P
assengers riding Amtrak Empire Service trains often
don’t know about the line’s interesting evolution.
New York State’s Amtrak Service’s Empire Corridor
extends from New York to Buffalo and Niagara Falls
(440 miles) in two sections: The Hudson Valley
section, running between New York and Albany, along the Hudson
River; and the Mohawk Valley section, passing through Utica,
Syracuse and Rochester before reaching Buffalo and Niagara Falls.
After the Mohawk & Hudson Railroad was chartered in 1826,
several small railroads were built to link the state’s growing
number of cities: Utica & Schenectady Railroad (chartered in
1833), Utica Railroad (chartered in 1836), Rochester & Syracuse
Railroad (chartered in 1850) and Buffalo & Rochester Railroad
(an 1850 merger of additional small lines).
In 1853, Albany industrialist and Mohawk Valley Railroad
owner Erastus Corning brokered a merger and the New York
Central Railroad was formed, consolidating the smaller
companies to create a more efficient regional system.
The Mohawk & Hudson had received a connection at Albany
with the completion of the Hudson River Railroad in 1851.
Initially, many scorned the idea of a railroad along the Hudson
River, believing its curves would slow trains, making them no
match for the river’s steamboats. But the Mohawk & Hudson
railroad was faster than the steamboat, prompting business
magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt to invest in the Hudson River
Railroad to protect his steamboat investments. After purchasing
the Hudson River Railroad, Vanderbilt, who was known as “the
Commodore,” bought shares in the New York Central, forcing the
company’s reorganization and Corning’s retirement.
New York Central became one of North America’s major
railroads with its “Great Steel Fleet.” The Empire State Express was
introduced in 1891, and in 1893, its 999 locomotive, with
driving wheels of over seven feet, set a new world’s record of 112
miles per hour. By 1950, over 120 trains daily passed through
Albany Union Station.
But New York Central’s dominance eroded. In the 1930s, new
airlines began flying between New York and ups tate, and in 1955,
the New York State Thruway began operating from New York to
Buffalo, giving the bus a competitive edge. Many passenger trains
had disappeared, including New York Central’s flagship line the
Twentieth Century Limited in 1967.
To salvage its service, New York Central launched a new Empire
Service for New York–Buffalo trains, but finally succumbed,
merging with the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1968. The Penn Central
Company, proving that bigger is not always better, quickly plunged
into bankruptcy. But trains continued along the Empire Corridor,
although without the 1941 Empire State Express’s glamor.
When Amtrak launched in 1971, seven daily trains ran on the
New York—Albany—Buffalo corridor: four operated the New
York—Albany route and three ran to Buffalo. Service west of Buffalo
was discontinued. Each train retained its number but was otherwise
96 | New York By Rail
New York Central 4-6-4 ‘Hudson’ #5344 (Class J-1e), named the
'Commodore Vanderbilt’ departs Chicago’s LaSalle Street Station with the
flagship “20th Century Limited” (Chicago—New York) during the 1930’s.
One of New York Central’s two
4-6-4’s (J-3) streamlined for the
“Empire State Express” service,
#5426, is seen here ahead of the
train. The other was #5429 and
both lost their shrouding in 1950.
nameless. Westward service resumed briefly on the Chicago—New
York Lake Shore Limited, but was canceled in 1972.
Despite the public’s doubts, Amtrak reestablished discontinued
services along the Empire Corridor, including service beyond Buffalo
to Niagara Falls, with the Niagara Rainbow and the Maple Leaf, the
Lake Shore Limited service to Chicago, and service to downtown
Schenectady for Empire Service trains traveling beyond Albany.
In 1991, Empire Service trains began using the new Empire
Connection into New York’s Penn Station instead of Grand Central
Terminal. In 2011, Amtrak leased the Hudson Subdivision between
Poughkeepsie and Schenectady, assuming control on December 1,
2012. Today, Amtrak partners with the New York State Department
of Transportation to operate and continue making improvements to
the service.
Amtrak.com
HISTORY
The Dewitt Clinton Train
of the Mohawk & Hudson
Railroad, 1831