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.
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