#waterlevelroute

[railwayhistorical]

Along the Water Level Route

This is an eastbound Amtrak's Maple Leaf rolling through Palatine Bridge, New York. We're on the former New York Central along side the Mohawk River (part of the railroad's so-called Water Level Route).

One image by Richard Koenig; taken May 30th 2026.

[railwayhistorical]

Along the Water Level Route

While passing through Schenectady, New York, on my way to the Hudson Valley, I took in Amtrak's Adirondack bound for the Big Apple.

A couple of lines converge on the station here: I believe this train runs on the former Delaware & Hudson between this spot and Montreal. From here to New York she'll be on the New York Central, which is a continuation of their so-called Water Level Route.

Two images by Richard Koenig; taken May 30th 2026.

[railwayhistorical]

Along the Water Level Route

Amtrak's Lake Shore Limited is seen here sprinting between Albany & Schenectady. Nice to see a speed limit sign here that stated it as simply "90". This is the former New York Central.

Not long prior to this image being made, the Boston and New York sections of the train were combined (in Albany) for the remaining overnight trip to Chicago.

One image by Richard Koenig; taken May 30th 2026.

[railwayhistorical]

Trains of the Hudson Valley

Here are three Amtrak trains I photographed on the former New York Central, just north of Cold Spring, New York. This was part of the railroad’s famous “Water Level Route” between New York and Chicago—which went north along the Hudson River, west across the state, not terribly far from the Erie Canal, and then to follow the shores of the Great Lakes the remainder of the way.

The first image shows a northbound train just north of Cold Spring. The second has a southbound train with Pollepel Island visible in the background (the structure thereon is called Bannerman Castle). The locomotive type in these first two images are the unique EMD FL9.

The trio to complete the set is yet another southbound train in that same vicinity. The quality of these images is not great, which didn’t help me ID the locomotive, but I was very interested in that second E-unit in the consist—which turned out to be from New Jersey Transit.

Five images by Richard Koenig; taken in the fall of 1983.