by RussNelson
My guess is that the Thruway used the same gentle grade that made the railroad possible, and destroyed all evidence of it.
Railroad Forums
Moderator: Otto Vondrak
RussNelson wrote:Well, there's always one hope for determining the ROW: county tax maps. Every railroad that ever ran had to register a map of its routing with the county. Now, whether that map still exists, or can be found, is another question.
tmanz wrote:At milepost 131.9, the NYS Thruway (I-87) crosses a valley. Below is a small creek and covered conveyor belt which serves a large industry (cement plant?) about 1/4 mile west of the highway. On the west side of the thruway are what look like railroad bridge abutments on either side of the valley. This would have been a very high bridge, and I'm curious whose bridge that was.That's the New York Central's Albany Branch. It went from Ravena to Selkirk. If you go to Maple Avenue in Selkirk, and look for the railroad crossing, look south. The existing tracks immediately curve away from a road, but THAT'S NO ROAD!
trainsinmaine wrote: It is difficult, though, to find traces east of East Chatham, where the Berkshire extension of the New York Thruway has leveled most of the roadbed.A little bit of snow helps a lot. I saw the railbed a month ago when there was light snow on the ground between the place where the railbed crosses the Thruway, and Columbia County CR-5. Went back on Thursday and went looking where the snow was. The traces continue north of CR-5, first on a fill, which has a "B 165" milepost lying down on it, then through a cut, about 20' deep. I went to the next road intersection, New Concord Road, and saw nothing. My guess is that it's underneath I-90 at that point.
Part of the original H&R roadbed is still visible today from Chatham to East Chatham, skirting [the B&A], and along Rt. 295 near the Columbia Corporation.
RussNelson wrote:Sorry, what dead-end road? You're not talking about Peaceful Valley Road? It's not dead-end. And where the railroad crosses CR5, it's just west of the Thruway, and there's no road there on either side of CR5.If you go to Maptech or to Google Images and do a satellite search along 295, my guess is that the Columbia Corporation is the big complex on the north side of the road a couple of miles out of town. There is a trailer park across the road. The current B&A swings near there, but if you take a close look just north and east of the building complex, there is an oxbow in the river. Abutting it is a very straight tree line, which I suspect may be along the original H&B roadbed. This is speculative on my part as I haven't been there, but it supports what Bezan says in his book. Further, there is a curved line off Hartigan Road, near the intersection of 295 and the Taconic State Parkway, that I also find curious.
Part of the original H&R roadbed is still visible today from Chatham to East Chatham, skirting [the B&A], and along Rt. 295 near the Columbia Corporation.
Just so I understand this, there is a railbed distinct from the existing Berkshire sub between Chatham and East Chatham? Where is "the Columbia Corporation"?
trainsinmaine wrote:I agree. Looks like a railbed to me. Right here: https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/453312113" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;RussNelson wrote:Sorry, what dead-end road? You're not talking about Peaceful Valley Road? It's not dead-end. And where the railroad crosses CR5, it's just west of the Thruway, and there's no road there on either side of CR5.If you go to Maptech or to Google Images and do a satellite search along 295, my guess is that the Columbia Corporation is the big complex on the north side of the road a couple of miles out of town. There is a trailer park across the road. The current B&A swings near there, but if you take a close look just north and east of the building complex, there is an oxbow in the river. Abutting it is a very straight tree line, which I suspect may be along the original H&B roadbed. This is speculative on my part as I haven't been there, but it supports what Bezan says in his book.
Part of the original H&R roadbed is still visible today from Chatham to East Chatham, skirting [the B&A], and along Rt. 295 near the Columbia Corporation.
Just so I understand this, there is a railbed distinct from the existing Berkshire sub between Chatham and East Chatham? Where is "the Columbia Corporation"?
Further, there is a curved line off Hartigan Road, near the intersection of 295 and the Taconic State Parkway, that I also find curious.Hartigan goes over a hill. The only place for a railroad there is next to the B&A, which is next to the creek.
The dead-end road to which I was alluding is not Peaceful Valley Road, but the road on the other side of the Thruway directly across from it, extending from Route 5 southeast.I see no road there, just a railbed.