KINGSTON BRANCH

Ellenville to Kingston

North of Ellenville was Napanoch, soon to be the site of the State Reformatory and another one-way passenger destination, though not for the same type of vacation.

Further north was the rustic station at Wawarsing. Again, resort business kept this station alive. Notice the higher elevation at the back of the station, necessitating the shortened eave overhang. The station, surrounded by trees, still survives. (Photo courtesy Bruce Tracy) In its early years, the O&W used Adams Express Company for express shipments. During World War I, express companies were combined into Railway Express. However, this Adams Express sticker, which would have been pasted onto a package to identify its station of origin, survives.

The Kerhonksen station was similar in design to the Napanoch station. The mission style and the cupola made these two stations unique. By the late 1960s, all that was left in Kerhonksen was freighthouse searching for a buyer. After the railroad was closed, a company called O&W Lines was created to sell off the remaining real estate assets. It was headquartered in the Middletown station building and lasted over a decade after the demise of the railroad it was named for.

Accord was a busy station north of Ellenville. For more on Accord and agent Mike Palmer, stop by the ACCORD page.

High Falls was the next stop, up on a hill above the road underpass. After being a farm implement dealership, the station is now a private residence.

The Kingston Branch followed the old D&H Canal and, in fact, snubbing posts from the old canal were often used as mileposts, as seen here in Cottekill.

Kingston was the end of the line. Passengers could change trains with the Ulster & Delaware or the New York Central's West Shore route. This train appears to be waiting to depart southbound. The freight house, also a brick building, is seen behind the station to the left. Both buildings were demolished around 1968 during the expansion of US Route 209.

Former Oswego Midland locomotive #50, "Weehawken," a Baldwin product of 1872, is seen with a work train in Kingston on November 22, 1902. The car immediately behind the engine appears to be a flanger, possibly being used to regulate the ballast between the newly-laid rails which completed the branch.

The crew of the local pauses in its chores at Kingston to have their portrait taken in March, 1948. The freight house appears to be the building in the left background. Standing on footboards, l to r: Railway Express Messenger Ray Wilbur, Fireman Ken Benjamin. On engine, l to r: Conductor James Morgan, Brakeman Ray Whinne, Engineer Frank Weyrauth and Flagman Harry T. Horton.