Editing Schenectady, New York (section)

==Transportation==
[[File:Schenectady Station -- New Station Oct 2018 01.jpg|thumb|[[Schenectady station]], rebuilt in 2018]]
[[Amtrak]], the national passenger rail system, provides regular service to Schenectady, with [[Schenectady station]] at 322 Erie Boulevard. Trains include the ''[[Ethan Allen Express|Ethan Allen]],'' ''[[Adirondack (train)|Adirondack]],'' ''[[Lake Shore Limited]],'' ''[[Maple Leaf (train)|Maple Leaf]],'' and ''[[Empire Service]]''. Schenectady also has freight rail service from [[Canadian Pacific Railway]] and [[Norfolk Southern Railway]].

The [[Capital District Transportation Authority]] (CDTA) provides bus service throughout Schenectady along with connections to the surrounding cities of Albany, Saratoga Springs, and Troy.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Routes and Schedules {{!}} www.cdta.org |url=https://www.cdta.org/routes |access-date=2024-02-09 |website=www.cdta.org}}</ref>

In the early 20th century, Schenectady had an extensive [[streetcar]] system that provided both local and [[interurban]] passenger service. The Schenectady Railway Co. had local lines and interurban lines serving Albany, [[Ballston Spa, NY|Ballston Spa]], [[Saratoga Springs, NY|Saratoga Springs]] and [[Troy, NY|Troy]]. There was also a line from [[Gloversville, New York|Gloversville]], [[Johnstown (city), New York|Johnstown]], [[Amsterdam (city), New York|Amsterdam]], and [[Scotia, New York|Scotia]] into [[Downtown Schenectady]] operated by the [[Fonda, Johnstown, and Gloversville Railroad]]. The nearly 200 leather and glove companies in the Gloversville region generated considerable traffic for the line. Sales representatives carrying product sample cases began their sales campaigns throughout the rest of the country by taking the interurban to reach Schenectady's [[New York Central]] Railroad station, where they connected to trains to New York City, Chicago and points between.

The bright orange FJ&G interurbans were scheduled to meet every daylight New York Central train that stopped at Schenectady. Through the 1900s and into the early 1930s, the line was quite prosperous. In 1932 the FJ&G purchased five lightweight "bullet cars" (#125 through 129) from the [[J. G. Brill Company]]. These interurbans represented [[state of the art|state-of-the-art]] design: the "bullet" description referred to the unusual front roof that was designed to slope down to the windshield in an aerodynamically sleek way. FJ&G bought the cars believing that there would be continuing strong passenger business from a prosperous glove and leather industry, as well as legacy tourism traffic to Lake Sacandaga north of Gloversville. Instead, roads were improved, automobiles became cheaper and were purchased more widely, tourists traveled greater distances by car, and the [[Great Depression]] decreased business overall.

FJ&G ridership continued to decline and in 1938 the state of New York condemned the line's bridge over the Mohawk River at Schenectady. The bridge had once carried cars, pedestrians, and the interurban, but ice flow damage in 1928 prompted the state to restrict its use to the interurban. When the state condemned the bridge for interurban use, the line abandoned passenger service, and the bullet cars were sold. Freight business had also been important to the FJ&G, and it continued over the risky bridge into Schenectady a few more years.

The Mohawk River at Schenectady is crossed by the Western Gateway Bridge, originally built in 1923–25, and replaced in 1971.<ref>[http://minerva.union.edu/garverj/mohawk/bridge_mohawk.html Union College.edu: ''Bridging the Mohawk River'' by Gara and Garver]</ref> From 1874 to 1925 the Mohawk River had been crossed by a bridge running from the foot of Washington Ave., Schenectady to Washington Ave., Scotia, a steel bridge built upon the seven piers of a former wooden bridge, built in 1808, called the Burr Bridge.<ref>Schenectady and the Great Western Gateway Past and Present, 1926, Schenectady Chamber of Commerce, page 61.</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://dailygazette.com/2013/11/03/1103_bridge | title=Western Gateway Bridge has roots in early 1800s | date=November 3, 2013 }}</ref>