Passenger Trains > Some good news from Albany, NY

Planned replacement of Livingston Ave, Bridge (LAB), where I had worked in the late 1990s.
Governor Hochul Announces Launch of Transformative Livingston Avenue Bridge Replacement Project in Albany and Rensselaer | Governor Kathy Hochul
Not sure what the $32.8 billion capital plan is that the announcement refers to.
Andy

As a traveler who has crossed over this bridge on trains many times plus seen it more without traveling by train as a kid, I must say that it's been time for it to be replaced. It doesn't surprise me that it's one of the causes for Amtrak delays north and west of ALB. Plus the trains move very slowly across it. Hopefully when the brand new bridge is ready for operation, some travel time could be reduced off the schedule. The approach curve on the east side of the bridge is extremely sharp. As for recreational opportunities, the biking and pedestrian paths sound great along the bridge.

Spent the last 18 years of my career with a view of that bridge out the window. Good to see it go. 

Passfanatic Wrote:
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> As a traveler who has crossed over this bridge on
> trains many times plus seen it more without
> traveling by train as a kid, I must say that it's
> been time for it to be replaced. It doesn't
> surprise me that it's one of the causes for Amtrak
> delays north and west of ALB. Plus the trains move
> very slowly across it. Hopefully when the brand
> new bridge is ready for operation, some travel
> time could be reduced off the schedule. The
> approach curve on the east side of the bridge is
> extremely sharp. As for recreational
> opportunities, the biking and pedestrian paths
> sound great along the bridge.

The only way a time saving of any consequence will occur is -if- that curve is also softened considerably, and I have no idea what extent of real estate that would require. It's so close to the Rensselaer station that it's not as if trains would cross the Hudson at 90 mph on a better bridge.

Passfanatic Wrote:
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> It doesn't surprise me that it's one of the causes for Amtrak
> delays north and west of ALB

Just how is this bridge causing delays??

restricted_speed Wrote:
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> Passfanatic Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > It doesn't surprise me that it's one of the
> causes for Amtrak
> > delays north and west of ALB
>
> Just how is this bridge causing delays??

It all to often gets stuck. 

I'm definately not expecting 90 mph across the new bridge-nowhere close to that. I wouldn't mind seeing maybe somewhere in the 40s at least, as long as if its done safely.

Given the turn between the station and the bridge, I would not expect anything over 20MPH. 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/15/22 08:21 by joemvcnj.

I used to hang out at the western end of the bridge in the 1990's, when i had time to kill in albany.  I had no idea it was so old.

Question....Where was the orig NYC station for Albany?    Torn down to put in a highwsy or something?  To bad they couldnt find a way to use the onld D&H station downtown Albany.  Its gorgeous..its a bank or something now.

All things considered, I'd say the "improvements" to the city of Albany over the last 60 years, have been nothing but a hogepoge of political payoff construction jobs, with no overall planning whatsoever.

Isn't the original New York Central + Delaware & Hudson station now part of the arena downtown?  Next to the lovely former D&H office building?

The D&H building in downtown Albany was always an office building. It was never a station, or even part of a station. It now serves as the headquarters of the state university system. 

Albany Union Station still stands, a half block north of the D&H building, also converted to offices. The back of the station where the trains were, is now occupied by two,parking structures. Tracks have been relocated into a concrete canyon in the middle of I-787. 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/15/22 16:42 by march_hare.

march_hare Wrote:
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> The D&H building in downtown Albany was always an
> office building. It was never a station, or even
> part of a station. It now serves as the
> headquarters of the state university system. 
>
> Albany Union Station still stands, a half block
> north of the D&H building, also converted to
> offices. The back of the station where the trains
> were, is now occupied by two,parking structures.
> Tracks have been relocated into a concrete canyon
> in the middle of I-787. 

I was living in Albany when Union Station was being converted to another use.  In 1986, after the renovation was completed, Norstar bankcorp relocated its headquarters into the Union Station which was renamed  Norstar Plaza.  The station's floor was raised 12 feet to make room for data-processors.  After the Nortstar president passed away and Norstar went through some corporate changes, the building was subsequently renamed Peter D. Kiernan Plaza after the former Nortstar president.  the bank went through some further changes and was purchased by Bank of America.  

In 2013, the building was acquired by the College of Nanoscale Science & Engineering which opened its Smart Cities Technology Innovation Center in Union Station.  The building is also headquarters for the State Employees Federal Credit Union,

 

Sooooooooo...just trying to save myself the time of going thru historical aerials, if there are any....

If u came into the old Albany Union Station from the north/west, and were heading to NYC, or BOS...was it a backup manuever to the NYC main north of the station, or were they able to go south to Castleton Bridge to cross the river?

Getting to the Castleton bridge from Albany Union station would be very roundabout. Castleton was freight only as far as I know.

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pdt Wrote:
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> Sooooooooo...just trying to save myself the time
> of going thru historical aerials, if there are
> any....
>
> If u came into the old Albany Union Station from
> the north/west, and were heading to NYC, or
> BOS...was it a backup manuever to the NYC main
> north of the station, or were they able to go
> south to Castleton Bridge to cross the river?

There were two railroad bridges crossing the Hudson River.  The Livingston Avenue Bridge, the subject of this thread, is located towards the north.  Through trains which did not need to stop at Union Station used this bridge. 

The other bridge was the Maiden Lane Bridge located south of the station.  Trains operating on the rail line along the Hudson River between Albany and New York City used this bridge to get to and from Union Station.  I believe this bridge also provided access to the tracks connecting to the Boston & Albany line.  When Penn Central moved out of Albany Union Station to a new facility across the river in Rensselaer, this bridge was no longer needed.  Here's a link to more information about the Maiden Lane Bridge: Wikipedia article on the Maiden Lane Bridge

A minor point, but worth noting:

Passenger trains did not typically cross the Hudson on the Castleton bridge. But for several years, one passenger train did use a small portion of the bridge When Amtrak restored the Lake Shore Limited in the mid 70s, the relocation of the Albany station to Rensselaer has already taken place.

The “Post Road Connection “ had been abandoned and torn up. So for the Boston section of the train to get from Rensselaer to the B&A mainline, the train had to go down the Hudson a few miles, pass under the Castleton bridge to Stuyvesant, then back up the remaining connecting track , and then back out onto the Castleton bridge, just far enough to clear the interlocking. Then it could proceed east. 

This  roundabout move was conducted daily for several years before the Post Road connector was reestablished.