Above: The grade crossing at Leeds Athens Road looking west, as it appeared on March 30, 2008.
RIVER SUB DVD -- Click For Details
The CSX River Subdivision
West Athens,
NY 1 (of
1)
Added 5/2008; updated 6/2009. Copyright © 2009 Lewis Bogaty
North of Catskill, the River Sub single track follows a more or less straight path through flat farmland. West Athens, just north of Catskill, offers two widely-separated grade crossings for viewing trains, Leeds Athens Road and Schoharie Turnpike.
The more interesting is Schoharie Turnpike, at Milepost 115. The Athens defect detector (hot box and dragging equipment) is there, just north of the crossing. Just south of the crossing is the Athens lumber siding, serviced by local train C711.
During December 2008, the sleepy single-track lumber siding was transformed into an elaborate multi-track industrial siding that leads into the new Travco Industrial Park. By April 2009, the siding was in operation.
Getting there: From Catskill, follow Route 9W north. A right turn into Leeds Athens Road brings you to the tracks. Several miles farther north, a right turn into Schoharie Turnpike brings you to the tracks at Milepost 115.
Leeds Athens Road, Milepost
113
Above: The grade crossing at Leeds Athens Road looking west, as it appeared on
March 30, 2008.
Above: Q271 was northbound across Leeds Athens Road on April 25, 2008.
Below: When Q271 reached CP118, Q433 headed south, seen here at Leeds Athens Road.
Schoharie Turnpike, Milepost 115
Above: Q417 roars south over the Athens defect detector,
just before crossing Schoharie Turnpike. September 1, 2004.
Above: Q409 hits the Athens defect detector on March 30, 2008.
Above: Garbage train Q703 crosses Schoharie Turnpike southbound on June 25, 2008.
Below: A surprise at the end of the garbage train: three (what look like brand new)
New Jersey Transit double-decker passenger cars.
Above: Southbound Q409 crosses Schoharie Turnpike just before dark on November 2, 2007.
The tracks to the right are for the lumberyard siding.Below: Center-beam cars sit on the lumberyard siding. June 25, 2008.
Above: Local train C711 has just hooked up to
an empty center-beam car on the Athens lumberyard siding,
on September 1, 2004. The back half of the train can be seen in the distance
sitting on the main train.
Below are two views of the new siding for the Travco Industrial Park, which crosses the lumber siding. The track appeared to be complete when we took these photos, though it was difficult to tell in the snow on January 3, 2009. By April, when we returned for another look, the siding was in operation. The siding services Peckham Industries, a highway-product company that relocated to this site from elsewhere in Athens, according to Railpace.
Above: Looking north -- the new siding (to the right) and the lumber siding (to the left) cross Schoharie Turnpike.
Below: The maze of track of the new industrial siding, looking east from the lumber siding.
Above: The somewhat obstructed view from the eastern entrance. The siding was in
operation on April 17, 2009.
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