"Springing Into Spring" NYS&W Utica NY Branch

Views of New York, Susquehanna & Western's Utica NY local freight on March 20, 2023, the first day of spring, are featured here. As mentioned, part of the tracks trace their heritage back to the New York, Ontario & Western, a Class 1 railroad which was nearly completely abandoned in 1957. To hear a few stories of the NYO&W Utica Division (including a switching move on the tracks passing by the warehouse seen in the video), go to the 1 hour 15 minute mark (actually 1.15:35) of my recent video featuring an interview with Jay Winn:
• "Jay Winn: 75 Years A ...

[@rtrobinson88321]

Can't get enough of the train running down the middle of the road. Good video

[@jimdep6542]

It's great isn't it ? I think back to what it must have been like on Schuyler St before there were cars, when it was all buggies and horse pulled street cars. A lot of those homes in this video were built already.

[@NoewerrATall]

Never get tired of watching the street running! Thank you for the great video!

[@sea323]

Beautiful video. Thanks from Chambersburg, PA.

[@littlelittledeer1435]

Wonderful as always, and WITOLD too! Thanks for sharing this with a resident of Southern Oregon.

[@vinnyg.8170]

What better way to usher in spring than by watching one of your excellent videos. Good to see Witold back and still supervising the operation. Cheers from Pottersville NY.

[@APizzaDriver]

I am orig from Utica, and went to SUNY Plattsburgh. Went route 8 to the Northway a million times, getting on at Pottersvile. Cheers from Buenos Aires !

[@marryannlamb9853]

Great video have a blessed day.

[@haliao9263]

Looks like you and Witold had a beautiful day for watching trains! Thanks for all the details about the local businesses that utilize the railroad. Watching from Poughkeepsie NY.

[@shaynelammas9413]

Watching from the UK💕💕

[@SharonTaggerDavidRowbott-mx5eo]

Checking in from York, UK. Slightly worried about Witold’s wait for breakfast, but I bet he was pleased to see the switching at Oneida! Great video.

[@railroadingrambler218]

Thanks for your concern about Witold, lol. I think my sister made up for his delayed breakfast by giving him a few extra treats!

[@williammiller2750]

Another great video from Okeechobee Florida.

[@davidhill7914]

Viewing from Yorkshire, England. Love watching your videos.

[@jimdep6542]

A lot of good Englishmen settled in this area and worked for the railroads. Not far to the north in the towns of Remsen and few others were settled by the Welsh.

[@rosieg.5593]

Great Job Videoing! Stay well Betold!

[@andrewpalm2103]

I always enjoy this kind of "last mile" video. Thanks for taking the time to make it. Cheers from Wisconsin!

[@valeriebassett3107]

My husband and I just love your dog Witold. We love his smooth face and curly hair. He looks like a gentleman that keeps himself well groomed. Haha! Is his curly hair soft? We have two rough coat Jack Russell terriers. They really make us laugh a lot. We live south of Columbus Ohio and have not had much snow this winter. Good to hear from you! We really love your videos. Keep safe, warm and know there are lots of us out there that love you and Witold. Love those trains!!! Can't wait to see your next video! God bless you!

[@railroadingrambler218]

Always enjoy your comments, Valerie! Witold's coat is not especially coarse, he's pretty much an old "softy". One thing that turns him into Cujo , however (besides the mailman), is when he sees someone on a skateboard. He thinks there's something just plain wrong about that and reacts accordingly!

[@valeriebassett3107]

@@railroadingrambler218 I think I agree with Witold. He sounds like a pretty smart guy, just like you. Have a great evening.

[@jaywinn481]

Great job of showing the entire event.. it is so much more meaningful... Thanks!! From New Hartford..

[@railroadingrambler218]

Thanks Jay!

[@orvillespooner1]

Thanks for highlighting that switch that crashed my bicycle in Oct 2020. "Only cross RR track at right angles", hard lesson learned. A homeowner told me that day it has taken down motorcycles too. Looking forward to riding that street again soon. A favorite part of Utica.

[@jimdep6542]

OUCH ! That must have hurt. That area has so much good history and atmosphere.

[@cmdrflake]

I wonder if winter will go away. Oh, hello from Tonawanda NY

[@jimdep6542]

I love the springtime in Upstate New York. You appreciate it even more after a hard winter.

[@wilson561]

Street running and switching cars, great combination. Watching in Maryland. Thanks for sharing this video!

[@StormySkyRailProductions]

Awesome! (Dave).

[@kevinhenry7273]

Watching from Bethlehem, NC

[@andreameredith8674]

I was coming out of the back of New Hartford Shopping Center on the 20th going toward the post office and there was a tall man taking a picture of the engine that had its lights on. This must have been you! A friend had recently made me aware of these videos. They are wonderful.

[@railroadingrambler218]

Ha, that's pretty funny that you saw me videoing! Glad you like the videos.

[@johnwoodall3791]

Awesome Video, Love watching Trains going along street's, Don't get to much of it here in Australia, Keep them coming.

[@wolfgangpfeilergartenbahnd6530]

Great video, beautifully filmed.

[@VlakynaSlovensku]

Amazing train video!

[@bjftype8288]

Watching with great interest, via google maps from the UK.

[@railroadingrambler218]

Good to know, thanks for commenting!

[@sammisworkshops3762]

Watching from Mesa, Arizona, Have some family down in the Homer area. SOmeday would love to visit the m and the area. The brewery trackage always amazes me, love the curved siding and building too. incredible! Keep Vitold well fed LOL

[@trenamerritt5344]

Rome, NY. Love your videos!

[@danielcastillo357]

Watching from Aggieland. College Station, TX.

[@dougkubash8673]

Great video! i always watch your videos to the end. Witold had it handled!

[@johnhines1487]

Watching from Mt Vernon down in Westchester Country.

[@garywygant1521]

Hi from Norwich!

[@jimdep6542]

Love your depot there, along with the DL&W history.

[@andyknott8148]

Witold is our hero, Letchworth, UK.

[@railroadingrambler218]

He appreciates your adulation, lol

[@dougthornton6884]

Excellent switching action !!! As a young kid, I watched the Penn Central do this work between Phoenicia and Woodland Valley road here in the Catskills. Usually box cars filled with corn. Thanks for the great action !!!!!

[@csrrjefflloyd6496]

Hi, I’m in Hemet, CA which is in Southern California.

[@lesashiminski690]

Hey rail rambler watching from Earlville NY.

[@danmarkis3785]

Still from rainy San Luis Obispo Cal.

[@billstellwagen]

Good to hear the O&W tracks are still being used at least partially. My uncle Clark Dodds was an O&W locomotive engineer and although I'm from Long Island there's lots of relatives living in the area. In fact a cousin lives on Schuyler street, Utica. Great work, please keep on posting! Thanks

[@railroadingrambler218]

Thanks for your very interesting comment! Did your uncle work on the O&W's Utica Division?

[@APizzaDriver]

Can you catch/ film the train crossing Seward Ave sometime? Then my childhood memories of walking from Beverly Pl to Chanatry’s will be filmed 100%!!!

[@rjb5847]

Thanks for another interesting video detailing the day to day operations of a local job. One thing that has always amused me as a fan & retired railroad Conductor, is the way motorists will obey a traffic light yet ignore flashing railway lights & bells. Maybe railroads should replace warning lights with regular traffic lights? On a more serious note, there are many intersections where railroad's hwy protection signals are integrated with nearby traffic lights, but not all that many crossings where the rail traffic is solely "protected" by normal traffic signals.

[@jimdep6542]

Thanks again for the video. QUESTION: Back in the late 1800's when they used to take trackworkers out to places like Alder Creek on flatbeds to clean out the cuts during the spring months, how did they get the engines turned around to make the return trip back to the Utica yard ?

[@rjb5847]

Had to have been one of three options: a turntable, a wye, or the engine just wasn't turned & backed up for the return trip. Some local jobs in the steam days operated an engine equipped pilot or "cowcatcher" on the back of the tender as well as a headlight.

[@jimdep6542]

@@rjb5847 Thanks for the reply. The one engine that I know about was one of the 1st group of engines built for the Utica & Black River RR in the 1850's. By the early 1880's, it was old, obsolete and used only for short local runs, such as taking out section crews ( gandy dancers) for odd jobs, such as digging gravel and track maintenance. The engine , No.1 had a history of mechanical problems, leaking steam and was on its last legs. One job they went out on was about 30 miles north every day to "clean out a cut" near the town of Alder Creek. The only turntable I know of , besides the Utica yards, was in Remsen, about 7 miles south of Alder Creek. There's no old maps I've seen showing any wyes between Utica and Alder Creek either, although maps back then didn't offer much detail for tracks and sidings. From Alder Creek, the engineer could have backed the engine down to Remsen to turn it around and then go back up while the cut was being cleaned out, but I'm not sure. I wonder what they did with the caboose. If they left it where it was at the back of the flatcars, it would have been 2nd in line, right behind the tender for the return trip back to Utica. Instead, I think they kept it on the tail end each way, but that would require some extra switching.

[@wesleywright6484]

Most excellent my friend! Love what your doing!!! Keep up the great work!!!! Question??? As I've been tooling around the net! I see lots of historic railroad around the country! Why is it they all have steam! Wether it's oil fired or coal! In Penn ,new Jersey or anywhere in the country!! But we can't have one! ??? I've written on the one the Susquehanna brought up years ago but there was only here for a short time and it's never been back since! Just a little question! Sorry to bring it up! I know it's money we don't have but really! I bet if we got one and started a fund drive!! Everyone loves a steam engine!?

[@jimdep6542]

Sure ! The earliest steam engines that ran down this road were wood burners

[@railroadingrambler218]

Yes, the Susquehanna had a steam engine up here for a few years (No. 148) up until 2002. It has since been operated by a NYS&W historical society. It's been out-of-service the past several years undergoing mandated Federal Railroad Administration recertification procedures. Only a few freight-hauling railroads have steam locomotives: Union Pacific, Iowa Interstate, Reading & Northern to name a few. Most other steamers are owned by groups formed to run them. They negotiate contracts to operate the locomotives over receptive freight railroads. Many railroads, unfortunately, are loathe to permit steam locomotives on their tracks.

[@paulbergen9114]

Nice warmer Day photo run by but I thought you were in Oklahoma judging by the amount of dust at the Crossing. Big business today as you barely tucked in the two units and the 13 cars in the valley scene. That great big set of steps up from the highway is hilarious as a probably sees at most two or three people in 24 hours😮😮

[@JDCheng]

6:17 - amusing to see the "casual railfan" so engrossed in taking a video that she was shocked to see your car when she stopped filming with her phone.

[@roberthammond9319]

Does the DOT on Chenango St get rail deliveries ?

[@railroadingrambler218]

Nope. Long ago, however, Niagara Mohawk (now National Grid) got rail shipments off this line via a spur just beyond Old Campion Rd.