Reporting mark CNYK Length 123.1 miles (198.1 km) Founded 1972 | Dates of operation 1972–1988
2004– Headquarters Cooperstown | |
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Locale West Branch Delaware River Track gauge 4 ft 8 ⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge Parent organization Delaware Otsego Corporation | ||
The Central New York Railroad (reporting mark CNYK) is a shortline railroad operating local freight service along the ex-Erie Railroad Southern Tier Line in the U.S. states of New York and Pennsylvania. The line begins at Port Jervis, following the West Branch Delaware River to Deposit and the Susquehanna River from Lanesboro, where it crosses the Starrucca Viaduct, to Binghamton. It is a subsidiary of the Delaware Otsego Corporation, which also owns the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway, operator of through trains over the line (along with the Norfolk Southern Railway, lessor).
History
The CNYK began operations on December 12, 1972 between Cassville and Richfield Springs, New York, having purchased the trackage from the Erie Lackawanna Railway (EL). The 21.7-mile (34.9 km) line was opened by the Utica, Chenango and Susquehanna Valley Railway in November 1872 as a branch, and passed to the EL through consolidation. (EL successor Conrail sold the old Utica, Chenango and Susquehanna Valley main line through Cassville to the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway in 1982.) The CNYK suspended service in early 1988 and was authorized to abandon the line in August 1995, at which time the corporation became inactive.
Delaware Otsego brought the CNYK back to life on December 31, 2004, when it leased the Binghamton-Port Jervis section of the Southern Tier Line from the Norfolk Southern Railway. The line had been opened by the New York and Erie Railroad in December 1848, and passed through the Erie Lackawanna and Conrail to Norfolk Southern. When the CNYK leased the line, the Norfolk Southern retained overhead trackage rights to serve through freight traffic. Since the Delaware Otsego also had overhead trackage rights through the Susquehanna, the CNYK only operates local freight trains, interchanging with the Norfolk Southern and Susquehanna at Binghamton.