The president of the New York, Ontario and Western Railway, whose name was R.B. Williams, got the idea for another railroad near the end of the 19th century. This railroad would start at the busy town of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, reach the beginning of the East Branch of the Delaware River near the town of Hancock, New York, where it would make a junction with Williams' O&W railway and the Erie Railroad, and keep going along the rest of the river to Arkville, New York, where it would make a connection with the already existing Ulster and Delaware Railroad. It would then go northeast to Delanson, New York, where it would make a sharp north turn to the thriving town of Schenectady, New York, where there also lie the Schenectady Locomotive Works. There was also to be a branch that was to go from an area between the towns of Union Grove, New York, and Shavertown, New York, where a branch would go to Andes, New York, and make a sharp northeast turn for the town of Bovina, New York. It would be called the "Delaware and Eastern Railroad", as construction would begin at the Delaware River and go east (northeast, actually) to the town of Schenectady.