Meanwhile the building of railroads in other parts of the State
and under other leadership was going forward rapidly. As far back
as 1832 the first mile of the New York and Harlem Railroad was
opened for traffic. This single mile remained for some time the
only property of the company. It extended through what is now a
thriving part of down-town New York. Its original terminus was at
Prince Street, but the line was afterwards extended southward to
the City Hall and later to the Astor House. It was not until 1837
that the road reached northward to Harlem and not until 1842 that
Williamsbridge became the northern terminus. The line was looked
upon as a worthless piece of property until 1852, when it was
extended north to Chatham, to connect with the Albany and
Stockbridge Railroad, and thus give a through line from New York
City to Albany.

Another property built in these days and destined to become
eventually an important part of the Vanderbilt lines was the
Hudson River Railroad. This company was chartered in 1846, but
for many years was frowned on as an unsound business venture,
because of the belief that it would be in direct competition with
the river traffic and therefore could never be made to pay.
Nevertheless the promoters went ahead and by 1850 the road had
been opened to Poughkeepsie. The entire line of one hundred and
forty-four miles was completed to East Albany in 1851. At the
same time the Troy and Greenbush Railroad, extending six miles to
Troy, was leased, thus giving the new Hudson River Railroad an
entry into the city of Troy. The Hudson River Railroad was
entirely independent of the New York Central enterprise and was
controlled in those early days by a group of New Yorkers,