Railfanning in Northern Albany (menands)

North of Albany in Menands, which is west of the river, there is a small rail yard that has a lot of weird equipment. There are several rusted Alcos, including:
An S-1?, RRP #417 (black switcher, maybe an S-1 or an s-3)
_MRYHS #302 ALCO PA engine (blue and white with red trim),
Several RS-1's or RS-3's, (one is red with APR? markings, one is light blue), and a coach and some old freight cars.

You can see it if you go north in menands down broadway a bit. The line is still used, as I saw a container train south of it a mile away recently. Who owns this yard, who owns the equipment stored in it, and are there any other interesting sites as well to visit in Albany?

I am hoping to take some last pictures before winter snow comes and makes it difficult. Thanks.

You saw the remains of the D&H's Colonie Yard. I think the property is owned by Guilford. I heard CP wanted no part of a brownfield they had no use for. They didn't want to get stuck with a bill to clean it up.

The equipment is owned by the Mohawk and Hudson chapter of the NRHS.

APR stands for Albany Port Railroad.

Albany has an interesting railroad history. Mostly ghosts now, but some areas of good activity.

Here is a link that might help:

http://www.crisny.org/not-for-profit/ra ... ndex.shtml

Thanks, that is very helpful. By the way, do you live in Albany? Just wondering if you knew any close places to railfan. As in 20 minutes from Albany.

Can anyone remember if any issues of RAILPACE or RAILFAN or TRAINS or anything like that covered the Albany area for railfanning, with such things as maps and bios. of the railroads and the like. The NRHS page is nice but not complete. Thanks

Are you looking for somewhere specific? The M&H page has all the basic info regarding local railroads, yards, and radio frequencies. As far as "drive to ___ Street and park here to see trains," you'll have to do some exploring on your own.

Check this page out:
http://www.crisny.org/not-for-profit/ra ... b_rail.htm

Here is a map of the current area:
http://www.crisny.org/not-for-profit/ra ... b-try1.gif

And the larger region:
http://www.crisny.org/not-for-profit/ra ... b_rail.gif

If you want to see trains- go to Selkirk. visit "Ben's Bridge" (thought you'd like that one). It goes over the yard, and right over the engine terminal. Lots to see there.

Drive into downtown Albany, you can drive past Kenwood Yard and see D&H/CP Rail and NS power. Drive around the Port of Albany, you might see their switcher working the grain mills.

Go to Voorheesville, on the Selkirk Branch. The D&H used to cross here, now it's just another spot on the Selkirk Branch. This place is fairly busy. You can park here and see trains, and a Stewart's is nearby for food and drink.

Go up to Mechanicville to see the B&M (Guilford) connect with the D&H (CP Rail). Hang out near the old XO tower. That big empty field used to be Mechanicville Yard- largely removed by the mid-1980s from what I understand.

Check out the new Amtrak station at Rennselaer. Good photo ops from the highway overpass just south of the new station.

Those are my reccomendations. Get yourself a DeLorme atlas of New York and do some exploring.

-otto-

Otto - those maps are very cool! Are all of those tracks in service?

<shrugs> I don't visit the area enough to know... but I know that the D&H through Voorheesville is gone (the diamond was removed in 2000, I think). The rest of the tracks on that map may be active- to what degree, I can't tell you.

-otto-

Albany city itself is not very active. Best to keep an eye on the old D&H if you like freight. I see the NS intermodal train twice a day, CP general merchandise trains, and locals. I've seen the CP train to Oak Point several times as well. This runs on the CSX tracks.

Most CSX trains are routed around Albany. If your timing is right, you might see the West Albany local. There is also some street running in Albany on Railroad Ave. but you really have to know what your doing to see it. By this I mean talking to other railfans, getting an employee timetable, scanner, ect.

Passenger trains run on CSX through Albany, 12 a day.

The best thing about Albany is that you don't have to drive very far to see some heavy action.

The passenger line to NYC right across the river has 26 Amtrak trains a day.

The CSX main lines are to the south and west of Albany and they carry lots of trains, including Amtrak.

The old D&H main through Schenectady has more trains than the line through Albany.

So all in all, its an interesting place to watch trains.

Thanks, you guys are awesome. I have this weekend free, and weather permitting I know what I will be doing!

Well.............
As of 12/10; Another washed out weekend around the corner.
Possible snow next week!
Listen to the weather on TV or on the web (CBS6) for this area before you drive all the way up here for nothing.

An Albany Native...........

Oh, I don't have to drive up here. I live in Albany, actually Menands, so I live less than a mile from the D&H Main Line- right between the Port of Albany and the Colonie Yard.