by march hare
There's no single place near Schenectady where you can see all Water Level Route traffic and also see the D&H.
At the Amtrak station, you'll get all mainline traffic on the D&H main (missing only 514/515, which run from Saratoga to Kenwood yard in Albany). Obviously, you'll get all the Amtrak trains, roughly 4 round trips a day heading west and two round trips going up the D&H to Montreal and Rutland. But you WON'T get CSX freight action. All that is on the Selkirk "branch" a few miles to the west.
You CAN get to the point in Rotterdam where the Selkirk Branch crosses over the D&H main on an overpass. (Thus, getting all CSX and D&H freight traffic, but no passenger trains). It's located just west of the Burdeck Street crossing, readily accessed from Rotterdam Square or from Rte 7 and I88. Hanging out at the crossing is generally tolerated, but if you literally go up to the crossing, you will often be challenged by RR folks. Rightfully so, IMHO, it's not a good spot to be standing from a safety perspective. The actual crossing is visible from a county road overpass anyway.
In case the previous post didn't make it clear, the West Shore Industrial (think I got the name right), i.e. the remnants of the West Shore, west of Rotterdam Junction, that served the stone plants along route 5S is gone. The Model 40 switcher that served Cushing out at the end of the line is still visible as of last report. Rare bird, that one...
Gardiner Cross
Cripplebush Valley Models
"Great Looking Rocks, In Less Than A Million Years"
www.crippplebush.net
At the Amtrak station, you'll get all mainline traffic on the D&H main (missing only 514/515, which run from Saratoga to Kenwood yard in Albany). Obviously, you'll get all the Amtrak trains, roughly 4 round trips a day heading west and two round trips going up the D&H to Montreal and Rutland. But you WON'T get CSX freight action. All that is on the Selkirk "branch" a few miles to the west.
You CAN get to the point in Rotterdam where the Selkirk Branch crosses over the D&H main on an overpass. (Thus, getting all CSX and D&H freight traffic, but no passenger trains). It's located just west of the Burdeck Street crossing, readily accessed from Rotterdam Square or from Rte 7 and I88. Hanging out at the crossing is generally tolerated, but if you literally go up to the crossing, you will often be challenged by RR folks. Rightfully so, IMHO, it's not a good spot to be standing from a safety perspective. The actual crossing is visible from a county road overpass anyway.
In case the previous post didn't make it clear, the West Shore Industrial (think I got the name right), i.e. the remnants of the West Shore, west of Rotterdam Junction, that served the stone plants along route 5S is gone. The Model 40 switcher that served Cushing out at the end of the line is still visible as of last report. Rare bird, that one...
Gardiner Cross
Cripplebush Valley Models
"Great Looking Rocks, In Less Than A Million Years"
www.crippplebush.net
