Colonie-Schenectady Station on NYCRR Mainline

[NYCRRson]

I originally posted this on the NYC forum, thought I would get the most knowledgeable answers there. But it appears that nobody knows where exactly the "Colonie-Schenectady" station on the NYC/PC/Amtrak passenger mainline was located between 1969 and 1979.... Anybody in the New York State Railfan forum have more info ??? I know this station existed, I was on Amtrak trains that stopped there circa 1976/1977/1978.... Help an old guy out, anybody got pictures, GPS locations, final disposition of the buildings, etc....

My original post on the NYC forum follows;

Ok, here is a trivia test. The circa 1908 NYCRR Schenectady Passenger Station (on Erie Blvd in Schenectady) was closed up in 1969. And it was torn down in 1971. The tracks remained, but in very poor condition since the money making main line freight trains all went to Selkirk via the cutoff at Hoffman's

It was replaced with the Colonie-Schenectady Station near NY State Road #155.

I remember stopping at this station (but not leaving the train), it seemed to be out in the middle of nowhere surrounded by pine trees and consisted of a parking lot that might hold a dozen compact cars and a building about the size of a two person phone booth. I think it had one inexpensive asphalt "platform" at ground level and it required step boxes to embark/disembark the train.

Anyone have more info;

Who built the station. NYC or PC ?

Was it manned with ticket sellers during train times, or was it a "buy your ticket on the train" operation ?

Was it a scheduled stop, or a flag stop ? I don't think they did flag stops on the NYC in the late 60's ?

I would assume it did not handle checked baggage ?

GPS coordinates ?

Photos ?

Fate ? Does the building / parking lot still exist ? I see no sign of it in the satellite images.

After Amtrak built a "1970's" station in Schenectady (circa 1979) the Colonie-Schenectady station was closed up.

Maybe the Colonie-Schenectady station (starting as NYC/PC and ending as CR/Amtrak) holds the record for the shortest lived railroad passenger station in New York State History at just about 1 decade? Not counting temporary construction related "shacks".

Any info appreciated, I felt like I was lost in the far north woods of Canada whenever the train stopped there....

Cheers, Kevin

NYCRRson

Posts: 188
Joined: Wed Nov 18, 2009 12:50 am

[traingeek8223]

https://www.google.com/maps/dir//42.728952,-73.8653289/@42.727353,-73.8657061,2126a,35y,223.05h/data=!3m1!1e3

This is the location of the Colonie-Schenectady station. I believe the building is still there (it is in the satellite photo). You would never know it was a train station if you were not told.

[NYCRRson]

Matt, thank you very much. I have been wondering for many years were the heck that "station" was. The building and surroundings are about as I remember them.

NYC and or PC probably found the cheapest piece of property they could and threw together a steel shed so they could claim they provided train service to Schenectady.

Thanks Again, Kevin

[CP4743]

As a replacement for Schenectady, this station location was a joke. And that was likely the intent of NYC or PC. But with the growth of the suburbs, this is actually a pretty good location. It is literally the mid point between Schenectady and Albany on Central Ave (Rt 5). It was easily accessible to the growing suburban sprawl between the 2 cities. With the move of the station from Albany to Rensselaer, this station might have been easier for the west side of Albany too. The station was a shoebox.

[RichCoffey]

Found this image (its less than 800 pixels wide but I guess since its a png the forum software won’t accept it...)
http://hoxsie.org/wp-content/uploads/20 ... -31-69.png

How Penn Central Ruined Everything, Railwise (Hoxsie)
http://hoxsie.org/2016/07/25/how-penn-central-ruined-everything-railwise/


Related:
Schenectady station (Wwikipedia)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schenectady_station

How the train station ended up where it is now (All Over Albany)
http://alloveralbany.com/archive/2016/07/28/albany-train-station-history

Schenectady, NY (Great American Stations)
http://www.greatamericanstations.com/stations/schenectady-ny-sdy/

[Noel Weaver]

As a replacement for Schenectady, this station location was a joke. And that was likely the intent of NYC or PC. But with the growth of the suburbs, this is actually a pretty good location. It is literally the mid point between Schenectady and Albany on Central Ave (Rt 5). It was easily accessible to the growing suburban sprawl between the 2 cities. With the move of the station from Albany to Rensselaer, this station might have been easier for the west side of Albany too. The station was a shoebox.

I think this station could have been a winner too. It was in the fastest growing area of the Capitol Region, the parking was good and safe and the building might have been labeled a shoebox but I think it served its purpose.
Noel Weaver

[NYCRRson]

More good info from "folks in the know", thanks for the details.

Cheers, Kevin.

[SteelRail]

https://www.google.com/maps/dir//42.728952,-73.8653289/@42.727353,-73.8657061,2126a,35y,223.05h/data=!3m1!1e3

This is the location of the Colonie-Schenectady station. I believe the building is still there (it is in the satellite photo). You would never know it was a train station if you were not told.

Looking at that location on Google Earth shows that the building was removed sometime between July 2015 and July 2017. During that period, a second track was added.

[J.D. Lang]

How Penn Central Ruined Everything, Railwise (Hoxsie)
http://hoxsie.org/2016/07/25/how-penn-c ... -railwise/

Thanks Rich for the link to this article. It brings back a lot of memories for me as I used to take trains from the old Albany station and the article provides a lot of insight as to how things transpired for passenger rail in the Capitol district. Good read!

John Lang

[Paul1705]

There could be a suburban station there again to supplement the main station to the east, much like Buffalo also has a station at Depew.

[Noel Weaver]

I am not sure that a station in Colonie would be justified at this time. The station at Rensselaer is easily reached by good roads and has good facilities and good parking as well. Passenger stations are expensive to build and operate. Even if such a station were built it would not be able to offer the service that is available to and from Rensselaer.
Noel Weaver

[lvrr325]

As evidenced by the now gone structure a small station for commuters would be cheap to add. Whatever trains pass by can stop. Apparently there's enough to require the two tracks. The location's not great but it's not like it's on the moon either, it's not far from main roads.

[Noel Weaver]

As evidenced by the now gone structure a small station for commuters would be cheap to add. Whatever trains pass by can stop. Apparently there's enough to require the two tracks. The location's not great but it's not like it's on the moon either, it's not far from main roads.

Washington Avenue Extension is not more than ten minutes away and from that you can link up with I-90 and be in Rensselaer pretty quickly. Add costs of maintenance, snow removal, electricity, cleaning, insurance and a host of other costs and this location will cost plenty. At this point in time I just don't think it is worth the extra dollars to re-establish and operate,
Noel Weaver

[sd80mac]

As evidenced by the now gone structure a small station for commuters would be cheap to add. Whatever trains pass by can stop. Apparently there's enough to require the two tracks. The location's not great but it's not like it's on the moon either, it's not far from main roads.

Washington Avenue Extension is not more than ten minutes away and from that you can link up with I-90 and be in Rensselaer pretty quickly. Add costs of maintenance, snow removal, electricity, cleaning, insurance and a host of other costs and this location will cost plenty. At this point in time I just don't think it is worth the extra dollars to re-establish and operate,
Noel Weaver

and it would kill the 100 mph run...they put a lot of $ into track to get it up to Class _? to allow it run at 100 mph. Also it would kill the purpose of having 2 tracks to avoid the "congestion" (what congestion?? only 6-8 trains a day)