Published: September 19, 2009 01:37 am      

CANAL DISCOVERY: Railroads compete with canals throughout N.Y.

Shortly after the opening success of the Erie Canal in 1825, other experiments were taking place to advance transportation around New York state. A system of lateral canals that connected far flung destinations to “Mother Erie” began to crop up all across the state. In addition to later canals, experimentation with lateral railroads also got their start as an early connection to the Erie Canal.

The idea of using railroads to extend the impact of the Erie Canal was actually promoted by the Erie Canal’s own chief engineer, Benjamin Wright. After the completion of the Erie Canal, Wright and his assistant, John Jervis, built New York state’s first railroad, the Mohawk and Hudson. When the railroad was completed in 1831, a steam locomotive dubbed it the DeWitt Clinton, belched smoke and ash all the way from Albany to Schenectady, a whopping distance of 16 miles. Promoters of this fledgling railroad announced that it was not intended to compete with the Erie Canal along that route. Instead, westbound railroad passengers were encouraged to disembark at Schenectady and book passage aboard an Erie Canal packet boat for Syracuse, Rochester or Buffalo. The selling point of the Mohawk and Hudson was the fact that its straight line course between Schenectady and Albany was actually 10 miles shorter than the serpentine route the canal used to follow the Mohawk River. In addition, the railroad made it possible to avoid the delay caused by navigating over a dozen locks on the Erie Canal that separated the two cities. Investors in the railroad were afraid to make an all-out frontal attack on the well-loved Erie Canal and chose instead to promote that the railroad would simply provide a lateral or supplemental connection to the canal.

The success of the Mohawk and Hudson spurred investors to complete New York’s second railroad, which connected Schenectady and Saratoga Springs. This rail line left the comfort of the Erie Canal route and extended the influence of the canal further northward. New York’s third railroad, completed in 1836, connected the cities of Schenectady and Utica. This railroad chose the same route as the Erie Canal but was constructed along the opposite side of the Mohawk River from the canal which paralleled its 78-mile route.

The increasing influence of the railroads as competition for the Erie Canal became apparent to the New York state Legislature and in an attempt to protect the success of their cash cow, the Erie Canal; lawmakers passed legislation that prevented the railroads from carrying freight. Yielding to continuing pressure from the railroads, the Legislature amended its decision in 1844 and allowed railroads to carry freight, but only during the winter when the Erie Canal was closed. However, the state government never met a toll they didn’t like and began to charge the Utica and Schenectady the same toll that the state would have received if the freight would have been carried on the Erie Canal.

The next railroad line, built in 1839, was the Syracuse and Utica, which continued the westward expansion of the railroads. Like most of its predecessors, this line followed the course of the Erie Canal. The Syracuse and Utica was not subject to the freight tariffs imposed on previous rail lines. By 1843, the entire distance from Albany to Buffalo had been spanned with the completion of the Buffalo and Attica railroad. The railroads’ competition with the Erie Canal was now clear for all to see.

The next step in the railroads domination of travel occurred when several smaller lines merged to form a more powerful single entity. The first single carrier to connect the Hudson River area to the Great Lakes basin was the New York and Erie Railroad which was completed in 1851. A short two years later, the behemoth New York Central Railroad was formed.

Even though the railroads tried to eliminate their Erie Canal competition, the canal actually had its best tonnage years ever during the height of the railroad expansion. However, the same case can not be made for Erie Canal passenger traffic. The faster more comfortable railroads eventually eliminated packet boat travel by the mid-19th century.

While the Erie Canal continued to thrive, the success of the lateral canals that connected to the Erie was a completely different story. Railroad construction came with a much lower price tag than canal construction using the same route. Nearly all of the proposed lateral canals across the state suffered and soon became obsolete. Perhaps in a final act of humiliation, the railroads succeeded in acquiring the rights-of-way for many canals and proceeded to fill them in with dirt and lay tracks through the canals or their towpaths.

Doug Farley is director of the Erie Canal Discovery Center. Contact him at 434-7433. The Erie Canal Discovery Center is open every day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.