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August 25 - 31, 2021 | THE SPOTLIGHT 7
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The Rails Before The Trail Moving people and product was the mission of the rail line through Slingerlands, but is known today for Bethlehem’s most hit bridge By OLIVIA POUST pousto@spotlightnews.com
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SLINGERLANDS — The most infamous bridge in Slingerlands cycles through the news each time a truck fails to clear its 11-foot, 2-inch underpass. Perched over New Scotland Road, the bridge was a part of the Delaware and Hudson Railroad from the early 1920s until the railroad’s closure and is now a part of the Albany County Rail Trail. Despite its challenges, people like Bethlehem Town Historian Susan Leath have worked to preserve the bridge’s — and in effect, the railroad’s — rich history.
The Delaware and Hudson Slingerlands station in 1910, from the Albany Public Library collection. The building stood approximately where the Slingerlands Vounteer Fire Department is today.
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Courtesy of Tim Starr