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  • Private equipment collection at Colonie and Glenmont

  • Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New York State.
Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New York State.

Moderator: Otto Vondrak

 #1561867  by Sir Ray
 
BR&P wrote: Tue Jan 26, 2021 8:55 am
nessman wrote:
That's all the stuff that was at Colonie... it's all gone, most of it was scrapped I believe.
I do remember hearing most (all?) of what was at that location was scrapped. And it looks like the video was of a Conrail U25B, another RS3, and that's as far as I watched. Isn't this location where they had to fix a culvert or bridge to put something in or out?
OK, here's a map link to the location (well Google Satellite view). The bridge across Normal Kill which was the access to Beacon Island (where the equipment is located) collapsed several years ago. Zooming in, you can see some of the former tracks by the power station, and more importantly, you can see what I think are the rusting roofs of two of the passenger cars hidden in the trees, to the west of the large cleared area in the middle of the woods.
 #1561869  by traingeek8223
 
From south to north the equipment in Glenmont is as follows:

NYC #100, S1 Electric
NYC #273, T3 Electric
Amtrak #126, RS3 ex NYC #8254
Conrail #2510, U25B ex NYC #2510
D&H #483, Baggage Car
PC #27148, Former Pullman "John Hancock" converted to MOW use
D&H #42, Diner
D&H #41, Diner
 #1561875  by Pensyfan19
 
traingeek8223 wrote: Tue Jan 26, 2021 12:22 pm From south to north the equipment in Glenmont is as follows:

NYC #100, S1 Electric
NYC #273, T3 Electric
Amtrak #126, RS3 ex NYC #8254
Conrail #2510, U25B ex NYC #2510
D&H #483, Baggage Car
PC #27148, Former Pullman "John Hancock" converted to MOW use
D&H #42, Diner
D&H #41, Diner
Are these the pieces of equipment that are remaining? I couldn't open the video at the time I am typing this.
 #1561905  by BR&P
 
Thanks Matt

Restoring even ONE of those would not be cheap nor easy. To hope the whole bunch will survive is not realistic. Unless the next Powerball winner is a railfan, things don't look good. And apparently, each of those items was donated by a railroad, in good faith, with a promise of restoration. Their current situation does not encourage such generosity in the future.
 #1561913  by traingeek8223
 
The ownership/history of the equipment is as follows:

The locomotives are all currently owned by the Danbury Railway museum. Originally all were acquired by the Mohawk & Hudson Chapter NRHS, with exception of S1 #100 which was originally acquired by the American Museum of Electricity and transferred to M&H when that group folded. The mismanagement of the equipment happened decades ago and does not reflect more recent individuals in either M&H or Danbury.

The baggage car is currently owned by the ALCO Historical and Technical Society and was acquired from the Great North Eastern Railroad Foundation when that group "retired" itself. It is currently available for donation/sale to a responsible party.
It was intended to be the tool car for GNERF's NdeN 4-8-4 and was only stored with the M&H stuff.

The other three passenger cars are privately owned and were purchased with private money buy two individuals formerly associated with the M&H Chapter (one much more notorious that the other), and was also just stored with the M&H equipment.

All of these items can be considered candidates for cosmetic restoration and display (RS3 is probably debatable), but realistically only the baggage car and maybe one of the diners have an outside shot of being operated again, and that is only with much effort and major investment. That being said we shouldn't just forget this stuff exists or think it is a forgone conclusion that it will all be scrapped. A small window will exist to get this stuff out once the Port of Albany expands south of the Normanskill and builds a new bridge, and we need to be ready for that day so we aren't sitting on the other side saying "someone should have done something".
 #1561946  by nessman
 
The Glenmont site... the stuff was stored on the property of a power plant until around the late 90's (looking at aerials, they were moved by 2001). The equipment was pushed back off the power plant property onto an old spur, gate locked and rails removed and/or buried under a pile of fill. There was a bridge connecting the other end of the spur to another line, but the bridge was deteriorated and eventually removed several years ago. So all that equipment is still there (4 locomotives and 3 passenger/baggage cars).

The reality is most of that stuff will leave in pieces - the two NYC electrics are rare one-of-a-kind survivors that do have collector / preservation value. But - getting them out of there will be quite the very expensive feat. Now - if the development of the property moves forward (looking like they want to stage offshore wind power turbines there in a plan that's part of Cuomo's budget for this year), it's possible this may happen in a few years as they plan on building a new road/rail bridge - but moving that stuff that hasn't moved in 20 years, along an old rail spur that likely hasn't seen traffic or any maintenance since 1970 (when the power plant was converted from coal to oil) would probably be too risky.
 #1561971  by BR&P
 
Well here's a suggestion which could possibly help in the future. Many if not all of the big carriers have an inventory of track panels on hand to aid derailment cleanup. Whatever museum or other group (or individuals) wants the equipment could assemble about 3 track panels somewhere on their property. Use new or very good ties, and have angle bars and bolts available to connect them. Surely somebody can come up with 6 sticks of rail. Stack the 3 panels on top of each other and wait.

If the day comes that the equipment needs to be moved to live rail or to a waiting lowboy or to where they will not be in the way, those panels can be leapfrogged ahead of each other as a dozer or whatever pulls the car or loco along.

It's a very long shot but that's something that would not cost cubic dollars, could be done as money is available, and would save time and effort if that day comes. The time to plan is NOW, not when the stuff HAS to be moved within a week. If worst comes to worst and the equipment gets scrapped, the panels could be knocked apart and the ties used in museum trackage.

Obviously there would be FAR more issues to deal with if/when that day comes, but this is one thing that can be done ahead of time.
 #1561974  by NaugyRR
 
Sir Ray wrote: Tue Jan 26, 2021 12:07 pm
BR&P wrote: Tue Jan 26, 2021 8:55 am
nessman wrote:
That's all the stuff that was at Colonie... it's all gone, most of it was scrapped I believe.
I do remember hearing most (all?) of what was at that location was scrapped. And it looks like the video was of a Conrail U25B, another RS3, and that's as far as I watched. Isn't this location where they had to fix a culvert or bridge to put something in or out?
OK, here's a map link to the location (well Google Satellite view). The bridge across Normal Kill which was the access to Beacon Island (where the equipment is located) collapsed several years ago. Zooming in, you can see some of the former tracks by the power station, and more importantly, you can see what I think are the rusting roofs of two of the passenger cars hidden in the trees, to the west of the large cleared area in the middle of the woods.
You can see the locos peeking through too...
Image
 #1562372  by lvrr325
 
Been said before, will say again. Some work to realign the tracks where the bridge was and roll them onto a barge is probably the cheapest way to get them out of there. You might have to actually buy a barge or carfloat for the job. Requires no negotiation with power plant, requires no reconstruction of a bridge, just the barge, a tug, and some work to move the end of the track. Maybe an environmental report first.

I suppose one could get crazy and float in a temporary bridge, but then you have to fix track on the other side and work with more people, so who knows.
 #1562387  by BR&P
 
There are barges available for hire and I doubt that rail equipment would be the strangest thing they evert carried.

But the real issue is what do you do with it assuming it's afloat? Sooner or later you will have to reach land and entrust further movement to a railroad. I'm sure those things have been stripped of all the air brake parts and piping. Draft gear may or may not be acceptable, their age might require special waivers. Factor in the cost of a special train move and you'd better have several million ready to spend.
 #1562388  by Sir Ray
 
lvrr325 wrote: Tue Feb 02, 2021 12:28 am I suppose one could get crazy and float in a temporary bridge, but then you have to fix track on the other side and work with more people, so who knows.
Well, the nearest active track, which ends not too far north of Norman's Kill on Cabbage Island, is in good repair.
It is currently used by Sims Metal Recycling. How handy... :P
 #1562429  by nessman
 
lvrr325 wrote: Tue Feb 02, 2021 12:28 am Been said before, will say again. Some work to realign the tracks where the bridge was and roll them onto a barge is probably the cheapest way to get them out of there. You might have to actually buy a barge or carfloat for the job. Requires no negotiation with power plant, requires no reconstruction of a bridge, just the barge, a tug, and some work to move the end of the track. Maybe an environmental report first.
That assumes that Normans Kill is deep enough for a barge that size without getting stuck in the mud. That and how stable is the soil where the bridge was for the heavy equipment? And who's going to pay for all of this?
 #1562431  by nessman
 
Sir Ray wrote: Tue Feb 02, 2021 9:09 am Well, the nearest active track, which ends not too far north of Norman's Kill on Cabbage Island, is in good repair.
It is currently used by Sims Metal Recycling. How handy... :P
First you gotta rebuild 1,900 feet of track from where the bridge was to the Sims siding. Then you gotta make at least somewhat safe for moving locomotives another 2,900 feet of track on Beacon Island. Then there's clearing brush, etc... so on and so forth. This is trackage that hasn't seen a train probably since 1970 when the power plant stopped burning coal.

Now it's possible the Port of Albany will do all this assuming that rail is part of the final redevelopment plan. But what railroad is going to take the risk of moving antique equipment in such disrepair? Sure - you can flatcar it out (assuming there's no clearance issues along the way) - but again... money.
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