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| April 29, 2024 |
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Photos: Remnants of the O & W Railroad
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| A stone bridge |
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| The old railroad bed beckons |
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| The old tracks are barely visible |
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| This marker is dated 1886 |
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| Remains of the coal dock |
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| Foundation of an old trestle |
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| Portion of an old trestle bridge |
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| An abandoned fire hydrant |
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| An old mechanism along the track bed |
by Phil Hopp
October 18, 2007
Few among us remember the Ontario & Western (O&W) railroad line that ran from Cornwall Landing, along the south side of Shore Road and west along Moodna Creek and out towards Orrs Mills.
You can still walk along the old train bed, where sunken tracks and odd pieces of support remain.
Photographer Phil Hopp is hiking that path and taking pictures as he goes. So far he has walked as far as Route 9W and promises to go further, out to Orrs Mills Road once the leaves have fallen off the trees.
Below he describes the railroad line:
The railroad was what made Cornwall Landing so great. It was the mainstream of business in Cornwall. Coal was sent by rail, from mines in Pennsylvania, to Cornwall's coal docks which stretched out 300 to 400 yards into the Hudson River.
I don't know how many tracks across (on the docks) that there were but they were multiple as were the tracks leading unto the coal docks along Shore road. The coal was then offloaded onto barges and shipped to New York City and other locations via the Hudson River, on these barges.
Although the stone marker is dated 1886, I believe the actual date that these operations started was actually three years earlier, as per an article in the Cornwall Local about the historical society having a lecture on the railroad.
The photographs here are some of the 50 or 60 that I have taken so far, as I walked the old railroad bed up to Route 9 W.
The fire hydrant in the picture was used for carrying water to any fire that broke out along the rails and the docks.
The picture I took of the base supported some sort of cylindrical shape tank who's purpose I do not know. I do not know the last years of operation of this industry, but I am trying to find out.
It seems that the Railroad and the docks were in operation, until the late 1940's to early 1950's. Coal was still shipped but in ever decreasing demand. Then a large fire in 1952 stilled the operation at the docks, when the docks were completely burned down.
The docks were not used by the railroad at that time, rather it was leased by the railroad to a ship salvage company. The salvage company took apart ships and sold the metal as scrap.
In cutting up the ships, they seemed to forget about the coal dust and other chemicals that had permeated the docks and there was an explosive fire and that is how the docks were destroyed.
You can learn more about the O&W Railroad through its historical society at owrhs.org.
Click here to see Part II of Phil Hopp's O&W series.
Click on any photo for a larger view.
Comments:
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There is a book titled The Observer part 1 that illustrates the O & W railroad in Cornwall. It was facinating reading.
posted by Hooley on 10/26/07 at 4:50 PM
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My family all worked for the O&W railroad starting in the 1930's. My grandparents lived in Middletown, NY and my father, B.L. Merritt lived in Cornwall. As a child I road the O&W from Cornwall to Middletown to visit family. I remember the black baggage man asking telling me that he could smell my grandmothers apple pie cooling on the windowsill. Fond memories.
posted by ExKodaker on 01/14/08 at 9:03 PM
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The biggest disappointment to me was the demolishing of the railroad staion on Cornwall landing. History tells us that doing things like this erased wonderful remenants of our history.
posted by ExKodaker on 01/14/08 at 9:06 PM
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My mother was born in 1920 in Cornwall. She is 88yrs on Mon 4th Feb. I'm hoping someone will remember the Hopes. My Grandfather Samuel was a shoemaker. They came from the uk.? She tells stories of what the children got up to, andof a bandstand that stood in the middle of the street that the kids crawled under, and of tying rope and a nail to two opposing houses so when one door opened the other got a knock.? Does anyone have info on the family, or old photos please email me. Having just fouund the site today, I'm sure her birthday wll be happy, being able to show photos of her birthplace.
posted by sandra on 02/03/08 at 12:15 AM
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Two things:
1. We need to make a rail trail out of the old O&W right-of-way.
2. There should be a village park built around the West Shore R.R. monument!
posted by Frank Ostrander on 02/17/08 at 7:39 PM
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