The railroad incorporated as the Union Village and Johnsonville Railroad on October 13, 1866, for the purpose of constructing a line from Union Village (as Greenwich was then known) to Johnsonville. Union Village was renamed Greenwich in 1867, and thereafter the company did business as the Greenwich and Johnsonville Railroad. The line between Greenwich and Johnsonville opened on August 31, 1870. The company's name change became official on March 26, 1874; it
reorganized as the Greenwich and Johnsonville Railway on September 10, 1879. Under the aegis of the D&H the G&J built the "Salem branch," a extension eastward from Greenwich to the D&H's line near
Salem, New York at Greenwich Junction. Under the D&H the original line between Greenwich and Johnsonville was abandoned on July 28, 1932, leaving Schuylerville–Greenwich Junction. Passenger service ended in 1933. The D&H made little use of the connection with the B&M at Schuylerville, and cut the line back to
Thomson after the bridge over the
Hudson River washed out. The D&H sold the Greenwich and Johnsonville to the
Batten Kill Railroad in 1982. == Notes ==