New York, Ontario and Western Railway

New York, Ontario and Western Railway

New York, Ontario and Western Railway 104, a General Electric 44-ton switcher preserved at the Southeastern Railway Museum, Duluth, Georgia
Reporting mark	NYOW
Locale	North Jersey, Upstate New York and Northeastern Pennsylvania
Dates of operation	1884–1957
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Length	541 mi (871 km)
Headquarters	New York City, New York

The New York, Ontario and Western Railway, more commonly known as the O&W or NYO&W, was a regional railroad with origins in 1868, lasting until March 29, 1957 when it was ordered liquidated by a US bankruptcy judge. The O&W holds the distinction of being the first notable U.S. railroad to be abandoned in its entirety.

The railroad began life as the New York and Oswego Midland Railroad, organized by Dewitt C. Littlejohn in 1868. Its mainline extended from Weehawken, New Jersey in the greater New York City area to Oswego, New York, a port city on Lake Ontario. It had branch lines to Scranton, Pennsylvania; Kingston, New York; Port Jervis, New York; Monticello, New York; Delhi, New York; Utica, New York and Rome, New York. The part south of Cornwall, New York was operated over the New York Central Railroad's West Shore Railroad via trackage rights.

On September 3, 1869 the New York and Oswego Midland Railroad began using the Pennsylvania Railroad's station at Exchange Place which provided its passengers with ferry access to the Cortland Street Ferry Depot in lower Manhattan and the Desbrosses Street Ferry.