22-03-31 PHOTOS: Hudson

When the gray is in the air and the ground is turning to mush its probably time to take another trip up the Hudson valley to document one of the best preserved examples of New York Central signaling anywhere. For the better part of a decade I have been working to replicate my PRR Main Line signal survey on a smaller scale and with most of the easy locations checked off I am having to go after higher and higher fruit. In 2022 my targets was the Milepost 79 signal bridge, just a few hundred yards north of the historic Hyde Park station, the Milepost 108 masts near Linlithgo and the station and interlocking at Hudson, NY. I also documented some of the "new" (2009) searchlights installed by CP in the Mechanicville area. You can find the full set of photos here ( mirror ).

First stop was Hyde Park where I caught Amtrak P32AC-DM #702 passing under the NYC vintage signal bridge with a southbound Empire Service train.

My next stop was a point north of CP-103, which unfortunately had recently had its small target searchlight signals replaced, to catch a northbound Empire Service train led by non-heritage P32AC-DM #706.

Amtrak's train tracking feature is pretty useful as it is now super easy to ensure a train encounter at every stop. At the Milepost 108 automatic signal location I managed to snag a Phase III heritage painted P32AC-DM #713 with a southbound Empire Service train.

Unfortunately I was a day late an a dollar short to document the searchlight signals at CP-114, but the new LED target type color light signals are making use of the same Conrail era cantilevers that even have remnants of the old contrast paint.

Yup, I caught another northbound Empire Service train with P32AC-DM #716. I would have caught a second, but I was about 5 minutes slow wrapping up at an adjacent microbrewery.



A nearby spit of land allows for a superb view of the iconic Athens Lighthouse.

Amtrak's Hudson, NY station is very well preserved and sports a low level holdout platform with the railroad's strategic reserve of platform step-stools.

The inside is similarly well appointed.

In 2010, Canadian Pacific built a sizable intermodal facility on the giant field that used to be the Delaware and Hudson Mechanicville Yard. At this time CP was still making use of traditional searchlight signals, but was employing a custom built housing instead of purchasing new units from General Railway Signal.

Mechanicville is also the site of the former New York Central XO tower, now preserved by a local railroad club, as well as the D&H Mechanicville Station, that is awaiting restoration. Mechanicville was where the D&H, Boston & Maine and New York Central all interchanged.

The Mechanicville hydroelectric plant is the oldest such operating facility in the world having come online in 1898. the 5MW plant still functions with its original turbine and generator equipment.

Adjacent to the hydro plant is the Champlain Canal lock #2, that was one of three or so on the NY State barge canal system to retain its own small hydroelectric plant for running the gate motors.

That's everything from the Upstate NY part of the trip. Next time I'll continue with a RiverLINE trip and some related Philly photos.