Adirondack Railroad facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Adirondack Railroad |
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|---|---|
| Adirondack Scenic Railroad | |
Saranac Lake Station
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| Locale | New York |
| Commercial operations | |
| Built by | Mohawk and Malone Railway |
| Original gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Preserved operations | |
| Reporting mark | ADIX |
| Preserved gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Commercial history | |
| 1913 | New York Central takes over |
| Closed | 1980 |
| Preserved era | 1992 - |
| Preservation history | |
| 1992 | Restoration starts |
| Headquarters | Utica, NY |
| Website | |
| adirondackrr.com | |
The Adirondack Railroad (formerly the Adirondack Scenic Railroad) (reporting mark ADIX) (ASR) is a tourist railway located in the Adirondack Park that operates over trackage of the former New York Central Railroad between Utica and Lake Placid. The railroad is operated by the not-for-profit Adirondack Railroad Preservation Society, with train crews composed largely of volunteers.
ADIX operates between Utica and Remsen over trackage of the Mohawk, Adirondack and Northern Railroad, part of the Genesee Valley Transportation Company. The Remsen-Lake Placid segment is owned by the state of New York and designated as a multi-use corridor for rail traffic during the spring, summer, and fall seasons, and as a snowmobile trail during the winter months.
Passenger trains operate between Utica and Thendara. Historic stations have been restored in Holland Patent, Remsen, Saranac Lake and Lake Placid. The section of track between Utica and Lions Falls is used for freight traffic. The freight traffic service is operated by Mohawk, Adirondack and Northern Railroad (MA&N).
History
The line was built in 1892 by William Seward Webb as the Mohawk & Malone Railway and later purchased by the New York Central Railroad. The New York Central ran passenger trains on the route until April 24, 1965. It passed to the Penn Central Transportation Company, which abandoned operations north of Remsen in 1972. The Adirondack Railway operated passenger services between Utica and Lake Placid from 1979 to 1981. Tracks were dormant from 1981 until 1992 when restoration began with a 4-mile (6.4 km) section from Thendara to Minnehaha, New York. The section was approved and demonstrated on July 4, 1992. At that point, the line was named the Adirondack Centennial Railroad. It was later renamed as the Adirondack Scenic Railroad in 1994.
The railroad planned to restore passenger operations over the entire Utica-Lake Placid corridor. While this vision is supported by several local communities (most notably Tupper Lake and the Next Stop Tupper Lake organization), opponents called for replacing the Tupper Lake–Lake Placid section with a rail trail. Trackage was slated to be dismantled in the Fall of 2016, but was delayed pending resolution of a protracted legal battle. The New York state Supreme Court ultimately sided with the railroad on September 26, 2017, annulling the rail trail plan in its entirety. As of Spring 2018 the Adirondack Park Agency is seeking to redefine the term "travel corridor".
The railroad changed its names from the Adirondack Scenic Railroad to the Adirondack Railroad in 2020.
Gallery
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ASR #6076
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NYC caboose, Now in Utica, NY
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ASR #6076, Lake Placid
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Saranac Lake Union Depot
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Remsen Depot. Rebuilt in 1999, on the same site and to the same plans as the original station.
