New York Central Railroad
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standard gauge | |
Length | 11,584 miles (18,643 km) (1926) |
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The New York Central Railroad (
The railroad was established in 1853, consolidating several existing railroad companies. In 1968, the NYC merged with its former rival, the
Extensive trackage existed in the states of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Massachusetts and West Virginia, plus additional trackage in portions of the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. At the end of 1925, New York Central Railroad operated 11,584 miles (18,643 km) of road and 26,395 miles (42,479 km) of track; at the end of 1967, the mileages were 9,696 miles (15,604 km) and 18,454 miles (29,699 km).[a]
Early history
Pre-New York Central: 1826–1853
Albany and Schenectady Railroad
The
Utica and Schenectady Railroad
The
Syracuse and Utica Railroad
The Syracuse and Utica Railroad was chartered on May 1, 1836, and similarly had to pay the state for any freight displaced from the canal. The full line opened July 3, 1839, extending the line further to Syracuse via Rome (and further to Auburn via the already-opened Auburn and Syracuse Railroad). This line was not direct, going out of its way to stay near the Erie Canal and serve Rome, and so the Syracuse and Utica Direct Railroad was chartered on January 26, 1853. Nothing of that line was ever built, though the later West Shore Railroad, acquired by New York Central Railroad in 1885, served the same purpose.
Auburn and Syracuse Railroad
The Auburn and Syracuse Railroad was chartered on May 1, 1834, and opened mostly in 1838, the remaining 4 miles (6.4 km) opening on June 4, 1839. A month later, with the opening of the Syracuse and Utica Railroad, this formed a complete line from Albany west via Syracuse to Auburn. The
Buffalo and Rochester Railroad
The Tonawanda Railroad, to the west of Rochester, was chartered on April 24, 1832, to build from that city to Attica. The first section, from Rochester southwest to Batavia, opened May 5, 1837, and the rest of the line to Attica opened on January 8, 1843. The Attica and Buffalo Railroad was chartered in 1836 and opened on November 24, 1842, running from Buffalo southeast to Attica. When the Auburn and Rochester Railroad opened in 1841, there was no connection at Rochester to the Tonawanda Railroad, but with that exception there was now an all-rail line between Buffalo and Albany. On March 19, 1844, the Tonawanda Railroad was authorized to build the connection, and it opened later that year. The Albany and Schenectady Railroad bought all the baggage, mail and emigrant cars of the other railroads between Albany and Buffalo on February 17, 1848, and began operating through cars.
On December 7, 1850, the Tonawanda Railroad and Attica and Buffalo Railroad merged to form the
Schenectady and Troy Railroad
The
Rochester, Lockport, and Niagara Falls Railroad
The Lockport and Niagara Falls Railroad was originally incorporated on April 24, 1834, to run from Lockport on the Erie Canal west to Niagara Falls; the line opened in 1838 and was sold on June 2, 1850. On December 14, 1850, it was reorganized as the Rochester, Lockport and Niagara Falls Railroad, and an extension east to Rochester opened on July 1, 1852. The railroad was consolidated into the New York Central Railroad under the act of 1853. A portion of the line is currently operated as the Falls Road Railroad.[3]
Buffalo and Lockport Railroad
The
Mohawk Valley Railroad
The Mohawk Valley Railroad was chartered on January 21, 1851, and reorganized on December 28, 1852, to build a railroad on the south side of the Mohawk River from Schenectady to Utica, next to the Erie Canal and opposite the Utica and Schenectady. The company didn't build a line before it was absorbed, though the West Shore Railroad was later built on that location.
Syracuse and Utica Direct Railroad
The Syracuse and Utica Direct Railroad was chartered in 1853 to rival the Syracuse and Utica Railroad by building a more direct route, reducing travel time by a half-hour. The company was merged before any line could be built.
1853 company formation
Albany industrialist and Mohawk Valley Railroad owner Erastus Corning managed to unite the above railroads together into one system, and on March 17, 1853, executives and stockholders of each company agreed to merge. The merger was approved by the state legislature on April 2 and, on May 17, 1853, the New York Central Railroad was formed.
Soon the
Erastus Corning years: 1853–1867
The
The Buffalo and Niagara Falls Railroad was also merged into the railroad in 1855. It had been chartered in 1834 and opened in 1837, providing a line between Buffalo and Niagara Falls. It was leased to New York Central Railroad in 1853.
Also in 1855 came the merger with the Lewiston Railroad, running from Niagara Falls north to Lewiston. It was chartered in 1836 and opened in 1837, without connections to other railroads. In 1854, a southern extension opened to the Buffalo and Niagara Falls Railroad and the line was leased to the railroad.
The
The
The primary repair shops were established in Corning's hometown of Albany along with a classification yard and livestock pens on 300 acres of land (known as West Albany). Facilities included locomotive shops, freight and passenger car shops, and roundhouse terminals. These were the New York Central's primary back shops until the end of steam in 1955.[4]
Hudson River Railroad
The Troy and Greenbush Railroad was chartered in 1845 and opened later that year, connecting Troy south to Greenbush (now Rensselaer) on the east side of the Hudson River. The Hudson River Railroad was chartered on May 12, 1846, to extend this line south to New York City; the full line opened on October 3, 1851. Prior to completion, on June 1, it leased the Troy and Greenbush.
Cornelius Vanderbilt obtained control of the Hudson River Railroad in 1864, soon after he bought the parallel New York and Harlem Railroad.
Along the line of the Hudson River Railroad, the
Heyday
Vanderbilt years: 1867–1954
In 1867,
Vanderbilt's other lines were operated as part of the railroad included the New York and Harlem Railroad, Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, Canada Southern Railway, and Michigan Central Railroad.
The Spuyten Duyvil and Port Morris Railroad was chartered in 1869 and opened in 1871, providing a route on the north side of the
The Geneva and Lyons Railroad was organized in 1877 and opened in 1878, leased by the NYC from opening. This was a connection between Syracuse and Rochester, running from the main line at Lyons to the Auburn Road at Geneva. It was merged into the NYC in 1890.
In 1885, the
In 1914, the operations of eleven subsidiaries were merged with the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad, re-forming the New York Central Railroad. From the beginning of the merger, the railroad was publicly referred to as the New York Central Lines. In the summer of 1935, the identification was changed to the New York Central System, that name being kept until the merger with the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1968.
The
The back shops at West Albany, New York were unable to keep up with repairs to rolling stock, so additional shops were established east of Buffalo at Depew (1892), Croton-on-Hudson (Harmon Shops, 1907), and Oak Grove, Pennsylvania (Avis Shops, 1902). The Harmon Shops were particularly important as locomotive power was switched out from steam to electric at that point as trains approached New York City.[7]
Topography
The generally level topography of the NYC system had a character distinctively different from the mountainous terrain of its archrival, the Pennsylvania Railroad. Most of its major routes, including New York to Chicago, followed rivers and had no significant grades other than West Albany Hill and the Berkshire Hills on the Boston and Albany. This influenced a great deal about the line, from advertising to locomotive design, built around its flagship New York-Chicago Water Level Route.[8]
Bypasses
A number of bypasses and cutoffs were built around congested areas.
The Junction Railroad's Buffalo Belt Line opened in 1871, providing a bypass of Buffalo to the northeast as well as a loop route for passenger trains via downtown. The West Shore Railroad, acquired in 1885, provided a bypass around Rochester. The Terminal Railway's Gardenville Cutoff, allowing through traffic to bypass Buffalo to the southeast, opened in 1898.
The Schenectady Detour consisted of two connections to the West Shore Railroad, allowing through trains to bypass downtown Schenectady. The full project opened in 1902. The Cleveland Short Line Railway built a bypass of Cleveland, Ohio, completed in 1912. In 1924, the Alfred H. Smith Memorial Bridge was constructed as part of the Hudson River Connecting Railroad's Castleton Cut-Off, a 27.5-mile-long freight bypass of the congested West Albany terminal area and West Albany Hill.
An unrelated realignment was made in the 1910s at Rome, when the Erie Canal was realigned and widened onto a new alignment south of downtown Rome. The NYC main line was shifted south out of downtown to the south bank of the new canal. A bridge was built southeast of downtown, roughly where the old main line crossed the path of the canal, to keep access to and from the southeast. West of downtown, the old main line was abandoned, but a brand-new railroad line was built, running north from the NYC main line to the NYC's former Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg Railroad, allowing all NYC through traffic to bypass Rome.
Trains
For the first two-thirds of the 20th century, New York Central Railroad had some of the most famous trains in the United States. Its 20th Century Limited (Century), begun in 1902, ran between Grand Central Terminal in New York City and LaSalle Street Station in Chicago, and was its most famous train, known for its red carpet treatment and first-class service. Its last run was made on December 2–3, 1967.
In the mid-1930s, many railroad companies were introducing
The railroad hosted the streamlined steam-powered
At various times, beginning in 1946 and continuing into the mid-1950s, the Century and other NYC trains exchanged
Despite having some of the most modern steam locomotives anywhere, NYC's difficult financial position caused it to convert to more-economical diesel-electric power rapidly. All lines east of Cleveland, Ohio were dieselized between August 7, 1953 (east of Buffalo) and September, 1953 (Cleveland-Buffalo). Niagaras were all retired by July, 1956. On May 3, 1957, H7e class 2-8-2 Mikado type steam locomotive #1977 is reported to have been the last steam locomotive to retire from service on the railroad.[11] But, the economics of northeastern railroading became so dire that not even this switch could change things for the better.
Prominent New York Central trains:
New York to Chicago
- 20th Century Limited: New York to Chicago (limited stops) via the Water Level Route 1902–1967
- Commodore Vanderbilt: New York–Chicago (a few more stops) via the Water Level Route
- Lake Shore Limited: New York–Chicago via Cleveland with branch service to Boston and St. Louis 1896–1956, 1971–Present (Reinstated and combined with New England States by Amtrak in 1971)
- Chicagoan: New York–Chicago
- Pacemaker: New York–Chicago all-coach train via Cleveland
- Wolverine: New York-Chicago via southern Ontario and Detroit
The Mercuries
- Chicago Mercury: Chicago-Detroit
- Cincinnati Mercury: Cleveland-Cincinnati
- Cleveland Mercury: Detroit–Cleveland
- Detroit Mercury: Cleveland-Detroit
New York to St. Louis
- Knickerbocker: New York–St. Louis
- Southwestern Limited: New York–St. Louis, from 1889 to 1966
Other trains
- Empire State Express: New York-Buffalo and Cleveland via the Empire Corridor 1891–Present (as far as Niagara Falls, NY as Empire Service).
- Cleveland Limited: New York–Cleveland
- Detroiter: New York–Detroit
- Great Lakes Aerotrain: Chicago-Detroit/Cleveland 1956 (Special experimental lightweight train)
- James Whitcomb Riley: Chicago-Cincinnati
- Michigan: Chicago-Detroit
- Motor City Special: Chicago–Detroit
- New England States: Boston-Chicago via the Water Level Route 1938–1971 (Retained by Penn Central and, for Amtrak, combined with reinstated Lake Shore Limited)
- North Star: New York-Cleveland, branches to Toronto and Lake Placid
- Ohio State Limited: New York-Cincinnati via Empire Corridor
- Ohio Xplorer: Cleveland-Cincinnati 1956–1957 (Special experimental lightweight train)
- Twilight Limited: Chicago–Detroit
Trains left from Grand Central Terminal in New York, Weehawken Terminal in Weehawken, New Jersey, South Station in Boston, Cincinnati Union Terminal in Cincinnati, Michigan Central Station in Detroit, St. Louis Union Station, and LaSalle Street Station and Central Station (for some Detroit and CincinnatI trains) in Chicago.
The New York Central had a network of commuter lines in New York and Massachusetts.
Decline
The New York Central, like many U.S. railroads, declined after the
The NYC also carried a substantial tax burden from governments that saw rail infrastructure as a source of property tax revenues – taxes that were not imposed upon interstate highways. To make matters worse, most railroads, including the NYC, were saddled with a World War II-era tax of 15% on passenger fares, which remained until 1962: 17 years after the end of the war.[12]
Robert R. Young: 1954–1958
In June 1954, management of the New York Central System lost a proxy fight in 1954 to Robert Ralph Young and the Alleghany Corporation he led.[13]
Young was considered a railroad visionary, but found the New York Central in worse shape than he had imagined. Unable to keep his promises, Young was forced to suspend dividend payments in January 1958. He committed suicide later that month at his Palm Beach, Florida mansion.
Alfred E. Perlman: 1958–1968
Year | Traffic |
---|---|
1925 | 35,929 |
1933 | 20,692 |
1944 | 51,922 |
1960 | 32,329 |
1967 | 38,901 |
Year | Traffic |
---|---|
1925 | 4,261 |
1933 | 2,238 |
1944 | 9,292 |
1960 | 1,797 |
1967 | 939 |
After Young's suicide, his role in NYC management was assumed by Alfred E. Perlman, who had been working with the NYC under Young since 1954. Despite the dismal financial condition of the railroad, Perlman was able to streamline operations and save the company money. Starting in 1959, Perlman was able to reduce operating deficits by $7.7 million, which nominally raised NYC stock to $1.29 per share, producing dividends of an amount not seen since the end of the war. By 1964 he was able to reduce the NYC long-term debt by nearly $100 million, while reducing passenger deficits from $42 to $24.6 million.
Perlman also enacted several modernization projects throughout the railroad. Notable was the use of Centralized Traffic Control (CTC) systems on many of the NYC lines, which reduced the four-track mainline to two tracks. He oversaw construction and/or modernization of many hump or
Perlman's cuts resulted in the curtailing of many of the railroad's services; commuter lines around New York were particularly affected. In 1958–1959, service was suspended on the NYC's
Many long-distance and regional passenger trains were either discontinued or downgraded in service, with coaches replacing Pullman, parlor, and sleeping cars on routes in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. The
Demise
Merger with the Pennsylvania Railroad
One problem that many of the Northeastern railroads faced was the fact that the railroad market was saturated for the dwindling rail traffic that remained. The NYC had to compete with its two biggest rivals: the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) and the
Mergers of these railroads seemed a promising way for these companies to streamline operations and reduce the competition. The DL&W and Erie railroads had showed some success when they began merging their operations in 1958, finally leading to the formation of the
Other mergers combined the Virginian Railway, Wabash Railroad, Nickel Plate Road and several others into the Norfolk and Western Railway (N&W) system, and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O), Western Maryland Railway (WM) and Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) combined with others to form the Chessie System. Heavy streamlining and reduction in passenger services led to the success of many of these mergers.
Following this trend, the NYC began to look for a potential railroad to merge with as early as the mid-1950s and had originally sought-out mergers with the B&O, Milwaukee Road and the NYC-controlled Nickel Plate Road. Unlike the aforementioned mergers, however, a NYC merger proved tricky due to the fact that it still operated a fairly-extensive amount of regional and commuter passenger services that was under mandates by the Interstate Commerce Commission to maintain.
It soon became apparent that the only other railroad with enough capital to allow for a potentially-successful merger was the NYC's chief rival, the PRR: itself a railroad that still had a large passenger trade. Merger talks between the two roads were discussed as early as 1955; however, this was delayed due to a number of factors: among them, interference by the Interstate Commerce Commission, objections from operating unions, concerns from competing railroads and the inability of the two companies themselves to formulate a merger plan, thus delaying progress for over a decade.
Two major points of contention centered on which railroad should have the majority controlling-interest going into the merger. Perlman's cost-cutting during the '50s and '60s put NYC in a more financially-healthy situation than the PRR. Nevertheless, the ICC, with urging by PRR President Stuart T. Saunders, wanted the PRR to absorb the NYC. Another point centered on the ICC's wanting to force the bankrupt New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, better known as the New Haven, into the new system, which it did in 1969: something to which both companies strongly objected (with excellent financial cause). Eventually, both points would ultimately lead to the new Penn Central's demise.
On January 26, 1968, the NYC's last passenger timetable became effective. The final timetable revealed a drastically truncated schedule in anticipation of its merger with the PRR. Most local and long-distance passenger service had ended on December 3, 1967, including that of the 20th Century Limited.[14]
Penn Central: 1968–1976
On February 1, 1968, the New York Central was absorbed by the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Pennsylvania Railroad was renamed Pennsylvania New York Central Transportation Company and then eventually renamed the Penn Central Transportation Company, with the NYC's Alfred E. Perlman as president.[15] Penn Central was quickly saddled with debt when the ICC forced the money-losing New Haven into the railroad in 1969. In addition, the merger was handled in a haphazard manner, with no formal merger plan implemented. The two companies' competing corporate cultures, union interests and incompatible operating and computer systems sabotaged any hope for a success. Additionally, in an effort to look profitable, the board of directors authorized the use of the railroad's reserve cash to pay dividends to company stockholders. Nevertheless, on June 21, 1970, Penn Central declared bankruptcy: the largest private bankruptcy in the United States up to that time. Under bankruptcy protection, many of Penn Central's outstanding debts owed to other railroads were frozen, while debts owed to Penn Central by the other roads were not. This sent a trickle effect throughout the already-fragile railroad industry, forcing many of the other Northeastern railroads into insolvency: among them the Erie Lackawanna, Boston and Maine, Central Railroad of New Jersey, the Reading Company and the Lehigh Valley.
Penn Central marked the last hope of privately funded passenger rail service in the United States. In response to the bankruptcy, President
Conrail and CSX: 1976–present
Conrail, officially the Consolidated Rail Corporation, created by the U.S. government to salvage Penn Central and the other bankrupt railroads' freight business, beginning its operations on April 1, 1976. As mentioned, Conrail assumed control of Penn Central's commuter lines throughout the
Conrail, in an effort to streamline its operations, was forced to abandon miles of both NYC and PRR trackage. Nevertheless, the majority of the NYC system is still intact and used by both CSX and Amtrak. Among the lines still used are the famed Water Level Route between New York and Chicago, as well as the former Boston & Albany line between these points, the Kankakee Belt Route through Indiana, Illinois and Iowa, and the West Shore Line between Jersey City and the Albany suburb of Selkirk, where the old NYC (now CSX) Selkirk Yard is among the busiest freight yards in the country.
On June 6, 1998, most of Conrail was split between Norfolk Southern and CSX. New York Central Lines LLC was formed as a subsidiary of Conrail, containing the lines to be operated by CSX: this included the old Water Level Route as far as Cleveland, OH (the Cleveland–Chicago portion going to Norfolk Southern since the ex-PRR Fort Wayne line had been downgraded under Conrail), the Big Four route between Cleveland, OH and St. Louis, MO, and many other lines of the New York Central, as well as various lines from other companies, and also assumed the NYC reporting mark. CSX eventually fully absorbed the subsidiary as part of a streamlining of Conrail operations.
Officers of the New York Central Railroad
Presidents
- Erastus Corning (1853 – 1865)
- Cornelius Vanderbilt (1867 – ?)
- James H. Rutter (1883 – 1885)
- Chauncey M. Depew(1885 – 1898)
- Samuel R. Callaway (1898 – 1901)
- William C. Brown (? – 1914)
- Alfred H. Smith(1914 – 1918, 1919 – 1924)
- Patrick E. Crowley (1924 - 1931)
- Frederic E. Williamson (1931 - 1944)
- Gustav Metzman (1944 - 1952)
- William White (1952 - 1954)
- Robert R. Young (1954 - 1958)
- Alfred E. Perlman (1958 – 1968)
See also
- National New York Central Railroad Museum, in Elkhart, Indiana
- George Henry Daniels, associated publicist
- New York Central Tugboat 13, used to push rail barges
- Four-Track News, company publication
Notes
- ^ Totals include B&A, MC, CCC&StL, Cinc Northern and EI&TH, but not P&LE, Fulton Chain, Raquette Lake, Federal Valley, Kankakee & Seneca or Chicago Kalamazoo & Saginaw
- ^ a b Totals include subsidiary roads like B&A, MC, Big Four, EI&TH, K&M etc but not P&LE, Kankakee & Seneca, Fulton Chain, Raquette Lake or Federal Valley
References
- ^ Munsell, J. Mohawk and Hudson Rail Road
- ^ Solomon, Brian. New York Central Railroad. (2nd ed.)
- ^ Lawrence, Scot. "A History of Rochester New York Railroads". gold.mylargescale.com. Archived from the original on March 24, 2012. Retrieved May 6, 2018.
- ^ Starr, Timothy. (2022). The Back Shop Illustrated, Volume 1.
- ^ Times, Special to The New York (January 3, 1909). "WHY PRESIDENT NEWMAN QUIT; The Railroad Age Gazette Blames the "Incompetent" Board of Directors". The New York Times. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
- ^ "CENTRAL ROAD'S NEW HEAD; William H. Newman of the Lake Shore Elected President. Mr. Van Etten Becomes Second Vice President -- P.S. Blodgett Succeeds Him as General Superintendent". The New York Times. June 4, 1901. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
- ^ Starr, Timothy. (2022). The Back Shop Illustrated, Volume 1.
- ^ "The New York Central System". american-rails.com. Archived from the original on October 20, 2017. Retrieved May 6, 2018.
- ^ "Streamline Steam Engine Attains High Speed". Popular Mechanics. Hearst Magazines. February 1935. p. 211 – via Google Books.
- ^ (1) "The Rexall Train". American-Rails.com. Archived from the original on February 20, 2021. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
(2) "The 1936 Million Dollar Rexall Streamlined Train". The Story of the Rexall Train of 1936. themetrains.com. Archived from the original on March 5, 2021. Retrieved April 23, 2021. - ^ "Class H-7e Mikado No. 1977". Archived from the original on January 9, 2018.
- ^ "Brief History of the U.S. Passenger Rail Industry". Archived from the original on October 23, 2007.
- ^ "RAILROADS: Young Takes Over". Time. Retrieved May 6, 2018.[dead link]
- ^ "New York Central System: Passenger Timetable" (PDF). New York Central Railroad. January 26, 1968. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 4, 2019. Retrieved April 22, 2021 – via canadasouthern.com.
- ^ Lennon, J. Establishing Trails on Rights-of-Way. Washington, D.C.: United States Department of the Interior. p. 51.
Further reading
- Solomon, Brian; Schafer, Mike (2007). New York Central Railroad. MBI Railroad Color History (2nd ed.). Voyageur Press. ISBN 978-0760329283.
- Munsell, J. (1875). Mohawk and Hudson Rail Road and the First Excursion On It.
External links
- National New York Central Railroad Museum Archived September 5, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- New York Central System Historical Society
- "Public Timetables of the New York Central". Archived from the original on March 3, 2021. Retrieved April 22, 2021 – via canadasouthern.com.
- The Steam Locomotive (1938 documentary)
- Works by or about New York Central Railroad at Internet Archive