Batten Kill Railroad

The Batten Kill Railroad (BKRR) has been in operation for over 20 years now. They began life back in 1981 on a pair of abandoned D&H branch lines.

The Greenwich & Johnsonville Railway (GJ) was incorporated in the early part of the 20th Century, and later became a subsidiary of the Delaware & Hudson Railway. Long after it's original namesake route was abandoned, the newer 17-miles' main purpose was to serve the large Georgia-Pacific paper mill in Thomson, NY - a small community along the Hudson River. It connected to the Delaware & Hudson's Washington Branch at Greenwich Junction, a locale about two miles south of Salem, NY. When the G-P mill closed in the early 1980's, the D&H prepared the G&J for abandonment, as well as the adjoining Washington Branch.

The Washington Branch ran from Eagle Bridge, NY to Castleton, VT - more than 60 miles. It passed through the towns of Cambridge, Shushan, Salem, West Pawlet, Granville, Middle Granville, and Poultney along the way. The Slatepicker, as I understand it, was the main freight. By this time, I'm unsure just how often the D&H serviced the line south of Greenwich Junction, since the jobs were based out of Whitehall, NY. The Mettawee Valley to the north is rich in slate deposits, thus the creative name for this manifest. Again, I'm unsure just how much slate was moved by rail prior to the abandonment north of Salem, NY. Other customers included: Telescope Furniture, Norton Plastics, and Agway.

In October of 1982, Ron Crowd showed an interest in the line. His company, Mohawk Transportation Incorporated, bought the line for less than $1 million. By 1985, the line north of Salem (Route 22 downtown, specifically) had been completely abandoned. Today the grade remains mostly intact, as it was planned for a bike trail in the state of Vermont. Lots of ppposition from local landowners has been the biggest hinderence for this project, as long as I can remember.

My earliest memories of the BKRR aren't captured on film - rather, in memory. A shocked youngster in the company of my father went to ride the Batten Kill Limited tourist train out of Greenwich, NY in the mid-1980's. The vision of a beaten, tired RS3 in Vermont Railway paint was what I most recall. That unit would later be scrapped, since it was primarily a parts source for the BKRR's pair of operable Alco RS3's.

When I moved into the area (Granville, NY) back in 1992, my brother and I were actively involved in sports. One particular day (c.1994), my younger sibling had a little league game in nearby Schuylerville. My curiousity got the best of me, so with a Jimapco foldout roadmap in hand, I took a walk...a long, long walk. That walk took me from the ballpark in Schuylerville, all the way to Middle Falls on NY Route 29. That was the day I would meet Bill Tabor and the Batten Kill boys, who invited this adventureous youth into their cab. I don't at all remember how my father found me that day, but I know he was worried senseless. About a year later, I got mt first cab ride on BKRR #4116 from Greenwich to Eagle Bridge.

As you might have read in my "About Me" section, I started shooting slides in 1997, which in turn began a serious interest in photography. The Vermont Railway and Batten Kill were such close targets, so I focused on them until my departure from the area in 1999, and have been back only 3 times since (unfortunately). This outfit has hit some hard times, and I wish them the best in the future. Check out the pictures section for more insight into my BKRR adventures.