Saturday, 16 January 2016

The New York Central Railroad. Part Two.



NYC Hudson Locomotive, built with iconic Streamlining
designed by Henry Dreyfuss, used to haul
The 20th Century Limited Train, starting in 1938.
Photo courtesy SMU.
Date: 1938.
Source: Southern Methodist University, Central University Libraries, DeGolyer Library: Robert Yarnall Richie Photographs. Retrieved from FlickrHudson Locomotive for The New York Central.
Author: Robert Yarnall Richie (1908-1984).
(Wikimedia Commons)



English: Grand Central Station Terminal,
42nd Street, New York,
United States of America.
Français: Vue extérieure nocturne de la gare
Grand Central Terminal sur l'ile de Manhattan, à New-York (États-Unis).
Date: 1/08.
Source: Own work.
Author: Fcb981 ; Eric Baetscher (attribution required).
(Wikimedia Commons)


Cornelius Vanderbilt obtained control of the Hudson River Railroad in 1864, soon after he bought the parallel New York and Harlem Railroad.

Along the line of the Hudson River Railroad, The High Line was built in 1934 in New York City as an elevated by-pass to Street Running Trackage on Tenth Avenue. The elevated section has since been abandoned, and the Tunnel North of 36th Street, opened in 1937, is used only by Amtrak Trains to New York Penn Station (all other Trains use The Spuyten Duyvil and Port Morris Railroad to reach The Harlem Line). A surviving section of The High Line, in the Chelsea section of Manhattan, recently opened as a Linear Park.



Third Series $50 Confederate States of America Banknote. Uniface. Vignettes of HopeHudson River RailroadJustice. Third series (Act of August 19, 1861 amended December 24, 1861), funded by 8% bonds, payable six months after a ratified peace treaty, total authorized circulation $150,000,000. Between 1861–1864, there were seventy-two different types issued with numerous varieties.
Date: 1862.
Source: Image by Godot13.
Author: Southern Bank Note Company, printers for
Permission: Use of this image should give credit to the
(Wikimedia Commons)



The New York Central Railroad.
Historic Trains in America.
New York Central Railroad in the Early-1950s.
Available on YouTube at


The generally-level topography of The NYC System had a character distinctively different than the mountainous terrain of its arch rival, The Pennsylvania Railroad. Most of its major routes, including New York to Chicago, followed rivers and had no significant grades other than West Albany Hill. This influenced a great deal about the Line, from advertising to Locomotive design, built around its flagship New York-Chicago Water Level Route.

Steam Locomotives of The NYC were optimised for speed on that flat raceway of a Main Line, rather than slow mountain lugging. Famous Locomotives of the System included the well-known 4-6-4 Hudsons, particularly the 1937–38 J-3a; 4-8-2 World War II–era L-3 and L-4 Mohawks; and the Post-War S-class Niagaras: fast 4-8-4 Locomotives often considered the epitome of their breed by Steam Locomotive aficionados.

Despite having some of the most modern Steam Locomotives anywhere, NYC's difficult financial position caused it to convert to more economical Diesel-Electric power. All Lines, East of Cleveland, Ohio, were converted to Diesel usage as of 7 August 1953. Niagara Locomotives were all retired by 1956. The last Steam Locomotives were retired in 1957. Bu, the economics of North-Eastern Railroading became so dire that not even this switch could change things for the better.



The New York Central Logo.
Date: 26 October 2003 (original upload date).
Source: Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons by SchuminWeb using CommonsHelper.
Author: The original uploader was Gerard Czadowski at English Wikipedia.
(Wikimedia Commons)



The restored frame of an old news-stand kiosk.
Buffalo Central Terminal.
Part of The New York Central Railroad Network.
Date: 14 October 2007.
Author: Jamie
from Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
(Wikimedia Commons)

PART THREE FOLLOWS

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