The Cornell Railroad Historical Society became a chapter of the National Railway Historical Society in 1981. In the 30 years since that time, we have grown and prospered. With recent membership levels of nearly 130, while we may be one of the smaller NRHS chapters, we are an active one, with great enthusiasm for the subjects of railroads, rail history, rail photography and other aspects of the railroad hobby.
        The City of Ithaca lies at the foot of Cayuga Lake, and is surrounded  on three sides by steep hills. It is also home to Cornell University and Ithaca College, meaning its population practically doubles when school is in session. In former years, most of these students arrived by train, but with the changes seen in the 20th century, the two main railroads serving the area, the Lehigh Valley and the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western, faded away. Nonetheless, our chapter holds both dear, especially the Lehigh Valley, sometimes known affectionately as the "Leaky Valley", which is also the name of our newsletter.

The Cornell Railroad Historical Society Meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month at The History Center of Tompkins County, 110 North Tioga St. (not an actual street but part of Ithaca Commons), Ithaca, NY. From NY 79 West, come down State Street, bear right into Seneca Street, than park either on the street (meters are free after 6 PM), or turn right onto Tioga Street, finding street parking -OR- park in city parking garage (fees for parking assessed until 11 PM). From Rt. 79 East, Rt. 96 North or South, take Green Street to "tuning fork" at foot of State Street hill, swing around onto Seneca Street and, again, seek parking. (Click on "Directions to Museum" at left.) Doors open at 7:00 PM, meetings begin at 7:15 PM, and generally last until about 9 PM We have other yearly activities, most notably our RailFair, and meetings are open to anyone. Our mailing address is :

• The May meeting of the Cornell Railroad Historical Society on May 8, 2018, was a presentation by VP Tim Lynch on the Allegheny Portage Railroad, a very early historical railroad located near Johnstown, PA and run as a National Historic Site by the National Park Service.
  As Tim described the Allegheny Portage: [It] was a critical piece of the Pennsylvania Main Line of Public Works - the Philadelphia to Pittsburgh transportation link that opened in 1834. The Main Line cut travel time between the two key cities from over three weeks to just three days. Most of the Main Line was canal, but the 40 miles over Cresson Mountain, the backbone of the Alleghenies and the eastern continental divide, was managed by an ingenious collection of rail and incline planes: the Allegheny Portage Railroad.

Frank Barry to Show His Historic Steam Photos at January Meeting

The November 2017 meeting of the Cornell Railroad Historical Society had our president, Steve Peck, returned from one of his adventures in Alaska to show a non-rail but terrifying video of a unique trip up the Newhalen River from Lake Illimani. This stream, flowing out of rugged mountains near the Alaskan Coast, has a whole series of "Class 5" rapids and has never been paddled or kayaked successfully (read: fatalities). Steve remarked that he was grateful to be alive. The vessel used in this stream is a powerful motorboat run by a man whom Steve has gotten to know while working on building structures in far northern Alaska.

While Steve felt imperiled during the first trip, he actually agreed to do it again, but still felt that death lurked around every corner of the stream.. The video made it clear that what are called "rapids, are more like waterfalls, and the fact that the boat could make it either up or down this thundering cascade was something like a miracle of daring and skill.