North Albany
North Albany late 1978.
North Albany is a WK&S-designated location at the far south end of the line by a spot just north of the tiny town of Albany (hence the name "North Albany"). As shown in the picture above, North Albany was marked by a small shanty located on the west side of the track. The pictured event appears to have been a late season charter train or perhaps just a volunteer excursion. The picture is probably from late 1978. Note that LNE caboose #512 has been pulled from its decade slumber on the back track, but is yet unrestored.
The WK&S first opened for business back in 1963 on three miles of track between Kempton and Wanamakers. The track through the town of Kempton and south to Reading was still controlled by the Reading Company. In 1971 the Reading Company was giving up Kempton and intended to abandon the line from Kempton south to Evansville. By 1972 a contractor, H.B. Moyer, Inc., had gained control of the line to Evansville and planned to scrap the rail. Unfortunately the WK&S was in no financial position to do anything about it. The original Kempton station in downtown Kempton was dismantled and lost. The main line through Kempton was scrapped. But the WK&S did manage to acquire 1.2 miles of track including the team track through Kempton and the main line south to a point designated "North Albany". The track was acquired from the contractor through a stock deal. In other words, the track was donated. The line south of N. Albany was scrapped and the WK&S became a landlocked railroad.
Despite the acquisition of track to North Albany, no mention of it was made until the 1975 WK&S brochure. For the first time the Berksy Trolley was advertised as making the expanded 9 mile round trip between Wanamaker and N. Albany. The 1975 brochure also introduced the extra fare "Albany Flyer". The Albany Flyer was the last steam train of the day. It ran from 5:00 to 6:15 and covered the full 9 mile round trip. Of course there was no passing track at N. Albany and no way for the locomotive to run-around the train. As the train returned from Wanamaker it continued south past Kempton and onto N. Albany. Then it had to shove back to Kempton. The Albany Flyer continued through 1976, but wasn't listed as an extra-fair train. The Albany Flyer was gone by 1977. Steam trains reverted to running only the 6 mile round trip between Kempton and Wanamaker. But the Berksy Trolley continued operating over the entire line for the next 20 years of its service life. Since the trolley was bidirectional and required no switching, it could make a round trip between Wanamaker and N. Albany in about the same time it took the steam train to make a round trip between Wanamaker and Kempton. So both the trolley and the steam train were able to maintain an hourly schedule even though the trolley went further. This was the tradeoff that the trolley offered. It may not have been as glamorous as the steam train, but passengers got to see a section of the railroad not otherwise traveled.
The end of the trolley in 1996 also marked the decline of the track to N. Albany. An occasional special train might have wandered down to N. Albany now and again. But by the mid-2000s the track was no longer actively maintained. About the only thing that went to N. Albany was the annual weed spray truck. But even that was discontinued after 2010.
A 1982 postcard shot showing the Berksy southbound toward N. Albany.
Charter train through Kempton on its way to N. Albany in 2000. Click for details. Photo by Randy Kotuby.
From the same charter event, here's another train at N. Albany. These would have been some of the last WK&S trains to operate through Kempton and on to N. Albany. Photo by Randy Kotuby.
This next picture is from the same spot as the one above. But the shot is from 2012 and looks in the opposite direction toward the end of track. Beyond the pine trees is Stony Run Valley Road, the tiny town of Albany and virtually no evidence that a railroad ever existed.
End of track at N. Albany.
As shown at the top of the page, the WK&S placed a small watchman's shanty on the west side of the track at N. Albany. The shanty had no real purpose. It was just something to look at from the passing trolley. The next picture is from 2012. At some point the shanty was moved to the east side of the track and a little further north. There it deteriorated and eventually collapsed. All that's left are a few rotting boards.
Remains of N. Albany watchman's shanty.
The siding through the town of Kempton is still used occasionally to crane incoming or outgoing equipment between rail and truck. WK&S #734 was delivered to Kempton on November 2, 2004. The picture below looks south with Albright's Mill in the background.
Delivering #734. Photo by Gary Zweizig.