| « Previous | Home | Next » | High Street Station Wednesday, April 12, 2006 |
 I learned some new things about my hometown on Sunday when I went down the trail towards town. I knew about the canals. I knew about the mills. But I did not know the railroad. At least not this railroad. The Troy and Schenectady Railroad. As I wrote a few days ago this line once connected the cities of Troy and Schenectady. I did a little research tonight (after working till about 9:30 pm and coming home burned out). I learned two interesting tidbits: 1. George Westinghouse was involved in a 'small incident' (that's all it said, mysterious eh?) on this rail line that led him to develop the air brake! 2. When the Interstate Highway 87 was built this railroad maintained the only grade crossing of an interste highway anywhere in the United States. (It is now gone). In 1913, this line had four daily passenger trains that passed through Cohoes mostly taking workers to the Alco Locomotive Factory in Schenectady. This picture shows the rail bed about a mile from my house, at a point where the trail enters the urban part of Cohoes. The concrete structure to the left is the platform for the old High Street Station (now long gone). The downtown area is off to the right and some of the nicer upscale residences are directly to the left. As we will see tomorrow, the current situation along this stretch of rail has changed. | |
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Posted by forgingahead Archived under: Places |
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