Customer Reviews

The New York, Susquehanna & Western Railroad

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This is the most comprehensive and interesting history of this railroad that has been written. The author has taken special pains to insure it's accuracy. It is detailed but not boring. The selection of photos is great. The history of this railroad is very interesting and Robert Mohowski has made it come to life with his research and the production of this book.

Bob Mohowski has done an excellent job of taking the reader from conception through to the present (2003). Filled with captivating facts and photos. I looked forward to each of the 14 chapters as separate kernels filled with another adventure in NE Railroad history. I could not put this book down.

I do have one regret ...... I didn't buy it six years earlier.

If your an NYS&W fan or have a love for NJ & PA railroads in general, you will not be disappointed!

SAM C.

I bought this for my dad because we always wondered what those abandoned-looking tracks were used for in Wyckoff, NJ. Several years before I was born the NYS&W terminated all passenger service on this line and freight was relegated to the very early morning. The NYS&W is one of the oldest, continuously operating railroads in the United States. It's notable for once being owned by the Erie but not disappearing into Conrail. Today, hauling local garbage and occasional freight and having lost intermodal business to the ex-Conrail parts of CSX and Norfolk Southern, this regional shortline railroad lurches into a future that's not quite certain.

This book covers the deep history and innovations of the railroad. Its state-of-the-art passenger service tried to provide affordable commuter service on modern trains only to give up due to confiscatory local taxes and a severely backward federal government administration. The selling of the ultra-modern commuter trains overseas and replacement with 40-year-old antiques was especially disappointing, but not as much as the complete abandonment of passenger service.

After a recent short-lived passenger service in Syracuse, NY, the NYS&W has been forced to give up all passenger service again. Now that railroads are in vogue again this oldest railroad may soon find new passenger business with New Jersey Transit.

This book provides the fascinating background of a railroad that even the locals know preciously little about.