Troy NY Union Station

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I also remember back in early '60's (maybe 1961 or 62) of a Christmas Special that ran the old Troy-Albany Belt Line route ( if I remember what my father said how it operated-NYC north from Albany Union station, over the D&H to Watervileit/Green Island to Troy and then back onto NYC tracks Troy south to Rensselaer over the Maiden Lane bridge to Albany). Anyway, onto the Christmas Specials....the big department store in Albany, used to sponsor a Christmas parade thru downtown Albany, the parade cost a lot of money to put on, so Whitney's (the "big" dept store) decided to run two Christmas special trains using the old Belt Line route, one train left in the morning, the other in the afternoon. The trains were sold out as soon as it was announced...my father (an NYC employee), talked to the Conductor of the afternoon train and got my friend Donnie (his father worked for the NYC too) and me on board, with the provision that we may have to stand. We traveled north to Watervilet where Santa got off of a D&H caboose and got on our train and stayed on thru to Albany. The trains ran only one year (the weekend of Thanksgiving or the next weekend, I'm not sure); no more Christmas parades either. "Downtown" shopping was starting to move to the 'Burbs and an era was dying.