Existing Railroad Stations in New York State: Difference between revisions

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In the early 1990s, I had been compiling a database of existing
In the early 1990s, I had been compiling a database of existing classic railroad stations in New York. After gathering about 200 stations, I decided to construct a web site, which I launched in 1996. Within a year, through collaboration with many others, the count skyrocketed to nearly 1,000. Today, the collection hovers around 850, due to a great number of stations being razed in the last quarter century. While researching these stations has been personally rewarding, I feel that sharing this information on the Internet helps others who are interested in the history and preservation of classic railroad stations.
railroad stations in New York. After gathering about 200 stations, I
decided to construct a web site. While researching these stations has
been personally rewarding, I feel that sharing this information on the
Internet helps others who are interested in the history and preservation
of classic railroad stations.


This site has been in place since 1996 and was the first of its type, cataloging railroad stations by state, on the Internet. Subsequent states followed such as, for PA, NH, and OH.  
This site was the first of its type (cataloging existing classic railroad stations within a single state) on the Internet. Subsequent states followed, including PA, NH, and OH.
 
'''From Summer 2020 through Autumn 2023, the content of these pages went through a significant overhaul, which was the result of thousands of miles of driving and hundreds of hours visiting these ever-disappearing stations to re-photograph them.''' In the process, I confirmed the demise of many stations, and discovered a few new ones. I also decided to carefully record and publish the precise GPS coordinates for each station, because addresses — which I used in older versions of the site — were not able to convey their location adequately. These three-plus years of work gave me a view of the entirety of New York State that I don't think any other form of travel could have provided. I hope that you, too, can explore the depth and breadth of New York State through the eyes of the stations left from the railroads that helped form the communities that exist today.


If you have photos, send them in: [mailto:info@existingstations.com email me]. A small credit line at the bottom is helpful, although I can add it. The photos of the old site were small to save space back in 1996. Now I'm standardizing on something around 1600 pixels wide.
If you have photos, send them in: [mailto:info@existingstations.com email me]. A small credit line at the bottom is helpful, although I can add it. The photos of the old site were small to save space back in 1996. Now I'm standardizing on something around 1600 pixels wide.
A tip - if you are looking at a station in a county page, click the photo. You'll see a large version along with a history of the photos for that station below the photo. That gives you a chance to see how the station has changed over time.


[[FAQ|See the FAQ]] for what the column headings mean.
[[FAQ|See the FAQ]] for what the column headings mean.
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*September 24, 2022 - Finished [[Orange]] County with updated photos and data. Thanks to Fred Heggi for his help with some of them.
*November 5, 2023 - Added a section below called “Interactive Map.
*September 24, 2022 - Finished [[Sullivan]] County with updated photos and data. Thanks to Fred Heggi for his help with some of them.
*October 28, 2023 - Finished updating [[Dutchess]] NYC Dover Plains freight house.
*September 10, 2022 - Finished [[St Lawrence]] County with updated photos and data for the New York Central's Jayville, Kalurah, and Potsdam depots.
*October 28, 2023 - Finished updating [[Putnam]], [[Westchester]], and [[Rockland]] Erie Railroad New City with new photos and data.
*September 10, 2022 - Finished [[Franklin]] County with updated photos and data for the New York Central's Malone Junction, Onchiota, and Santa Clara depots. Plus the Rutland's Brushton & Malone depots. The Rutland's freight house in Malone on Railroad St has been torn down.
*September 17, 2023 - Finished [[Dutchess]] County with updated data and photos. CNE Verbank freight house was moved to 21 Freedom Rd, Pleasant Valley, NY. Unable to locate there. Taken down board by board but not sure of current status. The CNE Red Hook passenger depot is gone, torn down to build a new business (was a house). Still need an updated photo of the Dover Plains freight house.
*August 21, 2022 - Finished [[Washington]] County with updated photos and data.
*September 17, 2023 - Finished [[Ulster]] County with updated data and photos. Everything is still standing!
*August 21, 2022 - Finished [[Rensselaer]] County with updated photos and data.
*August 20, 2023 - Updated the RL&B Gasport station in [[Niagara]] County with a photo.
*August 21, 2022 - Updated [[Saratoga]] County with photos of the D&H station in South Corinth and the New York Central station in Mechanicville. Removed the D&H station Elnora. It was torn down.
 
*August 21, 2022 - Finished [[Warren]] County with a photo of the D&H station and freight house in North Creek.
==Counties==
*August 1, 2022 - Finished [[Cattaraugus]] County with a photo of the WNYPT station in Olean. Provided a current and period photo composite.
*June 19, 2022 - Finished [[Schoharie]] County with the addition of the U&D South Gilboa station photo.
*June 19, 2022 - Finished [[Delaware]] County with updated data and new photos. The O&W Delhi station has been torn down and a new building put up. It was here: [https://google.com/maps/place/42.27103,-74.92007 42.27103,-74.92007]. The D&N station at Andes was the standout.
*June 1, 2022 - Added the FJ&G Urban shelter in [[Schenectady]] County.
*May 31, 2022 - Mostly finished [[Saratoga]] County with updated photos and data. The Ballston Terminal's Rock City Falls shelter is, unfortunately for my legs, surrounded by stinging nettles. A winter photo would be better. The D&H South Corinth depot is moved and posted and well down the road it's on. Also, the D&H Elnora depot is next to a parking lot but the lot has a shiny, new chainlink fence around it, blocking access. The old photos for these three will suffice for now.
*May 30, 2022 - Finished [[Schenectady]] County with updated photos and data.
*May 30, 2022 - Finished [[Albany]] County with updated photos and data.
*May 30, 2022 - Finished [[Oneida]] County with a photo for the NYC McConnellsville passenger depot. The depot was moved to the Erie Canal Village, which is now closed.
* Please send updated photos in. See email below. Please try to send full-sized photos from your cell or other digital camera. A tip - if you are looking at a county, click the photo. You'll see a large version along with a history of the photos for that station below the photo. Most right now are going to have one photo. But if you look at a county I've updated, like Orleans, you'll see the current photo and an older photo. That gives you a chance to see how the station has changed. Also, if you click the main photo and it's been updated, you can see a larger version of it.
* I'll be changing the Street column over to latitude & longitude. As I work through the counties updating photos, I've noticed not only the ones with missing streets but towns that have changed street names, especially those short or dead-end streets typically found around railroad stations. So "Railroad Street" where the railroad no longer runs becomes "Veterans Way", for example. Instead of dealing with all of that, I'll just convert it to Lat/Long.
* '''November 2019 Re-Launch - I've converted this site to a Wiki format to make it easier to maintain. I went through over 200 emails that I received since I last updated the (old) site, and you may notice fewer stations on each county page. The majority of these removals were due to fires or tear-downs. I've also updated some photos and other facts that were sent to me. I still have emails I'm going through, so stay tuned for more updates.'''


* If you have photos, send them in: [mailto:info@existingstations.com email me]. A small credit line at the bottom is helpful, although I can add it. The photos of the old site were small to save space back in 1996. Now I'm standardizing on something around 1600 pixels wide.
'''This is the beating heart of this web site, where all pertinent station information is available.'''


==Counties==
<div style="column-count:4;-moz-column-count:4;-webkit-column-count:4">
<div style="column-count:3;-moz-column-count:3;-webkit-column-count:3">
* [[Albany]]
* [[Albany]]
* [[Allegany]]
* [[Allegany]]
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* [[Yates]]
* [[Yates]]
</div>
</div>
==Interactive Map==
The image below is linked to an interactive Google map that allows you to toggle any one of ten railroad layers on or off. '''It is not an alternative to the “Counties” tables above;''' it is merely a simple visualization tool of the locations of all known existing stations. There is a limitation in Google Maps that allows me to have only 10 layers on the map; nine of the largest railroads are viewable on their own layer, and all other railroads are aggregated in a layer called “OTHER.” '''It’s important to note that each station’s ''current'' location is not necessarily its ''original'' location as indicated in the “Counties” tables on this website.''' The “Counties” tables also offer far more information about each station than is possible in the Interactive Map.
[[File:Google_Map.png|1000px|link=https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1R7DfYfV-D-o3-F6Lcz45ZWEzC2HdW9g&usp=sharing]]


==[[Links]]==
==[[Links]]==
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==[[Verify]]==
==[[Verify]]==
Please check here and help locate missing stations.
Please check here to help locate missing stations.


==[[FAQ]]==
==[[FAQ]]==
Frequently Asked Questions.
Frequently Asked Questions.

Latest revision as of 03:00, 6 November 2023

In the early 1990s, I had been compiling a database of existing classic railroad stations in New York. After gathering about 200 stations, I decided to construct a web site, which I launched in 1996. Within a year, through collaboration with many others, the count skyrocketed to nearly 1,000. Today, the collection hovers around 850, due to a great number of stations being razed in the last quarter century. While researching these stations has been personally rewarding, I feel that sharing this information on the Internet helps others who are interested in the history and preservation of classic railroad stations.

This site was the first of its type (cataloging existing classic railroad stations within a single state) on the Internet. Subsequent states followed, including PA, NH, and OH.

From Summer 2020 through Autumn 2023, the content of these pages went through a significant overhaul, which was the result of thousands of miles of driving and hundreds of hours visiting these ever-disappearing stations to re-photograph them. In the process, I confirmed the demise of many stations, and discovered a few new ones. I also decided to carefully record and publish the precise GPS coordinates for each station, because addresses — which I used in older versions of the site — were not able to convey their location adequately. These three-plus years of work gave me a view of the entirety of New York State that I don't think any other form of travel could have provided. I hope that you, too, can explore the depth and breadth of New York State through the eyes of the stations left from the railroads that helped form the communities that exist today.

If you have photos, send them in: email me. A small credit line at the bottom is helpful, although I can add it. The photos of the old site were small to save space back in 1996. Now I'm standardizing on something around 1600 pixels wide.

A tip - if you are looking at a station in a county page, click the photo. You'll see a large version along with a history of the photos for that station below the photo. That gives you a chance to see how the station has changed over time.

See the FAQ for what the column headings mean.

—Charles Woolever

Recent Updates

  • November 5, 2023 - Added a section below called “Interactive Map.”
  • October 28, 2023 - Finished updating Dutchess NYC Dover Plains freight house.
  • October 28, 2023 - Finished updating Putnam, Westchester, and Rockland Erie Railroad New City with new photos and data.
  • September 17, 2023 - Finished Dutchess County with updated data and photos. CNE Verbank freight house was moved to 21 Freedom Rd, Pleasant Valley, NY. Unable to locate there. Taken down board by board but not sure of current status. The CNE Red Hook passenger depot is gone, torn down to build a new business (was a house). Still need an updated photo of the Dover Plains freight house.
  • September 17, 2023 - Finished Ulster County with updated data and photos. Everything is still standing!
  • August 20, 2023 - Updated the RL&B Gasport station in Niagara County with a photo.

Counties

This is the beating heart of this web site, where all pertinent station information is available.

Interactive Map

The image below is linked to an interactive Google map that allows you to toggle any one of ten railroad layers on or off. It is not an alternative to the “Counties” tables above; it is merely a simple visualization tool of the locations of all known existing stations. There is a limitation in Google Maps that allows me to have only 10 layers on the map; nine of the largest railroads are viewable on their own layer, and all other railroads are aggregated in a layer called “OTHER.” It’s important to note that each station’s current location is not necessarily its original location as indicated in the “Counties” tables on this website. The “Counties” tables also offer far more information about each station than is possible in the Interactive Map.

Links

Links to other NY station sites and a few in the rest of the U.S.

Verify

Please check here to help locate missing stations.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions.