Unadilla Valley Railroad

Originally the New York, Ontario and Western Railroad operated a branch line that ran from New Berlin Junction to Edmeston via New Berlin.  The Unadilla Valley Railroad operated from New Berlin to Bridgewater where it interchanged with the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western.  After the O&W lost interest in this line, the UV took control sometimes operating as far south as Sidney.  Space limitations kept the UV off of my planned layout but display models were built.

These hills were built to appear like those adjacent to the East Branch of the Delaware River.  The last glacier barely reached that far south so those hills have steep sides running right down to the water's edge.  The UV operated in the valley of the Unadilla River where the glacier extensively scraped the ridges and filled the newly formed valleys leaving wide level farmland.  Since I did not model the Unadilla River the pictured train is not shown at home.

The early UV had four passenger cars and these plastic models were altered to closely resemble prototype rolling stock.  Locals use the bare ground under the bridge as a beach but no one is swimming or sunning there today.

This engine was modified to closely resemble the prototype.  Both the dome mounted whistle and the brass bell were not part of the original model.  The fancy valve gear was added simply because I like to watch the motion when the engine is running.  This railroad operated directly across the river from my home.  I have walked along the old roadbed and pieces of coal have come home with me.


Decades ago a company by the name of Ambroid found a way to manufacture glue from old movie film.  To help sell their glue they created a line of wooden train car kits some of which were limited to a production run of 5,000 units.  I have way more than a fair share of these kits.  Each kit contained a tube of their glue.  This caboose is built from one of their kits.  The actual UV caboose was a hand me down from the O & W and I later discovered its actual dimensions.  The O & W caboose was shorter and with a different window arrangement than my model but how many people would actually know that?  The orange clad person sitting on a rock high above the tracks represents daughter Amy.  When I was much younger, we spent many happy hours hiking.  That model is not accurate since she would never be seen wearing an orange jumpsuit.

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