Hudson River Connecting Railroad
Organized 1913 by the New York Central
Constructed 1924
Included the following trackage:
· From the junction of what is now the Boston Line/Post Road Branch
(Boston Line, CP-187), which was then the B&A Mainline, west across the
Castleton (Alfred H. Smith) Bridge to what is now the western-most end of
Selkirk Yard (Selkirk Branch, CP-Unionville), which was then the
western junction with the West Shore;
· From the junction at the eastern end of the Castleton (Alfred H. Smith)
Bridge (Boston Line/Selkirk Branch, CP-SM) south to Stuyvesant
(Hudson Line, CP-124/CP-125), which is now the eastern-most (southern-most) extension of the Selkirk Branch;
· From the junction of what is now the Selkirk Branch (CP-SK) south to Ravena Yard (West Shore MP 132), which was then the southern junction with the West Shore.
There were originally two tracks diverging at Stuyvesant to go up the Castleton cutoff.
The (presumably) up-bound track diverged right at Stuyvesant station, and the
(presumably) down-bound track diverged a mile, perhaps more,
farther north (compass north, railroad west!!) on the river side,
and crossed the Hudson main on a flyover. In recent years the longer
track was taken up, and what remains today is only the shorter one with the flyover.
It was determined that the several raisings of the track over the years had
exceeded the support limits for the light cinder material which made up much of the fill.
In other words, the base was too narrow to support what was on it.
The alternatives were: (A) dump x-amount of new fill to provide the needed
additional support; (B) drive steel piling on both sides for the
length of the fill; or (C) to permanently remove the track from service most cost-effective).
Commodore Vanderbilt had actually envisioned a route similar to the present-day Selkirk-Castleton route that would have used the
then-abandoned Saratoga & Hudson RR (the so-called "White Elephant" route that was built by the old New York Central to
Athens on the Hudson River to connect with river steamboats there instead of at Albany) and bridged across the Hudson connecting
with his New York & Harlem RR somewhere near Philmont, NY. In later years, of course, the "White Elephant" was used by the
New York, West Shore & Buffalo which was built in direct competition to the New York Central's main line from New York to Buffalo.
In the 1920's, one of the biggest projects of the NY Central of this era was the Castleton Cutoff which would replace
the grades and drawbridge at Albany with a high-level river crossing several miles south of Albany. The Castleton Cutoff was not
only a bridge (later named the A.H. Smith Memorial Bridge) but included the new yard at Selkirk which eventually replaced
West Albany in importance. In 1924, A.H. Smith, the president of the New York Central, predicted a greater Albany.
He expected Albany to grow to the Castleton Bridge. The bridge cost $25,000,000 and is 135 feet above the river.
It consists of a 600 foot span and a 400 foot span. The bridge contains 23,000 tons of steel and 52,000 yards of concrete.
The bridge, and 28 miles of track owned by affiliate Hudson River Connecting Railroad, connected the Boston & Albany,
Hudson Division and West Shore (River Division) with the Mohawk Division. The new yard at Selkirk had 250 miles of track
connected by 430 switches and served by 2 roundhouses. The opening ceremonies were attended by a large crowd including the
Van Sweringen brothers who owned the Nickel Plate, W.H. Truesdale of the Lackawanna.
William K. and Harold Vanderbilt,
Mayor Hackett of Albany
and New York Lt. Governor Lunn. Two bridges then served Albany.
One bridge to the passenger station (now a bank computer center) lasted until the late 1960's.
The northern of the two bridges is the present Conrail bridge used mostly by Amtrak. At that time it was considered
the "freight" bridge but also was used by those few passenger trains that didn't stop at Albany (some sections of the
20th Century Limited and a couple of limiteds to the midwest).
By Ken Kinlock at kenkinlock@gmail.com
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