NYC into Canada

I am wondering if i read correctly, did the NYC come to Canada? I thought I saw on a map the tracks labeled as NYC in to Ottawa Ontario Canada. If so how long did run trains into Canada and what was the power used?
where else into Canada did they run?

thanks in advance

The Central had a several routings into Canada.

The line into Ottawa lasted until mid-1950s and I think it came into the Central family as the Ottawa & NY Ry. In its later years it operated out of Massena, NY, crossed the St Lawrence on a movable bridge, crossed the CN at Cornwall and CP at Finch and used someone's trackage rights (CP maybe) from a junction called Hurdman into the Ottawa station. The line used small power. The original line began much farther south, maybe Saranac Lake area and was abandoned in the 1930s. In the early 1950s Frank Donovan wrote a TRAINS Magazine article about riding this line and other NYC branches in Upstate NY. (Look up NY & Ottawa or Ottawa & NY for additional info.)
NYC had a long branch from Adirondack Jct., PQ to Malone, NY. Passenger trains used Windsor Sta. and there was a small suburban operation to Valleyfield. Bilinqual pocket timetables were issued.
The Canada Southern mainline crossed southern Ontario from the international boundary just outside of Buffalo to Windsor. This was a heavy duty main and Conrail disposed of it some years back. There was a network of branches in the St Thomas area and a few others here and there.

Two websites that deal with the NYC in Canada:

http://www.railshops.net/ottawadivision/

and
http://www.canadasouthern.com/

The Sunday River Productions video "Hudsons Along the Hudson" opens with a segment showing NYC ten-wheeler 1290 hauling the mixed train on the Ottawa branch. The locomotive has a Stephenson valve gear, slide valves -- and an auxiliary water tender!

The Sunday River video misidentifies this train as being on the Ottawa branch. It's actually on the St.Clair branch on the Canada Southern.

Interesting -- thanks. This wouldn't be the first video that misidentifies trains or locomotives. In some case the mistake is obvious -- calling a Mohawk a Niagara, etc.

Toronto Hamilton & Buffalo was owned approximately 27% by CP, 37% by NYC proper, and 18% each by Michigan Central and Canada Southern. NYC therefore controlled the company through its own and its subsidiaries’ holdings. The road was independently managed, in part to satisfy fears of a railway monopoly by the City of Hamilton, and in part to prevent conflicts between the interests of the owners, which were generally cooperative wherever they connected. Operating agreements between NYC, CP and TH&B governed through operations between Toronto and Buffalo. CP’s influence appeared greater because CP built many TH&B cars in its own shops, for customs purposes.

IIRC, Canada Southern was owned about 57% by NYC and/or Michigan Central, and the remainder by outside shareholders until CP and CN bought it jointly in the 1980’s. It was under lease to MC.

As far as I know, NYC didn’t actually cross the border at Fort Covington. The CN line crossed to a connection with NYC.

NYC interchanged with CN (Grand Trunk) at Massena for as long as CN owned the Massena Subdivision east to Huntingdon and beyond. Conrail later bought the Massena Sub from Massena to Huntingdon, where it connected with the former NYC Adirondack Division to Adirondack Jct.

While the Rutland was still in operation, the NYC had trackage rights on the Rutland from Norwood to Malone Jct. Freight from the west ran up the Hojack to Norwood, over to Malone Jct on the Rutland, and into Canada on the Adirondack Division through Owl's Head.

When the NYC abandoned the south end of the Ottawa Divsion, they got trackage rights on CN for freight only between Massena and Helena to connect with the remainder of the Ottawa Division.

When the Rutland ceased operating in 1961, NYC obtained trackage rights from CN from Helena to Huntingdon via Fort Covington, and the Hojack trains DM-11 and MD-12 began running that way to the CP at Adirondack Jct and into St. Luc.

Fort Covington was only a US Customs station, and as far as I know it was never an interchange point. Canadian National Railway really owned only to the border just east of Fort Covington, and the line in the US was owned by Grand Trunk Railway, a CN subsidiary which held most of their track in the eastern US except Central Vermont.

The NYC Ottawa Sub crossed the CN Massena Sub (later bought by Conrail) at Helena, west of Fort Covington. The branch from Helena to Rooseveltown is a remnant of the Ottawa Sub. The Ottawa Sub also crossed the Rutland at Moira.

The line crossing the border just east of Fort Covington is the existing Conrail line to Huntingdon, former CN Massena Sub.

The next border crossing east of Fort Covington was the NYC Adirondack Division north of Malone, to Huntingdon, Valleyfield and Adirondack Jct.

Wow...had to re-register AND someone had taken my previous StationMaster ID.

Corncerning the NYC into Canada, Terry can give great accounts on the Canada Southern Ry (Detroit to Niagara Falls), and my own web site which was recently moved for the Ottawa Division (crossing at Cornwall, Ontario) is now at:

http://www.ontarioeastern.com/ottawadivision

Hopefully that will be the last move as my webmaster doesn't plan to shut that link down.

I also live in Cornwall and have been to the Constable, NY crossing into Canada as well as the present CSX crossing at Fort Covington, NY.