Yesterday And Today....Number 3

The Village Of Richfield Springs...Yesterday And Today

Roger Ciazza Collection

The Village of Richfield Springs was served by two railroads.  The most famous being The Delaware Lackawanna And Western's Richfield Branch, but also The Oneonta Cooperstown And Richfield Springs.  Yes, an electric railroad.  Built as a connection between the Mohawk Valley and Oneonta, The OCRS carried passengers between Herkimer and Oneonta until the 1930's.  Later becoming The Southern New York Railway in which part of the line remained open between Jordanville, NY and Oneonta until 1941.  A small part of the line converted to steam and diesel and ran between The Delaware And Hudson's Oneonta Yard and East Oneonta until 1971.

Seen above is SNY's Steeple Cab Number 90.  This engine was acquired from The Albany Southern Railroad in 1931.  The SNY also purchased a Box Motor from the Albany Southern and numbered her 80.  In the above shot, Number 90 is seen crossing Main Street in Richfield Springs in June of 1940...One year before this main stretch of electrified railroad was abandoned.

Photo: Google Street View

Fast forward...This block on Main Street (NYS Route 20) hasn't changed in 100 years and is the same view as up above.  The SNY was part owner in a Quarry in Jordanville, NY, just North of Richfield  that they used for their road-ballast.  The also shipped elsewhere using the SNY's freight service.  Just a couple blocks away frpm this location was the end-of-the-line for the Richfield Springs Branch of the DL&W, later Erie Lackawanna, Central New York Railroad and finally the NYS&W's Richfield Branch...

Map Courtesy Of OpenStreetMap.org

Here's a map showing how the Southern New York entered Richfield Springs (Blue Shaded Area) on her way to Cooperstown and Oneonta to the South.  The dotted-line in the middle of the photo shows the end-of-track of the DL&W.

Visit ginosrailpage.com and ginostrolleypage.com to learn more about the Southern New York Railway and The Oneonta Cooperstown and Richfield Springs...

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