Four years ago, it was a different place. Catskill Mountain Railroad Co. Alco S1 (ex-Staten Island Railway 407, née-Long Island Rail Road 407, 6.1946) passes the K27 (Kingston) milepost in Phoenicia, New York on Sunday October 23, 2016 on what turned out to be one of the final trips on the line. Service had been planned for the following weekend, but a derailment caused an early termination. The history of the Ulster and Delaware Railroad/New York Central Mountain Branch began with the chartering of the Rondout & Oswego Railroad in 1866. Passenger service ended in 1954, and freight service west of Kingston ended in 1976 with a small section east of Kingston remaining until 1979 in the Conrail era. The Catskill Mountain Railroad was formed in 1983 to operate the 38.6 miles of the line purchased by Ulster County. Since late 2016, the CMRR has continued to operate on a segment around the City of Kingston, while significant portions of trackage further west have been removed. The Delaware & Ulster Railroad and Trolley Museum of New York operate other sections, while the Ashokan Rail Trail now occupies the middle.
New York state has the largest number of ALCO diesel locomotives working in everyday service. Here are some of them. Soon I hope to chronicle all of them.
