Catskill Mountain

Company History: The CMRY was established in 1880 by a pair of resort owners with the goal of creating a better link between their resorts and the outside world. By 1883, they had built a 16 mile 3’ gauge railroad from a lake boat terminal at Catskill Landing to Palenville, New York. This line only got the passengers to the base of South Mountain. The resorts were more than 1,600 feet up the mountain requiring a harrowing carriage ride. It would take the construction of two more 3’ gauge lines, the Cairo Railroad and the Otis Elevating Railway to get passengers up the hill. Another affiliated line, the Catskill & Tannersville would link the network to all of the hotels as far west as Tannersville. In addition to the tourist trade, the CMRY hauled shale and clay from pits on their sister road Cairo Railroad to the brick plant at the town of Catskill and this made up a significant part of their traffic. The brick company traffic peaked around the turn of the century but the company closed in 1913. The Catskill Mountain Railway closed at the end of the 1918 tourist season.

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