Hojack Line
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| Locale | New York |
|---|---|
| Dates of operation | 1842–1891 |
| Successor | New York Central Railroad |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Website | rworr.net |
The Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg Railroad, commonly known as The Hojack Line, operated along the south shore of Lake Ontario, from Niagara Falls, New York to Oswego, New York.
The Rome, Watertown & Ogdensburg Railroad (RW&O) began in 1842 as the Watertown & Rome Railroad (W&R) to link Watertown with Rome, New York on the Syracuse & Utica Railroad, later consolidated as part of the New York Central Railroad (NYC). The Potsdam & Watertown Railroad was formed at this time to link Watertown with Potsdam, New York in St. Lawrence County near Massena. In 1861 these two railroads merged as the RW&O.
A branch line from DeKalb Junction (near Canton, New York) to Ogdensburg was later built. In 1864 the RW&O constructed a line from Pulaski to Oswego and merged with the Syracuse & Northern Railroad. In 1858 the Lake Ontario Shore Railroad (LOS) was chartered from Oswego to Suspension Bridge, New York (now Niagara Falls, New York). RW&O merged LOS in 1875; by that time it was bankrupt.
The RW&O was nicknamed "Rotten Wood & Old Rusty Rails" due to its crumbling infrastructure. By 1878 the RW&O had been merged into the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad (DL&W). DL&W built the Ontario Secondary in 1882 (Beebee line) from Charlotte, New York (where the Genesee River flows into Lake Ontario) to Rochester, New York. By 1891 RW&O became a subsidiary of NYC. On April 12, 1913 the RW&O was formally merged into the NYC.
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Wikipedia