Last Passenger Train (Oneida, NY)

Does anyone know when Oneida, NY last had regular passenger service?

Thanks,
Tim

I too would like to know? I remember reading that the station was demolished around '73, and the tracks were relocated in '66. Perhaps it lasted all the way up to the '66 relocation, as the depot survived for several more years after abandonment. Although, I have no idea what it was used for in the years before demolition??

I'm originally from Oneida and this is a great question. I remember going down to the station as little boy with mom & dad to pick up an aunt that used to visit us via
the train from Albany. That was always a treat because we lived in south Oneida about a 1/4 mile from the Shore. Seeing those grey lighting striped EMD's was a diversion
from the regular RS3 show I was watching. Today the Oneida Towers highrise (senior housing) on Farrier Ave is on the exact location of the old station. I'm curious myself
as to the answer.

A tad before my time but this is the old girl. A real looker.

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nymad ... neida6.jpg

I have most if not all of the New York Central passenger timetables for this territory in the period in question. one of the last timetables that showed a train stopping at Oneida was dated May 22, 1961 train 95 at 1:09 PM WB, train 2 at 7:44 AM and train 40 at 11:57 AM EB. The next timetable dated October 30, 1961 showed only 95 above still stopping at Oneida, the other two trains were still in the timetable but no longer stopped at Oneida. The next timetable dated April 29, 1962 showed all three above trains in the timetable but none of them stopped at Oneida. This was a period when the New York Central and probably a number of other railroads as well were in the process of cutting passenger service overall and especially closing small and maybe little used stations in their judgement. There were a lot of local stations between Albany and Buffalo that were closed in the 50's and early 60's, not just Oneida.
Noel Weaver

O-6-O wrote:I'm originally from Oneida and this is a great question. I remember going down to the station as little boy with mom & dad to pick up an aunt that used to visit us via
the train from Albany. That was always a treat because we lived in south Oneida about a 1/4 mile from the Shore. Seeing those grey lighting striped EMD's was a diversion
from the regular RS3 show I was watching. Today the Oneida Towers highrise (senior housing) on Farrier Ave is on the exact location of the old station. I'm curious myself
as to the answer.

A tad before my time but this is the old girl. A real looker.

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nymad ... neida6.jpg

Thanks for sharing this postcard! Reminds me a bit of the architecture of the newer Rome station. When was the Oneida Depot built?

Alek S

I thought the tracks were relocated in 1962, which would coincide with the year service ended according to the timetable information provided by Noel. If Noel is willing to indulge us again, maybe those same timetables could provide information to confirm the track relocation date. I expect there would have been changes to track speeds through Oneida (elimination of slow speeds) and elimination of several grade crossings.

] I'm pretty sure your date of 1966 is right for the relocation. I remember seeing the construction and then the removal of the downtown tracks. Real shame the old depot was torn down. If it was there today it would have made for a fine police station or farmers market. But no one thought of those things back then. The Vietnam war was on, there were protests, and we were building super highways as fast as we could pour concrete. In fact Rt 81 opened July 66, Syracuse to Binghamton
, by chance we rode up 81 the first night it was opened coming home from North Carolina.

Indeed I also recall the date as being 1966 as we went to Oneida to see the "new railroad" which was rather an oddity then as tracks were being torn up, not becoming new.

I vaguely recall pieces of the old line still intact in the late 1960's but not sure how much and some was buried in gravel and asphalt so they were not used. Whether it was part of a main track or sidings of some sort I do not recall, nor do I remember the depot but simply knew where it stood as mentioned earlier in this thread.

If I can locate an official date I will certainly pass it on, and indeed it is too bad the depot was not in some way preserved, that sure is a pretty post card. I suspect the big wreck in 1947? was a great incentive for the city fathers to want the tracks out of the city far away and never to be thought about again. My aunt was working Oneida City Hospital that night (the old facility downtown) and by all accounts it was a "hell of a night to be on duty".

The relocation happened the week of August 9, 1965 - according to the Utica Observer Dispatch of 8-9-65

The Oneida Wreck I earlier referred to happened October 19, 1950 when a westbound passenger train "North Star Express" making 75mph with a steam locomotive and 11 cars hit a door that had fallen off a box car right in the middle of town. All eleven cars derailred and there were 2 killed (engine crew) and 11 reported injured. Trains were rerouted over the Westshore around the wreck as all four main tracks were damaged.

The information that I posted regarding Oneida was from public timetables, I have more public timetables than employee timetables from this period for the lines west of Albany. I will try to do some more on this one but I can't do it today, it would be just too much digging for right now.
Noel Weaver

Well, I got to digging myself, as I remember my parents telling me of a grade crossing fatality accident involving a fire truck. Turns out that accident occurred on September 26, 1963, so the mainline was still downtown at that point. '65 indeed seems to be the right year for the track relocation. I was somewhat surprised to see the train was estimated to be going 80 MPH at the time of the accident. So much for my theory that train speeds would increase after the tracks were moved out of town.

http://www.leagle.com/xmlResult.aspx?xm ... -1950-1985

I remember my grandfather talking about going down to the crossing in Oneida one evening to see the Westbound Century
probally behind a J-3 Hudson just scream thru town. He said it was Summer and the dust and littler,etc. didn't settle back down for a few minutes to say the least. I don't think there was ever a imposed speed restriction on all tracks in the city or over the crossing. I think they just "put the throttle with the oil can's", and 90 mph in the 1940's on the level tangents was not uncommon.

Although the mainline was relocated outside of the city, as part of the new line an S-curved connector was built off CP-266 to a remnant of the old main to serve a few freight customers, possibly including one on the old O&W (I'd have to do some more research to find out how long that lasted). Not sure when it came up but the ROW of the connector remains as a service road. A small yard also existed at CP-266, but with the derailment and explosion there a few years back the last remaining bit may have been retired. (I think this yard was also used for trains working the West Shore remnant from Canastota to Vernon).

1962 is about when the mainline was reduced to two tracks with the signal system CSX is now retiring, so perhaps that's why that date comes to mind. The relocated ROW is, in places, only wide enough for the two tracks so it postdates the track reduction.

These are cool

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.p ... 463&nseq=8
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.p ... 462&nseq=9
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.p ... 61&nseq=10

NYCUticaSyracuse81 - you are right - those are cool. I live in Oneida and can hardly believe all those tracks went through there at one time.

lvrr325 wrote:Although the mainline was relocated outside of the city, as part of the new line an S-curved connector was built off CP-266 to a remnant of the old main to serve a few freight customers, possibly including one on the old O&W (I'd have to do some more research to find out how long that lasted).

Yes, I believe there was a connection to the old O&W track. In the O&W days, there was a wye that connected the NYC main to the O&W main just east of Lake St. After the NYC main was moved, one leg of the wye remained (curving north from the old NYC main) to connect to the old O&W main, which then went down to service Agway (now Mazullo's furniture). I think the tracks were there up until the late 70's, though I don't know if there was any service to speak of by then. I lived in the area and cannot recall seeing any movements. I believe the tracks that were next to Agway are now next to the restored Munns depot.

My question is: how did the West Shore track that serviced Vernon connect to the relocated NYC main in its later years? Was there some sort of connection built west of the city? If so, where?