The New York, Ontario & Western has some affectionate knicknames, such as the “Old & Weary,” the “Old Woman,” and “the “Old & Wobbly.” Whatever you call it, the O&W has a long and storied history, eventually winding its way from the Great Lakes port at Oswego, New York down through rural NY State and the southern Catskills to Weehawken, New Jersey. Founded in 1866 as the New York and Oswego Midland Railroad by Dewitt C. Littlejohn, the line went through several partnerships and branch connections, finally reaching Jersey City, New Jersey in 1883.
The Southern Division made its way through the “Borscht Belt,” bringing tourists and summer boarders to the great “Jewish Alps” hotels, boarding houses and bungalow colonies. Like most rural Catskills train routes, its heyday was from the late 19th century through the 1920's. By the time the Great Depression came along, cars and buses had taken the bulk of passenger traffic. Trucks were controlling the important milk traffic from the lower Catskills milkshed.
In addition, the coal traffic that the NY O&W had established in 1890 with its Scranton Division from Cadosia, NY to the Pennsylvania coal fields was becoming less profitable. Fuel oil and natural gas began to replace coal as the heating source of choice for businesses and homes. By the mid 1930's the coal industry itself had fallen on hard times.
In 1937, the O&W headed into a twenty-year bankruptcy. As an attempt to resurrect the railroad's fortunes, trustee Frederic Lyford asked industrial designer Otto Kuhler to streamline a train for the 1937 summer season. The Mountaineer sported a new “streamstyled” look with slipcovers, maple armchairs, and sheet metal with distinctive maroon, black and orange trim. The O&W provided the crew with matching uniforms as well. Despite this touch of modernity they couldn't stem the loss of income, and soon the O&W was back to its old fashioned cars without air-conditioning in the hot summer season.
By 1948, the O&W had completely changed over from steam engines to diesel locomotives, saving on maintenance and personnel. This move was unable to stem the loss of freight and passenger income and ultimately the O&W became the first “notable” United States railroad to be shut down and totally abandoned. Passenger service ended in 1953 and the O&W completely shut down in 1957.
A vibrant group of O&W fans carries on, preserving the legacy with its activities and publishing. They keep an extensive archive, housed in Middletown, NY. Middletown was once the seat of the O&W's upstate headquarters and machine shops, so it's fitting that the Ontario and Western Railway Historical Society, Inc. be located there. Their web site hosts a detailed history of the line and is a great source for all things O&W. The organization has a terrific online catalog with lots of interesting books, audio and video resources and memorabilia. Be sure to check it out at http://owrhs.comp-wiz.com/new/index.php/store.
As we continue work on our documentary, Rails to The Catskills, we are fortunate to have help from the folks at the O&W Railway Historical Society among others to fill in the historical record and provide much needed visual materials. Another great online source of images of the O&W is posted on Flickr by the Cornell University Library. It's these kinds of archives, along with helpful private collectors and historians, that make it possible for filmmakers to research our historical documentaries. We urge you to support their work.
Here are some images of O&W locomotives from the online Cornell Library Collection.
They are:
Engine #1
Engine #11
Engine #143
Engine #256 & crew
Engine # 201 on Scranton Division Bridge at Cadosia
