The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Ithaca branch was a 34 mile long branch between Ithaca and Owego, NY, which it connected to the DL&W’s main line.
History
The Ithaca and Owego Railroad was incorporated January 28, 1828 and built about 29 miles of railroad extending from Ithaca to Owego, NY in 1833-1834.
On June 6, 1843, the railroad was purchased by the Cayuga and Susquehanna Railroad, which had been incorporated April 18, 1843 for the purpose of acquiring the Ithaca and Owego. The Cayuga and Susquehanna Railroad added five miles of trackage and relocated 10 miles of track between Caroline and Ithaca in 1849-1850.
Between 1843 and the early 1850s the railroad used an inclined plane to haul cars over the hill near Ithaca. This system consisted of attaching one or two cars to a cable which pulled the them to the top of the hill. A separate plane slowly lowered the cars on the other side of the hill. The system used the weight of cars going down to pull other cars up. A group of horses were attached to a winch at the top of the hill to pull the cars if there weren’t enough descending cars to counterbalance those coming up.
In the late 1840s the Cayuga and Susquehanna relocated the line to Ithaca. The new route was longer, but eliminated the need for the inclined plane. The “A History of Railroads in Tompkins County” book has much more information about this.
The Cayuga and Susquehanna was leased to the Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad in perpetuity from January 1, 1855. The DL&W operated the line until service was discontinued in 1957. The bridge over Susquehanna River in Owego was removed in 1959. The last locomotive on the line was DLW #409, Alco #69257 600 HP switcher which became Erie-Lackawanna #325.
Between 1834 and 1855 the line was standard gauge (4 feet 8 1/2 inches between the rails). After talking over the line, the DL&W widened it to a broad gauge (6 feet). In 1878 the DL&W converted the entire system to standard-gauge.
Timetable
1834: The Ithaca and Owego completed construction of the line between the two towns.
1843: The Cayuga and Susquehanna Railroad purchased the Ithaca and Owego.
1855: The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad leased the Cayuga and Susquehanna.
1942: Passenger service was discontinued on March 29, 1942.
1956: Abandonment of the line was authorized on October 25, 1956. Service was discontinued from Ithaca to Candor on December 4, 1956.
1957: Service was discontinued between Candor to Oswego on May 25, 1957.
Stations
Ithaca * Lower Switch * Upper Switch * Conover * Summit * Caroline * Wilseyville * Candor * Catatonk * Owego
Detailed information
| Station | Mile |
| Ithaca Lower Switch Upper Switch Conover Summit Caroline Wilseyville Candor Catatonk Owego | 0 4.51 5.62 5.82 9.73 12.24 18.06 23.37 28.70 34.03 |
Clippings
Timetables
Learn More
- Wikipedia. “Wikipedia:WikiProject Trains/ICC valuations/Cayuga and Susquehanna Railroad“
- Hardy C. Lee (revised and expanded by Winton G. Rossiter and John Marcham). “A History of Railroads in Tompkins County“
A special thanks goes to Richard Palmer who provided information that went into the creation of this page.