A MAJOR RAIL SHAKE-UP Just Occurred for New England: New Routing, Traffic Changes Explained

On January 13th, 2026, Norfolk Southern began routing their New England intermodal stack trains to and from Ayer, MA via the CSX Boston & Albany and the former Delaware & Hudson Albany Main. The result was a major rail traffic shakeup for east-west traffic in southern New England.

On January 14th, I headed to the capital region of New York to see these changes firsthand. Norfolk Southern 1080, the D&H heritage locomotive, led NS 8098 "Conrail" on Z219, now Z265, making for a great chase from State Line Tunnel to Delanson, with stops in Voorheesville and Altamont on the way. ‪@TheCapitalRegionRailfan‬ shared some thoughts on seeing this historic D&H mainline return to through-route status, and his love for "The Bridge Line to New England and Canada".

Leaving the crew of foamers behind at Delanson, I visited G&W's Berkshire & Eastern, the operator of Pan Am Southern, to witness some of the traffic growth and operational changes occurring on the former Boston & Maine west end.

We would also catch B&E partners Vermont Railway operating RDHJ on the B&R Subdivision and CPKC delivering a General Electric transformer dimensional move along the way.

Locations:
State Line, NY
Voorheesville, NY
Altamont, NY
Delanson, NY
Rotterdam Junction, NY
Mohawk, NY
Rexford, NY
Mechanicville, NY
North Bennington, VT
Walloomsac, NY
Hoosick Junction, NY
Eagle Bridge, NY
Schaghticoke, NY





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