When is the Hillendale Railway Set?

I fancy the architectural styles and color palettes American railroads were using in the 1890s. Eastlake was king and locomotives and passenger cars alike were deep, sophisticated tones like deep green and wine - but gold-leaf trim had not yet been abolished. This amounted to what, in my opinion, were some of the most beautiful locomotives our domestic builders ever produced. Locomotives were big - but not too big.

United Verde & Pacific Railway No. 2 of 1894, wearing a very similar paint scheme to Hillendale Railway No. 10. Wikipedia. Colorized by Randolph Ruiz.

Studying the Catskills' native Ulster & Delaware Railroad - inspiration for the Hillendale Railway in many a way - the ornately detailed "gingerbread" stations from the 1880s were still around - but were just beginning to be replaced with simplified stations with cleaner lines and less clutter. This resulted in variety, which I like.

Finally, the sometime haphazard railroad construction techniques of early "Narrow Gauge Fever" were being supplanted by stone ballast, sophisticated signaling systems, and modern technology. Many narrow-gauge modelers choose narrow gauge because they like the rough and tumble, backwoods, thrown-together character of many narrow gauges - but I like the elegance of sophistication. By the 1890s, the Hillendale Railway would have pulled itself together from its narrow-gauge roots and become a first-rate railroad.

Ulster & Delaware Railroad Haines Falls Station, prototype for the 1901 Hillendale Station.

So that's when most of my models are based. And I like to say that, generally, the Hillendale Railway is set during that time period - around 1895 to 1905.

But in my head, the Hillendale Railway survives in the present day, too, and sometimes I like to pretend it's the modern era, with the Hillendale as one of those wonderful cultural resources known as "heritage railroads." It does tourist business, and provides its community members with a sense of place.

In between these two eras, though, lots of history happened.

Here is a rough fictional chronology of the Hillendale Railway:

1873 - Elected officials in the Town of Hillendale believe their region needs a form of transportation to improve commerce and trade. A committee is formed to investigate the feasibility of a dirigible tramway. The committee comes to the conclusion that a dirigible tramway would be cost prohibitive. They turn their eyes to a railway instead.

1875 - The Hillendale Railway, Land, & Navigation Company is officially chartered and incorporated. The railway will be built to a narrow gauge of 3' between the rails, covering a distance of forty-odd miles between the towns of Hillendale and Summit, NY.

1876 - The Coldbrook Mountain House opens in Coldbrook, NY to much fanfare tied to the nation's centennial. The railway has reached Coldbrook in time to service the resort. The Mountain House will be one of the railway's largest passenger customers for many years to come.

1882 - A Ramsey Car Transfer Apparatus is installed at Hillendale, enabling interchange with the standard-gauge New York, Ontario & Western Railway and points beyond.

1891 - The Yew Corners Creamery opens. Hillendale institutes its Yew Corners - New York City dairy traffic, wherein a standard-gauge milk car is hauled over the Hillendale to interchange with the NYO&W, which delivers it to Weehawken, NJ each day.

1898 - The railway receives three 10-26-D 4-6-0 locomotives from the Baldwin Locomotive Works, charismatic, powerful steeds that will later become icons of the Hillendale Railway. At the time they are among the largest 3-foot-gauge locomotives ever built. They quickly become the image of the modernizing railway.

1900 - The Hillendale Railway is carrying so many passengers that it faces an equipment shortage. However, this is only a problem in the summer. Due to the seasonal nature of the problem, it is decided renting extra cars for the summer is better than buying new cars which will sit unused in the winter. The railway leases three standard-gauge coaches from the Ulster & Delaware Railroad, reequipping them with narrow-gauge trucks. This practice continues until new coaches are purchased in 1910.

1901 - Hillendale contracts with McKim, Mead & White to design a granite outhouse. (Funds for a complete granite station ala Grand Central ran dry.) A new station for Hillendale is designed by Downing Vaux and Marshall L. Emery in the bungalow style.

1912 - The Hillendale Railway sees its peak year of passenger haulage, with 476,000 passengers carried.

1920s - To bring its passenger trains into the modern Art Deco times, the railway overhauls the interiors of its passenger cars, installing electric lighting and painting over the varnished woodwork with a creamy, airy white.

1926 - An overhaul program is begun for the railroad's ten-wheelers, modernizing them with the technology of the time. Sleek, painted black, and with electric lights, the locomotives carry the railway's image into the 1920s.

1930 - With the Great Depression, passenger services are curtailed and free features such as the library car are removed from trains.

1936 - The railway purchases a wrecked IND subway car from New York City, and rebuilds it into a gasoline-powered vehicle. A gas-powered generator in a trailer provides power to the car's electric traction motors. This unique "doodlebug" replaces numerous scheduled trains and toodles around the Hillendale countryside as a more cost-effective alternative to steam power.

1941 - The United States enters World War II. Hillendale No. 12 is requisitioned by the US Army for use in Alaska to aid the war effort.

1945 - The library car, updated with a modern interior, is reinstated on trains.

1946 - Most regular trains are reinstated, and the railway enjoys a temporary return to pre-war passenger numbers.

1950s - The Coldbrook Mountain House has reimagined itself as a hip, mid-century resort. In an effort to capture passenger traffic, the Hillendale Railway commissions the Budd Company to build a state-of-the-art, streamlined stainless steel doodlebug. With a keeled nose and porthole windows calling back to McKeen Motor Cars, the car is an experiment but does not live up to its potential, as railway passenger numbers continue to plummet. The railway begins to market itself as a tourist railroad.

1957 - The New York, Ontario & Western Railway declares bankruptcy and by 1959, all rails are removed, thus severing the Hillendale Railway's connection with the national rail network. The last milk shipment moves in March from Yew Corners through Hillendale to Weehawken - afterwards, Yew Corners Creamery shifts to truck transport.

1960s - The railroad is cut back to Yew Corners, and operates as a tourist railroad.

1971 - The last freight train is run over the line.

1980s - The railway continues to run as a successful tourist hauler, hosting wintertime spectaculars with double-headed locomotives.

1990s - The Hillendale Railway Museum is formed, making use of the railway's former 1923 machine shop.

1994 - Catskill & Tannersville Railway No. 2, a 1901 Baldwin, surfaces in Cuba, and is repatriated to the New York mountains. The locomotive is installed unrestored as a display in the museum.

2011 - The Hillendale Museum is updated and receives Hillendale County's Best Museum Award.

2015 - The railway founds its Ecological Department, working with landowners to preserve crucial habitat along its right-of-way.

2018 - Hillendale No. 9, an 1892 Brooks, is returned to service after a lengthy overhaul. It remains the only operational Brooks-built locomotive in the United States.

2020 - The COVID-19 global pandemic forces the railroad to suspend all operations. During this time, critical work is undertaken to rehabilitate locomotives and cars.

2021 - Limited service returns, with full service restored in 2023.

2024 - Hillendale No. 10, one of the original Baldwins from 1898, returns to service for the first time since the 1980s after a four-year overhaul that backdates it to its original 1898 appearance.

The Present - The Hillendale Railway operates as a living museum and Hillendale County Important Heritage Site, running robust tourist service over its scenic 40-mile mainline. Historic railcars are constantly being returned to operation to support the railroad's mission of providing an accessible, relevant heritage site to the citizens of Hillendale County.

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