railroad who know how the name came to be applied, but I happen to know the exact circumstances. Along in the early 70's a man named Royal and one John Tobin were employed by the R., W. & O. railroad in running trains between Lewiston and Suspension Bridge. Royal was a gruff, genial fellow and was well liked by the railroad men at the bridge. It was his habit, when after having delivered his cars at the bridge, he was ready to return, to stand at the officer door and call out to his partner in stentorian tones. 'Ho, Jack, time to be going back.' The man and the voice became inseparably connected with the railroad and when his train appeared the men would say, 'Here comes the hojack.' The name sticks to the road and the R., W. & O., is now better known among railroad men as the 'Hojack' than it is by its corporate name." Author Richard Palmer attributes it to a slang term for a slow local passenger train or way freight. The Port Jervis Evening Gazette reported, "[w]hile the Hojack was backing down to the depot Wednesday afternoon a horse in a team attached to a wagon from the country got its foot fast between the rail and the bed of the track in a manner similar to that which a horse belonging to Thomas Cuddeback was ruined some time ago. It was with great difficulty that the horse Wednesday was saved from a similar fate. The foot was got out just in time to get out of the way of the train." A subsequent story in the same newspaper supports that explanation, saying "[t]he name Hojack, which the Gazette gave to the way train leaving here for the west at 1:30 in the afternoon, sticks closer than a brother, and the train is now generally known by that name." NYC attempted to ban the name by way of an edict released in 1906. System map Station listing See also Ontario Midland Railroad Ontario Eastern Railroad References External links Hojack Trail Defunct New York (state) railroads Predecessors of the New York Central Railroad Railway companies established in 1861 Railway companies disestablished in 1913 Transportation in Rome, New York 1861 establishments in New York (state) Railroads controlled by the Vanderbilt family American companies established in 1861 Subdivisions of the New York Central Railroad Former buildings and