The Catskill Mountain Railway (CMRy) was a 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge railroad, 15.73 miles (25.31 km) long, running from Catskill to Palenville in Greene County, New York. Organized as the Catskill Mountain Railroad (CMRR) in 1880, it bas built in 1881 and 1882. The principals had interests in shipping on the Hudson and in hotels in the Catskill Mountains.
Map
Bond of the Catskill Mountain Railway from the 2nd July 1885
Unlike most railroads, the CMRR was built primarily for the purpose of transporting passengers and was intended to operate seasonally. Most people using the line were summer tourists who travelled by steamboat from points along the Hudson River. Their final destinations were hotels and boarding houses located high in the Catskill Mountains. While the railroad served its purpose of bringing passengers closer to the mountain top resorts, it still left them with an arduous hour-long stage trip up the face of the Catskill Escarpment (also known as the Wall of Manitou). In 1885 a branch was built to Cairo, New York, with the intent to carry bluestone, hay and fruit, and was run year round. That same year, the CMRR was reorganized as the Catskill Mountain Railway.
Competition soon arose, in the form of the Stony Clove & Catskill Mountain and the Kaaterskill railroad companies, both controlled by the Ulster and Delaware Railroad. These narrow gauge railroads brought passengers much closer to their final destinations, saving them the difficult stage trip CMRR patrons had. To counter the competition, the Otis Elevating Railway was formed, hiring the company of Elisha Otis's sons[1] to build a cable railroad. This railroad was completed in 1892. 7,000 feet (2,100 m) in length, it raised passengers 1,600 feet (490 m) in 10 minutes - saving a one-hour stage ride. At the summit, 1-mile (1.6 km) of track was laid to connect with the terminus of the Kaaterskill Railroad.
By 1897 connecting service on the Kaaterskill Railroad had become so bad, that a new railroad, the Catskill and Tannersville Railway was constructed to run from the Otis to Tannersville. This line paralleled the existing Katterskill[dubious – discuss] one as far as Tannersville. Hastily built, this line had curves as sharp as 20 degrees and a maximum speed of 7 miles per hour. Locally, it was affectionately known as the "Huckleberry" for the fruit which grew along its right of way.
During a 1904 reconstruction of the Otis, a switch was installed to connect with the C&T permitting through freight to operate from Catskill to Tannersville. Because of the slanted seats necessary on the Otis, passengers still had to change cars.
A great boon to the CMRR was the development of the shale brick in 1888 by the Elmira Shale Brick Company. By 1898, raw material mined on the Cairo branch for the Catskill Shale brick company comprised, by tonnage, 95% of the freight carried.
The last trains were run in 1918.
Routeedit
Catskill Mountain RR's route is on the northeast edge of the Catskills region on the map
The train route ran from Cairo, southeast to Catskill and then Catskill Landing. Catskill provided a connection to the New York Central's West Shore Railroad trains from Albany to Weehawken, New Jersey. The Catskill Landing location provided a connection for boats across the Hudson River to Hudson, New York. Service between Cairo Junction and Palenville and Otis Summit on the C&T Railway was available in the summer months only.[2]
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This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Catskill Mountain Railway news newspapers books scholar JSTOR July 2020 Learn how and when to remove this template message For the current heritage railroad see Catskill Mountain Railroad The Catskill Mountain Railway CMRy was a 3 ft 914 mm narrow gauge railroad 15 73 miles 25 31 km long running from Catskill to Palenville in Greene County New York Organized as the Catskill Mountain Railroad CMRR in 1880 it bas built in 1881 and 1882 The principals had interests in shipping on the Hudson and in hotels in the Catskill Mountains Map Bond of the Catskill Mountain Railway from the 2nd July 1885Unlike most railroads the CMRR was built primarily for the purpose of transporting passengers and was intended to operate seasonally Most people using the line were summer tourists who travelled by steamboat from points along the Hudson River Their final destinations were hotels and boarding houses located high in the Catskill Mountains While the railroad served its purpose of bringing passengers closer to the mountain top resorts it still left them with an arduous hour long stage trip up the face of the Catskill Escarpment also known as the Wall of Manitou In 1885 a branch was built to Cairo New York with the intent to carry bluestone hay and fruit and was run year round That same year the CMRR was reorganized as the Catskill Mountain Railway Contents 1 Competition 2 Route 3 Locomotives 4 Passenger Cars 5 Freight Cars 6 External links 7 ReferencesCompetition editCompetition soon arose in the form of the Stony Clove amp Catskill Mountain and the Kaaterskill railroad companies both controlled by the Ulster and Delaware Railroad These narrow gauge railroads brought passengers much closer to their final destinations saving them the difficult stage trip CMRR patrons had To counter the competition the Otis Elevating Railway was formed hiring the company of Elisha Otis s sons 1 to build a cable railroad This railroad was completed in 1892 7 000 feet 2 100 m in length it raised passengers 1 600 feet 490 m in 10 minutes saving a one hour stage ride At the summit 1 mile 1 6 km of track was laid to connect with the terminus of the Kaaterskill Railroad By 1897 connecting service on the Kaaterskill Railroad had become so bad that a new railroad the Catskill and Tannersville Railway was constructed to run from the Otis to Tannersville This line paralleled the existing Katterskill dubious discuss one as far as Tannersville Hastily built this line had curves as sharp as 20 degrees and a maximum speed of 7 miles per hour Locally it was affectionately known as the Huckleberry for the fruit which grew along its right of way During a 1904 reconstruction of the Otis a switch was installed to connect with the C amp T permitting through freight to operate from Catskill to Tannersville Because of the slanted seats necessary on the Otis passengers still had to change cars A great boon to the CMRR was the development of the shale brick in 1888 by the Elmira Shale Brick Company By 1898 raw material mined on the Cairo branch for the Catskill Shale brick company comprised by tonnage 95 of the freight carried The last trains were run in 1918 Route edit nbsp Catskill Mountain RR s route is on the northeast edge of the Catskills region on the mapThe train route ran from Cairo southeast to Catskill and then Catskill Landing Catskill provided a connection to the New York Central s West Shore Railroad trains from Albany to Weehawken New Jersey The Catskill Landing location provided a connection for boats across the Hudson River to Hudson New York Service between Cairo Junction and Palenville and Otis Summit on the C amp T Railway was available in the summer months only 2 Locomotives editNumber Name Builder Type Date Shop No Notes1 S Sherwood Day Dickson Manufacturing Company 4 4 0 1882 3352 John T Mann Dickson Manufacturing Company 4 4 0 1882 3363 Charles T Van Santvoord Dickson Manufacturing Company 4 4 0 1885 522 Retired in 1911 4 Charles L Beach Schenectady Locomotive Works 4 4 0 1895 4333 Burned in 1908 Boiler used on 2 2nd 4 Charles L Beach ALCO Schenectady 4 4 0 1909 46645 Sold in 1920 to Oak Grove and Georgetown Railroad 5 Alfred Van Santvoord ALCO Rogers 4 4 0 1912 51126 Sold in 1920 to Oak Grove and Georgetown Railroad Passenger Cars editNumber Builder Type Date Capacity Notes1 Jackson amp Sharp baggage car 1882 12 tons Sold in 1920 to Ferrocarriles Nacionales de Mexico 2 Jackson amp Sharp baggage car 1882 12 tons Sold in 1920 to Ferrocarriles Nacionales de Mexico 3 Jackson amp Sharp baggage car 1882 12 tons Sold in 1920 to Ferrocarriles Nacionales de Mexico 4 Jackson amp Sharp baggage car 1882 12 tons Sold in 1920 to Ferrocarriles Nacionales de Mexico 5 Jackson amp Sharp coach 1882 50 seats Sold in 1920 to Ferrocarriles Nacionales de Mexico 6 Jackson amp Sharp coach 1882 44 seats Sold in 1920 to Ferrocarriles Nacionales de Mexico 7 Jackson amp Sharp coach 1882 44 seats Sold in 1920 to Ferrocarriles Nacionales de Mexico 8 Jackson amp Sharp coach 1882 44 seats Sold in 1920 to Ferrocarriles Nacionales de Mexico 9 Jackson amp Sharp coach 1882 52 seats Sold in 1920 to Ferrocarriles Nacionales de Mexico 10 Jackson amp Sharp coach 1882 52 seats Sold in 1920 to Ferrocarriles Nacionales de Mexico 11 Jackson amp Sharp coach 1882 52 seats Sold in 1920 to Ferrocarriles Nacionales de Mexico 12 Jackson amp Sharp excursion car 1882 longitudinal bench seats Sold in 1920 to Ferrocarriles Nacionales de Mexico 13 Jackson amp Sharp excursion car 1882 longitudinal bench seats Sold in 1920 to Ferrocarriles Nacionales de Mexico 14 Jackson amp Sharp excursion car 1882 longitudinal bench seats Sold in 1920 to Ferrocarriles Nacionales de Mexico 15 Jackson amp Sharp coach 1893 46 seats Sold in 1920 to Ferrocarriles Nacionales de Mexico 16 Jackson amp Sharp coach 1893 46 seats Sold in 1920 to Ferrocarriles Nacionales de Mexico Freight Cars editNumber Builder Type Date 3 Capacity 3 Notes 3 1 Jackson amp Sharp flatcar 1882 12 short tons 10 7 long tons 10 9 t 30 feet 9 14 m long 2 Jackson amp Sharp flatcar 1882 12 tons 30 feet long 3 Jackson amp Sharp flatcar 1882 12 tons 30 feet long 4 Jackson amp Sharp gondola 1882 12 tons 30 feet long 5 Jackson amp Sharp flatcar 1882 12 tons 30 feet long 6 Jackson amp Sharp flatcar 1882 12 tons 30 feet long 7 Jackson amp Sharp gondola 1882 12 tons 31 feet 9 45 m long 8 Jackson amp Sharp gondola 1882 12 tons 31 feet long 9 Jackson amp Sharp flatcar 1882 12 tons 31 feet long 10 Jackson amp Sharp gondola 1882 12 tons 31 feet long 11 Jackson amp Sharp boxcar 1882 12 tons 30 feet long 12 Jackson amp Sharp boxcar 1882 12 tons Converted to 24 foot 7 32 m caboose by railroad 13 Jackson amp Sharp boxcar 1893 12 tons 24 feet long 14 Jackson amp Sharp boxcar 1893 12 tons 24 feet long 15 Catskill Mountain Ry gondola 1906 or 1907 4 5 8 tons 3 22 feet 6 71 m long Built for interchange with Otis Ry and Catskill amp Tannersville Ry 6 16 Catskill Mountain Ry gondola 1906 or 1907 4 5 8 tons 3 22 feet long Built for interchange with Otis Ry and Catskill amp Tannersville Ry 6 17 Catskill Mountain Ry boxcar 1908 or 1909 4 5 8 tons 3 22 feet long Built for interchange with Otis Ry and Catskill amp Tannersville Ry 6 18 Catskill Mountain Ry boxcar 1908 or 1909 4 5 8 tons 3 22 feet long Built for interchange with Otis Ry and Catskill amp Tannersville Ry 6 External links editCatskill Mountain RailwayReferences editHelmer William F 1970 Rip Van Winkle Railroads Howell North Books ISBN 0 8310 7079 X The Otis Elevating Railway Scientific American Oct 5 1895 reprinted by The Catskill Archive Official Guide of the Railways 1910 p 290 a b c d e f g Helmer 1970 p 137 a b c d Annual Report of the Board of Railroad Commissioners of the State of New York New York State Legislature Various years a b c d Poor Henry V Poor Henry W 1895 Poor s Manual of Railroads H V and H W Poor Co Various years a b c d Helmer 1970 p 83 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Catskill Mountain Railway amp oldid 1149531330, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
