Eastern Railroad Discussion > Close Clearance!!! NYS&W Switching Utica Club Brewery, Utica, NY

New York, Susquehanna & Western switches Utica Club Brewery (officially, "F.X. Matt Brewery," makers of Utica Club beer & Saranac Ale & soft drinks) off its 6/10th mile street trackage on Utica, NY's Schuyler Street. This trackage is part of the railroad's 83-mile Utica branch. The brewery receives malt, usually in CN covered hoppers.

On June 16th, I caught the crew of UT-1 doing the brewery job. They backed into the brewery with two loads, retrieved the two empties, then headed back to the main where a back-up move was made placing the empties just south of the in-street switch. They then pulled ahead, got back onto the spur and placed the two loads inside the brewery.

Here are some photos:

1. Leased by NYS&W, CSX GP38-2 No. 2732 enters the "brewhouse" 6:06 pm.

2. No. 2732 heading out of brewery, 6:12 pm, two loads up front, two empty covered hoppers bring up the rear.

3. Setting in-street switch for reverse move, 6:14 pm.

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4. Another view, throwing the switch.

5. Entire train on Schuyler Street, 6:17 pm.

6. Switching two loads into brewery.

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7. Backing...

8. Wayyyy in back.

9. Loads spotted, exiting brewhouse 6:22 pm.

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10. Heading back to Utica main, 6:23 pm.

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Great picture's and nice coverage of the operation.Definitely looks close on the garage door.


Walt

Posted from Android

Thanks for the pictures. How often does this job run?

(and, it looks like the paint on the side wall of the brew house lead has been scraped quite a few times. Really close clearances.)

Interesting photos. Thanks for posting.
ALLEN

Really great action. Thanks for sharing.

Phil

Neat photos - wonder if Utica Club sells a "16 Cylinder Diesel Fume Ale?"

The Wikipedia article for Matt Brewing company says the following about the service it gets from NYS&W:

"...The brewery is served by the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway (NYS&W) from their line next to the brewery which runs down the middle of Schuyler Street. The NYS&W delivers covered hoppers carrying the grain products needed for brewing. Insulated boxcars carrying the finished product out of the brewery are also brought out daily by NYS&W. Gondolas carrying glass for recycling are also seen in the consist of NYS&W locals serving the brewery..."

Have you seen these box cars and gondolas at the brewery?

2nd Q: the URL to an article suggests the West End Brewing company building has been in existence for 77 years, or since 1939. That suggests the DL&W steam locomotives serviced this building? Or perhaps the loading/unloading building was added on in the diesel era?
http://www.newyorkupstate.com/breweries/2016/04/historic_77-year-old_utica_club_sign_replaced_at_matt_brewing_co_photos.html

Lackawanna484 Wrote:

How often does this job run?

I'd say 1 or 2 times per week on average.

JPB Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Neat photos - wonder if Utica Club sells a "16
> Cylinder Diesel Fume Ale?"
>
> The Wikipedia article for Matt Brewing company
> says the following about the service it gets from
> NYS&W:
>
> "...The brewery is served by the New York,
> Susquehanna and Western Railway (NYS&W) from their
> line next to the brewery which runs down the
> middle of Schuyler Street. The NYS&W delivers
> covered hoppers carrying the grain products needed
> for brewing. Insulated boxcars carrying the
> finished product out of the brewery are also
> brought out daily by NYS&W. Gondolas carrying
> glass for recycling are also seen in the consist
> of NYS&W locals serving the brewery..."
>
> Have you seen these box cars and gondolas at the
> brewery?

Nope, I remember seeing that Wikipedia article too but I've never seen gons or boxcars go in the brewery.

TO member "train1275" would be able to add more on that question and the one posed about DL&W steamers as well.

Amazing photos for sure!

I remember seeing a video of that operation that you took the great pics of.
Here's a link of that video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wXwIYVwtgU

NC_CSXFAN13

Imagine blowing that train horn inside there. Now that would be loud.

On page 319 of Thomas Taber's DL&W in the 20th Century (Volume 1) there's a brief mention of the Matt Brewery. The brewery received malt, grain, and kegs. It shipped out beer. On March 14, 1951, at the end of steam, the local train working Utica industries was handled by 44T GE engine number 51 (their description). Other Utica runs were handled by Mikado locomotives. (Thanks for that correction)

The Lackawanna had a small fleet of 0-6-0 locomotives in their NJ Tidewater operations. Brooklyn, Manhattan, Hoboken, Jersey City, etc. Designed for tight clearances, but no indication that they ever worked in Utica.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/29/17 19:07 by Lackawanna484.

Here's a video I posted showing the brewery job:

https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?2,3924157,3925975#msg-3925975

You keep triggering my memories of the brewery and Utica Club. Nice coverage.

I do not remember any outbound beer or glass, not to say that it happened and I do not recall.

I believe steam served this as it appears now with 0-8-0's, I think the 0-6-0's were gone by 1939.
Roy Harvey was a switchman on this job back in the 40's and his doctor said he had to drink more water. Roy figured water was mostly beer so drank with gusto. DL&W crews here had laddles with which they could draw beer into. It was a popular industry to switch, especially for Roy Harvey.

There is a story that during the days of the Scranton Bull (1972 - 1974) that the yard crew drew an E8 to switch here. Apparently it didn't fit ! Not sure if really true but heard it from a number of EL guys.

btw - The 1250 series engines were Mikes, not Pacifics, but yes they were the core of steam freight power after 1928 and until the end of steam. Also on the line were the 500 Moguls and the 300 and 700 Consols. The yard (brewery) was the domain of the 0-8-0's including 167 and 177.

I followed this track on Google Earth and it leads through the yard directly to the NYC 0-6-0 that was clobbered a couple of years ago. When that runaway occurred, where did the errant car originate from?

Rick Rowlands
Hubbard, OH
Youngstown Steel Heritage

Yea, I looked on Google Earth and Google Street View and the section of track along that street has to be about a mile long. These are some great photos.