The Freight Subdivision is a railway line in the

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. It runs from Schenectady, New York, to Mechanicville, New York. It was built by the

Delaware and Hudson Railway The Delaware and Hudson Railway (D&H) is a railroad that operates in the Northeastern United States. In 1991, after more than 150 years as an independent railroad, the D&H was purchased by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP). CP operates D&H ...

in 1881 as a freight-only bypass, connecting with the main line of the

Boston, Hoosac Tunnel and Western Railway The Hoosac Tunnel (also called Hoosic or Hoosick Tunnel) is a active railroad tunnel in western Massachusetts that passes through the Hoosac Range, an extension of Vermont's Green Mountains. It runs in a straight line from its east portal, al ...

. Today,

Canadian Pacific Kansas City Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited, doing business as CPKC, is a Class I railroad in North America that resulted from the merger of Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) and Kansas City Southern (KCS) on April 14, 2023. It is the first and curren ...

owns the line.

History

The

was incorporated in 1877 to build a new railway line linking western New York with Boston, Massachusetts, via the Hoosac Tunnel. The western terminus of the new line, which opened in 1879, was Mechanicville, New York. The

had two lines in the vicinity: the

Rensselaer and Saratoga Railroad The Rensselaer and Saratoga Railroad was chartered on April 14, 1832. It completed between Troy and Ballston Spa on March 19, 1836. The railroad was largely conceived and built by businessmen of Troy in response to Albany's construction of the ...

, which ran northwest from Albany to Ballston Spa via Mechanicville; and the

Saratoga and Schenectady Railroad The Saratoga and Schenectady Railroad was incorporated on February 16, 1831. The founders were Henry Walton, John Clarke, William A. Langworthy, John H. Steele, Miles Beach, Gideon W. Davison, and Rockwell Putnam. The line was opened from Schene ...

, which ran north between Schenectady and Saratoga Springs via Ballston Spa. To link these lines and eliminate running via Ballston Spa, the D&H constructed a line between "Coons", west of Mechanicville, and East Glenville, New York. The line opened in December 1881. In 1884, the Boston, Hoosac Tunnel and Western Railway built further west to

Rotterdam Junction Rotterdam is a town in Schenectady County, New York, United States. The population was 30,523 at the 2020 census. The town of Rotterdam is in the south-central part of the county. It was founded in 1661 by Dutch settlers, who named it after th ...

. This line ran parallel to the D&H line between Mechanicville and "Crescent", to the west, and the two lines were operated together as a single unit. In 1964 the D&H built a connection northwest from the line to the former Saratoga and Schenectady Railroad line and abandoned the former Rensselaer and Saratoga Railroad between Mechanicville and Ballston Spa. The D&H's remaining passenger trains, including the '' Laurentian'', were re-routed over the freight bypass.

Operations

, successor to the D&H, includes in the "Freight Subdivision" the entirety of the 1881 freight bypass, the former Saratoga and Schenectady Railroad from East Glenville to Schenectady, and the former Rensselaer and Saratoga Railroad between Coons and Mechanicville. Amtrak's '' Adirondack'' uses the western end of the line.

Notes

Footnotes

References

* * * * {{Shaughnessy-DH Railway lines opened in 1881 Rail infrastructure in New York (state)