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Routes from Albany to NYC

Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New York State.

Moderator: Otto Vondrak

Routes from Albany to NYC

  by railfan365
 
Are there track connections that would allow a Southbound train at Rensellear station to go to Queens via the Hellgate Bridge instead of going to NYP?

Re: Routes fron Albany to NYC.

  by Noel Weaver
 
What's left of the old Maybrook Line including the Beacon Branch might still me at least somewhat intact but any future operation over this route is very, very unlikely. In addition it would be a slow route and subject to a lot of South Norwalk. No other really practiccal route exists although if it was a dimension or some sort of a move it might be able to use the B & A to Springfield and join up with Amtrak. This would only add roughly 90 miles to the route.
Short answer is no.
Noel Weaver

Re: Routes fron Albany to NYC

  by Otto Vondrak
 
railfan365 wrote:Are there track connections that would allow a Southbound train at Rensellear station to go to Queens via the Hellgate Bridge instead of going to NYP?
Yes. It's not very efficient, but it's possible. Metro-North Hudson Line from Spuyten Duyvil, around the wye at Mott Haven Jct., up the Metro-North Harlem Line to Woodlawn Jct., switch on the Metro-North New Haven Line to New Rochelle, then a reverse move down the Amtrak line over Hell Gate into NYP.

Amtrak did this very move in 2008 during a planned track outage that kept trains off the Empire Connection.

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-otto-

Re: Routes from Albany to NYC

  by Rockingham Racer
 
You might save some time by leaving the Harlem Line at Melrose and going over to Hunts Point for the reverse move up the Hell Gate.

Re: Routes from Albany to NYC

  by johnpbarlow
 
railfan365 wrote:Are there track connections that would allow a Southbound train at Rensellear station to go to Queens via the Hellgate Bridge instead of going to NYP?
Not sure what the destination of this sb train from A/R would be but if it runs through NYP to the NEC it could easily get to Queens/Hell Gate bridge. IIRC, trains from A/R go to Sunnyside Yd in Queens for servicing.

Re: Routes from Albany to NYC

  by Rockingham Racer
 
IINM, he was asking if a train could get to New York City via the Hell Gate bridge. Your answer would be to the question: Could a train get to the Hell Gate bridge via New York City.

Re: Routes from Albany to NYC

  by johnpbarlow
 
Rockingham Racer wrote:IINM, he was asking if a train could get to New York City via the Hell Gate bridge. Your answer would be to the question: Could a train get to the Hell Gate bridge via New York City.
It looked to me like the question was proposing the A/R train destination be Queens and not NYP: "...go to Queens via the Hellgate Bridge instead of going to NYP", which is an interesting idea if one wanted to expeditiously get from A/R line to Jamaica and Long Island rather than having to change to LIRR at NYP.

In a vaguely similar but OT vein, I've often wondered why more interest hasn't been shown by transit planners in a routing for southern New England passengers who want to get quickly to/from Long Island avoiding a couple of hours spent transiting NYP.

Re: Routes from Albany to NYC

  by railfan365
 
johnpbarlow wrote:
Rockingham Racer wrote:IINM, he was asking if a train could get to New York City via the Hell Gate bridge. Your answer would be to the question: Could a train get to the Hell Gate bridge via New York City.
It looked to me like the question was proposing the A/R train destination be Queens and not NYP: "...go to Queens via the Hellgate Bridge instead of going to NYP", which is an interesting idea if one wanted to expeditiously get from A/R line to Jamaica and Long Island rather than having to change to LIRR at NYP.

In a vaguely similar but OT vein, I've often wondered why more interest hasn't been shown by transit planners in a routing for southern New England passengers who want to get quickly to/from Long Island avoiding a couple of hours spent transiting NYP.
This is EXACTLY what I had in mind - having an A/R train go South to Long Island without going through Manhattan.

Re: Routes from Albany to NYC

  by shlustig
 
AFAIK, there is no facing point connection to allow this. There used to be a wye at New Rochelle, but that was removed prior to the early 1970's (Noel?).

Now, via either New Rochelle or Oak Point, a reverse move would be required; change ends, brake test, and go.

Also, once you cross the Hell Gate Bridge, there is no direct facing point route. Fremont / Fresh Pond requires a back-up unless the connection has been rebuilt, and the detour freight route via the LI main is long way around.

Re: Routes from Albany to NYC

  by Otto Vondrak
 
Rockingham Racer wrote:You might save some time by leaving the Harlem Line at Melrose and going over to Hunts Point for the reverse move up the Hell Gate.
That track (the NYC Port Morris Branch) was removed more than fifteen years ago, and was not cleared for passenger movements.

-otto-

Re: Routes from Albany to NYC

  by Rockingham Racer
 
True enough!! What's the name of the connection, then, between the Hudson Line and Hunts Point?

Re: Routes from Albany to NYC

  by s4ny
 
CSX to Pittsfield MA, Housatonic to Danbury CT, continue south
on Metro North to Stamford CT, continue on Amtrak/Metro North to
Hells Gate Bridge to Queens.

Re: Routes from Albany to NYC

  by shlustig
 
There is no direct connection between the Hudson Line and Hunts Point. Hunts Point lies east of Oak Point (Market Tower) and the Market Lead is up by the Bronx River Bridge and the switch is facing point westbound. It was a 2-crew move to serve HP; 1st crew would pull east from OP to clear the Lead Switch, and the HP crew would pull the cars into the Market.

If you are thinking of the new connection from High Bridge along the River, I believe that it is referred to as the harlem River connector.

Re: Routes from Albany to NYC

  by ExCon90
 
Sounds like the short answer is it's quicker to go into Penn Station and take the Long Island. Actually there was a proposal at one time from a legislator in Suffolk County to run a daily round trip from Port Jefferson to Albany via Penn Station. Nothing came of it, principally because of how to service the train overnight in Port Jeff. (And even if there were a straightaway route avoiding Penn Station you'd be cutting off the entire New York-and-South market to serve only Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk.)

Re: Routes from Albany to NYC

  by railfan365
 
s4ny wrote:CSX to Pittsfield MA, Housatonic to Danbury CT, continue south
on Metro North to Stamford CT, continue on Amtrak/Metro North to
Hells Gate Bridge to Queens.
Does this mean, then, that while there's no convenient connections via established passenger routes between Albany and the Hell Gate, it can be done using freight lines?
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