Investors in the Delaware Railroad Company

In my June 8, 2011 blog entry about the Delaware Railroad Company, where I shared some documents Tom Hilson had unearthed about the railroad, I promised to provide a list of people buying shares in the company and purchasing the right of way for the railroad.  Here are the lists. 

There were two different documents listing shareholders, pretty much duplicates of each other. 

Shareholders for the Delaware Railroad Company.

We, the undersigned, hereby subscribe hereto our respective names, post office addresses and the number of shares of capital stock, at the par value of one hundred dollars ($100.00) each, which we respectively agree to take in the Delaware Railroad Company, a corporation organized under the Laws of the State of New York, with a capital stock of Two hundred thousand Dollars ($200,000.00) consisting of two thousand shares and we hereby severally agree to pay for said stock at such times as the Board of Directors of each Company may by resolution require after the completion of said railroad to Bovina Center, and not before.  [The number after each name and address is the number of shares purchased.]

F.R. Coulter            Bovina Center        1
B.S. Miller            Bovina Center        1
D. Dickson            Bovina Center        1
J.W. Coulter            Lake Delaware        2
J.A. Irvine            Lake Delaware        1
James Russell            Bovina Center        1
W.L.C. Samson            Bovina Center        2
L. Phinney            Bovina Center        1
James & Margaret Chisholm    Bovina            1
A.T. Strangeway            Bovina            1
Charles R. Lee            Bovina            1
J.R. Hoy            Bovina            1
Mrs. D. Lyle Thomson        Bovina            1
J.M. Miller            Bovina            1
M. Miller            Bovina            1               
Albert McPherson        Bovina            1
D.J. Miller            Bovina            1
Johnson Bros            Bovina            1
Thomas Hoy            Bovina            1
W.A. Doig            Bovina            1
Robert W. Scott            Bovina            1
J.H. Blair            Bovina            1
W.L. White            Bovina            1   
W.F. Black            Bovina            1
J.W. Storie            Bovina            1
M.A. Doig            Bovina            1
J.E. Hastings            Bovina            1
Mrs. E.A. Hewitt        Bovina            1
W.J. Archibald            Bovina            1
John W. Elliott            Bovina            $10 dollars
Thomas J. Liddle        Bovina            $5 dollars
R. Archibald            Bovina            $5
R.G. Foreman            Bovina            $5
J.E. Knapp            Bovina            $10

There are several documents of people contributing to the purchase of the right of way for the railroad.  There were a lot of names, so I have alphabetized them to make them easier to peruse:

We the undersigned, for value received, do severally agree to pay to the Delaware Railroad Company, a corporation duly organized, the sums set opposite our respective names, for the purpose of purchasing the right of way for the said Railroad Company; the sum to be paid on the completion of said railroad to Bovina Centre, and not before.  [Addresses are Bovina or Bovina Center, unless otherwise indicated.]

Amos, Walter        $25.00    Andes
Anderson, A.        $5.00
Armstrong, F.C.        $50.00
Armstrong, W.W.        $5.00
Bailey, Jacob        $5.00
Barnhart, J.T.        $25.00
Bergman, Mina        $25.00
Biggar, John        $25.00    Andes
Biggar, W.        $25.00
Bramlee, G.        $50.00
Bramley, Fred        $5.00
Brisbane, Wm. H.    $5.00     Lake Delaware
Bryden, Alex        $5.00     Lake Delaware
Case, E.H.        $5.00
Coulter, H.M.        $5.00     Margaretville
Coulter, J.H.        $5.00
Coulter, Francis    $25.00
Currie, D.G.        $5.00
Dennis, John P.        $5.00
Draffen, D.B.        $5.00
Dumond, W.J.        $5.00
Erkson    , Claude    $5.00
Fiere, Robert        $5.00
Finkle, D.H.        $5.00
Foreman, H.        $25.00
Forrest, W.T.        $25.00
Gladstone, Geo        $50.00
Graham, F.W.        $5.00     Lake Delaware
Hastings, Elmer E.    $25.00
Hastings, M. T.        $5.00
Hastings, W.E.        $5.00
Hobbie, John S.        $50.00
Jackson, Robert        $5.00
Jardine, A.        $5.00
Johnson, W.        $5.00
Johnston, A.A.        $25.00
Johnston, Fred        $25.00
Laidlaw, H.        $5.00
Liddle, William M.    $5.00
Mason, Wm. T.        $5.00    Lake Delaware
Maynard, W.H.        $5.00
McCune, D.        $2.00
McCune, John        $5.00
McDivitt, W.        $5.00
McFarland, Andrew    $25.00
McLee(?),W.G.        $5.00
McNair, Geo. R.        $10.00
McNair, Peter        $5.00
McNee, Wm. F.        $5.00     Lake Delaware
McPherson, A.F.        $5.00
Miller, G.D.        $10.00
Miller, Gideon        $5.00
Miller, Wm. T.        $5.00
Monroe, James        $25.00
Myers, A.R.        $5.00
Oliver, John        $5.00
Ormiston, T.        $25.00
Phyfe, A.B.        $5.00
Rait, Mrs. J.        $25.00    Andes
Reynolds, Orrin        $25.00
Russell, R.H.        $25.00
Sanford(?), Charley    $25.00
Seacord, A.C.        $5.00
Seacord, S.R.        $25.00
Sloan, Leonard        $5.00
Smith, Amasa J.     $5.00
Smith, Richard        $5.00
Thompson, W.D.        $5.00
Thomson, A.G.        $50.00
Thomson, D.L.         $25.00
Thomson, Dixon        $50.00
Thomson, Elliott    $10.00
Thomson, James A.    $5.00
Thomson, L.        $5.00
Thomson, M & L        $50.00
Thomson, Robert A.    $10.00
Thomson, Robt. E.    $5.00
Thomson, Wm. S.        $50.00
Tuttle, C.A.          $25.00
Washburn, E.S.        $5.00
Whitson, John A.     $25.00    Andes
Wight, Jas. R.        $25.00    Andes
Worden, D.C.        $25.00

These documents show that there was a lot of support for the railroad in Bovina, though everyone was cautious enough to not put any money on the table until the railroad was actually built.  As discussed in previous blog entries, railroad construction was started but never completed, much to the disappointment of many people.

Delaware Railroad Company - Follow-up

On June 4, I attended a talk and book signing by Dr. Michael Kudish for his new book, Where Did the Tracks Go in the Catskills?  It's the fourth volume in his series called Mountain Railroads of New York State (available from Purple Mountain Press).  As Mike emphasized in his talk, the focus of his series on railroads is on the geography, not the detailed history of the railroads themselves.  His series covers railroads that were built and those that were only partially built and never completed.  One of those uncompleted railroads was the Delaware Railroad Company - the strongest attempt to bring the trains into Bovina.

I've reported on the Delaware Railroad Company, created in 1898, in several blog entries.  I reported on Mike's work to identify where the rail bed was located in entries on May 12 and November 8, 2009 and April 26, 2010.  This past March, I did a four part series about the railroad.

Just this month, Tom Hilson shared with me a recently unearthed cache of materials in his family papers related to the railroad.  The materials included the prospectus for the Delaware Railroad Company.  He also has lists of subscribers for buying the right of way and lists of stockholders (which I will share these in future blog entries).  Here's the text of the prospectus.  Note that the prospectus calls the railroad the Delaware Valley Railroad, though that is not the name that was in the incorporation papers. 

Delaware Valley Railroad Prospectus

   The proposed DELAWARE VALLEY RAILROAD is to be built from the village of Delhi, the county seat of Delaware County, N.Y., from the terminal for the Delhi branch of the New York, Ontario & Western Railroad, to the villages of Andes and Bovina Centre, a total distance of 15 miles.

   The consent of the property owners along the line has all be secured, permitting the construction of the railway along the highway, or the so called Delhi and Middletown turnpike.

   The villages of Andes and Bovina Centre have no outlet to a railroad, the nearest being 12 miles over a long and steep hill to the Ulster & Delaware Railroad, at Arkville, or 12 miles to the New York, Ontario & Western Railroad, at Delhi, over this proposed route.

   The people for at least 7 miles beyond Andes will haul freight to and from the proposed railroad at Andes.  To reach Bovina Centre, a branch will be run intersecting the main line, reaching people for at least 7 miles beyond Bovina Centre who will haul freight to and from this terminus, making the length of territory covered by this railroad over 30 miles. 

   The territory to be covered by this railroad is as fertile as any in the State of New York, and a noted dairying section.  The milk and freight traffic on this proposed railroad will be a large and profitable one, and the company will at once obtain a large business from this item of freight alone. 

   The proposed railroad follows the Little Delaware, a branch of the Delaware river, and the grades encountered are comparatively easy, costing less than $3,000 per mile in the construction of the road bed.

   We are positive that a personal examination of the route will prove conclusively the correctness of this statement, and the prospective earnings hereto attached, and would invite examination as to the correctness of our statements.

   This statement does not include the villages of New Kingston, Margaretville, Arena, Union Grove, and Shavertown, all of which are within a distance of ten miles from the road. 

The second page of the prospectus provided information on the cost of the railroad.  An image of that page is above. 

I will provide a list of people who bought stock and subscribers to the right of way in future blog entries. Many thanks to Tom for sharing this with me and allowing me to share it with you.

When the Trains Almost Came - IV - Buying a Pig in a Poke

The most serious attempt to bring the railroad to Bovina (and to connect Delhi and Andes by train) happened in 1898.  As reported in previous blog entries, the Delaware Railroad Company was formed in July 1898 and by September construction had started on the line between Delhi and Andes and on the spur to Bovina Center.  Construction continued for about seven weeks when it abruptly ceased.  The contractors and over 1000 Italian laborers were not being paid for their work. 

November came and went with no real movement.  Though the Delaware Gazette (Delhi) continued to try and be optimistic, they noted that little was happening.  After its November 16 issue, the Gazette pretty much went silent on the issue, as did other newspapers.  While not the last time a railroad to Bovina was considered, it was the closest citizens ever got to hearing steam whistles and seeing the smoke of an approaching train in their town.  Construction had actually taken place.  The rail beds still exist in a number of places.  See my blog entries of May 12 and November 8, 2009 and April 26, 2010 for information about Mike Kudish and his exploration of these abandoned rail beds.

Over the next three years or so, efforts were made to recoup the money owed by the Delaware Railroad Company.  In July 1899, most of the Italian laborers assigned their interest in the company to Michael J. Bove and Michael Marrone.  Later that month, formal legal action was initiated.  In October 1900, Bove and Marrone appear to have transferred their claims to Frederick W. Youmans, a Delhi attorney.  In January 1902, referee DeWitt Griffin held two days of hearings concerning the liens on the railroad.  In May, an order was issued to auction off the assets of the Delaware Railroad Company.  Who bought these, if anyone, I have yet to discover.  There were further discussions over the next decade about completing the railroad, however. 

As the Delaware and Eastern Railroad was being constructed, the New York Republican Watchman of December 23, 1904 reported that “those who claim to possess inside information say that the branch from Shavertown to Andes will be extended to Bovina in order to secure the milk traffic in that town; that a train load of milk can be procured each day, this alone being sufficient to make the road pay.” 

Almost four years later, the Catskill Mountain News reported the possible extension of the D&E to Bovina.  On August 22, it was reported that the President of the D&E and “other officials went over the route from Andes to Bovina on a tour of inspection. In the opinion of railroad men such an extension would pay if built to Bovina and no farther, as the milk, butter and feed business of that town is no inconsiderable item, and the trains on the Andes branch could handle the extra run without trouble and with no additional expense.”  The article noted that the old rail bed from 1898 could be easily used.  The paper also reported that an effort would be made to enlist the cooperation of Bovina farmers and that if the approvals can be received that construction could start in the fall of 1908. 

Nothing moved ahead beyond the talking stage, however.  In 1915, yet another attempt to revive the Delhi-Andes line by the Delaware and Northern Railroad, the successor to the Delaware And Eastern, was under consideration.  By this time, local interest was definitely on the wane – likely in part because of the development of the automobile (and the truck), but also, as the Delaware Express had noted, people had not forgotten the 1898 attempt.  A meeting was held in Delhi but the idea was not greeted enthusiastically.  The Delaware Express reported that “those who have fairly good memories will readily see the resemblance between this suggestion and the time honored practice of buying a pig in a poke. It was not welcomed at Delhi, and at a meeting held in Bovina with the business men of that place a similar view was taken. So for the present the matter rests.”

And it continued to rest, though there certainly were a few who continued to hope right up until the railroads in Delaware County and the surround areas ceased to operate.  The Age of the Railroads had indeed passed Bovina by.

NOTE:  Look at John Crocker’s 1997 book Tales of the Courthouse Square.  One of the chapters is devoted to the Delaware Railroad Company and the near riot from the Italian laborers. 

Thanks to Doug Kadow with the Ulster and Delaware Railroad Historical Society for further information on the railroad and the Delhi and Middletown Railroad attempted in the 1870s.  Thanks also to Tim Mallery, who directed me to some of the discussions to renew the railroad after its collapse in 1898.

When the Trains Almost Came - III - Our Supposed Railroad is at a Standstill

In the late summer and early fall of 1898, citizens of Bovina were excited that their ability to travel to and from town was on the verge of being enhanced by the building of the Delaware Railroad Company.  Over 1000 Italian laborers had been digging the railroad bed, while local contractors were supplying materials, food for the workers and teams of horses.  There was talk in Bovina about extending the railroad beyond Bovina over to Arkville.  So imagine the disappointment when on October 17, all work on the railroad ceased.  Neither the laborers nor the contractors had been paid a dime since starting work September 7.   So the Italian workers went on strike.  The October 22, 1898 Stamford Mirror reported that the Italians shouted “Noa Mon, Noa Work.”  Now whether the paper was being sarcastic or reflecting the workers limited English is not clear.  But the facts were that these workers had done their work and they were not being paid.

The Mirror reported that the Knickbocker Trust Company would not take the bonds that had been sold to fund the railroad and provide the money.  They argued that the bonds were given securing completion of the railroad first.  The other problem appears to be related to the original contractor, Thomas Murray, sub-contracting the work.  The trust company claimed that the bonds are not backed by the responsible parties.  The Delaware Gazette was more inclined to blame the middleman, a Mr. Hillyer, who was working between Thomas Murray, the chief contractor and the trust company. 

Whatever the cause, the workers wanted to be paid.  Some of the workers went back home (mainly to New York City) but on October 22, about 150 workers tried to find the directors in Delhi, while another group did the same in Andes.  In Delhi, the sheriff, concerned about the safety of one director, Mr. Davie, took him to his home.  One of the workers then made “an apparently inflammatory speech” to the other workers.  While in Italian, those who could not speak it still understood the gist of it.  The workers tried to find another director, Mr. Youmans, without success.   In Andes, the workers missed director James F. Scott but found W.C. Oliver in his barn.  The workers surrounded it for over an hour but Oliver managed to talk his way out of the situation and left unharmed. 

Most of the Italian workers accepted an offer of train tickets back to New York City and left, but not before about 300 of them filed liens against the property of the company, averaging about $25 each.  Beyond the Italian laborers, there were others who also filed claims for having provided lumber, supplies and team work.  The Gazette understood that the amount of indebtedness was around $20,000.  (These lien filings still exist today.  Go to http://www.dcnyhistory.org/rr1898.html to see a list created by Shirley Houck of all the claimants against the company. )

The Gazette admitted when things settled down that “the conduct of the Italians was as good as could be expected under the circumstances.  They had done their work faithfully and needed their pay.  Many of them have families, it is said, who require their wages for their support.”

The Delhi paper continued to be optimistic that the railroad would continue, though their Bovina correspondent simply noted the departure of the workers and that “our supposed railroad is at a standstill at present.”  In early November, the paper noted that a lot of misinformation was being passed around that it would not publish, except to say that a meeting will be called in the near future of the directors, contractors and other parties.  The paper concluded this November 2 article with this paragraph:

Whatever difficulties now in the way the one fact remains.  Too much has been done to make it likely that the project will finally be abandoned as the road will be a paying institution.  It will unquestionably be built, and all claims paid.  It is conceded by all that neither the company nor any of its officers are to blame for the temporary set back. 

The Gazette’s continued optimism did not pan out.  Though there were some further efforts, the railroad never was built and no further construction ever took place.  The concluding installment will cover further efforts to bring the trains into Bovina.

When the Trains Almost Came - II – The Dirt is Flying

By the end of August 1898, the construction of the shanties for the workers building the Delaware Railroad had started.   It was reported in the Delaware Gazette (Delhi) that about “1000 natives of sunny Italy will soon be scattered between Delhi and Andes, at work grading the route,” which was to be 15 miles, including a three mile spur to Bovina Center.  Contractors were working with local ‘grocerymen’ concerning the supplies needed for the workers.  Other local businesses also were benefiting from the work.  “Marshall Gladstone has the contract for erecting two depot buildings, four platforms for milk stations, and the cattle pens needed along the line.” 

On September 7, actual construction on the rail bed itself began, using the Italian laborers for this backbreaking work.  The work moved along quickly.  The Gazette noted that “the largest gang of men are employed at the summit between Bovina and Andes.”  The paper continued to be highly optimistic and reported that many were in agreement:  “Even those who have been building railroads on paper for these twenty years begin to feel that they have no longer any reason to feel ashamed.”

As September progressed, more workers were brought in.  One hundred more Italians laborers arrived on September 27 specifically to work on the Bovina spur, which came off the main line near the Burgin farm on present day Route 28.  Going through what is now the Clarence Burns farm, it ran about parallel to County Route 6 to the edge of the Bovina Center hamlet.  The site for the depot in Bovina was placed in Alexander Hilson’s orchard.  Where this was located is not totally clear, but it likely was somewhere above the site of the Bovina creamery building (though the creamery did not exist in 1898).  Cooke, Currie and Richardson were hired to do the stone work on the depot.  By now, Bovina citizens were getting excited about the project and were thinking of grander schemes.  There was discussion about having the railroad go from Bovina into Arkville. 

By early October, the first rails were being laid so that the materials needed to build the necessary bridges could be more easily transported.  Halfway through the month, it was reported that more than half of the dirt has been removed.  The lumber for the Bovina depot had arrived on the 11th and work was expected to start shortly. 

So with over 1000 Italian workmen, many teams of horses and wagons and numerous contractors and subcontractors all working away, the railroad was being built seemingly with lightning speed.  But on October 19, the Gazette, while reporting construction progress, also reported the first hints of trouble.  “Great anxiety has been felt by everybody because on Saturday [October 15] when the men expected their pay Mr. Davie and G.W. Youmans did not arrive from New York with the money.”  The problem was explained as a technicality with the filing of the papers.  This was possible.  There was an issue concerning at-grade crossings that had to be resolved – and it was on October 13.

On Monday, the 17th, the pay was not forthcoming.  At this point, the entire project fell apart.  This will be discussed in the next installment on March 16.

When the Trains Almost Came - I – Everything Looks Favorable

The first attempt to bring trains into Bovina was in the 1870s when the Delhi and Middletown Railroad was created. Though railroad wouldn’t have come into the hamlet of Bovina Center, the line would have passed through the town as it connected Andes with Delhi. Some construction started, but the project ultimately failed. Over twenty years later came the most serious effort ever to bring the railroad to Bovina. The Delaware Railroad Company was created 1898 and while the main goal of this railroad, as with the previous attempt, was to connect Andes and Delhi, it had the added feature of a three mile spur off the main line that would have come to Bovina Center. This attempt came amazingly close to succeeding, with actual construction taking place in the fall of 1898. The construction moved along quickly for a few weeks in September and October, but it stopped abruptly, leaving over 1000 Italian laborers and a number of local contractors unpaid for their services – and leaving citizens in Bovina very disappointed.

This is the first of four blog entries I will be doing over the next month about this most serious attempt to bring the trains to town.

In February 1898, the Delaware Gazette (Delhi) reported that “Everything Looks Favorable” for the railroad. The Gazette continued to provide progress reports almost weekly. During the winter and spring of 1898 and right into early summer, survey workers worked out the best route, making frequent changes to deal with some challenging terrain. A key element was getting the approval of Commodore Eldridge T. Gerry for the line to go through his property. He met with interested parties in early July and agreed to let the railroad run through his lands so long as there was no depot constructed at The Hook.

Meanwhile, the main contractor was chosen, Thomas Murray from Newark, N.J. who claimed that “he has capitalists who have the money ready.” On July 6, the Delaware Railroad Company was chartered. The New York Times reported that the railroad would run for a distance of about 15 miles. The company was capitalized at $200,000. Directors were Herbert Sewell of Walton, T.E. Hastings and Alexander Hilson of Bovina Centre; James F. Copp and W.C. Oliver of Andes; S.P. Wilbury, Henry Honeywell, Henry Davie, and G.W. Youmans of Delhi.

The Delaware Gazette continued to champion the railroad in frequent articles throughout the summer. On August 3, the paper included the following:

It has been from the beginning and continues to be a surprise to everybody, that there seems to be so much substantial progress in the enterprise that proposes to build a railroad to Andes and Bovina. It is but natural that the lack of confidence should be so general, for our people have so often been disappointed. One project after another has been exploited only to lengthen the list of failures. But from the start that was made only a few months ago there has been a steady advance, and it really looks now as if the people here were soon to see the work of construction actually commenced.

Some folks then, as now, may have wondered why such a short spur was being built to a town that had seen its population fall over the previous half century. David Murray, in arguing the case for the spur to Bovina before New York State Board of Railroad Commissioners, noted that while the town’s human population was smaller than earlier in the century, there were more cows. The object of the railroad would have been to get fresh milk down to New York City. Bovina farms at this stage were doing a booming business in milk and butter from which the Delaware Railroad Company would have benefited.

And by the end of August, construction was underway. That chapter of the story - "The Dirt is Flying" - will be the feature of this blog on March 9.

The Train that Never Came

I was on Peg Ellsworth's show on WIOX in Roxbury again yesterday, sharing the mike with Doug Kadow, President of the Ulster and Delaware Railroad Historical Society. We talked about railroads, with my focus being on the attempt to bring the railroad into Bovina in 1898. This effort, by the way, had as its main purpose of connecting Delhi and Andes by rail, but a 3 mile spur was planned to bring it into Bovina. Doug is very interested in this particular railroad that never was.

Over the past month, some research in the newspapers has led to answering some questions about the railroad - and bringing up others. And I learned a lot from Doug about these railroads. I'll be doing a series of blog entries over the next month explaining what I have found about this failed attempt. Did you know that much of the rail bed had been constructed - and in only 7 weeks? Did you know that workers went on strike and nearly rioted when they didn't get paid for their efforts? And what was unusual about the spur to Bovina?

And thanks to Tim Mallery, I now have information on further attempts in the early 20th century to bring the trains to Bovina. The 1898 failure did not end the discussion.

So be ready on the platform for when the next installment of "The Train that Never Came" rolls into your computer (sorry, I couldn't resist a clunky railroad analogy).

I Walk the Line - Not!

Last November I reported on a hike I took with Mike Kudish in his quest to locate the rail bed for a never completed railroad from Delhi to Andes, with a spur to Bovina (see blog entries for May 12 and November 8, 2009 for more details). During that hike, we walked parallel and above Route 28 and walked to the Burgin Farm. At the time, we planned another hike in the spring to trace the rail bed further along 28, expecting to track it to Lake Delaware.

We scheduled this past Saturday, April 24, for the hike. Unfortunately, a pesky cold prevented me from joining Mike, but Peter Manning was able to go with him. They picked up the rail bed where Mike and I left off last fall. Mike was pleased to note that he found the point where the rail would have gone from the main Delhi-Andes line to a spur heading to Bovina. Mike and Peter were able to follow the bed almost right to St. James Church. Mike suspects that the railroad, had it been built, would have been about level with the church at this point - and may have gone right through the site. Remember that the church was built over two decades after the attempt to build the railroad was abandoned.

I'm hoping I'll get a chance to check this out for myself at some point. Many thanks to Mike for his continuing work to document the railroads in the area. And thanks to Peter for making the arrangements for Mike to hike the area.

I Walk the Line

On Sunday, November 8, I had another chance to meet with Mike Kudish (see my blog entry for May 12), who has been researching the railroads in and around the Catskills, as he has already done in the Adirondacks.

Today we walked three segments of the rail bed for a railroad that would have brought the trains into Bovina. The Delaware Railroad Company was founded in 1898 to connect Andes and Delhi, with a spur to Bovina. The main use of the railroad would have been for transporting milk from the Bovina creamery. After maybe about a year of preliminary construction, the project was abandoned. This likely was caused by a combination of the economic downturn that hit the country just around the turn of the century and the use of trucks to transport milk.

Finding the rail bed in the vicinity of the Bovina creamery has proven challenging. During Mike's hike last spring, he found what appeared to be a rail bed but it was too far up the bank to have allowed a train to get to the creamery. He now thinks this bed is just a farming road. We aren't sure, but we think we did find a rail bed at a lower level that would have brought trains to the creamery.

Then we drove to Route 28 to find another section of rail bed by a ravine that some maps call the Bovina Gorge, not too far from the Clarence Burns farm. As Mike pointed out, it's no gorge, just a ravine. It is where Silver Lake drains down to the Little Delaware. The rail bed comes to the ravine, where it would have needed a trestle for the train to cross it.

From the ravine, we walked a ways up Route 28 towards Andes. We climbed up the bank not too far from the turn off for Tunis Lake. There we found a trail that was marked on a topo map from the 60s as a hiking trail. This turns out to have been the rail bed for the line that was to run from Andes to Delhi (the trail is not heavily used since it all goes through private property, we think). We hiked that toward Delhi until we found a newly dug pond (two actually) where a development is being planned. It was right above Burgin road where my car was parked, so it worked out well.

Mike still wants to find where the Bovina line was to have met up with the Andes/Delhi line. We think we identified the spot and also suspect the bed for that part was never constructed, but we need to make another visit - hopefully next spring - to find that and to walk the bed further along towards Delhi. So stay tuned for the further adventures of the Delaware Railroad Company.

A Railroad into Bovina

I met with Mike Kudish on Sunday to discuss the effort in the late 1890s to bring the railroad into Bovina Center. Mike is an author, railroad historian, forester and retired professor from Paul Smith's College in the Adirondacks, now living in the Catskills. He has been exploring the railroads in the Catskills and the Adirondacks for years. We met to discuss one Catskill railroad of particular interest to me -- the Delaware Railroad, which was to have run from Andes to Delhi, with a branch off to Bovina.

The Delaware Railroad Company was established in 1898. Two of its directors were from Bovina - T.E. Hastings and Alexander Hilson. David Murray, in arguing the case for the railroad to the New York State Board of Railroad Commissioners, noted that while Bovina's human population was smaller than earlier in the century, "there are more cows. The object of the [rail]road is to let New York get plenty of good pure milk." The railroad company did not last long, and construction only got as far as constructing some of the railbeds.

Dr. Kudish has explored a number of areas along the planned route and has found evidence of some of these beds. In March, he explored some of the Bovina section along with Bovina residents Steve Roberts and Paul and Becky Manning. The route essentially came down from present day Route 28 and mostly on the right side of County Route 6 (as you head into Bovina). If the purpose of the railroad was to help bring milk to New York City, it would seem that it would have ended up in the vicinity of the Bovina Center Co-op Creamery. The route explored by Dr. Kudish shows it to have fallen somewhat short of this - and maybe a bit too high up in the hills. Any evidence of a railroad bed ends barely into the hamlet. Since the Bovina Center Creamery was not established until 1902, and it appears that no railroad work happened after the turn of the century, it is possible that a different placement was planned for the creamery. But this is just speculation at the moment.

My hats off to Mike for his work in tracking down the existing railroad bed. We hope to do some further hiking in the late summer or early fall to see where the Bovina Branch connected to the main Andes/Delhi line.