History

Tracing the Proud History of the Ulster & Delaware Railroad

When a scenic train ride was established in Arkville, NY in 1986, the excursion was dubbed the Delaware & Ulster. The name was a nod to the historic Ulster & Delaware Railroad that had rolled along the same tracks for more than a century.

The path of the Ulster & Delaware wound trains from Kingston Point on the Hudson River, through the Catskill Region and ultimately to Oneonta in the Susquehanna Valley.

The U&D was originally chartered as the Rondout & Oswego and was reorganized three years later as the New York, Kingston and Syracuse. The line became the Ulster & Delaware in 1875 and track to Oneonta was completed in 1900.

The region also featured the Stony Clove and Catskill Mountain Railroad. Originally a narrow-gauge railroad, the line extended from Phoenicia through Stony Clove Notch to Hunter. The Kaaterskill Railroad, a connecting narrow-gauge extension, began near Hunter-Tannersville and rolled to Mountain Top area destinations in Haines Falls, Kaaterskill Falls and the illustrious Catskill Mountain House.