Rails in the Catskills Road Trip - August 2010
Published 4-20-22
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Hello, readers. This is Ryan Casey, and welcome to Rails in the Catskills Road Trip – August 2010 Road Trip. It was that Golden Summer between my Junior Year and Senior Year of High School. I was learning how to drive over this summer, and volunteering at Pine Creek at the same time. But in between, we took a short trip to New Hope, and then a Road Trip up to Steamtown National Historic Site, and the Catskill Mountains in Upstate New York to ride on both the Delaware and Ulster, and Catskill Mountain Railroads.
August 14th
On the morning of August 14th, 2010, we set out to Scranton, Pennsylvania to visit Steamtown National Historic Site. The weather was hot and sunny and a little overcast. With my leaner’s permit, I drove for the first part of the trip, while my dad drove the rest of the way to Scranton. We took the Garden State Parkway up to I-280, then I-80 to I-380, then traversing I-81 and the Central Scranton Expressway to Downtown Scranton. Upon arrival, we saw and heard that an excursion train to Moscow, PA was running that day. Pulled by steam engine CN 2-8-2 Mikado #3254. This was the first time in over eleven years that Steamtown was running several scheduled excursion trains to Moscow again. Prior to our departure, CN #3254’s cab was open. So we went inside, and chatted with the crew about my experiences on Pine Creek. After browsing the museum, we boarded the excursion train to Moscow, PA. We passed through the Nay Aug Tunnel, and along the former DL&W mainline. Arriving in Moscow, we stepped off the train and observed the engine run around its train for the return run to Scranton. When we got on the train, we heard people playing back their own videos of the engine passing by, and thought our train was going to pull out while we were still in the station! That evening, we returned to Scranton, and got on the road. We took I-380 to join I-84 East through the rest of Pennsylvania. From there, we crossed into New York State at Port Jervis, New York, and joined the New York State Thruway at Newburgh. The weather was sunny that evening, but the next day, the weather changed otherwise.
August 15th
On August 15th, 2010, it was cold and rainy up in the Catskill Mountains. But that didn’t stop us from exploring the region. There were two tourist railroads up in the Catskills at the time of our visit. The Delaware and Ulster Railroad in Arkville, NY, and the Catskill Mountain Railroad’s Esopus Creek branch in Phoenicia, NY. Both of which occupied the former New York Central Catskill Mountain branch line, which ran from Kingston to Oneonta, NY, where a connection with the Delaware and Hudson Railroad was reached. First, we set out to Arkville, NY to explore and ride the D&U. Upon reaching the depot in Arkville, we were treated to a nice looking train set of streamlined coaches, known as the Rip Van Winkle flyer. Rip Van Winkle is a short-story by Washington Irving, and takes place in the Catskill Mountain region, hence the name. It was 69 degrees Fahrenheit up in the Catskill Mountains, much colder than what you’d expect down by the beaches of New Jersey. For the first half of our trip, we got to ride in the cab of former Delaware and Hudson ALCO RS36 #5017. Upon arrival in Roxbury, we disembarked the train, and I captured this video. We returned to Arkville aboard one of the coaches.
After our ride on the Delaware and Ulster was over, it was time to head down to Esopus Creek and Phoenicia to ride the Catskill Mountain Railroad. Power for this train was ex-Long Island Rail Road, and MTA Staten Island Railway ALCO S-1 #407. In June 2010, the Staten Island Railway retired this engine, as well as another ALCO, and donated them both to two Upstate New York Railroads. The 407 went to the Catskill Mountain Railroad, while its sister engine, ex US Army and MTA Staten Island Railway ALCO S-2 #821 went to the Upper Hudson River Railroad. Before we rode this train, we inspected the depot in Phoenicia, and learned that a narrow gauge line once originated here. The trucks for freight cars were interchanged here, depending on the destinations they were headed to. Soon we were invited up into the cab of ALCO S-1 #407, and rode the train. The engineer told us that the railroad ran using an old-fashioned dispatch system dating back to the New York Central days. Even though our train was the only train on the line, the train crew still had to call for permission to use the line. Once the ride was over, it was time to drive back home to New Jersey, in the pouring rain down I-87. Unfortunately in 2016, six years later, the Catskill Mountain Railroad had to close the Esopus Creek operations, and the line was ripped up due to Ulster County’s government decision to turn it into a rail trail. A great loss for the railfan community indeed.
Thanks for reading!
A special message to those who visit my website. Over the past two years, the COVID-19 Pandemic has changed our lives. When were all forced to stay home, we had to come up with ways to entertain ourselves. I created this website as a way to stave off boredom, and reflect on all the different aspects of my passion for trains and traveling. By doing so, I have combined many years of traveling, video editing, and photography into one website. As I’m growing older, I have found that video making is becoming less and less of a priority, and more of a burdensome proposition than a lucrative business. I have less time for this, and it’s time to move on. I will, however, write about new trips every once in a while. My career aspects have changed, but my passion for trains will never fade. This is my last listed topic for Empire Of Rails. Any future posts that appear on this website from now on, will be of current trips or outings. I’ll see you down the line!
To catch up on my previous post, click here:https://empireofrails.com/index.php/2021/11/21/strasburg-and-lancaster-retrospective/
