BUSY CROSSROADS OF THE NORTHEAST
New York’s Capital District
BY BEN MARTIN/PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR EXCEPT AS NOTED
LOCATED AT THE CONFLUENCE of the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers, the Capi- tal District of New York State has en- joyed a long history as a center of trade and transportation. The region in- cludes the capital city of Albany along with neighboring cities Troy and Sch- enectady, and a visit to the area today presents an interesting comparison of its historic industrial past versus its fu- ture based in technology and other modern industries. Transportation has been key to the region’s success, with the development of the Erie and Cham- plain Canals leading to explosive growth. Railroads soon succeeded the canals and Albany quickly became an important crossroads connecting the markets of New York City with New England, Canada, and the Midwest, a role they still play today. Let’s examine what the railroads of
the region have to offer from Rotterdam Junction to the west, Mechanicville to the north, and Selkirk to the south. CSX appears in great volume in the
Capital District, while Canadian Pacif- ic, Pan Am Southern and Norfolk Southern have no lack of presence ei- ther. Amtrak maintains Empire Ser- vice in abundance via trackage rights agreements with CSX and Canadian Pacific. Short line operations include the Albany Port Railroad (APD) and SMS Rail Lines of New York (SNY).
CSX Transportation CSX Transportation offers the
largest profile and volume of rail activ- ity throughout the Capital District, op- erating as the railroad’s appropriately named Albany Division. Stretching from west to east, we first arrive at the Mohawk River at Rotterdam Junction. On the north side of the river is the Selkirk Subdivision (starting east from CP 175, two miles east of Amsterdam) which runs east to cross the Mohawk River into Rotterdam Junction and southeast to Selkirk. Six miles east of the start of the Selkirk Subdivision is CP 169 where the Hudson Subdivision
begins, which stays straight east on the north side of the Mohawk before cross- ing the river in Schenectady, then east- ward to a crossing of the Hudson River (QC 143) between Albany and Rensse- laer and ultimately turning south to Poughkeepsie. The Selkirk Subdivision is the primary freight route while Am- trak is the primary tenant of the Hud- son Subdivision. While both lines have a parallel start from the west, they do have a connection between South Sch- enectady (Selkirk Sub) and the town of Rotterdam (Hudson Sub), known as the Carman Subdivision. At Selkirk, CSX maintains a six mile
long yard which boasts over 100 tracks, a hump tower, classification yard, diesel shop, auto yard, and industrial spurs. The freight traffic from western cities and Canada funnel into Selkirk for switching to create new trains for multiple destinations. While there is no presence of an intermodal facility in Selkirk Yard, there is no shortage of such trains within the yard. All traffic
26 OCTOBER 2012 •
RAILFAN.COM
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