Ulster and Delaware Railroad

About the Ulster and Delaware Railroad The Ulster and Delaware Railroad, which was often referred to by its initials “U&D” or by the nickname “the Up and Down” for its many steep grades, was the largest of the railroads serving the Catskill Mountains. The railroad was 107-miles long, running from Kingston on the Hudson River, where it connected with the West Shore, Wallkill Valley, and NYO&W, to Oneonta known as the “City of the Hills” where it connected to the coal hauling Delaware and Hudson Railroad. There were also two branch lines totaling some twenty two miles that carried the wealthy “city folk” to the mountaintop hotels in Hunter, Tannersville, and Kaaterskill. The U&D also connected to the Delaware & Northern at Arkville and to the Cooperstown and Charlotte Valley at West Davenport. Although a short-line by modern railroad standards, the U&D was a Class I railroad of its day with well improved right of ways, double tracked in certain areas, and block signals protecting the heavy rail traffic.   The railroad itself was the vision of tow-boat entrepreneur Thomas Cornell who saw the need for a railroad to connect the rich farmlands of western New York with the river ports east of them as well as the untapped potential of the Catskill Mountain region. Originally formed by Cornell and investors as the Rondout and Oswego Railroad in 1866, early financial troubles and internal conflict among the board members plagued the railroad. It was reformed as the New York, Kingston, and Syracuse Railroad in 1872, and sold under foreclosure to the newly formed Ulster and Delaware Railroad in 1875.   The impact of the Ulster and Delaware Railroad on the Catskills region is immeasurable. Its construction initiated a great period of hotel building which attracted numerous New Yorkers to the Catskills. But on the local level the building of the U&D was most beneficial. The previously isolated people of the Catskills could now afford to travel in relative comfort. The U&D brought them their mail, newspaper, and relatives and friends from far away. In addition the U&D shipped their milk, cheese, cream, grain, and other products to market and shipped in their farming supplies and animals.   Cornell died before the railroad reached Oneonta, but the railroad stayed in the family, passing into the hands of his son-in-law Samuel Decker Coykendall who became its president. The railroad would remain in the hands of the Coykendall family for the remainder of its existence and under which the Ulster and Delaware reached Oneonta in 1900, relocated twelve miles of its mainline from the construction of the Ashokan Reservoir from 1907 to 1913, and enjoyed a great period of prosperity. Sadly, the dire economic situation that plagued the country in the years after the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and the ensuing Great Depression years spelt the end of the Ulster and Delaware Railroad as an independently operated railroad. The New York Central, coerced into buying the U&D by the Interstate Commerce Commission in 1932, operated the old U&D as the Catskill Mountain Branch.   As the years went the effect of the automobile could be felt. The wealthy stopped coming to the Catskill Mountains and preferred to travel elsewhere which led to the closing of the Stony Clove and Kaaterskill Branch in 1940. Passenger service declined ever so steadily and was eventually discontinued in 1954. Diesel locomotives came to the Catskills in 1948 and replaced all the old U&D Ten Wheelers kept in service by the NYC. After the end of passenger service the railroad continued as a freight only line for another two decades.   Freight trucks and improved highways made their invasions into the Catskills. The Catskill Mountain Branch was chopped back from Oneonta to Bloomville in 1966, and was later abandoned further to Hobart and then to Stamford. The railroad passed into the hands of Penn Central in 1968 when the New York Central merged with the Pennsylvania Railroad. The Penn Central did not cherish the Catskill Mountain Branch, and even made attempts to sabotage it by running heavier locomotives over the light track and deferring maintenance. When Conrail came into existence in April of 1976, they made it clear they would not keep the line in operation. Local factions kept the line open through the summer, but the last Catskill Mountain Branch train rolled into Kingston on October 2, 1976.   Fortunately Ulster and Delaware Counties purchased their respective sections of the line in 1979 with the intent of reopening the line as a tourist operation. The Delaware County owned Delaware and Ulster Railroad presently operates the old U&D from Fleischmann’s to Roxbury and trains originate from Arkville. The Catskill Mountain Railroad, which leases its line from Ulster County, has two operations. The first is operated between Phoenicia and Cold Brook and the second is in Kingston. Present day efforts of the all volunteer Catskill Mountain Railroad are to reopen their entire section of the old U&D from Kingston to Highmount.