The Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg Railroad was a railroad that grew, in stages, from

Rome, New York Rome is a city in Oneida County, New York, United States, located in the central part of the state. The population was 32,127 at the 2020 census. Rome is one of two principal cities in the Utica–Rome Metropolitan Statistical Area, which l ...

to Watertown and then to

Ogdensburg, New York Ogdensburg ( moh, Kaniatarahòn:tsi) is a city in St. Lawrence County, New York, United States. The population was 10,436 at the 2019 census. In the late 18th century, European-American settlers named the community after American land owner and d ...

and

Massena, New York Massena is a town in St. Lawrence County, New York, United States. Massena is along the county's northern border, just south of the St. Lawrence River and the Three Nations Crossing of the Canada–United States border. The population was 12 ...

. The original Rome and Watertown Railroad terminated in

Cape Vincent, NY Cape Vincent is a town in Jefferson County, New York, United States. The population was 2,777 at the 2010 census. The town is in the northwestern part of the county. In the town is a village also called Cape Vincent. Both town and village are ...

on the St. Lawrence River. A branch of the Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg Railroad, commonly known as "The Hojack Line", operated along the south shore of

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border sp ...

, from

Oswego, New York Oswego () is a city in Oswego County, New York, United States. The population was 16,921 at the 2020 census. Oswego is located on Lake Ontario in Upstate New York, about 35 miles (55km) northwest of Syracuse. It promotes itself as "The Port ...

Niagara Falls, New York Niagara Falls is a city in Niagara County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 48,671. It is adjacent to the Niagara River, across from the city of Niagara Falls, Ontario, and named after the fame ...

. After it was merged into the

New York Central The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Mid ...

in 1913, the RW&O line was known as the St. Lawrence Division.

History

The Rome, Watertown & Ogdensburg Railroad (RW&O) began in 1842 as the Watertown & Rome Railroad (W&R) to link Watertown with

on the Syracuse & Utica Railroad, later consolidated as part of the

New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Mi ...

(NYC). The Potsdam & Watertown Railroad was formed at this time to link Watertown with

Potsdam, New York Potsdam ( moh, Tsi tewate’nehtararénies) is a town in St. Lawrence County, New York, United States. The town population was 14,901 at the 2020 census. The ZIP Code is 13676. When SUNY Potsdam and Clarkson University are in session, the popu ...

in St. Lawrence County. In 1861, these two railroads merged as the RW&O. A branch line from DeKalb Junction (near

Canton, New York Canton is an incorporated town in St. Lawrence County, New York. The population was 11,638 at the time of the 2020 census. The town contains two villages: one also named Canton, the other named Rensselaer Falls. The town is named after the gr ...

) to Ogdensburg was later built. In 1864, the RW&O constructed a line from Pulaski to Oswego and merged with the Syracuse & Northern Railroad. In 1858, the

Lake Ontario Shore Railroad The Lake Ontario Shore Railroad (LOSRR) was a short-lived common carrier railroad in New York that was absorbed by the Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg Railroad. Construction The LOSRR was chartered to be built from Suspension Bridge, New York t ...

(LOS) was chartered from Oswego to Suspension Bridge, New York (now

). RW&O merged with the LOS in 1875; by that time the LOS was bankrupt. Branch lines reached what became resort towns along the St. Lawrence River at the end of the 19th century: Cape Vincent, Clayton and Ogdensburg. At the first two towns, ferries were available to Ontario towns on the opposite side of the river, as well as the

Thousand Islands The Thousand Islands (french: Mille-Îles) constitute a North American archipelago of 1,864 islands that straddles the Canada–US border in the Saint Lawrence River as it emerges from the northeast corner of Lake Ontario. They stretch for abo ...

. The RW&O was nicknamed "Rotten Wood & Old Rusty Rails" due to its crumbling infrastructure. By 1878, the RW&O had been merged into the

Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (also known as the DL&W or Lackawanna Railroad) was a U.S. Class 1 railroad that connected Buffalo, New York, and Hoboken, New Jersey (and by ferry with New York City), a distance of . Incorporated in ...

(DL&W). DL&W built the Ontario Secondary in 1882 (Beebee line) from

Charlotte, New York Charlotte is a town in Chautauqua County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 1,521. Charlotte is centrally located in the county, north of Jamestown and south of Dunkirk. History The area was first settled ...

(where the

Genesee River The Genesee River is a tributary of Lake Ontario flowing northward through the Twin Tiers of Pennsylvania and New York in the United States. The river provided the original power for the Rochester area's 19th century mills and still provides h ...

flows into

) to

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

. By 1891, RW&O became a subsidiary of NYC. On April 12, 1913, the RW&O was formally merged into the NYC. In 20th century timetables for the New York Central Railroad (NYC), the line was referred to as the St. Lawrence Division. Revenue passenger service was operated from the NYC's "Water Level Route" mainline. Coach passengers for the route to Watertown, Potsdam and on to Massena changed trains at Syracuse. Passengers for the branch splitting off the route at Philadelphia, New York for Ogdensburg changed at

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy * Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' * Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York ** North Syracuse, New York * Syracuse, Indiana *Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, M ...

Sleeping car The sleeping car or sleeper (often ) is a railway passenger car that can accommodate all passengers in beds of one kind or another, for the purpose of sleeping. George Pullman was the American innovator of the sleeper car. The first such cars ...

passengers would be able to take a continuous through-car ride. The last sleeping cars to and from New York City operated along the route in 1961, discontinued with the October schedule. The local coach service to Ogdensburg ended by October, 1961 as well. The remaining local coach service for Massena was dropped from the timetable by April, 1964.

Legacy

Former RW&O trackage is operated by

CSX CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of trac ...

(CSXT),

Ontario Midland Railroad The Ontario Midland Railroad Corporation is an American Class III railroad company operating in western New York.Onta ...

(OMID) and the

Mohawk, Adirondack and Northern Railroad The Mohawk, Adirondack and Northern Railroad (MA&N) is a class III railroad operating in Central and Northern New York. Specifically, it serves Oneida, Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence counties. It operates over trackage of the former New Y ...

. Several disconnected sections of the former line have also been converted to trails, including the

Webster Hojack Trail The Webster Hojack Trail is one of two Hojack trails in New York, the other being the Cayuga Hojack Trail. Both are built on remnants of the Hojack, a common name for the Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg Railroad. The Friends of Webster Trails maint ...

, Cayuga Hojack Trail, Maple City Trail in Ogdensburg, Harbor Rail Trail in Oswego and additional sections in Hamlin, Hilton and

. The RW&O had terminals in Suspension Bridge, Rochester,

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, Utica, Natural Bridge, Massena, Ogdensburg, Clayton, Cape Vincent and

Sackets Harbor Sackets Harbor (earlier spelled Sacketts Harbor) is a village in Jefferson County, New York, United States, on Lake Ontario. The population was 1,450 at the 2010 census. The village was named after land developer and owner Augustus Sackett, who ...

''Hojack'' nickname

The RW&O was nicknamed the ''Hojack'', but its origins have multiple explanations. #''Hojack'' originated from the engineer of the first train, who was named Jack Welch (often called "Big Jack"). Welch used to be a farmer and was more familiar with horses than steam locomotives. When he stopped the trains he would shout "Whoa Jack!". This became Hojack over time. #Many people fondly called the RW&O by its nickname, "Hojack." In the early days of the railroad, a farmer in his buckboard drawn by a bulky mule was caught on a crossing at train time. When the mule was halfway across the tracks, he stopped. The train was fast approaching and the farmer naturally got excited and began shouting, "Ho-Jack, Ho-Jack." Amused by the incident, the trainmen began calling their line the "Ho-Jack." Considerable mystery has always surrounded the origin of the nickname "Hojack" applied to the R. W. & O. division. Railroad men, when asked, seemed to have but a vague idea of the reason of the term. In a letter to the Oswego Bulletin, a writer who signs himself as an "Old Engineer," writes: "I noticed recently in an Oswego paper there was some doubt as to the origin of the word 'Hojack' as applied to the R, W. & O. division of the New York Central railroad. There are a few persons on the railroad who know how the name came to be applied, but I happen to know the exact circumstances. Along in the early 70's a man named Royal and one John Tobin were employed by the R., W. & O. railroad in running trains between Lewiston and Suspension Bridge. Royal was a gruff, genial fellow and was well liked by the railroad men at the bridge. It was his habit, when after having delivered his cars at the bridge, he was ready to return, to stand at the officer door and call out to his partner in stentorian tones. 'Ho, Jack, time to be going back.' The man and the voice became inseparably connected with the railroad and when his train appeared the men would say, 'Here comes the hojack.' The name sticks to the road and the R., W. & O., is now better known among railroad men as the 'Hojack' than it is by its corporate name." Author Richard Palmer attributes it to a slang term for a slow local passenger train or way freight. The ''Port Jervis Evening Gazette'' reported, " ile the Hojack was backing down to the depot Wednesday afternoon a horse in a team attached to a wagon from the country got its foot fast between the rail and the bed of the track in a manner similar to that which a horse belonging to Thomas Cuddeback was ruined some time ago. It was with great difficulty that the horse Wednesday was saved from a similar fate. The foot was got out just in time to get out of the way of the train." A subsequent story in the same newspaper supports that explanation, saying " e name Hojack, which the Gazette gave to the way train leaving here for the west at 1:30 in the afternoon, sticks closer than a brother, and the train is now generally known by that name." NYC attempted to ban the name by way of an edict released in 1906.

System map

Station listing

References

External links

Hojack Trail
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rome Watertown Ogdensburg Railroad Defunct New York (state) railroads Predecessors of the New York Central Railroad Railway companies established in 1861 Railway companies disestablished in 1913 Transportation in Rome, New York 1861 establishments in New York (state) Railroads controlled by the Vanderbilt family American companies established in 1861 Subdivisions of the New York Central Railroad Former buildings and structures in Watertown, New York