Looking south at the Oneida yard to Sconodoa Street. That is the freight house at left. Wilson St. is out of view at right. See if you can make out the NYC RR overpass in the background. Photo is dated 1941. The passenger station, which stood to the north of the freight house was demolished a few years earlier. The O & W which ran from NJ to Oswego, NY was abandoned on March 29, 1957.

Exchange track off of the former Delaware, Lackawanna & Western center, to the old Ontario & Western RR at right.

This is the cut preceding the NYO&W High View Tunnel's north portal. It looks in such poor shape because they tore down the poartal, filling the tunnel with 9' of water. Oopsies, so when they wanted to inspect the tunnel to make sure it would support a new NY17 exit ramp, they had to fix it. Dumb@#$*s.

The eastern approach to the New York Ontario & Western Railway tunnel outside South Fallsburg, N.Y. The railroad went out of business in 1957, so the tunnel has been abandoned roughly 55 years. It doesn’t look too bad here, but it’s a bit crumbly in places. That retaining wall on the left bends waaaay over ... but it’s largely intact and I don’t think it’s much worse than it was when I saw it in the summer of 2001.

No train today- or any other day since 1957. Summitville, a hamlet in the "Sullivan County Catskills", was once an important transportation center. This was the highest point reached by the Delaware and Hudson Canal, and an important junction on the New York, Ontario & Western Railway. Branches to Kingston and Port Jervis left the Cornwall to Oswego main line here. Years of losses came to an end with nearly total abandonment in 1957. View it LARGE! Press L on your keyboard or the diagonal arrows.

I was inspired by Bill Shaumburg's three "time lapse" parings of Chicago to again show a subject as it appears with the passage of time. The Shaughnessy Files "Farewell, Old Woman" (in the current issue of Classic Trains) reminded me of my own O&W "files" so, off we go: My first exposure to the O&W came in 1970 when I was living in Stone Ridge, NY. This is a small town not far from the Kingston Branch. The entire route from Summitville to Kingston was/is strung with small villages that had been served by rail. Like 100's (maybe 1,000's) of towns across the country they all had a small town center that included some rail served businesses. Accord and the other towns on the branch were all rural farming communities so the business were almost all a combination of coal, lumber and feed. Each with it's own unique and interesting architecture, I might add. In the first set of pictures I took in Accord (1969-70) the passenger destination signs were still intact on the exterior of the station by the waiting room door. (What a dream for the collector of O&W memorabilia!) Notice they're all for boarding houses in Kerhonkson. Kerhonkson was actually just a couple miles below Accord. It had it's own station and freight house. Interesting!. Over the years I explored every town on the line but, when the urge to model something took hold I came back to Accord. Not only was it the archetype for a small rail served town, I had a close friend that grew up just a few houses down from the station. His stories of climbing on the box cars spotted at Anderson's Feeds and other adventures painted a powerful and inspirational picture. In 1982 he and I measured every building at Andersons, the station itself and we paced off the spacing between each structure. I spent several weeks on the mechanical drawings and many months scratchbuilding each model. What I finally acheived was an uncompromised or foreshortened model of the site in a 2X7' module. Back in 1982 the station was empty, as were many others on the line. There was still much O&W "paper" laying about to be recycled into a raifans collection and Anderson Feed's was still operating. Athough the coal business was finished the coal pocket was still operable. The main street had many buildings that once housed stores, a car repair shop complete with a 40's era gas pump but, the acutal businesses had moved a few 100 yards over to Rt 209. I've kept track (no pun) of Accord over the years as the old buildings on the old main street have been re-purposed. The town got a new and very large fire station that was built on the site where the town garage once stood. I don't know how things worked for fire protection years ago when the warning bell or siren was atop the feed mill tower and the engine was housed in a small nearby garage. It's fun to piece together scenarios of what was from what remains. I've gotten enough requests to see more pictures of the diorama that I thought maybe a forward to all contacts was in order. As many of you know, the diorama only exists in pictures now. I have a box of slides taken from every angle imaginable and Walters included a number of these in their 1985 catalog. Here are a few others you might enjoy. Enjoy, Wayne Sittner

While going to pick up my parents for Lunch yesterday, I took a few more shots of the old shop buildings of the New York, Ontario and Western Railroad in Middletown, NY. The railroad folded in 1957. The buildings have been used by various other concerns since.

Former O & W ROW crossing a private driveway near Sherrill/Kenwood, NY. The Kenwood trestle, long since removed, was located not too far out of view to the left of this photo.

The back of the station suffered a fire in the early 2000's

Located on the Utica Branch of the O & W Railroad. The line to Rome also branched off at Clinton, NY.

Looking south to the old NYC overpass at Oneida, NY. I think there was a siding through on this stretch, which is why the ROW is wider at this location.

Two views of the considerably altered former O&W depot in Ellenville, NY. The railroad went out of business in 1957. Passenger service ended several years before that.

The New York Central Mainline crossed the Rome Branch of the Ontario & Western RR at this location along Martin st., Rome, NY.

The Napanoch depot of the New York Ontario and Western Railroad is on the grounds of the Eastern State Correctional Facility. It has been restored as a railway museum.

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The O & W station at Sylvan Beach was located off the mainline on a loop. The station still stands although its appearance has changed significantly since serving as a railroad building. Postmarked Aug. 18, 1915.

This is the location where the NYC mainline crossed the O & W's Rome Branch along Martin St. I photographed it a couple years ago, but the overgrowth was so thick, you could hardly see the bridge. This photo is much clearer. View is looking north to Barge Canal and Canal St. in Rome, NY. The Bridge over the canal was removed long ago, but the O & W tracks can still be found along Canal St., opposite side of the Barge Canal. They are no longer used for anything since they are no longer connected to any main.

The depot in Summitville, NY was abandoned in 1957 when the New York Ontario and Western Railroad went out of business. In the early 70's a businessman had an idea to build a tourist railroad there. Some equipment was brought in, but it never came to fruition. In the early 80's, these cars still remained there. They and the depot are now long gone. That is the old rail bed in the foreground.

I coulnt resist another shot of the former middletown depot and corporate offices of the New York, Ontario and Western Railroad. The railroad went out of buisness in 1957. The depot suffered a fire several years ago and has been empty ever since. The railroad never had dining cars, and 10 minute meal stops were made here. the restaurant was later home to a series of night clubs.

Later the home of an oil company, It now sits abandoned and for sale.

History of the New York, Ontario & Western The New York, Ontario & Western Railway struggled to find its place among the many transportation systems serving New York City, but in the end it was able only to secure a place in history as the first Class I railroad to be abandoned in entirety. Despite [...]Read More...

Taken with a Canon 55-250mm IS lens. Type L for a better view.

the track side of the station

History of the New York, Ontario & Western The New York, Ontario & Western Railway struggled to find its place among the many transportation systems serving New York City, but in the end it was able only to secure a place in history as the first Class I railroad to be abandoned in entirety. Despite [...]Read More...

This building was the Middletown yard office for the New York, Ontario, and Western Railroad. It now houses the Pentecostal Universal Church of Dei Inc., a Pentecostal church.

Located on the NY Ontario & Western mainline, the station at Oneida was one of the more elaborate structures erected on the northern division. In addition to the passenger station, a freight depot, and railroad yard were all located located between Sconondoa St. and Lenox Ave. This is all gone today.