Railroad Forums 

Discussion relating to the D&H. For more information, please visit the Bridge Line Historical Society.

Moderator: MEC407

 #803589  by CP142
 
When I visited Oneonta back in the 70's, I never got further than FA tower. Was the General Yard Office in the throat by Lutz feed? Was that also known as Glens Bridge? And how about the hump? Was that near the GYO? I have an employee timetable that mentions the "Carbondale lead." Any idea what track that was?

Thanks for the assistance.
 #804122  by EricB
 
The westbound hump ( still there today I think ) was located near the Richards crossing bridge. There was a yard office there as well up until the late 80's early 90's when both the bridge and office were taken down.
Hope this helps!
 #804256  by CP142
 
Thanks Eric. That does seem to confirm what I thought. It surprises me that both Richards Crossing and Glens Bridge have disappeared from the maps (as names anyway). Should I assume they are both the same? Still looking for a better sense of how the yards were laid out. Anybody have a picture of the Richards bridge?

Thanks again,
Tom
 #805942  by CP142
 
Yes, that is a dynamite picture and I have it as my current desktop image. It just smells and feels like a rail yard should. Well that confirms where Richards Bridge was and helps me make sense out of some of the yard layout. My 1958 ETT lists the following as tracks under that bridge (for clearance warning): east and west leads, SB hump track, 2 mains, NB class yard ladder, caboose track, mud yard ladder and Carbondale lead. I still have nothing firm on Glens Bridge. I suspect it was at the south end of the Advance (?) yard near Otsego Creek. Also, I now wonder if the Carbondale Lead ran on the east side of the yard from the NB class yard to connect with the main near Glens Bridge.

Thanks for the picture reference, March hare.

Tom
 #893413  by PikesPeak303
 
CP142 wrote:Yes, that is a dynamite picture and I have it as my current desktop image. It just smells and feels like a rail yard should. Well that confirms where Richards Bridge was and helps me make sense out of some of the yard layout. My 1958 ETT lists the following as tracks under that bridge (for clearance warning): east and west leads, SB hump track, 2 mains, NB class yard ladder, caboose track, mud yard ladder and Carbondale lead. I still have nothing firm on Glens Bridge. I suspect it was at the south end of the Advance (?) yard near Otsego Creek. Also, I now wonder if the Carbondale Lead ran on the east side of the yard from the NB class yard to connect with the main near Glens Bridge.

Thanks for the picture reference, March hare.

Tom
I have a similar picture as my desktop CP... Sometimes I feel like these computers have superpowers because when I walk in to the room before my screensaver (wife likes the fish one) takes over I seriously can SMELL and FEEL the rail yard. Nothing beats the real thing obviously, but until I get lucky enough to have a job assigned at the tracks I pretty much have to live with an image...
 #895482  by cefredericks
 
Here is a photo of the hump
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=2207705

And another of the yard looking south from the east end of the bridge
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=1315368

Going across the Richards Crossing bridge was always a big thrill as a kid. I remember it looking exactly as the previously-discussed photo shows. The bridge was owned by the railroad and was very rough. I think it had a wood deck.

I recall the hump was re-opened after the surge in traffic due to Conrail in 1976 but didn't last long. I don't think there were retarders so the cars must have been controlled by handbrakes. It was likely dangerous for the switchmen and rough on the freight. Somewhere I remember reading that it was one of the first humps built in the US.
 #1033450  by ChiefTroll
 
I was the Track Supervisor at Oneonta in 1970 when we filled in the scale pit at the top of the southbound hump and reopened the hump yard for operation. It was always a manual hump, with high switch stands (Racor 112's) on the ladder. They didn't normally use hump riders - they controlled the speed of rolling cars by cutting them off on the south slope of the hump at an appropriate point. The yard engine didn't just move south slowly - they moved back and forth to pick a cut-off point. It wasn't the most efficient hump operation in the world, but it served the purpose.

The photo of the Yard Office was taken from the bridge at Richards Crossing, looking north. The mains are to the right, out of the photo. The hump was south of the bridge, and the lead ran west of the yard office. Glens Bridge (GB Cabin) was about two miles south of the yard office, at the south end of the Southbound Departure Yard.

The Carbondale Lead was a long side track east of Main Track 2 (the Northward Main) and was the normal way into the Northbound Receiving Yard. To my knowledge, there never was a northbound hump. The Northbound Class Yard was always flat.

- Gordon Davids
 #1197052  by Cactus Jack
 
Those photos really bring back some good memories !

Those guys kicked alot of work out of that yard back then.