Hudson NY railfanning

I'll be in Hudson NY next weekend and would like some recommendations on railfanning the immediate area in Hudson. Places to see and places to avoid. Thanks.

Charles

Will you have a car with you?

Hudson station is a great place to "hang out" and wait for trains. Majority of traffic will be Amtrak. Sometimes CSX runs a Saturday garbage train in the late afternoon.

You can go up to Shodack Landing where the Selkirk Branch joins the Hudson Line, one of the tracks is a flyover. This is visible from the road, and there is a spot to pull off.

You may also want to visit nearby Chatham village, you can catch CSX trains heading to and from the Boston & Albany... used to be where the Harlem Division ended as well. Depot is now restored as a bank.

-otto-

I can help you with that. However, you might want to bring a telephoto lense if you have it. I railfanned there last March. In fact, I rode the turbo up and then, came back down on cans. The Amtrak station is the best place for starters. The station is located at the bottom of downtown. However, the only notice you get of trains is the grade crossing. The station sits on a big curve. If you come to this location, try to get there in the morning because you can get nice shots facing both north and south. But if you have a telephoto lens, in the afternoon, stand right near the grade crossing and you could get nice shots of northbounds. There is also a freight line that runs through downtown. In fact, it leaves the Empire Corridor just short of the Amtrak station and it crosses Warren St. At that point, it does some street running. However, the frequency is not so good on this line.

As mentioned in earlier posts, the Amtrak Station at MP QC 114.5 is a great place to sit and wait for trains. If you have a scanner on hand, tune into 161.070. CSX NC dispatcher will alert you of some Amtrak moves and there is a HBD/DED just to the north at Stuyvesant, MP QC121.5 that will alert you of southbounds approaching. Also, any freights coming south off the Schodack Subdivision(formerly known as Selkirk Branch), will call CSX NC dispatcher to get a heads up on approval to enter the CSX Hudson Subdivision at CP 125. The best thing about Hudson is the CSX B-957 local. This is the grain train which travels up the 3.22% grade to reach ADM Mill at Claverack. This train operates more often than not, and with a wide variety of power. Usual practice is 2 units, 10 cars at a time up the hill. Empties are sometimes brought down after each return, or at end of day. The street running portion in center of town IS A MUST!! Hope this helps and enjoy...

ASD

Thanks for everyone's help.

Charles

The street trackage that leads to the grain silo, that area is called Hudson Upper (so listed to differentiate it from Hudson Station down on the mainline). There is a whole Yahoo group dedicated to movements on the Hudson Upper track, they can tell you when a move is scheduled to run up there. The grade coupled with the street running is surely worth it!

If you're at the station, consider hiking a couple thousand feet south of the station, there are some nice photo ops of southbounds coming under the signals and the abandoned bridge structure (for a cement plant, I think?)...

-otto-

I've always wondered what that bridge was - did it carry a rail spur or just some type of pipe? (I never got a close up look at it). I also recall there being an abandoned crossing on that road just going south just out of town (9G?) - i recall looking down (west) the abandoned ROW there and it seemed to line up with that bridge.

That was perhaps 15 years ago though, so I'd imagine the crossing and signs are gone by now (there was no track in back then, just the ROW...)

Otto Vondrak wrote:The street trackage that leads to the grain silo, that area is called Hudson Upper
-otto-

yeah I have seen them in 94... CR always used 4 C7-36( or B7-23??) Once I caught them using SD60M/I and other emd (sd50 or sd60). Conductor let my son and me get on and take a "tour".

The day that they derailed down the hill - 95 or 96??? my friend was working on that train.


What power are CSX using for that job today??

Ken