 Northbound at Old State Rd near Eagle Bridge, New York | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Greenwich, New York |
| Reporting mark | BKRR |
| Locale | New York |
| Dates of operation | 1982– |
| Predecessor | |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) |
The Batten Kill Railroad( reporting mark BKRR) is a class III railroad operating in New York. The BKRR was formed in 1982 beginning operations on October 22 [1] of a pair of abandoned Delaware and Hudson Railway branch lines, totaling about 30 miles of track.
The Greenwich and Johnsonville Railway (G&J) was incorporated in the late part of the 19th century, and built a rail line between Greenwich and Johnsonville, New York. [2]
Around 1900, G&J became a subsidiary of the Delaware and Hudson Railway (D&H). By 1907, the G&J (with support from parent D&H) had built a branch from Greenwich to Greenwich Junction (just south of Salem) where it connected to the D&H's Washington Branch that was built circa 1856. The old G&J route to Johnsonville was abandoned in July 1932 and all traffic henceforth went via "The Junction" in Salem. [3] Most of the abandoned section to Johnsonville eventually became (Washington) County Route 74.
Following the 1980 closure of the Georgia Pacific pulp & paper mill in Thomson, New York, the D&H planned to abandon the G&J along with the adjoining Washington Branch, which ran from Eagle Bridge, New York to Castleton, Vermont. In 1982, Mohawk-Hudson Transportation, owned by Ron Crowd, purchased the railroad from the D&H, forming the Batten Kill Railroad. Crowd had the distinction of being the first African-American to own and operate a railroad in the United States. [4]
While initially financially successful, a series of national railroad strikes in the mid-1980s left the railroad in a less profitable state. In 1994, the railroad was turned over to NE New York Rail, a non-profit, and the BKRR remained the operator. Passenger excursions were started, but were terminated by late 2003 due to declining ridership. [5] In November 2008, William (Bill) Taber purchased the Batten Kill from Mohawk Transportation and the estate of the late Ron Crowd. Taber is the current President and CEO of the railroad.
In 2016 the Batten Kill Railroad got a $1.3 million state grant funding installation of new cross ties onto about 4 miles of track. [6]
The Batten Kill's sole interchange location is in Eagle Bridge, New York where it connects to the main line of Berkshire and Eastern Railroad (formerly Pan Am Railways and the Boston & Maine). The line runs north from Eagle Bridge, through Cambridge, New York and Shushan, New York, to Greenwich Junction. From there, a short remnant of the D&H Washington Branch continues north into Salem, New York. This segment is out of service. This north-south component of the line is paralleled by NY Route 22. The other route from the junction continues west to the village of Greenwich, paralleled by NY Route 29. The line running west from Greenwich to Thomson, New York, is also out of service. In Greenwich, the railroad maintains a small engine house and the former G&J depot as an office.
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The Newburgh, Dutchess and Connecticut Railroad was a railroad in Dutchess County, New York, United States. Its line ran 58.9 miles (94.8 km) northeast from the Hudson River in Fishkill to the Connecticut state line near Millerton. The Dutchess and Columbia Railroad (D&C), was chartered in 1866 to link rural villages with the Hudson River Railroad and New York and Harlem Railroad. The under-construction line was leased by the Boston, Hartford and Erie Railroad (BH&E) in 1868. The first segment opened in July 1869, and it reached Pine Plains the following February.
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The New York, Ontario and Western Railway, commonly known as the O&W or NYO&W, was a regional railroad founded in 1868. The last train ran from Norwich, New York to Middletown, New York in 1957, after which it was ordered liquidated by a U.S. bankruptcy judge. It was the first Class I U.S. railroad to be abandoned in its entirety.
New York State Route 29 (NY 29) is a state highway extending for 94.79 miles (152.55 km) across the eastern portion of the U.S. state of New York. The western terminus of the route is at NY 28 and NY 169 in Middleville, Herkimer County. The eastern terminus of the route is at NY 22 just south of Salem, Washington County. NY 29 also serves the cities of Johnstown and Saratoga Springs and intersects four major north–south roadways: NY 10, NY 30, U.S. Route 9, and U.S. Route 4.
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The Batten Kill, Battenkill, or Battenkill River is a 59.4-mile-long (95.6 km) river rising in Vermont that flows into New York and is a tributary of the Hudson River. It is the longest Hudson tributary on that river's east. As "kill" means a creek, the name "Battenkill River" is pleonastic.
Greenwich is a town in the southwestern part of Washington County, New York, United States. The town is located on the western border of the county. The population was 4,868 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. Greenwich features several homes that were a part of the Underground Railroad.
The Greenwich and Johnsonville Railway was a railroad in Upstate New York. It was founded in 1866 to construct a line from Greenwich to Johnsonville. The line opened in 1870. The Delaware and Hudson Railway acquired control of the railroad in 1906 and sold it to the Batten Kill Railroad in 1982.
Fascinating history of the Greenwich & Johnsonville Railway, a small upstate New York railroad which ran from about 1870 until its demise in 1981 (although portions were carried on as the Batten Kill Railroad). The book also covers the Greenwich & Schuylerville Electric Railway. With locomotive and equipment rosters.
This is the second time the Batten Kill has received similar funding. Ten years ago, Taber said, the company was able to repair 2.75 miles of track and a bridge with $1 million in funding.
