West Shore Railroad information

Hi, Hit the jackpot today. Went to Montgomery County historical archives. Found out much info on great uncle and questions I had. My great uncle was a section gang worker stationed in Randall. He was called "Old Nick" by locals and railroad men. The station was destroyed in a big flood in 1943 and torn down. This explains why my cousin Rena never saw the station but the water well behind the station when she visited Nick. The flood destroyed most all the buildings there and Nick gathered the remains and built himself another new home( shack) to live in. He had gardens, and sheds from remains of buildings. This is in a local book that the archives have. No longer in print but have a photo of this section where they mention him. Going to get in touch with Root historian as suggested and see what info he might have. Am going to buy the John Ham book West Shore railroad book. Photos of station and building in there. Still missing family data spotty at best but got some leads on this. On a side note I have my grandfathers pocket watch he used on the railroad. Not a certified one as told but his he used when an employee. Thanks .

Hi, On thinking of solving the way my great Uncle rode the train from Randall. I agree with the above poster that it would be difficult to get to the Union Station in Schenectady back then. I lived right by the Carmen cutoff on Chrysler Ave. and now live on the other end right by the Army depot. In thinking about this someone thought there was a station in South Schenectady. I do know there was an engineers hotel right in South Schenectady that is still there right by the tracks. My father would point it out to me as a child when we were train watching many years ago. Could this building have also been a depot of sorts for employees only for them?

I drove over to this spot today. The hotel is on the corner of Old Mariaville Rd. and Keller Ave. Interesting if you look on a google map this Hotel (possibly station) is right on top of the wye tracks that connect to the old West Shore and the D&H tracks that lead into G.E and end up at Union Station in Schenectady. Old Mariaville rd was cut off many years ago I assume a level crossing back then. Now the rd is cut off on each end. I also looked over the notes i took at the Montgomery historical archives and a book stated that a big flood took out all the building in Randall in 1943 and the West shore removed one of the main track thru there.

Hi, I was lucky to meet with an author of many books we buy. He called a friend with the possibilities of Old Nick riding the train into Schenectady. Possibilities would be from Randall to Fultonville, walk across the river to catch the train into Schenectady. the other possibilities would have been to ride the train to Fullers in Guilderland , then transfer to the branch line at Fullers to Carmen's store in Rotterdam then on the line into Schenectady. My understanding is the time tables he has would support this route. My friend did not think he could have come into South Schenectady and hop on a D&H train from the wye to Union station. Chances are the D&H would not allow this. He did this up until about 1950ish. As he got sick and my cousins family moved him to Schenectady where he died in 1952. The above photo of Randall and the hay barn is where Old Nick made his home. He repurposed the wrecked building from the 1943 flood to make a better home right by the tracks. Reached out to a local historian near Randall and he is researching any info or photos of Nick and his home in Randall. Thanks.

Glad to hear you are making some progress. Do not give up, sometimes things come to light years, decades or even a century later. A few years back someone posted on Facebook the first (and so far only) known pic of a railroad facility in Rochester, which ceased operation in 1910. You are covering a lot of bases on this and you hopefully will find more.

It's really nice how all the members came together to get Gooch this information. Great story.

Stumbled across the following and remembered this thread when I saw the 4th image on the page:

https://ginosrailpage.org/West_Shore_Ra ... Shore.html

I hope you find it useful.

Todd K Stearns

Hi Things have been slow but as you said all of a sudden things turn a corner. I had the good fortune to contact an Ann Coddington from Root today. We visited both she and her husband. Well as luck would have it her husband who is 91 grew up in Randall and remembers Old Nick quite well. Jack who was born in 1932 would go down to the tracks and visit with Nick. He explained that the railroad gave Nick all the left over building materials when I am told a flood ruined the station and out bldgs. So Nick made a better shack to live in. He had no running water as there was a well pump behind the station and there was an outhouse he could use. Nick grew vegetables,in the old Erie Canal bed right across from the tracks and had goats, chickens. Randall just stopped growing when the trains no longer stopped there. I am going to bring my cousin who is 90 herself and was Nick's granddaughter to visit with Mr. Cottington in the near future and see what else comes out of the conversation. Hearing about my great Uncle and the hamlet was a treat. I explained to the Coddington's they are living history and I appreciated them in helping me track down this history They moved from Randall 39 years ago but grew up in the Hamlet. Will keep forum posted, Thank you.

Awesome! Make sure you have a digital recorder or video to record the visit.

My other suggestion is don't wait. Maybe 35 years ago I used to see an elderly gentleman sitting on a chair on his daughter's porch on our street. We always waved as we walked by on our evening walks. Then he was not there, and his daughter said he was in a facility, and mentioned that he had retired from the Lehigh Valley! She said he would LOVE to talk railroads!

We set up a date to go see him for a few days later, I armed myself with a tape recorder, notebooks, some LV items to jog his memory, and eagerly awaited our visit.

The date came - and so did a phone call from his daughter. I had waited ONE day too long!

Glad to hear you got in contact with the Coddingtons, and that they are still alive and in the area. Ann was the (un)official Randall historian when I started looking into West Shore RR history back in high school in the '70s. She was very helpful to me then as to you now.

Yes she is and her Husband Jack too. Wonderful people. He was born in 1932 and he was a lumberman. Coddington's Lumber co. They lived right in Randall so getting first hand info. I purchased and opened up the last remaining book Ann had left. Called Randall Gleanings. Thumbing thru it there is a section that states there was a big flood in Randall in 1935. I am guessing the train station along with the other buildings were ruined . Shows the double track all tore up and scrounged under the tracks. So assuming my Great uncle started to save what was left of the buildings and revised his shack/home. Jack said after this time things got slow for the West Shore and the number of trains dropped to one a day Then probably they went to 1 track. Will verify this again. My cousin is excited to meet Jack and yes will record the conversation. Will see how I can post info on the line soon from the book. Jack said when they put in the NYS Thruway the canal and all the good bottom land was gone forever. Jack said many people living in Randall worked on the other side of the river in Yost on the NYC line. He said there was a track pan to scoop water up in the tender as they passed Yost.

H/i, I was able to visit Jack and Anna Coddington today. I brought my cousin Rena who's grandfather was "Old Nick" the section gang man who lived in Randall. They talked for about an hour about Randall in general and the time Jack and Anna lived in the hamlet remembering the railroad. They moved to Root about 50 years ago. Very lucky to have 2 people telling stories about this time period. Will post a photo later today. While was speaking to Anna she told me about her Uncle China Hanchett who was an engineer for the NYC stationed in Rotterdam Junction circa 1940 when she was about 5 years old. Her uncle would sit her up in the cab of his Locomotive and let her pull the throttle with his hand on it at the same time. She still remembers the experience. China was bumped from his job in Rotterdam Junction and landed in Syracuse where he finished up his time. Thought I would share this tidbit. Anna and Jack were elated a few of the forum members remember them for their help on history. They will be celebrating 65 years of marriage on Thursday. A great couple and happy to know them. Thanks.

Thanks for sharing. I have always preferred first hand information or stories. When I go to my former collage library, I try to find books [yes..books] that were written by people that were there. Or, the author interviewed the people that were there. I generally stay away from books that were based on other books, especially newly written, unless there is just no other option.

Good work.

Hi, Sorry I got side tracked. Here is a photo of my cousin who visited Randall in the 1940's visiting her grandfather Old nick. Then is Jack Coddington who knew Old Nick and of course Anna Coddington the book author. All three had a great time reminiscing about the hamlet and the people living there. Wonderful people indeed. Glad I found them both. Being so generous with their time with us I explained anything they need a hand with I am available to help out. Am told there is one small building left from the railroad east of hamlet. Will go and check that out too. Trying to upload the photo and it is not working. What am I doing wrong?