World Famous 20th Century Limited all-private-room overnighter be­tween New York and Chicago . . . flagship of New York Central's great fleet.

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T H E Y ' R E ALL F R E E D O M T R A I N S

THIS Y E A R , New York's own Freedom Train is touring the Empire State. With­in its blue and gold cars are the historic documents on which rest our everyday liberties. But in another sense, any train that travels the rails of America can be called a freedom train. From the little D E W I T T

C L I N T O N of 1831, down to the stream­lined 20TH C E N T U R Y L I M I T E D , each has helped give Americans unequaled free­dom of movement. The nation itself grew up along the lines laid by pioneer railroaders. Today, America depends on its railroads for more passenger mileage, twice as much freight movement and nine times as much mail service between cities as all other carriers put together!

In that story, New York State has played a vital part. Our earliest rails pushed through the Mohawk Valley . . . the low level, water level path between East and West. And over those rails poured the tide of settlers to build the mighty em­pire of the Middle West. Today, the same Mohawk Valley forms the key rail link in the Water Level Route joining that midwestern empire with the Atlantic Coast. And in two World Wars, when foreign enemies threatened Amer­ican freedom, these strategic tracks car­ried armies of men and mountains of supplies for defense. Yes, in war and peace, the railroads of New York State have earned the right to be called " O U R S T E E L P A T H W A Y S O F

F R E E D O M . "

The American locomotive is born! In 1831, engines followed English models with four wheels, all drivers. But John B. Jervis, the Mohawk & Hudson's great engineer, tried putting a light, swivel truck under the front to guide an engine around curves. His new engine, " T H E E X P E R I M E N T , "

actually ran 70 miles an hour! It set the style for American locomotives. And it led a parade of progress that New York Central has kept up for over 100 years.

Cars changed—hut so did passengers! By 1840, Yankee ingenuity had changed the stage­coach-like cars into long eight-wheelers that rounded curves easily. But passengers still changed cars too often. Travel from Albany to Buffalo meant changing cars between many little railroads. However, these roads formed a natural chain. First they tried through trains. Then, in 1853, the 12 little roads became one big one . . . the New York Central.

How Central's "Depots" used to look In the early days, people called stations "depots." The New York Central "depot" at Rochester was espe­cially fine in its day. For Central was a proud giant of a railroad. It was nearly 300 miles long. It had 154 woodburning locomotives. And its capital was thought huge—$23,000,000! Most important of all, its tracks ran through the Mohawk Valley—still the key link in the famous Water Level Route.

A horse car line with a big future Meantime, a horse car line from New York to Harlem began extending its tracks through Westchester County toward Albany. In 1847, the Hudson River R. R. too, started toward Albany. Eventually, under that great railroader, Commodore Vanderbilt, the two made a perfect route . . . at water level along the east shore of the Hudson, then down the Harlem tracks to the heart of New York City.

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The Hudson River Railroad's most historic train The magazine woodcut of 1865 shows the historic funeral train that took President Lincoln's body home. Leaving New York on the Hudson River R. R., the train went on west over New York Central tracks. The two roads were still separate. But in 1866, Com­modore Vanderbilt connected them with a bridge at Albany . . . clearing the way for one great railroad between the Great Lakes and New York Harbor.

G . W . F E A T H E R S T O N H A U G H ,

of Duanesburg, the scholarly squire who was the first to dream of and work for a rail­road in New York State.

E R A S T U S C O R N I N G

Albany iron master who built the Utica & Sche­nectady Railroad and became New York Cen­tral's first president.

C O M M O D O R E V A N D E R B I L T

who entered railroading at 63, and welded to­gether the great rail network that is now the New York Central.

W I L L I A M H . V A N D E R B I L T

who shared in the Com­modore's work, and car­ried it forward to create one of the world's great­est railroads.

The first Grand Central In 1867, the owners of New York Central invited Commodore Vanderbilt to head their line. Thus, three pioneer railroads of New York State . . . the New York Central, the Hudson River and the New York and Harlem . . . came under one management. And, as if to mark the event, the Commodore and his son, William H. Vanderbilt, began building the biggest terminal ever seen . . . the first Grand Central Depot, with a vast iron and glass roof over its 12 tracks.

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1. Mohawk and Hudson R.R. 1826-1831 2. Utica and Schenectady R.R. 1833-1836 3. Syracuse and Utica 1836-1839 4. Auburn and Syracuse R.R. 1834-1838 5. Auburn and Rochester R.R. 1836-1841 6. Tonawanda Railroad 1832-1837 7. Attica and Buffalo R.R. 1836-1842 8. Buffalo and Rochester R.R. 1850

(Consolidation of Tonawanda and Attica and Buffalo)

9. Rochester, Lockport and Niagara Falls R.R. 1834-1838 Buffalo and Lockport R.R.—Buffalo and Niagara Falls.1 852-1 853

Key to Map of Railroads Now Comprising New York Central—Showing Dates of Charter Grants and First Operations

16

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11. Schenectady and Troy R.R. 1836-1842 12. Rochester and Syracuse 1850-1853

(Consolidated with Auburn and Roch­ester and Auburn and Syracuse)

Addit ional After 1853 13. Canandaigua and Niagara Falls

1851-1853 (Acquired 1858) 14. Hudson River Railroad « rn47-1 84V

(Consolidated 1869 with first New York Central, forming New York Central and Hudson River RR)

15. New York and Harlem Railroad 1831-1832 (Leased to NYC 1873)

Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg 1875 A consolidation of several lines of North­ern New York dating back to the Water-town and Rome 1832-1852.

17. West Shore Railroad 1885 A development of several pioneer lines.

18. Mohawk and Molone Railway 1892 (Present Adirondack Div.)

19. Bu f fa lo a n d S t a t e L i n e 1849 -1852 20. Dunkirk, Alleghany Valley and

Pittsburgh group 1867 21. Albany and West Stockbridge

Railroad 1836-1841 (Main line of the Boston and Albany)

22. Hudson and Berkshire Railroad 1832-1838 (Boston and Albany)

23. Corning and Blossburg Railroad 1833 (First named Tioga Co.) became Syracuse, Geneva and Corning 1875.

24. Ulster and Delaware Railroad 1902 (Acquired by NYC 1932) First predecessors operated in 1875.

25. Walkill Valley Railroad 1866-1872 (Acquired by NYC 1899)

26. Little Falls and Dolgeville 1891-1893 (Acquired 1906)

27. New York City and Northern R.R. 1869

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'999Vspeed record stood for many years After the Commodore's death, his son carried on the work. When he died, in 1885, New York Central had reached its westward goals of Chicago and St. Louis. From then on, progress was mainly in finer service. Trains such as the E M P I R E S T A T E E X P R E S S of 1893, which set a world's record of 112% miles an hour behind Engine 999 . . . and the first 20TH C E N ­

T U R Y L I M I T E D of 1902, a new high in travel comfort.

Mile-a-minute merchandise Between dusk and dawn, this freight Dieseliner races between New York and Buffalo. Its red and gray P A C E M A K E R cars have special trucks, rubber-cushioned couplers, alloy springs . . . all designed for easy rid­ing at mile-a-minute speeds that clip a business day from regular freight schedules. It's the queen of Central's 750-train freight fleet that moves more than 200,000,000 tons of goods a year.

Grand Central Terminal today At the heart of New York . . . amid great hotels and office skyscrapers . . . stands Grand Central Terminal. Begun 40 years ago, it remains one of the world's most perfectly planned terminals. At busiest hours, a train enters or leaves its underground tracks every 45 seconds. Through it flow 60,000,000 passengers a year. A fitting gateway for today's vast 11,000-mile New York Central System.

The streamlined Empire State Express This stainless steel streamliner upholds a name Central has made famous for half a century. Beside parlor cars, it carries air-conditioned coaches with lean-back seats and sightseeing windows. The smart diner and observation car are open to coach passen­gers, too. It's a long, long way from the little D E W I T T

C L I N T O N and those stagecoach cars that started New York railroading 118 years ago!

New Yo rk ' s f irst r a i l r o a d p ic ture was done with scissors!

AMONG the passengers on the first trip of the first train in New York State was a famous artist, William H. Brown. With scissors and black paper, he cut out this historic picture of the little engine D E W I T T

C L I N T O N and its cars just as he saw them on that August day in 1831. Citizens of New York State can be proud that their

forefathers were among the earliest Amer­ican railroad builders. Inside this leaflet, you'll find the picture story of how New York's first rail line... the 17-mile Mohawk & Hudson between Albany and Schenectady . . . grew from a little bridge line connecting two rivers into one of the world's greatest railroads, the N E W Y O R K C E N T R A L S Y S T E M .

N E W Y O R K C E N T R A L S Y S T E M T O D A Y

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560 RAILROADS UNITED to form this 11,000-mile rail network . . . with its "steel path­ways of freedom" serving eleven states

YORK CENTRAL

and two Canadian provinces . . . and pro­viding fast connections throughout North America.

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