For over a century, Warwick, NY was a railroad village/town. A 1960’s brochure about Warwick stated “Industrially, the Lehigh and Hudson Railway Company is the largest single employer in the valley. It has been a leader in Warwick’s growth and is one of the finest assets to the community.”
The L&HR began life in 1860 as the Warwick Valley Railroad, a broad gauge short line operated by the Erie and serving an agricultural area between Warwick and the Erie at Greycourt. A thriving milk business developed as several dozen creameries eventually located along the line. Iron mining in the mountains east of Warwick provided additional tonnage and gave birth to the short-lived scheme to build a narrow gauge railroad into the region from Warwick.
But the railroad’s founders, notably Grinnell Burt, had far greater ambitions than local traffic as they foresaw a busy main line railroad connecting the anthracite region of Pennsylvania with New England. It took several decades; a gradual westward expansion to Belvidere; the construction of the Poughkeepsie Bridge; stock control by Lehigh Coal & Navigation and Jersey Central; the construction of Maybrook Yard and the successful efforts of the New Haven Railroad to force the diversion of much New England traffic away from New York Harbor to the all-rail “Poughkeepsie Bridge Route” but eventually the vision of Burt and his associates materialized.
The L&HR became a busy, prosperous bridge line carrying tonnage from the B&O, WM, RDG, CNJ, DL&W, PRR, LV, NYS&W and carriers farther to the west to the New Haven’s mammoth Maybrook Yard, the “Gateway to Southern New England”. The L&HR may only have been a single track main line but it featured easy grades; an intensely maintained track structure; an adequate signal system installed in 1914 and a small but capable roster that would eventually include modest 2-8-2’s, giant 2-8-0’s and modern 4-8-2’s augmented by remnants of a fleet of small camelbacks. In partnership with almost a dozen other carriers, the L&HR participated in iconic fast freight lines such as the Central States Dispatch and the Alphabet Route which competed successfully with the eastern behemoths, NYC and Erie.
The Lehigh & Hudson River became increasingly dependent on bridge line traffic as the local dairy industry and the agricultural industry in general declined. Local traffic was increasingly dominated by the mining and processing facilities of the New Jersey Zinc Company at Franklin and Ogdensburg.
Passenger service was of a local nature with a focus on connecting to the Erie at Greycourt for passengers going to New York City. Construction of the New Haven’s Hell Gate Bridge occasioned the three year diversion of the Federal Express away from New York City and to the L&HR to maintain its service between Boston and Washington. Passenger service endured a long period of decline before ending in 1939.
The text incorporates hundreds of contemporary articles from the local Warwick newspapers. They intensively covered all aspects of the railroad which always maintained a focus on Warwick which hosted its major yard, shops and offices.
This is the story of the L&HR’s steam era which encompassed 1860-1950. The book is 418 pages, soft cover, 74 photographs (all but 10 are black and white), 72 illustrations and 42 maps.
A second volume covers the diesel era up to the coming of Conrail and is nearing completion. The diesel era book is about 360 pages with a dozen photographers contributing 248 images, including 113 in color. A third book, Susquehanna Succession, has been recently published and provides color coverage by the author of the surviving L&HR route under Conrail, Norfolk Southern and NYS&W through 2002 in 102 pages. The emphasis is on the double-stack era of the NYS&W and includes some coverage west to Binghamton and east to Butler.
Lehigh & Hudson River, The Queen Village’s Jewel, The Steam Era and Susquehanna Succession are currently available through Ron’s Books and the Anthracite Railroads Historical Society.
Pete Brill
The L&HR began life in 1860 as the Warwick Valley Railroad, a broad gauge short line operated by the Erie and serving an agricultural area between Warwick and the Erie at Greycourt. A thriving milk business developed as several dozen creameries eventually located along the line. Iron mining in the mountains east of Warwick provided additional tonnage and gave birth to the short-lived scheme to build a narrow gauge railroad into the region from Warwick.
But the railroad’s founders, notably Grinnell Burt, had far greater ambitions than local traffic as they foresaw a busy main line railroad connecting the anthracite region of Pennsylvania with New England. It took several decades; a gradual westward expansion to Belvidere; the construction of the Poughkeepsie Bridge; stock control by Lehigh Coal & Navigation and Jersey Central; the construction of Maybrook Yard and the successful efforts of the New Haven Railroad to force the diversion of much New England traffic away from New York Harbor to the all-rail “Poughkeepsie Bridge Route” but eventually the vision of Burt and his associates materialized.
The L&HR became a busy, prosperous bridge line carrying tonnage from the B&O, WM, RDG, CNJ, DL&W, PRR, LV, NYS&W and carriers farther to the west to the New Haven’s mammoth Maybrook Yard, the “Gateway to Southern New England”. The L&HR may only have been a single track main line but it featured easy grades; an intensely maintained track structure; an adequate signal system installed in 1914 and a small but capable roster that would eventually include modest 2-8-2’s, giant 2-8-0’s and modern 4-8-2’s augmented by remnants of a fleet of small camelbacks. In partnership with almost a dozen other carriers, the L&HR participated in iconic fast freight lines such as the Central States Dispatch and the Alphabet Route which competed successfully with the eastern behemoths, NYC and Erie.
The Lehigh & Hudson River became increasingly dependent on bridge line traffic as the local dairy industry and the agricultural industry in general declined. Local traffic was increasingly dominated by the mining and processing facilities of the New Jersey Zinc Company at Franklin and Ogdensburg.
Passenger service was of a local nature with a focus on connecting to the Erie at Greycourt for passengers going to New York City. Construction of the New Haven’s Hell Gate Bridge occasioned the three year diversion of the Federal Express away from New York City and to the L&HR to maintain its service between Boston and Washington. Passenger service endured a long period of decline before ending in 1939.
The text incorporates hundreds of contemporary articles from the local Warwick newspapers. They intensively covered all aspects of the railroad which always maintained a focus on Warwick which hosted its major yard, shops and offices.
This is the story of the L&HR’s steam era which encompassed 1860-1950. The book is 418 pages, soft cover, 74 photographs (all but 10 are black and white), 72 illustrations and 42 maps.
A second volume covers the diesel era up to the coming of Conrail and is nearing completion. The diesel era book is about 360 pages with a dozen photographers contributing 248 images, including 113 in color. A third book, Susquehanna Succession, has been recently published and provides color coverage by the author of the surviving L&HR route under Conrail, Norfolk Southern and NYS&W through 2002 in 102 pages. The emphasis is on the double-stack era of the NYS&W and includes some coverage west to Binghamton and east to Butler.
Lehigh & Hudson River, The Queen Village’s Jewel, The Steam Era and Susquehanna Succession are currently available through Ron’s Books and the Anthracite Railroads Historical Society.
Pete Brill
