TACONIC & SOUTH BAY RAILROAD


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Welcome to the Taconic & South Bay Railroad.  Reporting marks: T&SB. A Class 1 Bridge Route situated along the Hudson River, NY

Set in the lower Adirondack foothills of the Taconic Mountains, south of Albany, NY this line once provided an important north-south link.

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HISTORY

The Taconic and South Bay Railroad (T&BS) is primarily a bridge line between Chatham, NY and Weehauken, NJ via Maybrook, NY.

In Chatham, the T&SB interchanges freight with both the Rutland and New York Central Railroads, though the Rutland is its best customer. The Rutland brings lumber, finished wood products, milk, marble, granite, machine parts and general merchandise to the T&SB. It returns with coal, oil, farm equipment, general merchandise and empties. The Central usually just brings grief.

The T&SB right-of-way heads south from Chatham through the rolling hills of the Taconic range to Bridge Junction, a small clearing in the woods, where it joins the New Haven's Maybrook line. Using trackage rights over the NH rails, the T&SB heads west across the Hudson River on the great Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge and follows that line into Maybrook yard. Most of the rail traffic going into and out of southern New England goes through Maybrook, so it’s a busy place. The T&SB interchanges with the NH, Eire, Lehigh & New England and the Lehigh & Hudson River railroads in Maybrook.

Leaving Maybrook, the T&SB is once again on its own rails as they turn eastward and descend toward Cornwall on the Hudson River. At River Junction, the T&SB merges with the well-groomed roadbed of the New York Central’s West Shore Line (trackage rights) and heads south towards Weehauken.

(The T&SB was the first railroad on the West Shore, built in 1871. When Commodore Vanderbilt was assembling all of the pieces for his New York Central System, he purchased the T&SB right-of-way from Weehauken to Cornwall. Although it went against his grain, the Commodore he had to grant "perpetual trackage rights" to the T&SB in order to consummate the deal)

The T&SB maintains a small terminal at South Bay, and some of its trains end there, but most continue south to Weehauken and the vast terminals on the Jersey side of the Hudson. They provide easy interchange with the Pennsy, Erie, Lehigh Valley, Jersey Central, B&O, Lackawanna, and the NYS&W.

 

T&SB DESIGN PHASES

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T&SB Phase I Design

 

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T&SB Phase II Design
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T&SB Yard Design

T&SB LOCATION PHOTOS

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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved. A. Truetrack