West Shore severed as a through route

roadster wrote:Was the bypass and current CSX mains part of the old WS row?

I believe that is the case.

The present CSX Chicago Line from East Syracuse to Belle Isle was originally the West Shore main around Syracuse. The bridge abutments date to about 1883, and the NYC bridge numbers are based on Weehawken mileage. Sometime prior to 1898, based on viewing a topo map of the time, the NYC had already built the first yard at East Syracuse, and they had appropriated the "Lake Line," as the NYC called it, from the west end of the yard to SS-2, west of Syracuse. The West Shore appears to have had a branch into downtown Syracuse from the east which joined the NYC main east of the passenger station. The Chenango Branch connected to that line west of Dewitt Yard. By then, a westward train from Utica on the West Shore did not have a direct route into Dewitt Yard without reversing, nor could it head up the Lake Line without backing into Dewitt.

Until the NYC main through downtown Syracuse was abandoned, the connection to the Lake Line on the east was via Dewitt Yard tracks, and ca. 1959 there was no main track east of GS Tower at Clark Street. The Lake Line main tracks ran from GS to Tower 2.

Larry - It seems that my info corresponds with yours.

Gentlemen, I want to thankyou for filling in that one piece thats been torturing me for the past 4 years wondering about that. Thankyou.
So it seems we have an 8 mile section of WS hauling mainline trains today besides the Henrietta section. Ok guys make your list of active WS trackage now.

All most forgot the 2 stub sideings at the Current Glen Falls Lehigh Portland Cement (Blue O Cement plant in Solavy, NY is a section of the Old West Shore Main Line that once went threw Syracuse. This section is still vary much active with the former Blue O Cement plant.

Wow, that info about SYR I didn't know,but now I have another question.
If you drive east on I 690 where the current main is, looking right off the
bridge you can see an old abutment and ROW that goes over the NYS&W
Ontrack line that curves over to the mall. I always thought that was the
Shore. Since it isn't what is it?. Did the Lackawanna connect to the Shore
here? Maybe a line into downtown to the old Washington St station? The
more I learn the less I know. Thanks

Seasons Greetings

STEAM ON
/--OOO--:-oo--oo-

If you go stand on Willis Ave and look at the tracks you will see the curent main line. The NYS&W Connection has an out of service track that switches back off of the NYS&W you'll see it over grown with weeds right tight to the embankment that is where the DL&W Main line crossed under the NYCS and under the West Shore line (The West Shore crossed over that Plate Gurder Bridge) The DL&W Line is the current Track that travels infront of the Fair Grounds. Eather Penn Central or Conrail realigned the DL&W Line to its current lococation takeing out the tunnal that once crossed under the former NYCS Main. The Bridge Piers that are seen off of 690 (seen while crossing the Tracks) are where the NYCS and the West Shore passenger trains went strate threw This is where the NYCS made its way on to 690 to the passenger station and Fraght Stations seen on 690 in down town Syracuse. All of the fraght traffic followed the current track that flows along by the mall.

i cant be positive but i dont think the bypass was part of the west shore.the ws went right through downtown syracuse about two or three blocks north of the nyc.a lot of rt690 and the nyc elevated were built on the ws row.from the west the ws went through belle isle yards to the norh of the nyc, crossed the dlw ran behind sj tower and then crossed the "lake line" into syracuse.a stone bridge abutment is still there,just west of the 690 overpass on the north side of the csx main at lake curve. it then contiued through syracuse to the north of the centrals passeger main.near east syracuse,thompson rd,it crossed the pass main to the south and went east south of gs and dewitt yards. i dont know when the lake line was built for shure,but i always it was put in when the new line to rochester was built replacing the auburn road. -------------------- charles

Re: my earlier post on Oneida Limited - Knife Plant.
It is correct, the knife plant was up along the O&W - I really meant the Main Office area. I recall seeing the job switching there up above and parallel to the highway.I don't recall what he did, may have been coal and was sometime in the 1968-72 time frame. A buddy of mine shot an ex-NYO&W loco in Vernon in Oct. 1977 (8693), not sure how mucj later the job lasted, but was worked out of Utica.

I am reasonably sure about the 1983 date, but it could have been 1982. Reason is that as far as I can determine, Jim Dundon was one of the engineman on one of the last, if not last trip to Oneida Agway. Jim did not get out that way until displaced by NYS&W taking over the Utica-Binghamton line. Therefore it was either 82 or 83. The job worked out of Utica and I think was the remains of the former Mconnellsville, Vernon crew assignments which were once separate jobs and consolidated into a catchall travelling switcher at the end that served Rome / Vernon / Oneida as needed. It was years later, in the '90's before the Rome Local was combined with the Lyons Falls job and ran out of Dewitt.