Original New York Central Mainline in Rome, NY..?

I have some quick questions about the New York Central in Rome, NY. I know the ORIGINAL Mainline ran right into the City (In fact, the MA&N Industrial line along East Dominick Street is actually the ROW of the original NYC Mainline) instead of (If going West) swinging directly West and running along the Canal for a ways before turning Southwest. The line was moved South to it's present day routing when the Barge Canal was being constructed. My questions are...

1)What was NYC's reasoning for rerouting the mainline? Were they unable to negotiate with New York State to build the necessary bridges over the Canal?


2) What were the start/finish dates of the construction of the re-routed mainline? I would guess between 1910 and 1915 because that is when the Barge Canal was being constructed through the Rome area.

3)When the new mainline was being built, did the NYC run detours to divert traffic around the construction, perhaps over the West Shore?


4) Where was the original NYC train station in Rome, NY and do any photos exist of it?

Thanks!
Alek S

I would think one of the big reasons would be to eliminate road crossings within the city,
as it would reduce the potential for injury/death in populated areas.

Charlie

That was probably a contributing factor. Maybe they were already considering detouring around Rome and the Canal Project just gave them a "bump"?

Alek S

I suspect that the newer highline (the present ROW) was constructed first, along with the two bridges over the under-construction Barge Canal and the new passenger station on Martin St., and then cut in. The highline crosses the alignment of the original Erie Canal and still has the underpass needed to not obstruct canal traffic until the Barge Canal became operational. The eastern RR bridge is still in use to access the remaining industries and the Griffiss Business & Technology Park, home of the olive oil distribution plant. There may have been two western bridges: one at the intersection of the original ROW and the Barge Canal and one slightly to the west. Both are gone, as well as the track back to the RW&O connection by the still existing passenger station. The passenger station dates back to the RW&O days, was a hardware store up into the 1990s(?), and is now vacant.

- WS 4 Ever

What is the line you see on the left (west) curving off the current alignment northward? It looks like a rail connection that joined the RW&O in a wye where the label is. Would imply the re-alignment was earlier than most and connections were still needed into all those lines from either direction.

The current connection is also the S-curve at the very right (east) of the photo, with the line up to the air base going directly northward. Those tanks are the old Sears Oil Company tank farm, I was in there for an auction a couple years ago.

The old RW&O to the east/north extends past where it crossed Route 49 an unknown distance - I've been through on 49 a couple of times and the track is railbanked, cut for Route 49 but intact on both sides and clear. There's a steel mill or something on the west side of Rome that the MA&N serves, judging by the coil steel cars I've seen.

IIRC the NYO&W roundhouse is just to the west of 26/69 and just south of the current mainline, also.

lvrr325 wrote:What is the line you see on the left (west) curving off the current alignment northward? It looks like a rail connection that joined the RW&O in a wye where the label is. Would imply the re-alignment was earlier than most and connections were still needed into all those lines from either direction.

That was a connection to the RW&O. It shows up on the 1947 map at the link below, though I wonder if it was actually still in service at that point. This connection crossed Muck Road (the road next to the canal on the north side) on an overpass, and the overpass still exists.

http://historical.mytopo.com/getImage.a ... g&state=NY

Another interesting tidbit. The Topo map show the NYO&W trackage leading up from the South and the trackage appears to still be in place along the East side of Canal st., North of the Canal. On the Southside, I have always wondered about what appears to be the remains of a 2-3 stall roundhouse along Martin St., just West of the Erie Blvd bridge and overpass. I kept looking down at it while running by and never could figure out who's it was. Now, thanks to jurtz's Topo map. It appears to have been an NYO&W building since it sits just a couple hundred feet from their trackage into Rome.

Roadster, I noticed it as well. Too bad it isn't kept up nice. The Tunnel through which the O&W Passed under the NYC is still there, however it is filled in a bit.

WShore4ever, Thanks for the information on the Station. I think I have seen it before but I had no idea it was once a station. The MA&N uses that line to get up to Rome Strip - hence the coil cars.

I have also seen the overpass on Muck Road where the "Back Way" into Rome once ran. So the NYC Actually did have bridges over the Canal for the original ROW at one point?

Alek S

Yes, that's the NYO&W roundhouse. Apparently a bit of the O&W track is still in service, it went to MA&N when they got that cluster years ago.

lvrr325 wrote:What is the line you see on the left (west) curving off the current alignment northward? It looks like a rail connection that joined the RW&O in a wye where the label is.

Even more interesting: the wye that serves the line you're talking about has a second wye inside it. I suspect that it was only used for turning engines, and was built because there was too much traffic on the bigger wye.

Looking in Bing Maps Birds-Eye View at the area, You can clearly see the "Double Wye" Russ is talking about.

Attached is a photo of where the later NYC Mainline (Now CSX, of course) crossed over the O&W Rome Branch just West of the NYC Train Station.

Can you imagine if someone back in the day was able to grab an over-under shot here, with the NYC 20th Century Limited passing overhead and an O&W Freight Train passing underneath?!

Alek S

That's a nice pic but it's not the O&W. That's the Lawrence st. underpass that is now out of service.
The O&W underpass is almost directly across from the old roundhouse.If you go to Bing or even Google you can still see some of the remaining
abutments still there.

OK, I see it now. Thanks for the correction.

Alek S

There was a published photo taken here but not of the Century. The photo showed a NYC E8 on a westbound day train which was published in Trains awhile ago. By awhile ago I mean the late Fifties or early Sities. I think it may have appeared in a book as well but I can't remember any details. It was one of those pictures good enough to be remembered. Perhaps someone with the all issue Trains CD or a better memory can run it down.

@Old And Weary

Thanks for letting me know about the photo! Anyone know which back issue it was?

By the way, LVRR325 There IS still a short stretch of the O&W in Rome, NY which was as late as the 1990s (?) used as an industrial spur that ran South almost to the Canal to a steel beam mill but unfortunately it is abandoned and cut off from the MA&N Industrial line (On the old NYC of course).

Along the stretch of O&W remaining in Rome, There is a red building that looks a LOT like an old freight depot. Anyone know what this was?

Alek S