The Helderberg-Hudson Rail Trail is a 9-mile pathway that follows the old Albany and Susquehanna Railroad between Albany and Voorheesville, linking landscapes and communities including Normanskill Gorge in Albany, the hamlets of Delmar and Elsmere, the Village of Voorheesville, and the fields and woodlands of New Scotland at the base of the Helderberg Escarpment. In the mid-19th century, private investors sought a railroad connecting Albany and the upper Susquehanna Valley to carry coal and bring farm products to Albany markets, and the privately owned Albany and Susquehanna Railroad opened its first section between Albany and Central Bridge in September 1863. Soon after completion, a struggle for control of the board of directors led to a lengthy proxy war and an armed confrontation, and on February 24, 1870, the board leased the line in perpetuity to the Delaware and Hudson Railroad. The railroad transformed freight and passenger movement in Bethlehem and New Scotland, expanding market access for farmers and enabling commuters from Delmar, Slingerlands, and Voorheesville to travel daily to offices in Albany as suburbanization began. Passenger service on this section ended in the 1930s and freight service ended in the 1990s. In 2010, Albany County, with funding from the N.Y.S. Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation and Scenic Hudson, bought 9.1 miles of rail bed from the Canadian Pacific Railway to create the Albany County Helderberg-Hudson Rail Trail, later improving the route from Albany to Voorheesville for recreation and alternative transportation with assistance from local governments and the Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy.
