Railfanning Around Oneonta

Hey im new and i was just wodering if u guys could tell me whats up and get me to date. I have no clue what going on. And do u guys tell if there is a train headed towards oneota or activities that happen on that line.(cause thats where i live by oneonta)Thanks.

Get you up to date? Sure.
Steam has been replaced with diesel/electric engines. Railroads fell on hard times a little while back and were consolidated under one federally supported railroad called Conrail. Then Conrail itself was split and sold off. Meanwhile, short line rr's have been finding a service niche and growing nicely, almost every region has a local carrier. That about brings us up to date.

Steam? Diesel Engines? What became of the canals?

Ahh, Oneonta. Now used by CP and sees about 15-20 trains a day. Frequencies are 161.475 for CP Road channel. Quick jaunt down to Binghamton, and a quick hop to get to Syracuse in the other direction (if you want to see CSX).

If you want, I'll send you a train list PM me for it. Maybe I'll see you trackside.

here's a useful link:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dandh/

I'm on here. Pretty good group.

Also, try the Binghamton Area Railfans group.

finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/binghamtonnyarearailfans

Hope this helps!

The best way to get up to date here is to get a caffeinated beverage and scroll through old posts. There is a treasure trove of information, and you won't get the uptight brigade in a tizzy. Andy hit the nail on the head with the groups- great information. When I lived in Sidney 9 or 10 years ago, we easily got 8 or more trains a day through town, many after dark. From my office in Binghamton I can hear trains all darn day but still never get to see any. I guess I'll have to sign up for one of Andy's tours.

As to the D&H, google the Bridge Line Historical Society for a starter. (Can't recall if Andy mentioned that.)

Have fun and stay safe.

There's a train heading for Oneonta RIGHT NOW... oh, wait... wait... shoot, you just missed it. We'll try to give you a better heads up next time.

All kidding aside, we've got plenty of folks here who are knowledgable about Oneonta and CP/D&H operations... but if you want up-to-the-minute information about operations, consider joining the D&H Yahoo! group...

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dandh/

=otto=

Tours? What? You'll usually get a heads up of trains from the guys up in Ft. Ed, or Rouses point of stuff coming south. Ignore the 250/251. They only make it to Saratoga.

Anyways, c'mon down to Binghamton, and I'll show you what's where.

Thank you for getting me up to date. Thats all i wanted to know is about the schedules and where they're working between oneonta and binghamton. Thanks again!!!!

No set schedules to my knowledge. Just kind of happen.

Didn't there used to be an engine house or a paint shop or something of the like in Oneonta. I remember coming there in 1996 and seeing old shop buildings, a whole bunch of old time boxcars (even 40 footers) in schemes as old as Reading just sitting there rusting away. A Norfolk Southern unit idled nearby and there was a CP rail Geep sitting in a siding near a sand tower. When I visited this past summer the entire yard was empty. It was like i was in a totally different place. I knew I shoulda grabbed a disposable camera back then but I was just a stupid teenager then who thought it would be there forever.

During the steam days and for some time afterards, Oneonta was a busy
yard for trains both out of Binghamton and Wilkes Barre. It was also an
engine change point and crew change point and had a huge roundhouse.
The roundhouse fell into disuse after the Alco RS-3's took over.
Eventually, traffic patterns changed and the yard at Oneonta was more or
less replaced by a rebuilt facility at Binghamton and the crews were run
through between Binghamton and Saratoga or maybe Mohawk Yard in
Schenectady and Binghamton.
The last major activity in Oneonta was probably the car shop which after
the CP takeover was shut down and replaced by facilities elsewhere.
That's about the best I can do for you, others can probably add to this.
Noel Weaver

I think I read somewhere (dont remember where) that at one point the Oneonta Roundhouse was the largest roundhouse in the world.






Scot

Great pictures, Scot. I love old shots like that.

I remember my last trip to Oneonta. It was in the early '80s when I was working the Mohawk engineer's extra list in Selkirk. I was called to pilot an Amtrak railfan special (2 F40s and a few Amfleets) from Alb-Renns across the Livingston Avenue bridge to interchange with the D&H at CP4. They told me that I would have to be there later in the day to pick up the train again and bring it back to the station, so I decided to stay on board for the day.

The D&H engineer was Mike Krage (spelled right?) who was the BLE Local Chairman at the time. I later got to know Mike better when he came to Conrail and was sent to the Conway training center where I was an instructor. We were able to get him promoted to RFE at Selkirk after that, but he left later on to keep his seniority with D&H.

Also in the cab that day was Bernie O'Brien, RFE. Our trip took us out to Oneonta via the D&H main. We did a couple of run-bys for the photographers, had lunch, and headed back. Supt. Carl Belk (I think that's right) was on board as well. I was impressed with how well the D&H personnel got along - being much more "familial" than anything we had at Conrail for sure.

Mike and Bernie were able to get us a route down the Albany Main to Kenwood - my one and only ride over that now mostly abandoned line -- crossing my home rails on the diamond at Voorheesville.

I was struck by how Oneonta , as illustrated above - at one time a real action place, was utterly devoid of railroad structures at that time.

LCJ wrote: I was struck by how Oneonta , as illustrated above - at one time a real action place, was utterly devoid of railroad structures at that time.

LCJ,
the roundhouse was still there in the early 80's!
(not the complete circle perhaps, but a big chunk of it anyway)
the last portions of it were torn down in 1993.

Scot

I stand corrected. That fog of time! I guess the structures were there, just maybe where we stopped and ran around the train we couldn't see them? I don't know. Never having spent much time around there, my memories of the area aren't too clear.