- Albany and Schenectady Railroad
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The Albany & Schenectady Railroad, originally the Mohawk & Hudson Railroad, was the first railroad built in the State of New York and one of the first railroads in the United States.
The M and H Railroad was incorporated April 17, 1826[1] by the Mohawk & Hudson Company[2] and opened August 9, 1831. On April 19, 1847, the name was changed to the Albany & Schenectady Railroad. The railroad was consolidated into the New York Central Railroad on May 17, 1853.
On December 28, 1825, Schenectady County native (Duanesburg) George William Featherstonhaugh ran a newspaper notice announcing the formation of the Mohawk & Hudson Rail Road Company. The M & H Railroad became the first chartered railroad in NYS on April 17, 1826. Construction began in August 1830 and the railroad opened September 24, 1831, on a 16-mile route between Albany and Schenectady through the Pine Bush region that separates both cities.[3] The DeWitt Clinton locomotive made its first test run on July 2nd that year. The railroad was seen as a way to expand land transportation as the Erie Canal was the leading transportation network of the time, but it took an extremely long time to go from Albany to Schenectady on the canal as there were over a dozen locks between the two cities, due to Cohoes Falls.
In 1832, a rider wrote in his journal. "June 28, arrive in Schenectady. Among the astonishing inventions of man, surely that of the locomotive steam engine hath no secondary rank. By this matchless exercise of skill, we fly with a smooth and even course along once impassible barriers, the valleys are filled, the mountains laid low, and distance seems annihilated. I took my seat as near as possible to the car containing the engine, in order to examine more minutely the operation of this, to me, novel and stupendous specimen of human skill. Having thus, as if by some invisible agency flown the distance of 16 miles in 40 minutes, at Schenectady I took passage on the Hudson and Erie Canal for Buffalo." [4]
References
- ^ Pennsylvania RR Chronology p.5
- ^ Fortlock.com: Albany and Schenectady Railroad
- ^ "American Railroading Began Here" By Don Rittner, Schenectady County & City Historian
- ^ Journal of Ebenezer Mattoon Chamberlain, Indiana Magazine of History, Vol XV, September 1919, p. 241.
New York Central Railroad subsidiaries 1850s 1853: Auburn Road · Falls Road · Schenectady and Troy · Buffalo and Lockport. 1854: Lewiston. 1855: Buffalo and Niagara Falls · Rochester and Lake Ontario. 1858: Niagara Bridge and Canandaigua1860s 1869: Hudson River.1880s 1882: Nickel Plate. 1885: West Shore.1890s 1900s Capital District of New York Central communities Albany (History · City Hall · Coat of Arms) · Schenectady (City Hall) · Troy (History) · List of all incorporated placesLargest communities
(over 20,000 in 2000)Medium-sized communities
(10,000 to 20,000 in 2000)City of Amsterdam · Brunswick · Cohoes · East Greenbush · Glens Falls · Gloversville · Halfmoon · Malta · North Greenbush · Schodack · Watervliet · WiltonSmall communities
(5,000 to 10,000 in 2000)Town of Amsterdam · Ballston Spa · Cobleskill · Village of Colonie · Duanesburg · City of Johnstown · Town of Johnstown · Kinderhook · Mechanicville · New Scotland · Rensselaer · Sand Lake · Scotia · Town of Stillwater · WaterfordCounties Albany · Columbia · Fulton · Greene · Montgomery · Rensselaer · Saratoga · Schenectady · Schoharie · Warren · WashingtonHistory Mohawks · Mahicans · Fort Orange · Rensselaerswyck · Beverwyck · Albany Plan of Union · Timeline of town creation · Toponymies of places · Tech ValleyGeography Hudson River (Valley) · Mohawk River · Erie Canal · Lake Albany · Lake George · Albany Pine Bush (Rensselaer Lake · Woodlawn Preserve) · Adirondack Mountains · Catskill Mountains · Rensselaer PlateauReligion and culture Culture in New York's Capital District · Sports in New York's Capital District · Episcopal Diocese of Albany · Roman Catholic Diocese of AlbanyEducation Public school districtsList of school districts in New York's Capital DistrictHigher educationNewspapers TV/Radio Broadcast television in the Capital District Local stations WRGB (6.1 CBS, 6.2 This TV) • WTEN (10.1 ABC, 10.2 Weather, 10.3 RTV) • WNYT (13.1 NBC, 13.2 Weather, 13.3 Weather Radar) • WMHT (17.1 PBS, 17.2 ThinkBright, 17.3 HD) • WXXA (23.1 Fox, 23.2 The Cool TV) • WNGN-LP 35 / WNGX-LP 42 (FN) • WCWN (45.1 The CW, 45.2 Uni Sp) • WNYA / WNYA-CD (51.1 MNTV, 51.2 Antenna TV) • W52DF 52 (silent)
Outlying area stations WVBK-CA 2 (RSN' Manchester, VT) • W04AJ 4 (PBS; Glens Falls) • W04BD 4 (PBS; Schoharie) •
WNCE-CA 8 (A1; Glens Falls) • WYBN-CA 14 (RSN; Cobleskill) • WCDC (19.1 ABC; Adams, MA) • WVBG-LP 25 (RSN; Greenwich) • W36AX 36 (PBS / VPT; Manchester, VT) • W47CM 47 (silent; Glens Falls) • WYPX (55.1 Ion, 55.2 qubo, 55.3 Life; Amsterdam) • W53AS 53 (PBS / VPT; Bennington, VT)Adjacent locals Cable-only stations YNN Capital Region • TW3 • YES • SNY • MSG Network
Defunct stations New York State television: Albany/Schenectady • Binghamton • Buffalo • Burlington/Plattsburgh • Elmira • New York City • Rochester • Syracuse • Utica • Watertown
Vermont Broadcast television: Albany/Schenectady • Boston, MA • Burlington/Plattsburgh
Massachusetts television: Albany • Boston • Providence • Springfield
Radio stations in the Albany / Schenectady / Troy market by FM frequency 88.3 · 89.1² · 89.7 · 89.9 · 90.3/93.1² · 90.7/94.9 · 90.7 · 90.7 · 90.9 · 91.1 · 91.5 · 92.3 · 92.9 · 93.5 · 93.7 · 94.5 · 94.7 · 95.5 · 95.9 · 96.3 · 96.7 · 97.3 · 97.5 · 97.7 · 97.9 · 98.3² · 98.5 · 98.5 · 99.1 · 99.5² · 100.3 · 100.9 · 101.3 · 101.7 · 101.9 · 102.3² · 102.7 · 103.1² · 103.5 · 103.9 · 104.5 · 104.9 · 105.7² · 106.1 · 106.5² · 107.1 · 107.7²by AM frequency NOAA Weather Radio frequency 162.550by callsign W226AC · W235AY · W256BU · W291BY · WABY · WAJZ · WAMC (AM) · WAMC-FM² · WBAR · WBPM · WCDB · WCKL · WCKM · WCQL · WCSS · WCTW · WDCD · WDCD-FM · WDDY² · WENT · WEQX · WEXT · WFFG · WFLY · WFNY · WGDJ · WGNA² · WGXC · WGY¹² · WGY-FM² · WHAZ · WHAZ-FM · WHUC · WHVP · WIZR · WJIV · WKBE · WKKF² · WKLI · WLJH · WMHT² · WMYY · WNYQ · WOFX² · WOPG · WPGL · WPYX² · WQAR · WQBJ · WQBK · WQSH² · WRIP · WROW · WRPI · WRUC · WRVE² · WSDE · WTMM · WTRY² · WUAM · WVCR · WVKZ · WVTL · WXL34 · WYAI · WYJB · WYKV · WZCR · WZMRDefunct stations New York Radio Markets: Albany-Schenectady-Troy • Binghamton • Buffalo-Niagara Falls • Elmira-Corning • Hamptons-Riverhead • Ithaca • Nassau-Suffolk (Long Island) • New York City • Newburgh-Middletown (Mid Hudson Valley) • Olean • Plattsburgh • Poughkeepsie • Rochester • Syracuse • Utica-Rome • Watertown
Other New York Radio Regions: Jamestown-Dunkirk • North Country • Saratoga
See also: List of radio stations in New YorkCategories:- Defunct New York railroads
- Predecessors of the New York Central Railroad
- Erie Canal
- Schenectady, New York
- Railway companies established in 1847
- Railway companies disestablished in 1853
- Transportation in Albany, New York
- History of Albany, New York
- United States rail transportation stubs
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