U&D extended from Kingston Point on the Hudson River through the Catskill Mountains to its western terminus at Oneonta, passing through the counties of Ulster, Delaware, Schoharie and Otsego.
History
Rondout and Oswego Railroad
During the early 19th century, waterways formed the principal transportation network in New York. An important point on this network was Rondout. Located at the confluence of Rondout Creek and the Hudson River, in 1828 it became the eastern terminus of the Delaware and Hudson Canal. Here, cargo and passengers were transferred from canal boats to the larger vessels navigating the Hudson.
By the end of the Civil War, railroads were pre-empting waterways as the preferred method of transportation. Thomas Cornell, founder of the Cornell Steamboat Company and a resident of Rondout, was among those who noticed. Although Cornell made plenty of money from shipping, he planned a railroad that would bring supplies from towns in central or western New York to his port in Rondout. So Cornell chartered the Rondout and Oswego on April 3, 1866, with himself as the first president.
thumb|left|The railroad yard at Rondout
With the work of surveying and acquiring rights of way completed, construction started in 1868. Cornell decided to construct this new railroad of 62- and 70-pound rail. It would go from Rondout to the busy city of Oneonta on the upper Susquehanna River, and then to Oswego on the shore of Lake Ontario. The R&O at long reached the summer vacation resort of Olive Branch, near the town of Shokan, on September 30, 1869. By the next year, the first train was run and the railroad was finally operational.
In 1870 the railroad was extended to Phoenicia, where the railroad built a stucco station across Esopus Creek from the village. The same year, ownership of the railroad was transferred to John C. Brodhead and the line reached the small town of Big Indian. By 1871 construction reached Dean's Corners (now Arkville) (where it would eventually join the Delaware and Northern). However, the R&O folded upon completing construction to Roxbury, and the task of constructing the remainder of the route was left to its newly organized successor, the New York, Kingston & Syracuse (NYK&S).
thumb|right|Rondout and Oswego #7
It was a successful railroad, with plenty of passengers coming from surrounding towns and larger cities. Steamboat passengers could dock at Rondout and transfer to the railroad. Later, passengers could also transfer at Kingston, first via the Wallkill Valley Railroad (1872), then via the West Shore Railroad (1883) and much later via the New York, Ontario and Western Railway (1902). From the boats, it was a short walk to the R&O station to transfer to the train. Freight was also very well-handled. Much of the freight income was made from coal shipped along the D&H Canal from the Moosic Mountains near Carbondale, Pennsylvania, to the port at Rondout. There were also vegetables, fruit and milk from the farms in the Catskills.
While steadily grading to Moresville (present-day Grand Gorge), the great number of curves and grades created a problem, as more digging, ties and rails meant greater costs to complete the remainder of the railroad. The railroad could not make enough money to pay the debt and continue building the railroad, so in 1872 Cornell appointed John A. Greene to be president pro tempore for a period of 10 years. Greene was expected to have the railroad finished to the town of Oneonta by 1874, pay all of the debts, and withstand future debts of as much as $700,000. However, the railroad was slowly losing money and eventually had to reduce service before going bankrupt in 1872. Later that year, it was re-organized as the New York, Kingston and Syracuse Railroad to continue with the project.
Today, the restored second Haines Falls station of the U&D railroad can be viewed at Mountain Top Historical Society in Haines Falls.
Final years of U&D service
thumb|Map showing the U&D and the [[Catskill Mountain Railway]]
The U&D's peak year came in 1913, with 676,000 passengers carried up into the Catskills plus substantial amounts of freight. By the time of the Great Depression of 1929 and thereafter, most of the passenger traffic had been lost to private cars on improved highways, buses and shared limousines (called "hacks"); trucks had taken most of the non-commodity freight business; and the railroad was in serious financial trouble and a shadow of its former self. The New York Central acquired the failing U&D on February 1, 1932, under pressure from the Interstate Commerce Commission (see "Ulster and Delaware: Railroad Through The Catskills", by Gerald M. Best). In its latter years (the early 1950s) one morning train a day (except Sundays) ran on the route from Kingston to Phoenicia and Oneonta and one afternoon train in the east-bound direction ran from Oneonta back to Kingston. Passenger service on the route ended on March 31, 1954.
Narrow gauge rolling stock
SC&CM locomotives
{|class="wikitable"
|-
!SC&CM number
!Name
!Builder
!Type
!Date
!Works number
!Remarks
|-
|1st #1 (1882–1886)
2nd #2 (1886–1894)
|Stony Clove
|Dickson Manufacturing Co.
|
|July 1882
|358
|Purchased new. Redesignated U.&D. R.R. #2 in 1894. Sold to the Chateaugay Railroad in August 1899 (Chateaugay RR 2nd #8). Scrapped in December 1903.
|-
|2nd #1
|Hunter
|Dickson Manufacturing Co.
|
|May 1886
|530
|Purchased new. Redesignated U&D #4 in 1894. Sold to the Chateaugay Railroad in August 1899 (Chateaugay RR 2nd #2). Scrapped in December 1903.
|-
|1st #2
|Gretchen
|Dickson Manufacturing Co.
|
|Dec. 1878
|226
|Ex-Plattsburgh & Dannemora #2, Louis D. Pilsbury (1878–1879). Ex-Chateaugay Railroad 1st #2, Louis D. Pilsbury (1879–1881). Purchased in April 1881. Sold in November 1885 to Dexter Hunter Sr., who was president of the Western Ry. of Florida. Leased to the Western Ry. from 1885 to 1892 (#2, Dexter Hunter Jr.). Western Railway went bankrupt and was reorganized as the South-Western Railroad in 1892. Loco leased to S-W. R.R. from 1892 to 1894.
|}
Kaaterskill Railroad locomotives
{|class="wikitable"
|-
!KRR number
!Name
!Builder
!Type
!Date
!Works number
!Remarks
|-
|#1
|Rip Van Winkle
|Dickson Manufacturing Co.
|
|May 1883
|423
|Purchased new. Redesignated U&D #1 in 1894. Sold to Empire Steel & Iron Co. in August 1899. Resold to Birmingham Rail & Locomotive Co. in April 1905. Resold to Crystal River Lumber Co., Florida in May 1905.
|-
|#2
|Derrick Van Brummel
|Brooks Locomotive Works
|
|June 1883
|936
|Purchased new. Redesignated U&D #5 in 1894. Sold to F. M. Hicks & Co. between August 1899 & June 1900.
|-
|#3
|Thomas Cornell
|Dickson Manufacturing Co.
|
| February 1883
|411
|Originally Chateaugay Ore & Iron Co. #8 (Dannemora). Purchased by the Kaaterskill R.R. from New York Equipment Co. in July 1893. Redesignated U&D # 3 in 1894. Sold to F. M. Hicks & Co. in August 1899. Resold later in August 1899 to the Otis Engineering & Construction Co. for use on the Catskill & Tannersville Ry. (1st #2). C.&T. Ry. 1st #2 became stationary boiler at Otis Summit, New York between July 1, 1901, and June 30, 1902.
|}
Narrow gauge coaches
The coaches that ran on the Narrow Gauge Division had been built by Jackson & Sharp Co. in 1881 and 1883. Between August 1899 and June 1900, they were sold to F. M. Hicks & Co. of Chicago, Illinois. Under White Pass ownership, these cars have been rebuilt several times. They remain in operation. After all of the rebuildings under White Pass ownership, about all that remains of the original cars are the architecture and the superstructure frames.
Gallery
<gallery mode="packed">
File:Haines corners station.jpg|Haines Corners station
File:Browns station.jpg|Brown's Station, one of six demolished for the Ashokan Reservoir
File:Delaware Avenue Tunnel.jpg|Delaware Avenue Tunnel in Kingston as it appeared in October, 2018
File:Ulster & Delaware Fleischmanns Station Freight House August 19 2021 05.jpg|Ulster and Delaware Railroad Freight House in Fleischmanns, New York, photographed on August 19, 2021.
</gallery>
See also
- Ashokan Rail Trail, built on U&D tracks north of Ashokan Reservoir
- List of defunct New York railroads
- List of Ulster and Delaware Railroad stations
- List of New York Central Railroad precursors
References
Bibliography
External links
- Ulster & Delaware Railroad Historical Society
- Ulster & Delaware Railroad
- Railroads of the Catskill Mountains
- Rails to the Catskills Vimeo
- Ulster & Delaware Railroad: Photo Gallery Remnants