Wallkill Valley Railroad
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Campbell Hall in 2006. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Overview | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Locale | upstate New York, United States | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dates of operation | 1866 | –|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Successor | Conrail | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Technical | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Wallkill Valley Railroad is a defunct railroad which once operated in
The railroad was founded in 1866 and ceased regular service in 1977. Throughout its history, the Wallkill Valley Railroad was owned by a variety of companies, including the
History
Wallkill Valley Railroad
The Wallkill Valley Railway was founded in 1866, and was constructed to match the
However, Cornell purchased it again in 1877, with the name being amended to the Wallkill Valley Railroad. He learned later, with the help of his son-in-law Samuel Decker Coykendall, that the West Shore Railroad was chartering a route to New York City and that the new route would pass through Kingston on the way. Cornell responded by chartering an extension for the Wallkill Valley right into West Shore-chartered land. What this meant to the West Shore was that it could have a new branch. The West Shore purchased the line at a price of almost $1,000,000 in 1881.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a7/WVRR_end_of_line.jpg/256px-WVRR_end_of_line.jpg)
New York Central
The line soon became the rural Wallkill Valley Branch of the West Shore Railroad, although the locals whose profits were wiped out during the previous bankruptcy did not agree with this. An occasional scheme was hatched to extend it to the
After the abandonment of passenger service some of the former
Conrail
Conrail almost entirely abandoned the branch, though it was considered briefly as a new route to
Norfolk Southern Railway and remaining facilities
The remaining spur from DeGroodt's Paving in downtown Walden to the
Rail trails
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cc/Wallkill_Valley_Rail_Trail.jpg/225px-Wallkill_Valley_Rail_Trail.jpg)
Portions of the line in both Ulster and Orange Counties have been converted into rail trails, described here from north to south. Note that north of River Road in Rosendale, the Wallkill Valley Railroad actually runs in the Rondout Valley.
The Wallkill Valley Rail Trail runs 12.2 miles (19.6 km) from Gardiner through New Paltz to Rosendale.[5] The addition of an 11.5-mile (18.5 km) section in 2009 extended it farther north to Kingston.[6]
The Walden–Wallkill Rail Trail has been paved and runs from NY 208 in Wallkill south to Walden, NY, in Orange County. Parking availability is limited to street parking. The section of the rail bed north of Rte 208 to Birch Road is owned by the Town of Shawangunk but is unimproved. The 1.4 mile section from Birch Road north to Denniston road (southern terminus of the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail) is owned by the New York State Department of Corrections where the Shawangunk Correctional Facility and Wallkill Correctional Facility are located. This section is closed to the public.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Rosendale_trestle_Walkill_Valley_Rail.jpg/220px-Rosendale_trestle_Walkill_Valley_Rail.jpg)
Stations
- Kingston Union Station
- Binnewater
- Rosendale
- New Paltz
- Gardiner
- Wallkill
- Walden
- Erie RR)
- Campbell Hall
References
- ^ "New York Central Railroad, Table 82". Official Guide of the Railways. 64 (9). National Railway Publication Company. February 1932.
- ^ "Erie Railroad, Table 32". Official Guide of the Railways. 64 (9). National Railway Publication Company. February 1932.
- ^ "Ulster and Delaware: Railroad Through The Catskilld", by Gerald M. Best
- ^ "Wallkill Valley Railroad". www.udrrhs.org. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
- ^ "History of the Trail". Wallkill Valley Rail Trail Association. Archived from the original on July 11, 2011. Retrieved November 1, 2010.
- Dow Jones Local Media Group. Retrieved November 1, 2010.
Bibliography
- "Ulster and Delaware Railroad Historical Society".
- The Old "Up and Down" Catskill Mountain Branch of the New York Central[full citation needed]
- Best, Gerald M. (1972). The Ulster And Delaware: Railroad Through The Catskills. San Marino, CA: ISBN 0-87095-041-X.
- Mabee, Carleton (1995). Listen to the Whistle: An Anecdotal History of the Wallkill Valley Railroad. Fleishmanns, NY: Purple Mountain Press. ISBN 0-935796-69-X.
- Sylvester, Nathaniel Bartlett (1880). History of Ulster County, New York, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of its Prominent Men and Pioneers: Part Second: History of the Towns of Ulster County. Philadelphia, PA: Everts & Peck. ISBN 978-1-55787-130-5.