Cazenovia Tunnel - Chenango Branch

The Chenango Branch in the 1930's, Syracuse to Earlville, had a tunnel somewhere west of Cazenovia. Casenovia was located at M.P. 20.33 and Oran was the next station west at M.P. 14.48. There was a watchman assigned to both ends of the tunnel. The section of track where the tunnel was located was abandoned in the early 1940's.

Where exactly was the tunnel and how long was it?

Jack Shufelt

Jack -

The tunnel on the Chenango Branch was on the west side of Cazenovia Lake, passing under what is now NY Route 92 about 1.55 miles north of its intersection with US Route 20, and about 100 yards north of the intersection of NY 92 and West Lake Road.

The coordinates of that point are
N42̊ 56.749'
W075̊ 53.075'

About 400 feet northeast along West Lake Road from its intersection with Route 92 is Tunnel Lane which appears to follow the right of way from the east end of the tunnel curving south toward Cazenovia Station and Rippleton, where the Chenango Branch crossed the Lehigh Valley.

The track grade through the tunnel appears to have been at about 1,220 foot elevation, with about 50 feet of cover above the top of rail elevation at the deepest point of the tunnel. The tunnel was about 1600 feet long.

The Lehigh Valley ran through Cazenovia, and the Cazenovia station on the Chenango Branch was about one-half mile west of town, on what is now US 20 heading west toward Pompey Center.

The Chenango Branch was built as the Syracuse and Chenango Valley Railroad by a contractor named William B. Litchfield. Litchfield also took over the construction of the Rondout and Oswego Railroad in 1872, and extended it from Roxbury to Stamford as the New York, Kingston and Syracuse with the avowed intention of connecting it with the S&CV via Oneonta and Earlville.

That didn’t work. Thomas Cornell and the Coykendalls regained control of the NYK&S, reorganized it as the Ulster and Delaware, and spent the next 25 years going to Oneonta via Bloomville. I just couldn’t help getting in that plug for the U&D. Sorry.

You can find the tunnel on the 1899 15 minute topo map at

http://docs.unh.edu/NY/caze99nw.jpg

Gordon

Gordon,

Thanks for the information. The LV also crossed the NYC at Rippleton. I think I will take a look around the area the next time I am out that way.

Jack

Back in the ealy 60's when I lived in Syracuse, couple of friends and myself went to the tunnel. Wanted to walk thru it, but at the time it was dangerous. I remember it was flooded. It has to be worse now.

Jack, what time frame was the watchman there ? 1 or 2 ?
What was the reason ??

There was a watchman's cabin at both the east and west end of the tunnel until at least 1936. The cabins were not listed in the 1939 ETT. I speculate that they had one man on each trick walking back and forth between the two cabins checking the tunnel for falling rocks and other debris. The actual watchman might have been eliminated when passenger srvice was discontinued in the early 1930's.

By 1939 the line had been cut back to Cazenovia from Earlville. At that time there was only a Monday, Wednesday and Friday second class freight scheduled i.e., #205 westbound and #202 eastbound. He departed East Syracuse at 11:00 AM, arrived Cazenovia 12:55 AM, departed back to East Syracuse at 2:30 PM with a scheduled arrival of 5:20 PM. The speed limit through the tunnel in 1939 was 15 MPH.

Jack

Great to find a thread to the railroad that I am working to build a website for. This little line seems to have not gathered much notice since its abandonment (and during operation leading to its abandonment). I am in the process of pulling together pictures and history of the Chenango Branch from its northwestern terminus in Syracuse (later East Syracuse) to its southeastern terminus in Earlville (later Cazenovia then Oran then Manlius then Fayetteville, now a stub in E. Syr). The site is being built in a pictorial format while trying to incorporate historical references with captions to the pics. The site is in its early stages and we are seeking some older pictures to parallel the current ones. If you have interest in this line, feel free to browse at http://chenangobranch.com and let us know any comments or suggestions.

As Howview did, I had attempted to walk through the tunnel in 1968 (taking another of many "breaks" from my studies at nearby Colgate University) walking part way through - but not all the way - because of the flooding.

30 or so years ago I encountered the flooding situation as well. Not too long ago I heard of a newspaper article written from a few folks that had made the trip through. I will see if I can find an archive of the article and post the link.

As a boy in early 50's attended the Manlius Military school that had a coal trestle on the south side of the Chenango Branch used to supply the school with steam coal. Switch was facing point towards the west & crews dropped cars by and then retreived to place on the trestle. Hiked the ROW to & thru tunnel more than a few times to get away from school and break the routine. Branch was on high on side of hill behind the school & at the end the steam plant at Manlius was the rationale for what was left of the Chenango Branch.

Great stuff. I spoke with someone at the Caz town office and they mentioned they had recently hiked through the tunnel so I guess it's still passable.

An article on the tunnel appeared in the Syracuse papers in the last year or so. There's a little more on the railroad in John Taibi's Remembering The New York Ontario & Western Railway Oswego to Sydney & Branches.

It's been a minor fascination of mine since my grandfather told how his father, a career NYC engineer, would take the Earlville run in the summers so he could be home every day.

The route should have been built by the O&W, but their route selection was often done by what towns would pay the most for the bonds to build the line rather than the best route.

The stub that remains today in East Syracuse, that crosses Bridge Street, is not part of the original line - it's a connector added later. Some of the original ROW is visible near the Bridge Street 690 exit, it seems to have followed the Peat Street Lead alignment into the city and probably connected to the elevated passenger mainline when that was built.

The present day stub of the Chenango Branch is the third termination point for this line per the topo's I have viewed (there could be more). The original termination point was at the original station on Water and Decker Streets in Syracuse. The second location as shown on the 1943 topo is about one mile east of the original station and just south of East Syracuse where the Chenango Branch merged into the WSRR main line. The third termination is the present day stub. I do not know the decision processes for relocation of the western terminus but suspect:

1. Abandoned the station in Syracuse and utilized WSRR main facilities
2. Discontinuance of the WSRR service into Syracuse
3. Terminate at Dewitt Yard where feight cars were categorized for the remaining run on the Chenango Branch that at that time would have been only to Manlius

As a kid in the 50's and 60's, I lived on West Lake Rd., about a mile from the tunnel. I had a paper route that took me down Tunnel Lane every day. Many times my friends and I would visit the Eastern entrance, and venture in. Being typical ten-year-olds we were subject to the myths and fears of the tunnel collapsing in on us for talking too loud. Thus, we never made it through. I moved away in the 70's, but still come back to visit several times a year. On more than one occasion I have attempted to visit the tunnel, but the track bed was always too wet to attempt a hike through. It is nice to hear that some folks have made it through, so I will try again in the near future. Reading your blog brings back a lot of pleasant memories.

Anyone have a picture or drawings of the facilities in Earlville such as the enginehouse or turntable ?