[Split from NYSW Dead Line topic-omv]
A recent posting from the O&W YahooGroup....
A recent posting from the O&W YahooGroup....
From: rbhubbell__._,_.___
To: [email protected]
Sent: Friday, November 21, 2008 9:00:01 AM
Subject: O&W Discussion Group Little Known Railroad History of Delaware County
Actually, my understanding is that they are both right, the engine
will be going to Arkville in phase I, but phase II calls for it to be
run between Arkville and Franklin on the old lines of a precursor of the
NYO&W.
Many people are familiar with the early meetings which resulted in
the formation of both the Midland and the Rondout & Oswego (later Ulster
& Delaware) which were held in Delhi. However, most start with the
second set of meetings which were held after the Civil War.
The first set of meetings, the records of which are now largely
lost, were held on the eve of the war. They are little known to most,
but as a descendant of an old Delaware County farm family, they were the
stuff of winter dinner time conversation when I was a child. Walter
Rich also came from a Delaware County farm family, but on the western,
rather than eastern, end of the County. Walter's father was a farmer
from Franklin and served for many years as the Town Supervisor. I can
remember meeting him on occasion in Delhi. Although I never confirmed
it, I suspect that Walter may have heard similar stories at the dinner
table growing up on his farm at the other end of Delaware County.
As first envisaged, at least by Delaware County proponents, this
line would actually have run through both Arkville and Franklin. Later
surveyors actually used part of this proposed route for the ill-fated
Delhi & Middletown. The grading for this route was later incorporated
into the Andes branch of the Delaware & Northern and for a brief period
of less than 20 years, trains actually ran over this portion of the
line.
Additional grading was done between Delhi & Arkville along this
line, although no track was actually laid. The remnants of this grading
are still clearly visible to the south while driving Route 23 between
Andes and Delhi. Nothing was actually ever constructed west of Delhi
towards Franklin, but plans called for the line to pass through Delhi
and then, via a horseshoe curve, pass back above Delhi on the west side.
The line then would have continued to climb west, following the north
side of Peaks brook before entering a tunnel passing into the Treadwell
Creek drainage above present day Treadwell. The line would have then
passed down through Treadwell and on into Franklin (and eventually into
Sidney and westward from there). It is relatively easy to trace this
proposed route on USGS maps.
This is the line which will, if fund-raising goes well, be rebuilt.
While not actually any part of the old NYO&W, it will have features
reminiscent of it. Especially the Treadwell tunnel which will be much
like the old Northfield tunnel. When finally completed, it will provide
a major tourist attraction within easy driving distance of metropolitan
New York, as well as finally linking eastern and western Delaware County
with a railroad envisaged by its farmers almost two centuries ago.
There are varying reasons why the line as first envisaged was never
built. For one thing there was the intervening Civil War, the various
disagreements among those outside of Delaware County as to the route to
be taken, but perhaps the final nail in the coffin was the name chosen
for the line by those soliciting subscriptions for stock.
This was in the early days of railroading and the corporate name
chosen was the Franklin & Arkville Railroad Track. Somehow the
promoters failed to notice the rather obvious acronym which would be
formed by the initials. Still, I am glad for this discussion of the
railroads in Delaware County, and particularly in Franklin and Arkville,
for it has reminded me of the stories passed down in my family of the
"Old Fart" - a railroad which never was.