Utica Branch Discussion Thread

RSD15 wrote:On the Utica side things are indeed dismal. New York State has awarded NYS&W $2 million for repairs and upgrades to the Syracuse side but nothing for the Utica side.

It will take a few new Customers either locating along the Utica line or former Customers wanting Rail service before the NYS&W or the State of New York would ante up the funds to rebuild the line.Those customers would need to sign "contracts" saying they would ship or receive "X" amount of carloads before the State would consider funding any work. I remember at one time a Bio-Fuel? site was talking about locating around Norwich, but that was a few years ago. What the line needs is industry to move into the area and want Rail. It would help the line and help the region.

The signals turned off in August 1979 were installed in 1948 and were a TCS system from YO yard to the Forks with the board located at West BD Tower. Both the Utica and Syracuse originally had a Preliminary Overlap Block system that used semaphores dating from ca. 1912. The Utica signals were gone about August of 1957. After CR closed the southend of the Syracuse Branch in March 1979 the only train through Chenango Forks was the Norwich Local operating Norwich-Binghamton-Norwich-Sherburne-Norwich, but the signals were not darkened until August as permissions were filed and reviewed to allow CR to turn them off.

I don't know for sure but think the "new" signals at the Forks were for remote controlled switch operation so crews would not have to stop and manually line the route. They would have had a distant and home signal unlike in DL&W / EL / CR days when there were masts all the way from north of the Forks on into Binghamton.

NYS&W142Fan wrote:I remember at one time a Bio-Fuel? site was talking about locating around Norwich, but that was a few years ago. What the line needs is industry to move into the area and want Rail. It would help the line and help the region.

My understanding was that the biofuel company and the railroad hit an impasse. The company wanted a quoted rate to Norwich- none is/was published- and the railroad wanted a guaranteed car count. Pretty unlikely since the rates elsewhere on the system are published and can be ascertained, but that was the story I got from some Economic development types. The feeling was that NYSW wasn't terribly interested in the line to begin with.

Signals removed from service are often turned to the side to indicate they're OOS to crews as opposed to simply turning them off and having a crew think the signal has failed.

Was up in the Brisben Area and see that along Railroad Avenue, a few sections of rail have recently been removed. Anyone know anything about this? Is the NYS&W using sections elsewhere?

My Stepson was up in the Green area this past weekend. He heard that the Railroad was sold and that the new company was going to restore service to the line. He did not know the name of the new owner. Has anyone heard anything about this. He said the neighbors were talking about it.

I can't seem to find anything about this in the news, but I hope it's true. I used to live in the Norwich/Greene areas, and it would be sad to see it go. If you find a link, please post back.

Heard nothing at the train fair and that would be big news -

So no more service to the F.X. Matt Brewery via the street trackage on Schuyler St. in Utica anymore?

What makes you ask that?

NYS&W142Fan wrote:My Stepson was up in the Green area this past weekend. He heard that the Railroad was sold and that the new company was going to restore service to the line. He did not know the name of the new owner. Has anyone heard anything about this. He said the neighbors were talking about it.

That would be great news, but I think the county IDA would have to announce any sort of sale.

Still no fresh news on the Utica Branch's Status. According to the STB, the NYS&W only petitioned them for a discontinuance of service, not an abandonment. The specified area is about 41 miles of track between Sherburne and Chenango Forks, so it looks like the Northern section of the line will remain in service. Unless they file a new petition to abandon, it looks like the rails will stay in place for now.

http://www.stb.dot.gov/home.nsf/case?op ... AB_286_5_X

They have moved forward with a full abandonment of the Fay Street Branch in Utica (formerly part of the Ontario & Western's Utica Branch), though.

http://www.stb.dot.gov/home.nsf/case?op ... AB_286_6_X

There is an active rails to trails group trying to get some sort of action taken in their favor in Chenango county.

IMO, the only hope for this line is something related to gas drilling that could cause some action similar to what K4Pacific describes going on with the Owego & Harford, Wellsboro & Corning, etc.

It would be nice to see more of the companies along the line show some interest. Raymond Corporation, Page Seed, AgroFarma (owns the old Norwich-Eaton/Proctor & Gamble factory at Woods Corners), Unison, Norwich Aero...all of these could make use of the line, if not now then possibly in the future. It would be most unfortunate to lose this line and then watch these companies close up or leave in the ensuing years because trucking costs rose out of sight and there were no alternatives.

There is a lot of potential for this line, it could help the area grow. And as Chen1234 stated, once the line is gone and the trucking costs skyrocket, it becomes easier for the Industry to just close up and leave. Let's hope it doesn't become a Rail Trail. Usually once it's a trail it's very hard to bring it back.