From Gotham to the Berkshires: New York Central’s Harlem Division

John Ham’s story of the old New York and Harlem Railroad begins in 1931 when New York City authorized the construction of a horse-drawn streetcar system for Manhattan Island. Over the decades, this railroad evolved into a central commuter line connecting upstate communities with the city.

This book is not a detailed narrative of the New York Central System’s Harlem Division. Rather, it is a photographic look at the history of this railroad, which was the driving force in developing the region along the eastern border of New York State, from New York City to the heart of the Berkshires in Western Massachusetts.

It includes nearly 600 images, maps, and timetables. This hardcover book, which measures nine by eleven inches and is 304 pages long, was published by Stony Clove and Catskill Mountain Press in 2019.