NEB&W Guide to Troy, NY - Union Depot

Last Update: 2009-11-11

Troy Depot Table of Contents
Troy Table of Contents
Layout Photo Gallery Table of Contents

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• Aerial view.
  • [Photo courtesy RCHS.]

• A view down Fulton Street c. 1870's and another c. '55 shows that for what we call the Downtown Century, when for about 100 years, there was little change in the downtown area. (Yet a mere decade later, 1965, sweeping changes would have eliminated the railroad and all its facilities, the beginning of the urban renewal movement which so destroyed the vitality of most cities.)
  • [C. 1870's. Photo from the Jim Shaughnessy collection.]
  • [C. 1955. Photo by Jim Shaughnessy.]
  • [Our model of this scene c. 1950. (B&M diesels from Stewart's kits, built by Corey Lynch.)]

• Between 6th and Union on the north side of Fulton.
  • [Gerrit Bruins photo c. 1950's, looking over the passenger cars. Note the exposed roof trusses in the background.]

Earlier Depots

• The station we modeled was the fourth in Troy and third on that location. The first depot was located on River Street.
  • [Engraving of the Troy House (before the railroad), courtesy Rensselaer County Historical Society.]
  • [Engraving of the early horse-drawn trains.]
  • [Another engraving.]
  • [Troy House on River Street (just south of the current city hall.]

• The second depot was built in 1851, although steam locos didn't enter Troy until Feb. of 1854. It lasted just over a decade, burning to the ground in the Great Fire of 1862.
  • [Second depot and first on the 6th Avenue location.]
  • [Second depot after the great fire of 1862.]
  • [Another photo after the great fire of 1862. Photo courtesy Rensselaer County Historical Society.]
  • [View of the fire damage from the hill.]

• The third depot was built after the fire in 1862 and was torn down in 1900 to make way for the fourth depot.
  • [Engraving of the third depot.]
  • [Third depot street side.]
  • [Similar angle, further north, probably taken from an upper story of the Gurley building. Photo courtesy the Edwin Johnson family.]
  • [Third depot as viewed from the hill.]
  • [Third depot from Broadway looking east, being torn down in 1898. Photo courtesy Rensselaer County Historical Society.]
  • [Third depot in the background, from 6th looking north, being demolished. Photo courtesy Rensselaer County Historical Society.]
  • [Further demolished. Photo courtesy Rensselaer County Historical Society.]

Fourth Depot

• The last depot, built in 1900, was featured in a lot of postcards, as well as being the subject of railfan photographers. (The street side, looking north, was the most popular spot to get a picture.)
  • [Postcard view of the street side of the Troy depot, looking north.]
  • [Another postcard view.]
  • [Yet another postcard view.]
  • [And yet another postcard. (They liked this angle.)]
  • [Photo c. 1950's.]
  • [A postcard view of the street side, but this time, looking south.]
  • [Postcard view of the trackside.]
  • [Prototype view from the Approach looking west on Broadway. Photo by Jim Shaughnessy c. 1955.]
  • [Trackside view looking south c. mid-'50's.]
  • [Charlie Ballard photo c. mid-'50's, on the track side. (By this time, weeds are growing in the tracks.)]

• Plans.
  • [Floor plans, revised 1931.]
  • [Plans as redrawn by Tony Steele.]

• Interior views.
  • [Postcard.]
  • [Postcard.]
  • [Color view as the interior is exposed during demolition. Photo by Gerrit Bruins.]
  • [Postcard of the pedestrian tunnel under the tracks.]

• On the layout.
  • [Model view. (Ignore the missing umbrella sheds.)]
  • [Layout view.]
  • [Similar view.]
  • [With platform canopies. (Luke Smith kitbashed these from the Walthers umbrella sheds.)]
  • [Lou Sassi photo.]
  • [Cutting out a portion of a plastic spoon to make the masters for a mold.]
  • [Close-up of the detail construction for the masters to make a mold.]
  • [Close-up of the depot showing the cast details in place.]

• The view from the depot looking due east, with a freshly shopped NYC Pacific. This shows a close-up of the one of the umbrella sheds.
  • [Photo c. WWI, courtesy Rensselaer County Historical Society.]

• Looking north Broadway.
  • [Street level view. Photo by Gerrit Bruins.
  • [Prototype view from Tower No. 1 by Jim Shaughnessy.]

• Gerrit Bruins captured NYC passenger cars crossing Broadway c. 1950.
  • [Looking down Broadway.]

• Prototype view from near the Approach on Broadway.
  • [Prototype view by Jim Shaughnessy c. 1955.]

• Station switcher being refueled directly from an oil truck.
  • [Prototype view c. 1957.]

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