The Delaware Otsego Corporation is an American railway holding company which owns the subsidiary New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway as well as other, smaller branch line railroads, collectively known as the DO System. It is headquartered in Cooperstown, New York in Otsego County.

History

The "DO Line", as it is often called, was formed when a Syracuse University law school student named Walter G. Rich started operating a former New York Central Railroad line out of Oneonta, NY as a tourist hauler, using a former Virginia Blue Ridge Railway/U.S. Army Lima steam locomotive 0-6-0 type. Rides were offered between the passenger station, located near the interchange with Delaware and Hudson Railway (D&H), and end of track at Mickle Bridge, roughly three miles to the east. Arrangements for additional trackage could not be worked out.

With the construction of Interstate 88, and the state demanding for money for an overpass, the highway threatened to doom the line's future. At about the same time, the D&H was looking to abandon its Cooperstown branch, which ran 16 miles from Cooperstown Junction (near Colliersville, NY) to Cooperstown. After successful negotiations, the DO Corp. purchased the line and used an old name, the Cooperstown and Charlotte Valley Railroad. A former D&H RS-2 was purchased (#4022), and repainted and renumbered as #100. Diesel and steam excursions were operated for about five years, along with freight service. The last regular freight service was in the mid 1980s, and the line was embargoed afterwards. It was used for freight car storage before being sold to the Leatherstocking Chapter, NRHS, which has since rebuilt portions of the line and offers seasonal tourist service.

Shortly after the move to Cooperstown, the line purchased its second line, the former Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, nee Erie- Lackawanna Richfield Springs Branch. This line split off from the Utica Branch. Before the NYS&W created new shops in Utica, New York, Richfield Springs was used as a maintenance base for its excursion fleet. Many passenger cars, including their “super domes”, traveled over the line: reminiscent of Richfield Springs being a destination point back in the Lackawanna days. This line was abandoned in 1998 after years of disuse.

New York, Susquehanna & Western Railway

On September 1, 1980 the Delaware Otsego Corporation started operation of the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway (NYS&W), after a court earlier that year granted DO control of the bankrupt rail company. The New York, Susquehanna & Western Railway became their largest operation and offers local services to over 80 customers along 400 route miles in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Syracuse On-Track Service

For several years the NYS&W offered a commuter train service called Ontrack between Syracuse University and the Carousel Mall, which has since been discontinued. Occasional runs are made in conjunction with special events.

DOCP Acquisition LLC Takeover

On October 3, 1997, DOCP Acquisition LLC announced it had completed the short-form merger of Delaware Otsego Corporation (NASDAQ:DOCP) with a wholly owned subsidiary via a stock tender offer of $22 per share.

This deal essentially brought the DO System of Railroads, including the subsidiary New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway (NYS&W), under control of the much larger Norfolk Southern and CSX rail systems, because the new owner DOCP Acquisition LLC is owned 40% by Norfolk Southern, 40% by CSX and 20% by Walter G. Rich of the Delaware Otsego Corporation. On 09 August 2007, Rich died after an eight-month struggle against pancreatic cancer, at the age of 61.

Other DO System lines

The DO System purchased the Fonda, Johnstown and Gloversville Railroad, a former interurban and freight line in Central New York that was completed in 1870. The Fonda, Johnston, and Gloversville line was abandoned in the mid 1980s.

The DO System was an operator of Stourbridge Line, a former Erie Railroad line, located in Lackawaxen, Pennsylvania in northeastern Pennsylvania. They provided freight and excursions service. Although the DO does not operate this line anymore, the railroad is intact and used for excursions, which are operated by the Wayne County (Pennsylvania) Chamber of Commerce.

The DO System owned the Toledo, Peoria and Western Railway for a period of ten years from 1989 to 1999. It is a regional rail line stretching from Ohio to Illinois.

The DO System was also behind the Kingston Terminal Railroad which was created in 1980 to serve the Kingston, NY, waterfront but dissolved within the same year when no customers materialized. See Ulster and Delaware Railroad for more information.

External links

• NYS&W Company Website
• Syracuse OnTrack
• History Of The Delaware Otsego System

References