Eastern Railroad Discussion > Kenwood on Saturday.

Thinking about venturing to Albany, N.Y. and Kenwood yard this Saturday, have never been to this area. Can anyone suggest good locations for trains, operations, etc. A Yahoo search revealed some sites which included geographic locations, historical sites, etc. but somehow its always different in reading about locations vs. reality.
No trespassing issues would also be helpful.

Thanks!

The north end of Kenwood Yard is plainly visible from I-787 in Albany. Take the Port of Albany Exit and you'll be right there. Getting to any spots where you are likely to find motive power tied up, however, requires going onto railroad property at the yard office. It was generally a railfan-tolerant place 15 years ago, but I don't know if that's still the case. There also may be greater security concerns at the neighboring Port of Albany than there were when I was there.

The most popular photo spot in the area is north of Kenwood, in Cohoes, NY, where the Albany-Mechanicville main goes over the Mohawk River. There is a public park on the southwest side of the bridge that is good for shooting southbounds in the afternoon if there are any. You can also get decent broadsides of northbounds from the south bank, especially as you retreat farther upstream from the bridge. Morning trains can be shot crossing the river from parallel US-4, but those shots are tighter and not as scenic. Getting a nose-y view of an afternoon northbound requires setting up in a small neighborhood northwest of the bridge, including gaining some sort of elevation to get above the top of a safety fence that protects cliffs overlooking the river. I've done this shot off the top of a vehicle, and once was invited by a homeowner to stand on his porch roof.

City streets do provide access to a point just south of Kenwood where departing trains headed for Selkirk can be photographed, but I don't remember the streets' names. It's not too hard to figure out if you scout around a little.

EDITED TO ADD: I believe Pearl Street is the one that runs along the base of the hills west of the Hudson, and from which a side street goes east to cross the Albany Port Secondary south of Kenwood. CR used to load unit oil trains at a terminal just north of the crossing, but I don't know if CSX still does this.

Been a few years since I've been out there, but your best bet is a chase in this area. Usually the outbound intermodal (168 I think) is on-duty in the morning. You CAN chase the city streets all the way up to Cohoes, but I recommend I-787 to this point so you can get set-up for a shot if you aren't familiar with the area. At this spot 787 terminates, take route 4 north. It follows the tracks all the way into Mechanicville. There are several locations along the way for pictures, just take your pick. Keep in mind the run is north (generally speaking), and the sun will be in the southeast this time of year (best chase is a morning southbound).

There are several decent locations between Albany and Cohoes (including the old Colonie Yard) but you really need to explore the side-streets or you'll loose a chase.

As far as actual activity at Kenwood, you'll see the 168 in the morning, followed by the SC-1 local (works to the GE Plant in Halfmoon and back). There is a manifest that runs between Saratoga and Kenwood that I'm not sure about operations-wise, and I believe there is a turn to Selkirk as well (CSX Power at this point). The 169 intermodal is usually an afternoon arrival. All in all the Colonie Main doesn't see a whole lot of action, but when I was close I'd just listen to the scanner (they call signals - every 2.2 miles) and pick my shots.

My old site still resides on the web when I was railfanning the D&H a lot during my time at RPI (particularly spring semester, 2002). Some of the train info is out of date, but there are pictures and MP locations. http://members.fortunecity.com/harron/dh

Pic: SC-1 local led by D&H 7312 at MP10.2 - Washington St - Waterford, NY.

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Keep in mind that the CP police in the area are pretty intolerant of tresspassing, so don't go on the property without permission.

-Dave

also there is a cp officer stationed at kenwood

Harron Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Been a few years since I've been out there, but
> your best bet is a chase in this area. Usually
> the outbound intermodal (168 I think) is on-duty
> in the morning. You CAN chase the city streets
> all the way up to Cohoes, but I recommend I-787 to
> this point so you can get set-up for a shot if you
> aren't familiar with the area. At this spot 787
> terminates, take route 4 north. It follows the
> tracks all the way into Mechanicville.

Actually in Cohoes (at the end of 787), take a right onto Route 32 (across from Burger King). Take this into the village of Waterford. There, you would run into Route 4. Take a left at the second light (Routes 4 & 32).

Sorry, not trying to nitpick, just want to give as much info as possible :-)

-Mike