New
York, Susquehanna and Western Railway - (en)
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,
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.
Route
The railroad is separated into two divisions at Binghamton - northern
and southern.
Southern division
Route Through New Jersey
The 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.
Route Through NY and PA
The route through New York and Pennsylvania.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.
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.
History
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.
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.
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.
NYS&W 2-10-0 Decapod #2481 at Little Ferry, NJ on 8 Feb., 1941.
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.
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.
Post-reorganization
NYS&W ACF LRV #1002 at North Bergen, NJ in 1948.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.
NYS&W ALCO RS-1 #238 at Maywood, NJ on 1963-07-05.
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.
The 1950s and 1960s
Former BN EMD SD45 #3618 at the Ridgefield Park engine facility
sporting the NYS&W "yellowjacket" livery introduced in
the 1960s and used thereafterThe 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.
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.
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.
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.
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. Justified by the new added trackage and the
loss of the two ALCOs, additional Dash 8-40B engines were purchased,
financed by CSX Corp.
1990s
Budd RDC M-5, used on Syracuse passenger operation OnTrack.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.
NYS&W in the early 21st
century
ALCO C636 #3660 on point at Ridgefield Park in September 2005. The
unit is former RPRX #78.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.
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.
Aging locomotive fleet
EMD SD40T-2 #3012 (ex SP 8242) on point with symbol freight SU-100 at
Butler, NJ in July 2004. This engine is a prime example of the NYS&W's
use of older power.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.
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