Comments on: Remembering the Upper Harlem Division – Part 1

By: david snyder

david snyder — Sat, 04 Nov 2023 17:25:05 +0000

In the 60’s and 70’s before cessation in 1976, what was the freight service on the north end between Chatham and Millerton? I grew up near Boston Corners and remember the night freight (the Rutland Milk) (NK-2 qnd KN-1. Where nid that turn near NY and what was the frequency and schedule? I also remember a local daylightb turn out of Chatham south. Where did that turn snd what was the frequency and schedule?

By: Doug

Doug — Sun, 03 Sep 2023 00:09:21 +0000

Per the suggestion that the old Harlem is the alternative to the Hudson line, I remember in the 60s because of a wreck all NYC name trains were rerouted thru Chatham and down the Harlem to GCT

By: Nathanael

Nathanael — Mon, 10 Jul 2023 22:46:52 +0000

Revisiting this with the repeated Hudson Line flooding. The Harlem Line is the only reliable way to have rail service from NYC to Upstate with current global-warming / sea-level-rise / river-flooding conditions.

By: Benjamin Bookbinder

Benjamin Bookbinder — Tue, 28 Feb 2023 20:16:17 +0000

Fun fact: archive.gov has track and valuation charts for the NY Central from 1915 though not all has been digitized yet. What has been digitized includes the Harlem Div. all the way up to Chatham, the Hudson div, and (at least some % of if not all of) the Putnam Division, AS WELL as the line from Mott Haven to Grand Central, and the line from Spuyten Duyvil down the west side of Manhattan (PRE-HIGH LINE)

https://catalog.archives.gov/search-within/1489149?page=1&sort=title%3Aasc

By: Robert Ward

Robert Ward — Fri, 04 Dec 2015 14:48:41 +0000

The ill-fated Penn Central merger was consummated on 1 February 1968. The federal government forced Penn Central to absorb the decrepit NYNH&H RR one year later as a condition of approving the PC merger. Of the two companies the NYC was in much better financial condition compared to the PRR. The NYC, under Alfred E. Perlman had made many” rationalizations”(AKA cutbacks and retrenchments) to its physical plant over the years after WWII. The PRR was still operating under their “Standard Rail Road of the World” mindset. The commuter equipment of the former New York Central was superbly maintained both the interior and exterior. The NHRR had sold its electric equipment repair complex, known as Van Nest, in the Bronx, opposite the Parkchester housing complex to the Consolidated Edison Co. and the car repairmen had to work outdoors in Stamford and New Haven. This was in the 1950’s when the McGinnises who gained control, planned on phasing out all electric train service and using only the FL9 dual mode locomotives—another big plan that was a disaster. They never worked exclusively on third rail power. One could stand in the middle of Park Avenue and hear the ” swoosh” of the diesel engines as they passed under the vents located in the “malls” in the middle of Park Avenue in Manhattan. Now fast forward forty years to the LIRR and their answer to electrification—-locomotives based on the ill-fated NHRR folly. In service snice the 1990’s the” no change at Jamaica” trains are used once in the morning and once in the evening on the diesel only Oyster Bay, Port Jefferson and Montauk branches and always on the cusp of the AM and PM rush hours. No midday or weekend utilization of these very expensive toys. When Penn Central morphed into ConRail and before the birth of MNCRR, ConRail was operating GP38 freight locomotives into GCT on diesel power exclusively. They could get away with it but the LIRR could never do such a thing due to the East River tunnels and the very closed- in space of their location in Penn. Hence, their apparent reluctance to over burden their dual mode locomotives

By: Robert Ward

Robert Ward — Fri, 04 Dec 2015 14:12:43 +0000

The bottom line is that the crackers of Columbia County did not want to pay the MTA tax for service in the county. On the west side, MNCRR wanted to extend commuter service to Tivoli NY and build a small storage yard. Vocal opposition arose and the plan was scrapped supposedly because the new service would destroy access to the Hudson shoreline.

By: Stephen

Stephen — Sun, 27 Oct 2013 23:36:54 +0000

Great website. Thank you!

By: Nathanael

Nathanael — Mon, 22 Jul 2013 03:55:05 +0000

In reply to Emily.

Never say never on restoration of the Upper Harlem Line.

I think the situation under which it will happen is if flooding destroys the Hudson Line again. At some point you’ve got to start looking for a higher-ground route from New York to Albany… and there is only one.

By: Nathanael

Nathanael — Mon, 22 Jul 2013 03:51:33 +0000

In reply to Alexander Ivanoff. The difference is that the MTA purchased the LIRR outright, as a single transaction. The LIRR was a separate subsidiary of Penn Central. The outer ends of the LIRR sort of "came for free". The Harlem Division was just part of the larger, merged railroad, which meant it had a less fortunate outcome.

By: William Hays

William Hays — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 22:40:28 +0000

Correcting my e-mail address.