O and W: The Long Life and Slow Death of the New York, Ontario & Western Railway - Hardcover

Helmer, William F.

3.78

9 ratings by Goodreads

9780831070120: O and W: The Long Life and Slow Death of the New York, Ontario & Western Railway

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0831070129 ISBN 13: 9780831070120

Publisher: Howell-North Pubs, 1959

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The Ontario & Western—the O&W, or, as both boosters and detractors referred to it in its later years, the "Old & Weary," operated from 1869-1957 and ran from Oswego on Lake Ontario to New York City, passing through the midlands and southern counties of New York State, with spurs to Utica, Kingston, Port Jervis, and Scranton, PA. Filled with colorful characters and miscellaneous machinery, O. & W. chronicles almost a century of alternating hope and heartache, prosperity and poverty, dignity and degradation. Her passing was mourned for a variety of economic and sentimental reasons, but the loss was deeply felt in an intangible way. The rambling, elderly, inefficient, accident-prone, irritating old railroad was a part of a way of life now gone from the American scene.

140 photographs, maps, illustrations, ephemera, and rosters

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About the Author:

William F. Helmer is also the author of Rip Van Winkle Railroads (Black Dome Press: 1999). His railroad scholarship is backed by practical experience. For two years, he was vice-president of the Canastota & Cazenovia Railroad, which Mr. Helmer described as "an unsuccessful but spirited attempt to acquire and operate a lopped-off branch of the Lehigh Valley." He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, and was a professor of English and dean of liberal arts for many years at the State University Agricultural & Technical College at Morrisville, New York.

Review:

Considered a classic in the field of railroad lore. -- Times Herald Record, June 2000

It is a pleasure to see a splendid book back in print and at a bargain price. -- Railroad History, No. 184

Professor Helmer's work is deserving of the widest possible circulation, for he has written not of the O&W alone... -- Trains Magazine

Professor Helmer's work is deserving of the widest possible circulation. -- Trains Magazine

Rairoad buffs, for example, and those fascinated by the history of New York State, will find extended pleasure. --New York Times, December 4, 1970

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