In 2006 my partner and I made an offer to buy all 4 locomotives, which was later rejected by the previous owners. At that time the locomotives were not heavily vandalized and we thought the RS3 and U25B could be made operational. We met with the power plant attorneys and environmental folks and the land owners at the time. We had a solid plan to remove the equipment. The track they are on continued up to the power plant and still connected to the power plant trackage, which still connected to CSX. The track was covered by 10-15 feet deep of fill which could have been excavated to uncover the track...there is a slight grade down to where the locomotives are from the power plant. The area was easily accessible. You could theoretically pull the locomotives up to the Power plant where there would be room to work and load them onto trucks. I believe the switch to CSX was removed long ago, so flat cars are probably not a viable option.

We thought of every possible option, the bridge to the north (which was thought to be the old turntable bridge from Whitehall), that was badly deteriorated at the time and would not have supported the weight. Barges on the Hudson could work but would be super expensive. Getting a big crane to "walk" them over to CSX and lift onto the track and move them to Kenwood Yard might work. Yes, there are powerlines also but they could be worked around.

There is also access to the site via an underpass under the CSX track, but the height is only 9 or 10 feet and you wouldn't be able to get anything out by truck under that bridge.

A sad situation, especially since the funds and permissions were available in 2006.

The Port has plans to replace the bridge as part of the redevelopment of the property.
https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/capital-region/politics/2016/12/9/capital-region-redc-haul-to-benefit-port-of-albany-project

Ah, so it collapsed! Go figure...
Good to hear the bridge will be replaced.
Thanks for sharing!




I make one bad joke and I get compared to "Fire Up SR 1401 fantasy." The wonders of RYPN...

I thought your reference to the Sikorsky S-64 Skycrane was a good way to emphasize the current remoteness of these artifacts in a humorous way. As disappointing the inaccurate comparison you cited above may be, it is not all of RYPN.

It is good to see that the situation appears to be taking a turn for the better with the redevelopment plans. The question now becomes, will the items survive until the area is reopened? The stewards of these artifacts may want to consider working closely with the government agencies responsible for the redevelopment to gain access to the items so that steps may be taken to stabilize and protect them so there is something left to preserve when the road comes to them. Ongoing cooperation with the Port of Albany could result in the development of a coordinated extraction plan that may save the owners of these artifacts some money and, if possible, result in a window for extracting these items being built into any redevelopment contracts. A contractor facing penalties for missing deadlines will not sit by while a preservation group puts a plan together to get the items out, no matter how friendly they are.

The problem with "making a joke" around here is that:

1) some folks long ago decided that "emoticons" and other graphics typically used to express/emphasize humor, jokes, and sarcasm online should be verboten here--something about being "unprofessional" in appearance, or whatnot; and

2) As amply demonstrated over several April Firsts in this forum over the years, too many people online lack any ability to detect satire, sarcasm or jokes online, and get their proverbial "knickers in a twist" with righteous indignation when told of the deception/satire. (See also: The Onion, Babylon Bee, etc.)

I seriously would not put it past some "young guns with boundless enthusiasm" to waste untold energy and effort trying to get some Skycrane operator to offer services at a reduced rate for such a lift, only to then be told that, no, no one is seriously going to disassemble either electric loco into parts small enough to be helo'ed out of that location..............

Don't hide your error by posing as the defender of the masses. You did not get that NS 3322 and I were injecting some humor into the situation. So you made a minor error on a rail preservation forum. Big deal. At least own it and leave your cape at home.

As I said, it was 35 words out of a thread of over a thousand, with multiple links and photos discussing more earth-based (and I hope reality-based) options for getting to these ancient machines for preservation purposes. The tongue-in-cheek S-64 reference should have been taken in context for what it was. But, to be fair, its not like you are a professional wordsmith, so maybe that is unfairly asking too much of you, the reader.

I hope the owners of these artifacts get some relief from their situation by the planned redevelopment and that they can work with the Port of Albany to save these fine examples of early electric locomotion. Best of luck to them.

I agree. The organization that currently owns the artifacts (Danbury?) should be reaching out to the Port of Albany right now to ensure their artifacts are safely set aside and protected. We do not want a contractor unfamiliar with the extended backstory to show up to clear the area and go, "these must be abandoned" and scrap them!

I seriously think that in a few years or (optimistically) months, it may be possible to get the equipment out of there.

Scranton Yard,

The problem with assuming everything outrageously ridiculous in that fashion HAS to be a joke:

The most recent time I made that assumption, the bozo actually managed to get elected to the White House.

So, from here on in, we should just assume that anyone making outrageous proposals has to be making jokes, right? Please go refer to the thread "Our Own Worst Enemy?" for the problem with that approach.......

Thanks for the good laugh. You may want to put some thermals on under those tights. It is cold out there, cape or no cape. Have a great day.

Do we KNOW that Danbury still holds absolute ownership of the rolling stock, or has it been clouded with matters of de facto abandonment, unpaid rent, or other potential issues not unusual for stuff left on other peoples places to rot for a long time? If anybody wants to pull together a valid proposal for saving it, I think that's an important thing to know......