I grew up in Middleville, NY which had branchline of the NYCRR passing through it which ran daily from Herkimer to Poland, NY which was about 16 miles. This was in the mid 50s to 1963. Middleville saw boxcars & covered hoppers of grain for the Agway Feed Mill, Raw salted skins on boxcars for the Tannery, Coal cars for Harris Fuel, soft coal for the Tannery and occasionally gondola cars for loading logs and a boxcar left at the closed station to store rolls of veneer. I worked as a teenager unloading the coal cars for my Uncle Eddie while he was out delivering coal to customers. After school I could look down across the West Canada Creek to the siding and see if any 'new arrivals' of coal showed up. If so, when I got home Mom might say to go to the coal yard to help. It was a dirty job, especially when the snow froze on the top and I had to use a pick-axe to loosen it. Loved the smells of grain, coal, creosote and the railroad. They used Alco S diesels and once my Dad took me on the caboose from Middleville to Poland and back....awesome memory!

This used to be the Mohawk & Malone Railroad and went beyond Poland to Remsen and north to Malone.