HOW RAILROADS WORK Ep. 8: Albany, NY

[@cats0182]

Lived in Albany for 23 yers. Spent many a summer weekend at the track. This video is really a fun trip back in time. WONDERFUL!!!!

[@Trains21]

Thanks, Man.. I'm glad you enjoyed it.. I was once a fairly regular visitor to Albany myself a few years back..

[@s.j.5850]

enjoyed your video. i worked for Amtrak for nearly 27 years as a Car-Inspector. the passenger cars shown in the video are the same ones i worked on in the 70's, 80's, & 90's! it's a good thing they were made well to last all these years.

[@Trains21]

Thanks for sharing your memories and experience with us and thank you for watching.. I'm glad that you enjoyed it.

[@billstarr9396]

Hi AC, I am a live log resident of the Capital District of New York (Albany, Schenectady and Troy) I have lived in the Schenectady area since 1962. At time 3:39 of this video showing the Amtrak station which is the Schenectady station and it is serviced by the CSX Albany-Schenectady branch line and the CP Canadian main, NOT NS trackage. Just a half mile north of this station is where Alco was located. We had several neighbors who worked at Alco. The Rivers Casino now occupies the Alco site, but out in front of the Casino is Schenectady Steel and their lone building is the last remaining building of the Alco works. As a boy I would see rows upon rows of new locomotives, and vintage steam stock, sitting in the yard which has now become the casino complex. NS leases track rights from CP from Binghamton, NY through Schenectady and onto the shared CP/NS intermodal yard in Mechanicville, NY. It is at this point where NS gains access to Pan Am to continue on to their intermodal yard in Ayer, Ma. via the Hoosac Tunnel and Pan Am's East Deerfield yard. NS and Pan Am jointly own the road from Mechanicville to Ayer and that section of Pan Am can truly be classified as Class 1. The old NY Central (CSX), The D & H (CP) and Boston and Maine (Pan Am) all traveled through and have facilities in Schenectady County. Schenectady more so than Albany was the hub. Now CSX's (NY Central) northeast hub is located at the Selkirk Yard south of Albany which is another rail corridor into New England. However NS's traffic to Ayer, to serve the Boston area, travels through Schenectady on CP to Pan Am at Mechanicville. NS has actually significantly cut into CSX's intermodal business via this route. Also the Hoosac Tunnel cannot accommodate double stacked intermodal traffic therefore most of their intermodal traffic heading to Ayer comes through Schenectady already fileted. Incidentally the tracks heading off to the left on the north end of the Schenectady station crosses the Mohawk River a half a mile beyond into Scotia. This is a continuation of the CSX (NY Central) Albany-Schenectady branch that links up with CSX (NYC) main east west between Scotia and Amsterdam, NY. NY Central also had a Mohawk Yard on this branch in Scotia and it was linked to CP (D & H) Mohawk Yard via a 1.5 mile spur. The CP (D & H) Binghamton Main passes alongside the GE Schenectady works and the D & H and NYC both shared track rights on this section because there was another spur off of that main line over to CSX (NYC) yard in Rotterdam where the RailEx facility is today. So yes Schenectady more so than Albany was the true hub.

[@iusetano]

Loved going on the road trip with you. I even followed on Google Earth. I can't wait till the next one. Excellent video.

[@Trains21]

Thanks, Hans.. I can't wait either.

[@seanpepple6110]

keep them coming great work

[@Trains21]

Thank you, Sean.. I certainly intend to

[@SmokeStack684]

I love it when you go on these road trips. Awesome video!

[@Trains21]

Thanks, SmokeStack.. I have a lot more of them planned for the future!

[@kittty2005]

I agree with cprs5000,my idea of music is sitting inside with the prime mover,with no hearing protection.

[@Trains21]

And hearing loss.

[@theglassishalffull7339]

Great video! Would like to see you come back and do the Selkirk yard and also NS Mechanicville.. it used to be in Albany port but moved. Major point between Bingo and Ayer

[@Trains21]

Thanks, Man.. They're on my bucket list.. Will have to be next year though, gonna be gettin' cold soon!

[@philliplee980]

awesome video. very cool. cool music. sweet EMD's & GE's nice.

[@Trains21]

Thanks, Phil.. Always glad when you enjoy my videos.

[@philliplee980]

Trains21 your welcome. just wondering have you seen my videos. if not that is ok.

[@Trains21]

Not, in about a week.. Sorry, but tough to get away from my daily duties, one of which is making videos which gets more time consuming by the day.. I'll be sure to check them out before the weekends up. :-)

[@philliplee980]

Trains21 ok. not a problem. i understand i'm the same way sometimes.

[@Trains21]

;-)

[@rigstoriches6194]

Your music 🎶 in the beginning is intoxicating jazzzz & trains!

[@Trains21]

Thanks, Cashmere.. I thought it would be a good choice too!

[@3StepTDC]

Great video AC im still waiting for the 8105 im commited!

[@Trains21]

I know you are.. And thank you..

[@masswolf]

Great video..I particularly liked the Pan Am,since i live in Western Mass i see a lot of them from my living room window! along with the Vermonter. the East Deerfield yard is a great place to rail fan. I live not to far from there and the Berkshire sub division of CSX and the their Rail yard.

[@Trains21]

Cool.. Back in the 80s when Guilford was still operating the D&H, I used to watch their trains from my bedroom window.

[@masswolf]

Guilford was horrible at track Maintenance,before Pan Am. And even up to 2 years ago when the Connecticut river line was finally upgraded with welded rail,the freights were limited to 10-20 mph.

[@Trains21]

Guilford/Pan Am is horrible at railroading in general but somehow continues to survive in spite itself.. Maybe NS has something to do with it.

[@masswolf]

Actually, in my neck of the woods,its PanAm Southern. All the rail replacement and upgrades were done by Norfolk Southern crews.The line that runs from Springfield Mass to the Vermont border is now owned by the State of Ma. There has been a lot of talk about having a commuter line run between Springfield and Greenfield also.

[@Trains21]

Yeah, Pan Am Southern.. I still forget to distinguish between the two.. There's a lot of speculation that NS will take over all of Pan Am Southern.. Any thoughts or comments on that rumor?

[@RiverLineProductions]

Great Video! Can't wait for the Selkirk edition! I'll be heading there for a couple days in a couple weeks

[@Trains21]

Cool.. Have a blast and get some good footage as I know you will

[@RiverLineProductions]

Thanks! If anywhere near as good as yours I'll be in good shape! Also I'm going to be posting a Q&A for my 500 Subscriber special and you can post your questions in the comments of my latest video. I'd love to hear from you as you are one of the more elite railfans I know!

[@Trains21]

Thank you.. It will be an honor!

[@RiverLineProductions]

Also, P.S. when you do get up to Selkirk some great locations are Burdeck Street in Schenectady, NY on the Selkirk Sub, and Amsterdam Amtrak Station on the Mohawk Sub. On the River Line CP-124 Hannacroix, NY, CP-102 West Camp, NY and QR-110 Catskill, NY are great locations. Trains to look out for are the oil/ethanol trains (will by symboled with a Kxxx marking, I.E. K140 or K634), and L/Q090 and 091 the "Salad Shooter" which leaves from Schenectady (or arrives there) and usually has nice UP power. Q620/621 is also sometimes a nice train. But other than that, anything else has the potential to be great! Also, here are the area CSX Radio Frequencies if you don't already know them: CSX Mohawk Subdivision: Road- 160.800, Disp- 160.890 CSX Selkirk Subdivision: Road- 160.800, Disp- 161.070 CSX River Subdivision: Road- 160.980, Disp- 160.620 CSX Boston/Berkshire Subdivision- Road- 160.800, Disp- 160.680 (Power on this line mostly normal GE power b/c of cab signals, but some nice locations. Also to an NS railfan CSX GEVOs might not be as boring Lol)

[@Trains21]

Thanks, Guys.. Much appreciated.. It won't be til the weather warms up that I'll be getting there again but when I do the info you gave will be put to good use!.. Go Q&A video BTW.. Haven't had a chance to comment on it yet.

[@JOINTBAW]

good video FYI on the pan am train the second loco was an SD45 :)

[@Trains21]

Negative.. It's rebuilt from an SD45.. De-rated Pan Am designates it as an SD40M-2. But thanks for looking out..

[@JOINTBAW]

o ok no problem

[@bhproductions1061]

Awesome job

[@Trains21]

Thanks Blaine!

[@jayodonnell9838]

OUTSTANDING!!!

[@Trains21]

Thanks, Jay!

[@viperessprincess1012]

Jay, if you like AC's videos that much.... try listening to them in the car !!! I do this with my little 2009 Hyundai Accent, with the KZbin app, and plug it in --- it sounds sweet !!! I've done this with his video, Beginnings [6 of 6] Railfanning -- Slow and Easy, and where the Pan Am EMD-SD40M-2's show up -- it sounds awesome in the car !!!!

[@jayodonnell9838]

Thanks I will have to try that.

[@briankeith5437]

great video again sir

[@Trains21]

Thanks, Brian.

[@briankeith5437]

seen all the major engines on the class 1 tier except 1 and i seen it in Davenport IA 2 CP Engines on Thurs. of last week that was the only engine i have never seen

[@Trains21]

Interesting.

[@ThePete352]

Awesome videos Trains21. how about instead of Horseshoe how about either Cove or Pittsburgh bub. You do Fantastic work my friend

[@Trains21]

Thanks, Keith.. Check this video out kzbin.info/www/bejne/hIayq5ecjM6Ui9k Also "How Railroads Work - Harrisburg" is coming out on Christmas Eve.

[@Trains21]

Here's another you might not have seen yet kzbin.info/www/bejne/mpCYqomEfr6gqrc This is one of my favorites.

[@kenkirkland1056]

You should be giving lessons to the other railfans who post videos here!!!!!....They could learn how to make there's more interesting......Does CP still have a presents in NY state.and if they do how large is it?......Just wondering because I'm a CP fan.

[@Trains21]

Thanks, Ken.. Your words are always inspiring and appreciated.. YES.. CP does still have a big presence in NY State.. From Montreal to Albany (with Plattsburgh, Glens Falls and Saratoga Springs in the middle).. Their southernmost terminus is the Mohawk Yard in Schenectady AND the Kenwood Yard on the Albany Docks.. Along with CSX, they also control the ALBANY PORT RR which serves the waterfront. CP keeps the upper portion of the D&H for Bakken crude oil as it is the only Canadian line from the Bakken fields of Canada to the Albany Riverfront.. NS also utilizes the line north of Mohawk for interchange traffic with the Canadian National.. Specifically, the 30T and 31T trains you see in those FLASHBACK videos.. The Bakken crude oil traffic is the jewel in their NY state crown these days but as pipelines seem inevitable, we'll see how long the remaining D&H tracks can keep CP's interest.

[@billmcfadden3456]

Good Video. A good overview of freight and passenger railroading in the NY Capital District. Also enjoyed the driving portion. Driving around up there you get the sense that you have stepped back into America's past. With the exception of modern automobiles, many of those neighborhoods look the same now as they would have back in the 1930s and 1940s. While that area has lost manufacturing jobs there are enough jobs in state government, education, health care, technology and service industries to keep that area going so there will never be a complete emptying out however there are more younger people moving away from there than settling there.

[@Trains21]

Good points, Bill.. Thank you for sharing them.. I'll have to check, I'm not sure if Albany is considered part of the "Rust Belt."

[@viperessprincess1012]

yup..... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upstate_New_York en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rust_Belt

[@Trains21]

Yes it most certainly is, isn't it.. Greater than 58% overall loss.. Even higher than us here in Northeastern PA.

[@Mercatoyd]

@ Bill McFadden.. massive amounts of bldgs and neighborhoods were tore down to make room for the South Mall project.. some of those homes were three stories with brass handrails going up a flight of stairs..and some had stairs going down to a basement apartment or business.. I did not scroll back to the time posting..but, if you remember the long white multi Corinthian columned bldg in downtown Albany...that used to be the museum which is now located within the South Mall. The space ship looking structure is locally called "the egg"..in the basement is a parking garage and the egg is used for events, concerts, etc. Too bad Nipper wasn't shown in this video.. he's up on top of the RCA bldg..

[@SantaFe19484]

Awesome video! Is Albany more worth a trip than Bingo?

[@Trains21]

I think so but Albany is 3 hours from me while Bingo is only 1.

[@johndeere709]

got a heritage unit this morning conrail 8098

[@Trains21]

Cograts.. You popped your cherry, or in this case, a blueberry and lost your heritage virginity

[@johndeere709]

No I got the coal train to,my video is up on KZbin

[@johndeere709]

The 8100

[@Trains21]

Oh yeah, that's right..

[@johndeere709]

Lol

[@briankeith5437]

i'd say that signal tripped late

[@Trains21]

Possibly

[@cprs5000]

hi I like your videos full narration and no music would be much better I live in Albany unfortunately do to lower gas prices Kenwood yard is not very busy at all and unfortunately the bridge at Selkirk has been taking them out railfanning CP rail system is a trickle of business good videos keep on coming

[@Trains21]

Thanks.. My newer videos have full narration and I'm sorry to hear about your dilemma up in Albany.

[@davesb45]

So, I gather that NS took over the old Boston/Albany trackage from Conrail. Do they follow the old D&H route to PA? PanAm is old Guilford routes correct? Did you go to the old ALCO/GE site when in Schenectady? Selkirk?

[@Trains21]

No, NS didn't take over the Boston & Albany.. CSX got that.. NS runs on the old Boston & Maine.. Yes, Pan AM is Guilford re-incarnated.. Unfortunately, I haven't seen the old ALCO plant yet.

[@gracenauen9828]

PLEASE get rid of the Music I like watching trains not going to the concert hall. And Yes your are very good just drop the music please.