There were two events that were timed perfectly for Elizabeth and I to attend in October. First was a two-day Dak Dillon photo charter on the Valley Railroad in Essex, Connecticut on October 8th and 9th, followed by a travel day to reach Wilmington, Delaware for the National Railway Historical Society's Autumn Conference, which included an excursion on the Woodstown Central Railroad and a visit to the SMS Railroad shops. On the return journey to Columbia, Missouri, we planned to visit the Reading Railroad Museum.
10/5/2024 We left home with Elizabeth driving and took Interstate 70 to the first rest area in Illinois, then I drove us to the last rest area in Indiana, where Elizabeth drove the rest of the way to Marion, Ohio. We had dinner at Perkins then checked into the Holiday Inn Express for the night.
10/6/2024 The two of us ate breakfast at Bob Evans before continuing the journey via Interstate 71 to Interstate 80, to Interstate 79, taking that to Interstate 90 and Interstate 86 to the first rest area in New York. Elizabeth then drove us east and at Salamanca, we saw a sign that read "Rail Museum" and went to investigate.
Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh station built in 1912. The rich red oak wainscoting and two-story sky-lift ceiling of the building's main lobby reflects an era of simple elegance. The ticket office, which is authentic right down to the office furniture and telegraph keys, gives the feel of a time of bowler hats and bustle dresses, of travelling business people in a rapidly expanding early 20th century economy.
The Rail Museum building was acquired in 1980, a vandalized vacant shell that had stood idle for over 20 years. Using a combination of private donations, government funds and volunteer labour, the building was brought back to its original appearance. From the brick-walled baggage room to the multi-windowed "Ladies Retiring Room", everything in the building is either a restored original or an exact duplicate based on the original architectural plans.
The Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh freight station was also constructed in 1912.
Details of this work car are unknown.
Pittsburgh and West Virginia caboose 854, built by the railroad in 1952.
Chesapeake and Ohio bay window caboose 2909, nee Baltimore and Ohio C-2909, built by the railroad in 1958.
Penn Central caboose 19413, nee Pennsylvania Railroad 477575, built by the railroad in 1929.
Erie Lackawanna box car 5397, builder and year unknown.
Salamanca Rail Museum flat car, nee Pittsburgh, Lisbon and Western Railroad, builder and year unknown.
Erie-Lackawanna tool car/workshop/office 454017, ex. Erie Railroad maintenance-of-way, nee US Army troop sleeper, number unknown, built by Pullman in 1943. It was acquired by the museum in 2018 from the Mahoning Valley Railroad Heritage Society in Youngstown, Ohio.
Museum scene.
Ontario Midland wooden caboose C-2621, ex. Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh 270, nee Baltimore and Ohio C-2621, built by Standard Steel in 1923. On October 20, 1959, this was the last caboose to cross the Kinzua Bridge as the last car of the train.
Elizabeth drove us to Jersey Mike's in Horseheads then to Owego and the Best Western Hotel for the night.
10/7/2024 We had breakfast at the River Rock Diner before driving on Interstate 88 which we took to Oneonta and took New York Highway 28 to the Hudson River.
We crossed the Hudson River then drove New York Highway 199 to Millerton for a station.
New York Central Millerton station built in 1911, located on the NYC Harlem Division, originally the New York & Harlem Railroad. Tracks first reached Millerton after 1848 and reached the end of the line in Chatham in 1852. The NY&H was acquired by New York Central and Hudson River Railroad in 1864 and eventually became the Upper Harlem Division of the New York Central Railroad. The station included a passenger station and a freight station, and also served the Newburgh, Dutchess and Connecticut Railroad, and even a spur from the Main Line of the Central New England Railway.
In 1911, the NY&H passenger station was replaced by a new station built by New York Central, but all three station houses still survive to this day. It was one of the stations on the Harlem Line to serve the Berkshire Hills Express and other limited stop trains that went from New York City all the way to Pittsfield, Massachusetts and North Adams, Massachusetts in the Berkshires. Such through trains were replaced by shuttle transfers in 1950. Passenger service ended at Millerton on March 20, 1972, when successor Penn Central won a heated court battle to end its unsubsidized train service north of Dover Plains. Freight service continued, though the station itself was closed permanently by the winter of 1975.
Freight service continued to be provided by Penn Central Railroad until the advent of Conrail on April 1, 1976. All freight service north of Wassaic to Ghent was terminated on this date; however, the New York State Department of Transportation subsidized freight service between Millerton and Wassaic until March 27, 1980, when the line between Wassaic and Millerton was abandoned. The tracks were removed during the summer of 1981, however upon removal of tracks, the railroad siding for the old Agway feed store remained in place. The station is currently the home of Steed Real Estate. There are plans to extend the Harlem Valley Rail Trail as far north as Chatham, the original terminus of the NYCRR Harlem Division.
We drove east through Connecticut where the trees were in fall colours and had an early dinner at Texas Roundhouse in Waterbury since we could not find any chain restaurants in Essex, then completed the drive to Essex, checking into the Quality Inn in Old Saybrook for three nights.
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