What if the D&H had owned their own route into New York?

The various disccussions about the D&H has got me wondering. What if the D&H had owned a slightly different route network?

The route network I am thinking of is what the D&H actually had but with a second main line running as follows:

Starting at their own terminal in NYC roughly where Grand Central is in real life and then runniing to Albany via Poughkeepsie where it takes the route the real D&H did up to Delson Juction and then over its own route to a Union Station in Montreal.

This route would obviously mean that the D&H would run the Laurentian and Montreal Limited entirely on their own tracks and also get a slice of the NY - Albany market and also have their own freight yard in New York. What I wonder is:

What effect would this extra track have had on the D&H?

Would the passenger trains been more profitable?

How would the freight service have worked out?

Could the D&H have got through the 70s/80s better?

Anyone got their own thoughts about this hypothetical route or even their own ideas for what might have been?

Speculation .... is so speculative. It's interesting to fantasize about railroads that never existed. I prefer to chase down railroads that never existed ... like the Brookfield Railroad (which, in spite of being only partially built, has a state park named after it): http://russnelson.com/unfinished-railro ... ldRailroad

What effect would this extra track have had on the D&H?

Means that they would be spending more money on maintenance.

Would the passenger trains been more profitable?

Passenger trains are never profitable to start- all helped by the head-end traffic (mail and express).

How would the freight service have worked out?

I dont know... what did the D&H ship that had to get to or originate from New York?

Could the D&H have got through the 70s/80s better?

See note above.

Anyone got their own thoughts about this hypothetical route or even their own ideas for what might have been?

What if the Santa Fe ran GG-1's?

What if the New Haven bought the Rutland?

What if the Rio Grande bought the Southern Pacific? Okay, so that last one actually happened... If you have an interest in this discussion, please contact the original poster directly.

-otto-