Thanks for all the info C.J.! What street in Hamilton is the MP 246 located? I'd like to check it out when I do the Earlville, Eaton, and Lebanon stations this spring/summer. I've been hiking a lot of the West Shore between Utica & Syracuse as I'm a huge fan of the Shore, and Third Rail interurban that ran between the two cities. In Taibi's Oneida Railway Company book, he states that many of the W.S. mileposts were knocked out of the ground upon abandonment, and as you can imagine, I was overwhelmed with joy when I finally found one that wasn't completely obliterated (NY239). W.S. NY 243 has been restored in-ground, and moved a short distance from its former location. Anyways, this is what got me thinking as to whether other railroads such as the O & W had done the same upon abandonment?
I'm familiar with most of the O & W's right-of-way on the Northern division between Hamilton and Oswego, and most of the Utica and Rome divisions, but haven't hiked much of it. Many sections on the main south of North Bay, are posted and/or heavily overgrown. The ROW north of Sylvan Beach is in great shape as it is used for snowmobiles etc. Over the past two weeks, in between exploring the West Shore and L.V.'s Cortland division, I've hiked a few sections of the O & W around Verona, and Sylvan Beach. Unfortunately, I found nothing. Even if a mile marker or whistle post were nestling in the ground, it would be like finding a needle in a haystack after all these years, and this is along the well groomed sections. It would help if there were a system map, similar to the maps provided in the Oneida Railway Company book, that identified the exact location of each mileposts on the O & W.
I just found this .pdf document that may interest you. It lists many of the remains between Oswego and Cadosia on the O & W mainline. Included are some mile-markers and whistle posts.
http://owrhs.comp-wiz.com/owremains_part1.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://owrhs.comp-wiz.com/owremains_part2.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://owrhs.comp-wiz.com/owremains_part3.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://owrhs.comp-wiz.com/owremains_part4.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Also thought I'd mention that I have found a couple of whistle posts in Durhamville, NY. Not along the old ROW, but rather in the front yards of a couple private residences. I'm guessing that at one time, they were harvested from the former right-of-way of the nearby O & W??