My mother used to take the B & M between Boston & Lawrence every day in the late forties, early fifties. She said you could set your watch by the departure and arrival times. Not so nowadays.
Sandi
Methuen, MA
I grew up in Monett, Missouri. I couldn't fall completely asleep without the security of the train whistle signaling sleep time. When my father was a boy, he used to pick strawberries in fields around these tracks. The strawberries would be loaded on the train and end up on the next day, breakfast trays of people here in New York.
Patrick
Providence, RI
My dad, William T. Kelly, was an engineer on the NY Central train, Pacemaker, from New York City to Chicago. His train crashed outside of Schodack Landing, in April 1955, as a result of a landslide on the track. His heroic effort to keep the train from jackknifing saved the lives of all passengers. Unfortunately, the engine did land in the Hudson River and he died several days later of his injuries. My family has shared many wonderful memories of his railroad career with the generations of grandchildren/great grandchildren.
Margaret
Cohoes, NY
My grandfather, J. Frank ("Frank") Hallenbeck, worked as a station agent on the west branch of the New York Central. He was a telegrapher and Mom, Meredith Hallenbeck Newman, said his work could be identified as his by its rhythm and speed. He worked for the NY Central for more than fifty (50) years. He earned a Golden Pass and took my grandmother on a train ride to see their son in Michigan. He was so proud!
Kathryn
Avon, NY
I grew up on Watervliet Ave just up the hill from the shops. My grandfather worked for the NYCRR as a carpenter on the Pullman cars. He retired from the railroad in the 1940s. I have his collection of wood working tools he used on the cars. I lived on Watervliet Ave when the shops were closed in the 1950s. I remember walking down the street to view the long line of fire fighting rail cars which were usually parked on the south side of the shops on just beneath the Watervliet Ave viaduct. I also remember being on the bridge when the steam engines passed beneath and getting all covered in soot. My other grandfather ran the Brighton Lunch at the head of Watervliet Ave on Central Ave. He served many shop workers during his years of operation in the 1930s. He closed the Brighton after my father went off to WW II.
Jim
Schenectady, NY
My dad, Stanley (Ollie) Williams, Albany, NY, worked for the New York Central Railroad from 1938-1963 as a brakeman. It brought back many memories when my grandson, Damon, dressed as a railroad brakeman one Halloween using my dad's signal lantern.
Stanley
Castleton, NY
One of my fondest memories of train travel is a transcontinental trip I took with my parents in the summer of 1966. We traveled between New York and Chicago in Sleepercoach on the Twentieth Century Limited. I still remember the red carpet that was rolled out for us in Grand Central Terminal! We also passed through the historic Albany station, to be abandoned by the railroad only a year or two later. Since then, I've traveled all over the United States by Amtrak, but the New York Central route between New York and Albany remains one of my favorites.
Daniel
Teaneck, NJ
Our father, John J. Bassotti worked at the Selkirk Yards for New York Central for 35 years before his retirement. He had many stories and descriptions of how he "pulled" the pins to detach cars when they came in "over the hump" in Selkirk. Also memories of train rides to New York City. My parents honeymooned at the World's Fair in 1939 in New York City traveling by train.
Diane
Albany, NY
As a youthful art student fresh from the Cleveland School of Art in Ohio, I secured my first New York city position at Grand Central Terminal in the city, as a clerk in the reservation department--long before computers. The reservation room, upstairs in the building , was cavernous, and about as long as a football field. It contained numerous rows of tables, arranged horizontally, the length of the room, with clerks sitting on both sides. Metal tracks along the tables held moving containers shaped like small RR cars, with reservation cardboards inside, relating to spaces like roomettes, bedrooms, etc. The "celebrity" train, the 20th Century Limited, going west out of New York was numbered "25" --returning from the west, it was train number "26"---. This was a red-carpet luxury train, frequented by Hollywood film stars and their French poodles and outstanding individuals in the business, professional and scientific worlds.
Audrey
Hillsdale, NJ
In 1995, our children gave us a 30th anniversary gift of a cross-country train trip. We had many adventures, from sharing a tin room bunk on a car from Albany to Chicago to getting off in Essex, Montana, where there was no station, no platform and no light! As the elegant, two-story train pulled away on its way to Seattle, it took the only source of light with it. I no longer had a desire to see bears!
Zoe
Saratoga Springs, NY
My memories range from a boyhood of train watching in Waterford, NY to a 10-month stint as a train announcer in Albany's Union Station following high school graduation prior to being drafted for service in WWII. In Waterford, the "upper road" ran through West Waterford where the D&H Laurentian's daily trip was a daily highlight. The "lower road" ran through the village on Second Street, two blocks from my home. When I returned from service, I commuted from Waterford to Albany on the D&H on trains pulled by those beautiful 650-series Pacifics with the European-style smoke deflectors. It's amazing that we can no longer make the NYC-Chicago trip in 16 hours as the 20th Century did.
Don
Guilderland, NY
I am from a railroad family, Delaware & Hudson, father Joseph, Track Foreman Saratoga Yard, brother Denny, the oldest conductor in America, 61 years service, brother ,Francis, ticket agent at Ballston Spa and Saratoga, brother ,Joe, Conductor DH and Canadian Pacific RR, me fireman , section foreman, Saratoga and North Creek now conductor on Upper Hudson River RR, North Creek Scenic Line
Gene
Saratoga, NY
In 1946 I traveled with my mother to Niagara Falls from Grand Central Station. It was my first lengthy train trip although I had traveled from Grand Central to Seymour, Connecticut many times previously. I remember the elegance of the coach, the outstanding views from the windows, and the marvelous dining car. I especially remember the service and the coffee pot. It was wonderful to see the original coffee pot in the exhibit. In retrospect it was an outstanding experience.
Janet
Plainview, NY
Our father worked on the 20th Century Limited, Empire State Express, Pacemaker and the Vanderbilt as a dining car steward. Interesting that he married a woman from a Canadian railroad family. Our grandfather worked as a chef on the Canadian Pacific and would often be gone for weeks on the run west to Banff. To carry the theme on, our brother worked at Harmon on the NYCRR as a car inspector. Our family has many happy memories of railroad lingo, like "deadheading", "neck and neck at Break Neck". Dad often served many celebrities on the 20th Century, like Kate Smith, the Cleveland Indians of 1954, and Eddy Archaro, the jockey. As kids, we would often take the train up to Canada, feeling safe that Dad's friends would be looking out for us. The observation car was always fun.
Ruth
Schenectady, NY
I started loving trains as a small boy growing up on Long Island. I would walk to either the Ronkonkoma or St. James station and watch trains come in and out. I worked for the NYSW Railway at Little Ferry, New Jersey and I migrated to Conrail's Selkirk Diesel Terminal as a machinist in 1988. I was also involved with several restorations of historic locomotives in the Upstate New York area, including New York Central ALCO RS-3 # 8255, New York Central E8 # 4068, ALCO plant switcher #5, Lowville & Beaver River RR's 1908 LIMA class "B" Shay #8, as well as the start up of the Adirondack Centennial Railroad in Thendera, NY, on July 4, 1992. I have since left New York and I am now employed by the Union Pacific RR at the West Colton, California locomotive plant.
P.J.
Redlands, CA
I have many fond memories of the D&H Railroad as a child. My grandmother worked in Albany at the D&H building on Broadway. On Fridays my grandmother, Anna Louise, would leave work to board the train at Union Station and come to visit us in Altamont. My sisters and I would wait at the Altamont Depot and fight over who would get to carry her suitcase home! I also remember taking the train from Altamont to Albany for a field trip to the State Museum in the original site in the State Education Building on State Street. It was always a treat to hear the train whistle blow in Altamont and run down to the crossing to count the cars and wave at the passengers and crew -especially the guys on the caboose! I really miss that.
Deb
Altamont, NY
Recently, four generations of family took the train to NYC for a family reunion. Great Grandpa Armao, celebrating his 90th birthday, rode with 3-year old Noah while the rest of the family and generations enjoyed the ride. Thanks to all the friendly folks who shared train pleasures, including a peek at the engine.
Mary
Loudonville, NY
When I was about 10, my parents would put me on the train in Hamburg, Iowa, along with my 8 year old sister and 5 year old brother. We would be under the watchful eye of the conductor who would make sure we didn't get too wild and who would usher us off at Council Bluff, Iowa. There, we would be enthusiastically welcomed by our grandparents who would keep us for a night or two.
Cathy
Schenectady, NY
The most picturesque railroad story I can tell doesn't have to do with trains like the ones on display here. It has to do with a different kind of train: a subway train. Living three years in NYC, I took the subway many times and saw many things, good and not so good. They provide a small glimpse into the lives of the 8 million people or so that live there. The Wall St. brokers, the NYU students, the hardcore Yankees or Mets fans, the tourists, the long-time Brooklyners, people representing many ethnicities and countries... They're all there in a single (and sometimes congested) box car. Of all the bad times I had there, I won't forget being stuck on a tunnel between Borough Hall in Brooklyn and South Ferry in Manhattan on 9/11. I almost panicked, but thanks to a kind woman I recovered my composure. I didn't know what happened next until I got back home, neither about the experiences I would have to face afterwards, but at least I was ok for a time. The point of this story is that taking the subway and being exposed to all that represents one of the things I found most interesting about NYC... and one of the things that makes it unique.
Luis
Albany, NY