My wife and I are not originally from the Albany area. This means that we frequently discover on our own interesting or neat places which "locals" are already aware of. One of those is Peebles Island State Park, located where the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers join together. We have come here for weekend walks with our dog, on picnic holidays like Labor Day, and have watched Fourth of July fireworks from across the river. We like it because it is small, quiet, and secluded.
It also has a history tied to railroads. The D&H's Troy Branch came off their Colonie Main line at Waterford Junction (near Higgins Road) and headed south into Waterford. After crossing Routes 4 and 32 it ran down the middle of Second Street between rows of houses. It then climbed up a concrete ramp and cross a large bridge into Peebles Island. Cluett Peabody & Company ran a bleachery here and manufactured "Arrow" shirts. The complex still is in existence and is currently part of the State Park.
Tracks then continued on to Van Schaick Island, where the Matton shipyard, Ludlow Valve Company, Peterson & Packer Coal, IGA Foods, and the Perkins Petroleum Company tank farm had businesses set up. The tracks went further south and joined up with the D&H's Green Island Branch. Most of the tracks from here north to Waterford Junction were abandoned around 1973-1974 and they were lifted in 1982 (Much of the information here is found in of Dominic Bourgeois' fantastic Delaware & Hudson Bridge Line Freight 1960-1983, Volume 1 book.)
The shot below is from August 15, 1974, and shows one of the former Providence & Worcester "popsicle" lease RS-3s after its return to the D&H. The Cleutt Peabody facility is in the background. The engine is pulling a mixed freight and is heading north into Waterford. I don't know if the train came up from Green Island or if it headed south from Waterford, did its switching, and then reversed ("a turn") to head back north and home.
The engine is #4075, and the lack of the B&M number boards in the corner means it is their first engine numbered as such. It was later traded to the B&M for an engine with a steam boiler for heating passenger cars on The Adirondack passenger train, and that second engine lasted to the end on the D&H.
Fast forward to a very cold January 2022, and here is the same shot. The road in the middle of the picture is the old railroad right of way.
As the track left Peebles Island and headed north towards Waterford, it went over a bridge and then dropped down. How steep the drop was I don't know, but here is the view standing in Waterford facing south towards the railroad bridge which has been since converted to a road bridge. It must have been some grade! Can you imagine the train shown coming over the bridge and dropping down between the houses?
Well, you don't have to imagine it because I have another picture! The tracks ran right down Second Street and you can see a brakeman or conductor standing on the front steps of the engine as a lookout for problems. Note that the caboose is directly behind the engine. I don't know if this is because of a lack of a passing siding to maneuver it to the the end of the train, or because the crew didn't care and just wanted to go home. But, it provides proof that cabooses don't always need to be on the end.
I tried to replicate the same shot. However, all I had to go on was the pointed house front on the left and the front entryways of the houses on the right. I narrowed it down to two locations, and I think this is it. The fronts of the buildings have changed (trim is repainted, the porch of one building has been remodeled), but I think I can see the end of the road in both pictures. The winter shadows made it tough to take pictures, and I should have moved up about 20 feet before snapping it. It was REALLY cold outside, and I left my printout of the photo above in the car and didn't want to go back for it.
At the end of the road, the track hooked left (west) and headed towards a freight station. It is visible in the distance in the 2022 picture below.
After driving down the alley (the old right of way) I arrived at the station which is currently used as a library. I hadn't been here in five or more years, but bet they have a lot of old maps and pictures inside so I should return for some research at a later date.
Waterford clearly has some pride in their railroad heritage. Note the sign on the crossbucks!
For those who would need some context, on the satellite map below the blue line is the current D&H line and the red is where where it branched off and headed south. The orange arrow is the Cluett Peabody & Company, and the yellow arrow is the former D&H freight station/library. I believe the bend in the red line in Waterford is near where the street trackage pictures were taken.
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