All aboard for train station history exhibit
An exhibit about O&W Railway train stations in Ulster County opens May 6 at the Hurley Heritage Society museum.
The exhibit, called “The O&W Railway in Ulster County: Stations Along the Way,” will continue from 1 to 4 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday through October at the museum, 52 Main St., Hurley.
Museum curators will be on hand at the May 6 opening to answer questions, and light refreshments will be served.
The exhibit will feature vintage photos of the stations, gathered from the O&W archives in Middletown and many other sources, and visitors can learn about the kinds of commerce that drew people and goods to the stations.
The O&W — officially the New
York, Ontario and Western Railway — built a branch line from the main line at
Summitville to Ellenville in 1871. Three decades later, in 1902, the branch line was extended to Kingston, giving interior Ulster County access to Pennsylvania coal fields as well as markets in New York City.
Seven of the 11 Ulster County stations on the branch line still stand today. Three are private residences, one is a business office, one is for sale, and the other two are vacant.
One of the existing stations is represented in the new exhibit as a handcrafted
scale model.
It’s been 60 years since the last time a train ran on the O&W line between Ellenville and Kingston. Some of that old railbed now is a landscaped rail trail, popular with walkers and bicyclists, that runs along the east side of U.S. Route 209.