Post Road Branch

The Post Road Branch is a railroad line owned and operated by Amtrak in the U.S. state of New York. The line runs from a junction with CSX Transportation's Berkshire Subdivision in Schodack northwest to CSX's Hudson Subdivision at Rensselaer (near Albany) along a former New York Central Railroad line. Freight service is provided by CSX, who calls it the Post Road Subdivision, via trackage rights. [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20021126171028/www.trainweb.org/csxtimetables/Albany/PostRoad.html CSX Timetables: Post Road Subdivision] ]

Amtrak's "Lake Shore Limited" operates over the Post Road Branch.

History

The Albany and West Stockbridge Railroad opened the line in 1842 as part of a line between Boston and Albany. [PDFlink| [http://www.prrths.com/Hagley/PRR1842%20May%2004.wd.pdf PRR Chronology, 1842] |70.6 KiB , May 2004 Edition] The line became part of the Boston and Albany Railroad and New York Central through leases and mergers. With the opening of the Hudson River Connecting Railroad in 1924, [PDFlink| [http://www.prrths.com/Hagley/PRR1924%20Jul%2004.wd.pdf PRR Chronology, 1924] |83.2 KiB , July 2004 Edition] it became a minor branch, with through freight using the new Alfred H. Smith Memorial Bridge around Albany. On April 30, 1972, Penn Central Transportation removed the track on the Post Road Branch, forcing passenger trains to make a reverse movement along the current Schodack Subdivision. [PDFlink| [http://www.prrths.com/Hagley/PRR1972%20Jun%2005.pdf PRR Chronology, 1972] |52.1 KiB , June 2005 Edition] The abandoned line was assigned to Amtrak in the 1976 formation of Conrail, [1975 Conrail Final System Plan] and Amtrak reopened it on October 28, 1979 [Schafer, Mike. Amtrak's atlas, "Trains" June 1991] with Conrail trackage rights for freight. These rights were assigned to CSX in the 1999 breakup of Conrail.

References